23 October 2014 Sean Adams - Act of Union

Introduced by President Peter Farr, last week's speaker was Sean Adams whose varied career had ranged from being a golf professional, then, through an interest in history, particularly mediaeval Scottish history, to his current position as a history teacher.
Sean's topic was the 1707 Act of Union, which, as he explained, was actually 2 Acts - the Union with Scotland Act 1706, which was passed by the English Parliament and the Union with England Act which was passed in 1707 by the Scottish Parliament.
Sean gave a summary of the background to the 1707 Union which he said was initially mainly driven by pressure from England with Scots being less than enthusiastic in the years before. He said the reasons given for the change of heart in Scotland were the economic benefits which would follow, but others considered it was underhand dealings by pro Unionists which were more likely to have prevailed. Interestingly, out of a 1 million population, there was an electorate of around 6,000, mainly the elite who were able to vote. Most of the merchants voted against the proposal and it was, according to Sean, around 30 years until the economic benefits actually accrued.
Sean fielded a series of questions from the floor before Lawrie Orr gave him a well-deserved vote of thanks for a very informative and interesting talk.