This is a very early letter in the life of the East Lothian Banking Company as it is dated only 5 days after the bank opened for business.

The letter reads as follows.

To:                 William Borthwick, Cashier, East Lothian Bank, Dunbar

From:             Robert Gordon, Bankfoot, Prestonpans.

Dated:            5^th June 1810.

Sir,

                        I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the fourth inst’ with its enclosures and I now return your Mr. Middlemass’s receipt which I got on Saturday’s date.

                        I am Sir,

                                                Your most obedient servant.

                                                                                          Robert Gordon.

          Robert Gordon was a founding member of the East Lothian Bank.

        The main potteries in the East Lothian area in the nineteenth century were that of William Cadell & Company, West Pans, R. & G. Gordon and Belfield & Company.  These are all sited along the coastline between Prestonpans and Musselburgh.

       In 1772, George Gordon began pottery production at Morison's Haven.  In 1774, Gordon personally moved into the pottery with his two sons, George(Junior) and Robert - the latter being the writer of this letter.

       Gordon's took over Bankfoot, in 1795, and in the early nineteenth century produced a wide variety of good quality domestic earthenware.

       After suffering substantial losses on the collapse of the East Lothian Bank, in 1822, Gordon's went into decline.

     When the owner of Prestongrange estate began consolidating his lands, he accused Gordon's of neglecting buildings, wrongly claiming land, and taking clay intended for bricks and planning a pottery without permission. Litigation concluded, in 1836, with Gordon's removal from Morison's Haven although Gordon's continued at Rope Walk, Kirk Street and Bankfoot until sequestration in 1842.

      For further information on Prestongrange, R & G Gordon and East Lothian pottery I can do no better than refer to the Website of the Prestongrange Museum where much of the above was sourced. http://www.prestongrange.org/

"William Borthwick" was the Cashier for the East Lothian Bank.  In 1822 he absconded from this position with his disappearance being the trigger for the failure of the bank.

"Mr Middlemass" was Christopher Middlemass who was a founding Partner of the East Lothian Bank and a prominent personality in the East Lothian area.