Boswell family. Papers of Robert Boswell (1746-1804)

This material is held atEdinburgh University Library Heritage Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 237 Gen. 750D; La.II.82; La.II.511
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1765-1797
  • Physical Description
    • Notebook and correspondence

Scope and Content

The papers include a notebook containing verses written by Boswell between 1782 and 1797. Within the Laing Collection are letters to Mr and Mrs J. Cumming and to Miss Cumming between 1765-1785, and a letter to J. McRitchie, 20 April 1795.

Administrative / Biographical History

The psalmist Robert Boswell , a descendant of the Boswells of Auchinleck, was born in 1746. He received a classical education and became a Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh. Boswell was a Glasite or Sandemanian ( a member of the Christian sect founded around 1730 by John Glas and built on by Robert Sandeman) and was a teaching elder of the Church in Edinburgh . Robert Boswell died on 1 April 1804 during the middle of a sermon he was preaching in London, probably at the Barbican chapel.

Acquisition Information

Notebook presented August 1964, Accession no. E64.23.

Related Material

The UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes: correspondence with James Boswell, 1775-1794, Yale University Libraries: Beinecke Library, Ref. L196-260 NRA 22146 Boswell