The letter reads as follows.

To:                 James Macdonald, Inverary.

From:            John Thomson, Cashier, Greenock Banking Company,

                      Greenock.
Dated:            10^th July 1844.

     Sir,

                         We are favoured with yours of 8^th Current, & in account the amount of interest due on 24^th Current on our deposit **** Due Gilchrist of £265 – is £22 14.1.

 
                        Mr. King advised you as to the value of the Stamp, which if ad valorem, must include interest as well as principal.

                                    Your most Humb’ Serv’,

                                             For  Greenock Bank Co.

                                                            John Thomson, Cashier.

            This is a brief letter which was sent from the Cashier of the Greenock Banking Company to James Macdonald in Inverary.  I regret that I cannot identify James Macdonald although the way in which the letter is addressed ~ simply James Macdonald, Inverary – and the nature of the content, suggest to me that Macdonald was a local Writer (lawyer).

            I have even less clarity on the content of the letter as I have no idea who Mr. King was; I cannot properly read the word with asterisks (it may be a legal term?) and whilst I know that ad valorem Stamp Duty relates mainly to property tax, I cannot understand the reference in the context to the letter.

           The one thing which I can state with some certainty is that the Greenock Banking Company commenced trading on 28^th July 1785 and continued to operate until November 1843 when the remaining Partners, including John Thomson, disposed of their whole interest in the Bank to the Western Bank of Scotland for a large consideration.  The Greenock Banking Company had therefore ceased to exist several months before this letter was written although the name “Greenock Bank” continued to be used by the new owners for a further 14 years when trading from the main office in Greenock.  It would appear that John Thomson managed to obtain a “large consideration” for his share in the Greenock Banking Company and at the same time retain his position as Cashier under the ownership of the Western Bank of Scotland.