The WS Society Annual Exhibition 2025
The Society has played no small part in the life of Scotland – political, social and intellectual. (William Kirk Dickson 1905)
A society long and intimately connected with the procedure of the crown and the courts of law, and not a little concerned with the development of wealth and of liberal education in the country, should possess a record of interest at least to its own members. (The History of the Society of Writers to His Majesty’s Signet 1890)
2025 marks the 135th anniversary of the publication of The History of the Society of Writers to His Majesty’s Signet.
The long introductory essays to the 1890 History remain the canonical account of the Society to this day, supplemented by those to the supplements issued in 1936 and 1983. The “1890” was the first full-scale attempt to write a history of a Scottish legal organisation and stands up well in comparison with those that came after. Nevertheless, historical practice and thought has changed and developed considerably in subsequent years. This exhibition explores the history of the “1890” and its successors of 1936 and 1983, looking at some avenues that might be taken were a similar history to be attempted today.
At the heart of this exhibition is a research project about John Watson’s Institution, undertaken for the Signet Library by Dr. Kit Baston and Jo Hockey with funding from the Old Edinburgh Club. The 1828 founding and establishment by the Writers to the Signet of John Watson’s Institution, the famous Edinburgh school for orphans, was a key moment in the WS Society’s history, and the project offers mapping and interpretation of an extensive key archive of documents relating to the early years of the school.
Over the 135 years since the publication of the “1890”, views on what would constitute a history of an organisation such as the WS Society have shifted and widened. This might be described in terms of three linked but separable discussions: the life and activity of the Society, its officers and its adjuncts; the legal careers of the Society’s lawyers and the interaction of the Society and its lawyers with the wider legal world; and the impact of the Society’s members on the wider culture in terms of knowledge, literature, art, sport.
The “1890” took the view that it was a history of the activities and administration of the Society as an entity, and the relationship and interaction of that entity with the wider social and political world.
The professional lives and activities of the Writers to the Signet in the wider legal world is an area little touched on by the “1890.” The working life of the Scottish solicitor through history is a relatively young field of scholarship, and we will reflect on some of the avenues this new work has opened up. A recent research project undertaken for the WS Society by the archivist Vilde Bentsen has mapped an archive of correspondence to the last Victorian Deputy Keeper of the Signet, Sir Charles Logan, and this exhibition will discuss how his letters may throw new light onto the exercise of the office of Deputy Keeper at a crucial moment.
Rather less touched upon as an aspect of WS Society history is the contribution made by the Society’s members – and also, very notably, by its employees – to the social and cultural world outwith the law. This exhibition will consider examples of the way Writers to the Signet and the Signet Library’s librarians have played important roles which are so often overlooked given the Society’s ancient legal focus.