Newly found Thomas Muir papers contribute to latest study

Court of Session papers, missing for more than 200 years, have been unearthed on the 18th century advocate and reform campaigner Thomas Muir of Huntershill, contributing to a new book on Muir.

The material came to light in the Advocates' Library and was uncovered with the help of Professor Gerard Carruthers, of the Francis Hutcheson Chair of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, an expert on Thomas Muir and co-editor of a new book on Muir to be published this week.

The papers shed light on Muir and how he courted controversy in his early years, which may have contributed to his treatment by the justice system years later. 

Admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1787, Muir became a leading figure in reform movements and was arrested and charged with sedition. He was released on bail, and while in France he was declared a fugitive from justice, and was expelled from Faculty. After returning to Scotland, he was convicted and sentenced to 14 years’ transportation, following a notorious trial that was widely regarded as a "fix".

One area covered by the papers is a dispute between the congregation and a local landowner over the appointment of a minister at Cadder Kirk. Muir represented the congregation. They show how he upset powerful members of Scotland's political and legal establishment, including key figures who were later instrumental in having him banished.

Professor Carruthers commented: "I think partly the reason why these papers were overlooked was because they didn't deal with the 1790s trial where Muir is sentenced to 14 years in Botany Bay.

"These papers dealt with an earlier period when he is involved in local kirk politics. But the real significance of these papers is they show that he was a well kent face, and the same people who are sitting in judgment on him in Edinburgh in 1793 just a few years earlier were aware of Thomas Muir making trouble as a representative of his local church."

Muir had also campaigned for political reform, demanding greater democratic rights for the people. This angered the political establishment, seeing him as a ringleader. After two years in Australia he escaped and fled to France, calling on the French Government to “liberate Scotland”, but he died two years later.

The new book, Thomas Muir of Huntershill: Essays for the Twenty First Century, published by humming earth, is a collaboration between Glasgow Univeristy and the Friends of Thomas Muir, and includes contributions by former First Minister Alex Salmond and historian Sir Tom Devine.