Papers of Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1860-1914)

The papers of Samuel Rutherford Crockett consist largely of correspondence. Content is varied, as are the correspondents, and the letters include those to Ashcroft Noble, mentioning Barrie, Lang, Ian Maclaren, and Stevenson, 1894; to W. K. Dickson, 1895; to I. W. Austin, 1906; to the Rev. William Thomson, 1913; and to bookseller and librarian in Penicuik. There is also a postcard photograph of Crockett. The letters are about the sale of his novels, thanks, requests for loans of books, honour banquet, and illness.

The novelist Samuel Rutherford Crockett was born in Little Duchrae, near New Galloway, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, on 24 September 1860. He studied at Edinburgh University, at Heidelberg, and at Edinburgh's New College. He graduated from Edinburgh University in 1879. Crockett entered the Free Church of Scotland in 1886 and was a minister for some years in Penicuik , Midlothian, where he was ordained. With the success of early novels such as The stickit minister (1893) and The lilac sunbonnet (1894) Crockett gave up the ministry for writing and journalism. His work is seen as leading the "Kailyard" or "Kitchen garden" school of writing which sentimentally portrayed Scottish rural life, and utilised the Scots dialect in a manner set by J. M. Barrie (1860-1937). His publications also include The raiders (1894), Red cap tales (1904), The men of the mountain (1909), and The moss troopers (1912). Samuel Rutherford Crockett died in Tarascon, near Avignon, France, on 21 April 1914.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Letter to J. W. Austin received January 1967, Accession no. E67.29. Letter purchased 1972, Accession no. E72.16. Material purchased January 1978, Accession no. E78.1. Letters received February 1979, Accession no. E79.12. Material purchased December 1990, Accession nos. E90.126 and 127. Material purchased January 1991, Accession no. E91.4. Material purchased March 1993, Accession no. E93.14.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Who was who. A companion to Who's who.... London: A. and C. Black, 1920. (2) The new encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol.3 Micropaedia. 15th edition. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 1991.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of additions.