Cataloguing Abbotsford’s sacristy

House and Collections Officer Claudia discusses the fascinating items originally stored in the sacristy at Abbotsford and the team's ongoing work to catalogue them.

The buildings at Abbotsford include a Roman Catholic chapel, built in the 1850s by Scott’s granddaughter and her husband, James Hope-Scott as part of their building of the west extension now known as the Hope-Scott Wing. Since Charlotte and James converted, the family have been devout Catholics, and the chapel is still used for active worship once a month today. 

As part of our ongoing collections work, we have been cataloguing objects originally stored in our sacristy. We are reviewing and improving their storage and moving them to secure collection stores. This is a long-term project which started in 2022.

Many of the religious artefacts have been in use for many years and shine a light on the spiritual life of Scott’s descendants.  As part of the exercise, four boxes of religious books were catalogued and photographed by three of our wonderful Abbotsford volunteers over the last two winters. They have unearthed real treasures, illustrating the family’s deeply held beliefs and how their lives and relationships were shaped by their religion.

Foremost among the finds has been this book, the ‘Mass for the Dead’. Maintained by a succession of family members, it is a monthly list of the death dates of family, friends and employees, starting in 1837, with the last entry dated 1969. In the Catholic faith, mass and prayers are offered for loved ones who have passed away in order to assist them in achieving eternal life and to comfort those who are left behind. The book chronicles over a century of friendships and connections and brings us up close and personal with the people who mattered most to Scott’s descendants. They range from immediate siblings, family members, servants and officers who served with Walter Maxwell-Scott to King George IV. 

In the process, they throw up fascinating lives like that of the last entry, James Douglas, former chauffeur to Major General Maxwell-Scott and guide at Abbotsford, who died 27 Feb 1969, aged 90.

Douglas, from Jedburgh, was a driver in the Caucasus Military Agency during WWI, rising to the rank of corporal and took part in a number of daring military intelligence missions in Armenia and was ultimately captured and imprisoned by the Bolsheviks until 1919. He was awarded the D.C.M. and the M.M. for his bravery.

The books also include this child’s Early Missal given and dedicated to Jean Maxwell- Scott on her 9^th birthday in 1932 by her father, the Major General Maxwell-Scott. It is filled with numerous devotional cards from school friends she collected when at convent school, including one from her sister.

Many of the devotional objects have been in the family for generations and have been passed on through their family network. For instance, this impressive silver monstrance in its custom designed case.

The case bears the label ‘Mrs F Kerr’, possibly Louisa Kerr, James Hope-Scott’s sister who was married to Henry Francis Kerr.  They lived at Huntlyburn and were very close to James and Charlotte.

In fact, when Charlotte Hope Scott tragically died on 26 October 1858, aged only 30 and leaving three young children, it was her brother-in-law whose name is on the death certificate.

Or it could refer to Mary Frances Kerr, the wife of Francis Ernest Kerr, son of Louisa and Henry. More research awaits!         

We also hold this wooden travelling case with a chalice and paten, used for celebrating mass, when away from home. The chalice is dated 1853 and the case bears the luggage label of Colonel Maxwell-Scott.

Walter Maxwell-Scott, Walter Scott’s great-great-grandson, had a distinguished army career and worked and travelled extensively all across the globe. He started his army career in what is now Pakistan, then fought in the 2^nd Boer War, was stationed in India and spent the first World War in Macedonia and Belgium.

After the war, he held a post at the Curragh in Ireland and in 1923 became commander of 132^nd Infantry Brigade in Germany.  He also undertook extended trips to Australia and later in life, when he was married to his American second wife, to America. This little case might have done quite a bit of travelling!

Finally, one of our most amazing devotional items is this Reliquary with the earliest relics dating back to 1853.  It holds ten lockets containing 1^st class relics of saints or objects.

We also hold seven so called ‘authentics’ or authentication certificates for the relics - proof, that the relics are genuine. The most touching is a tiny locket containing fragments of the bones of St Monica and of the veil of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which John Hope- Scott gave to his daughter Mary Monica when she was just six month old.  Here is a close up of the relic and also the authentication certificate.

Objects we have found cover the full lifespan of the chapel and include many items dating from the time of Jean and Patricia Maxwell-Scott.  Rosaries from pilgrimages to Lourdes and Fatima in Portugal or little medallions as keepsakes of visits to Rome.  Together they paint a picture of the generations of the Hope-Scott and Maxwell-Scott family united by their faith.

Cataloguing of the sacristy collection continues, not least with the future project of two boxes of textiles to unpack, identify, catalogue and re-pack using conservation grade materials and techniques.