Donald Davidson

341

Maureen Withey on 21st January 2026

At the Glasgow Circuit, on Saturday last, Donald Davidson, who had been repeatedly noticed in our columns within the last two years, was charged with falsehood, forgery, and wilful  imposition. The indictment set forth. that the prisoner had written, or caused to be fabricated. a bill  or note bearing to be drawn by Sir Thomas Maitland, K.C.B. therein designed Admiral, Royal Navy, for £90 Sterling;  also with forging ...for payment of the bill, and with having got the same bill discounted ln the Ship Banking Company's Office his own behalf, falsely personating or pretending to be Sir T. Maitland, the pretended drawer of the said bill. He pleaded Not Guilty. The trial was put off on account of the absence of some of the witnesses. Inverness Journal, 26 April 1822. DONALD DAVIDSON, accused of forging a bill, for £90, in the name of Sir Thomas Maitland, and of getting it discounted at the Ship Bank, Glasgow, was brought to the bar. He pleaded Not Guilty. . After the declarations were identified, Lord Maitland was sworn, who, as well as the Rev. Dr. M‘Lean, proved the signatures to be forgeries. ; Mr. Thomson of the Royal Bank, was in his own room, on the 15th October, when prisoner called on him. He was very highly powdered,  and held his hat under the left arm, and his manners did not appear to correspond with his assumed rank. He tendered the note on Smith and Payne, the London bankers, and asked cash for it. He appeared to be insane; I told him that it was an awkward thing to refuse doing so to a Nobleman of his rank;  but that I could not do it as I did not know him, and directed him to go to another Bank , speaking of the Thistle. … ... The pannel's declaration was then read, which stated, that he was 28 years of age, was a Serjeant in the Rifle Brigade, lost his left arm at Badajoz (Spain) &c. The Jury were addressed by Mr. Hope, for the Crown, and by Mr. Monteith, for the prisoner. Lord Succoth summed up the evidence. The Jury, after a few minutes' consideration, returned a verdict unanimously finding him Guilty, but recommended him to mercy, owing to his former service and it being his first crime. Lord Succoth, after a suitable address, sentenced him to be executed on the 29th day of May. The prisoner had been at very great pains to alter his appearance, intending by that means to increase the difficulty  of identifying him. His dress was as far changed from the one described by the witness as it could possibly be; and so far was he divested of whiskers and hair, that his head bore no little resemblance to a barber's block. He was at great pains, by holding his features in unnatural positions to prevent his identification. Glasgow Sentinel, 1 May 1822. The sentence of death passed against Davidson and Rankine, at the last Assizes, has been mitigated into banishment for life. They have consequently been removed from the condemned cells. Glasgow Sentinel, 22 May 1822. Monday morning, Donald Davidson and Daniel Rankine, lately under sentence of death, but which was commuted to transportation for life, set, off from the jail here on their way to the hulks. Glasgow Herald, 9 Aug 1822.

341

Maureen Withey on 21st January 2026

Tasmanian Records. Conduct Record: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CON31-1-9/CON31-1-9P111 No 309. Donald Davidson, Per Competitor. See record for information. Sideways on the record, in very faint writing : Transported for Forgery. Gaol report: ??? Hulk report: Orderly. Confessed this offence, forgery… ??? wife & 3 ch at Glasgow, keeps a Chain Lane shop. Much of the same information from above, is copied onto a newer record, after his Colonial conviction, (which is easier to read): Conduct Record : https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CON34-1-1/CON34-1-1P364 No 309. Donald Davidson, Per Competitor. Tried Edinburgh 8 July 1822, Life. Tried Hobart, 8 April 1829, 7 years. Trade, soldier. Age 33, Native place, Inverness. Lost left hand and arm to elbow, scar on face. Description Record: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CON23-1-1/CON23-1-1-P108 No 309. Donald Davidson, Per Competitor. Tried Edinburgh 8 July 1822, Life. Document CSO1/1/403 page 9109. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CSO1-1-403/CSO1-1-403-9109-7 Daniel Rankin, Tried Edinburgh, 8 July 1822, life, native place, Glasgow, Weaver, age 19. Says tried at Glasgow in April 1822. Donald Davidson, Tried Edinburgh, 8 July 1822, life, native place, Inverness, soldier, lost an arm, can write well, age 33, Says tried at Glasgow in April 1822. --------------------------------------------------------------- All the above documents give his place and date of trial as Edinburgh, but, on the last document listed above, it is recorded that both Daniel Rankin, and Donald Davidson, claim that their trials were in Glasgow in April. -------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.oldscottish.com/convict-records-8.html Old Scottish Genealogy and Family History, Database of  Scottish Court records relating to Australian convicts.  Donald Davidson; Unemployed, formerly publican and agent, Trongate, Glasgow, formerly Sergeant in the Rifle Brigade Upperbornioh (?), South Uist. Chelsea pensioner, married . Tried Glasgow, 20 Apr 1822, Death – hanging by public executioner; Per Competitor, 18 Mar 1823, to Van Diemen’s Land. ---------------------------------------------------------------- National Archives. Criminal Petitions. HO 17/6/16 1821 Dec; 1822 Sept Prisoner name: Donald Davidson. Prisoner details: Aged 32 years, former soldier of Upperbornich, South Uist, Inverness. Court and date of trial: Glasgow Circuit Court of Justiciary, April 1822. Crime: Uttering a forged bill of exchange (for £90 sterling) by forging the signatures of Admiral Sir Thomas Maitland (drawer), and the Reverend Dr James McLean (endorser) and proffering it for payment on 30 October 1821 at various banks and offices in Glasgow. Initial sentence: Death. Day of execution set for 29 May 1822. Annotated: '7 May 1822 To be transported for life'; 'The law to take its course, 5 Nov 1822'. Petitioner(s): Two petitions from Donald Davidson (the convict). Grounds for clemency: Recommended to mercy by the trial jury; first offence; his army service; the nature of the draft; the circumstances under which the draft was uttered; his wife and family now in penury and despair. Other papers: Judge's report on the case. Printed Indictment. Copy Declaration by the convict. Letter from the convict transmitting a petition to the Home Department. Covering note from the Lord Justice Clerk returning the petition. Additional Information: Held in the Glasgow Tolbooth, then on board Justitia hulk. The convict was formerly corporal, then sergeant in the 1st Battalion 95th Regiment of Foot for many years and lost his arm at Badajos [Badajoz, Spain] and was pensioned off in 1813. His father and three brothers named as James Davidson, John Davidson and Alexander Davidson all served as non-commissioned officers in the Army [95th Regiment of Foot].