Burgess Casket of Sir Robert Threshie Reid

Burgess Casket of Sir Robert Threshie Reid, presented 13 September 1894.   Only a burgess could run a business or carry out trade in the town. People paid a fee in order to become a burgess and also agreed to defend the town when it was attacked.  Other people such as servants, labourers and the poor were regarded as "unfree men" and did not have the same rights.  Dumfries Town Council records are full of prosecutions against "unfree men" trading illegally.  By the 19th century, however, the title of Burgess had become honorary, with the same sort of status as "freemen of the city".  Burgess Tickets were presented to local dignitaries in ornamental silver caskets.   Robert Threshie Reid was educated at Balliol College, Oxford.  His political career began in 1880, when he was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Hereford.  He remained in the House of Commons until 1905, during which time he was appointed Solicitor General and Attorney General.  He left the House of Commons in 1905 and became Lord Chancellor.  Reid became Baron Loreburn of Dumfries in 1906, and in 1911 he was made Earl Loreburn.
Object no :
DMSW001n
Creator :
NA
Place of Production :
NA
Dimensions :
NA
Materials :
metal, silver, enamel
Location :
NA
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