Record

CollectionGB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections
LevelItem
Ref NoMS 30/12/12
TitleTo James Dun, from London
Date1 July 1773
Extent1 item
Administrative HistoryJames Dun [1708-1798]. He was Beattie's father-in-law. At Marischal College 1728-1732. Under-master at Aberdeen Grammar School in 1732. Master and later Rector from 1744. LLD Marischal College 1772. He married Mary Beaton [1706-1781], who was the daughterof Kenneth Bethune Scott. The mental health of the Duns' children was said to be inherited from her. Beattie lived in Dun's house when he first came to Aberdeen in 1758 and also after he married Dun's daughter in 1767, and the families shared a house for much of Beattie's life. In the final years of Dun's life the relationshp became tense with disagreements on the management of Mary Beattie's mental health.
DescriptionHas been busy in London but outcome must remain a secret for the present. Has kissed the King's hand. Asks if Dun has received Mally's journals; Beattie is keeping a full journal himself.

See also MS 30/12/26, letter to Dun from his daughter Mary of the same date, presumably originally enclosed with this letter; she mentions people visited, and describes Beattie's conversation with the King, who had admired Beattie's book and its plain reasoning.
Access StatusOpen
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