Letter dated 18 November 1884 from David Esplin to his uncle, John Esplin

Letter dated 18 November 1884 from David Esplin of Lochee, Scotland to his uncle, John Esplin in America, regarding the status of a family property

74 High Street Lochee 18th Nov 1884 Dear Uncle I am sorry there has been so much delay in getting a settlement regarding the property. It took a long time to get the papers made all right, then after that was done we had some difficulty in getting settled with Mr. Watt, the party who bought it, but I am now glad to say we got settled last Friday. I am going to Dundee today to see Mr. Boyd and get your shares sent off. The shares after deducting expenses amount to £8.16 for each share. There was £7.3.7 to pay to Messrs. Shield $ Kyd who formerly held the titles, before we could lift them. This account was made up of items spreading over 10 or 11 years. Then there is Mr. Boyd's account for conveying the property to Mr. Watt, £12. We consider Mr. Boyd's account very reasonable. Had we employed Shield & Kyd they would have charged us nearly twice as much. The usual way is for buyer and seller to pay one-half of the expenses each, but in the present case we arranged to pay the whole on condition that the purchaser paid £4.12.8 of Fen duty due by us, and some other outstanding accounts which I must have mentioned to you in some of my previous letters. I can assure you I am very glad that this affair is now settled. In my last letter I stated to you that William Esplin had gone to America and that I would get his address and send it to you. This as yet I cannot do as he has been moving about a good deal and any address I might send you might be of no use by the time you got it, but whenever I learn of him having a fixed residence I will let you know. Our friends at Cragie Loch are all in fairly good health at present. I told you Aunt had been very poorly but she is now very much better. My mother is not so strong as we would like but still she is able to go about. I hope you and your family are all well. I will write you again by and by as I would not like the correspondence which had sprung up between us to be discontinued. Meantime with kind regards to Aunt, to all my cousins, and yourself I am your affectionate nephew. David Esplin