A Writing Box with G&Y connections – from 1858

“The attached photos are of an old writing box which my family has passed down through time and I am its current caretaker.

The inscribed brass plate says it all really and when I discovered that Grigor & Young are still in business I thought it might be of interest to you hence this email.”

That was the text of an email we received from a kind person who also emailed several photos of the writing box, including the brass plate.

We then realised that the writing box was not the only object we knew about connected to James Green.

As we wrote about in a previous post (from 2016), James Green’s written contract of apprenticeship from 1854 survives, in our possession.

Having completed his time at Grigor & Young, he was obviously ready for a more adventurous lifestyle, prompting him to head for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where the tea industry was probably in its infancy at that time.

We are always delighted to know of any historical information or “evidence” about the firm.

We are very grateful to our correspondent for this chance to look back to a time when, for example, all legal deeds were written out longhand. In some ways, this gift was the 1858 equivalent of a laptop or tablet.

There must have been a fair few legal clerks who passed through the employment of the original Messrs. Grigor & Young (William Grigor and Robert Young), so it is an amazing coincidence to have this additional information about one particular clerk, James Green, the son of a farmer from Ruthrie, Aberlour.