Alexander Webster and the Archives

Introduces Alexander Webster, the “main” trustee and moving force behind the initial success of the scheme. Provides a summary and excerpt of highlights from the first 74 meetings during the inaugural decade of the scheme. This provides the first known analysis of these trustee meeting transcripts and helps shed light on the various day-to-day financial challenges faced. The key insight is that diligent and careful management was just as important as mathematics. Chapter goes on to discuss the annuity choices made by Colin Maclaurin, Robert Wallace, Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, and William Robertson, who are all well-known literati from the Scottish Enlightenment period. It concludes by offering sources for additional reading and references.