(1/3) On 13th December 1670, a surgeon’s widow, Agnes Urquhart, was given 20 shillings (sterling, rather than Scots) in charity from her late husband’s Incorporation. Intriguingly, this was under condition she, ‘never…truble them again’. #SurgeonsProject

Working on the Edinburgh Inc. of Surgeon's minutes from 1670 and came across a crossed out apprenticeship entry. The margin note explains why: 'Dead This deleit becaus the prentice Is dead’. His parents sent him to work with a surgeon and he didn't live to finish his training. #SurgeonsProject

(2/3) Recent work on craft widows’ pensions has shown that corporate charity was not a given, but depended wholly on corporate means and the widow’s reputation. doi.org/10.3366/shr.... #SurgeonsProject

(3/3) Importantly, Agnes had to sign the Incorporation’s sederunt book to get the money, leaving not only an elegant signature, suggestive of literacy, but also a evocative and personal connection to her life in the seventeenth-century Scottish capital. #SurgeonsProject

James Cleilland, surgeon in Edinburgh, was apparently a good master! In 1670 he allowed his recently booked servant to leave his service. Did he lose the £3 and 4 shillings of booking fees? Sadly, no indication is given as to why his servant wanted to leave, or where he went. #SurgeonsProject