Lottery Levity 2
While staff in the
Local Studies section at Perth's
AK Bell Library found an advert in the local press of January
1826 declaring that the state lottery would ".. pass away for
ever", their colleagues in the
Council Archive have unearthed proof that the area's - albeit
better-heeled - residents were supporting the lottery before that.
In fact they discovered that lotteries began in the early
seventeenth century under the reign of James VI and I to finance
settlements in the New World.
The
Council Archive possesses a document handwritten at Dupplin by
Thomas, 8th Earl of Kinnoull which is dated October 7 1775. It
reads;
"Whereas I have purchased a Ticket in the State Lottery which is
about to be drawn and which ticket is deposited in the hands of
Messrs Drummonds Bankers in London, I do hereby give the chance of
the said ticket for the Commissioners for the Bridge of Perth to be
applied to the extinction of the debt due by the Commissioners. But
if the prize gained by the said ticket when drawn shall exceed in
value the whole of the amount of the debt which shall then be owing
by the said Commissioners, then in that case I reserve to myself
for my own use the surplus of the value of the said prize so far as
the same shall exceed the amount of the said debt. Written by my
own hand and signed by me at Dupplin this seventh day of October
1775. Kinnoull."
The Earl of Kinnoull was the prime motivator behind the building of
Smeaton's Bridge over the Tay. He bought lottery tickets at least
between 1774 and 1776 hoping that a win might help solve the
financial problems suffered by the bridge project. In point of fact
he won £100 the following year. This would , however, have
been a drop in the ocean in contributing to the overall cost of
£26,631. The bridge was constructed between July 1766 and
October 1771.
The letter, and thousands like it, can be seen in the Archives'
collection of over one million items. Staff are always delighted to
assist with serious or more casual research.
