Dr Hunter Selkirk and the Braidwood Collection
It is difficult to gather information on Dr Hunter Selkirk although limited material can be found on the Future Museums website. McNair's book on the History of the Geological Society of Glasgow includes a biographical note. The library chronicle for 1897 contains the following details of the Hunter Selkirk donation to the library at Elmbank.
THE LIBRARY CHRONICLE.
(JUNE—NOVEMBER, 1897).
KILMARNOCK.—A new library and museum for Kilmarnock, to be
erected on the site of the present library at Elmbank, and to cost .£8,000,
has been given by a native of the town whose name is not disclosed.
The architects are J. and R. S. Ingram, of Kilmarnock, who have, prepared
plans for a building in the classic style, the leading features being
imitated from the Paris Louvre.
At a meeting of the Kilmarnock Town Council on June 9th, Provost
Mackay intimated that another splendid gift had been made to the town,
Dr. Hunter-Selkirk, of Braidwood, having presented the whole of his
unique antiquarian and geological collection to Kilmarnock Museum.
Another native of Kilmarnock, Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., had previously
presented to the town his unequalled collection of corals conditionally
on proper housing being found for them, and this will now be
secured by the handsome building for which plans have been prepared.
Dr. Hunter-Selkirk's museum, which is henceforth to be incorporated
with that of Kilmarnock, is well known as one of the most valuable and
extensive in the possession of any private individual in the kingdom.
Among its treasures are 30,000 old coins, mostly British, but including
many rare foreign specimens.
There is also a very remarkable collection
of old Bibles, among which is a manuscript of the 13th century, while
many are dated early in the 15th century. Old swords and guns, relics
of Drumclog, Bothwell Bridge, and other Covenanting battles, are
numerous, as are also articles illustrative of civilisation in the past, and
curiosities in the shape of old watches, watch-keys, snuffboxes. One
of the finest sections of the collection is the old pottery, which includes
many examples of rare Wedgwood ware.
The geological section is of
great interest and value, containing the best examples of the Leadhills
minerals ever brought together, a splendid array of Silurian exhibits from
the Logan Water, and a very extensive series of carboniferous specimens,
rich in fish shells and crustacean corals, and with an almost complete
representation of the lower forms of carboniferous life
ref History of the geological society of Glasgow, 1858-1908, Macnair, Peter pp228-234. Glasgow : The Geological Society, 1908.
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