David Robertson

David Robertson was served a summons on 28th January 1885 by Sergeant William Johnston for the crime of contravention of the Tweed Fisheries Amendment Act 1859, and was expected to appear in court on 5th February of that year. This Act amended the legal annual close times for catching salmon that had previously been established by the Tweed Fisheries Act of 1857, meaning that it was against the law to catch salmon in the River Tweed within these close times.

In court, Superintendent Garden said that he met Robertson at the foot of Chapel Street on 26th December 1884 carrying a bag. When Garden asked Robertson what was in his bag, he told him it was a salmon and then promptly gave up the fish, which appeared to have been freshly killed. David Robertson was fined 10s, with 12s 3d costs, or 14 days in prison for his crime of unlawful possession of a salmon during close time. 

An article from the Berwick Advertiser from 13th February 1885 details David Robertson appealing for a pedlar’s license (a permit that allows you to sell goods on foot, often travelling door-to-door), but due to a conviction at Duns for larceny, he was not initially able to get the certificate. He was, however, granted the license after having the opportunity to appeal to the bench. This case and its mention of larceny, especially taking place so soon after his illegal salmon fishing, suggests David Robertson perhaps had a tendency toward crime.