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Q is for Quarter Days

20/4/2016

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Quarter days are the four days used to mark the four quarters of the year. Scottish quarter days, also known as term days, have always been different from English or Irish quarter days. They originally occurred on holy days, although they have now been fixed by the Term and Quarter Days (Scotland) Act 1990 on the 28th days of February, May, August and November.

Historically, the quarter days were used for hiring fairs (to hire farm servants), rental contracts, the payment dates for rent, loan interest and salaries and stipends. As such, their names appear in all sorts of historic records, in which the writers and the intended readers would know exactly what they meant. As a modern researcher, it’s therefore very useful to know what they were.

The four quarter days traditionally were:

Candlemas
Candlemas fell on February 2. It marked the Feast of the Presentation, marking the occasion when Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth. In pre-Reformation Scotland, the feast was marked by candlelit processions by mothers who had given birth the previous year. The term is still used today by among others the University of St Andrews, as the name of one of the semesters. It coincides with the Celtic celebration of Imbolc.

Whitsunday
Whitsun fell on May 15 under the Gregorian Calendar (May 26 under the Julian Calendar before 1599). It commemorates the giving of the law to Moses at Sinai. In respect to genealogy, valuation rolls were in force from Whitsun to the day before the following Whitsun. Whitsun also often coincided with the celebration of the spring communion.

Lammas
The name Lammas comes from the Anglo-Saxon half-mas, or loaf-mass. It is celebrated on August 1, and marks the first fruits of harvest. It coincides with the Gaelic festival of Lunastal, when in the Highlands it was traditional to make a special cake known as a lunastain. It appears in a celebrated ballad, The Battle of Otterburn, of which the opening verse is:
It fell about the Lammas tide,
When the muir-men win their hay,
The doughty Earl of Douglas rode
Into England, to catch a prey.
The name is still used in the context of the Lammas Market, held in St Andrews in Fife in August every year, and purportedly the oldest surviving street market in Scotland.

Martinmas
Martinmas was November 11. It was originally the feast held to commemorate Martin of Tours, a celebrated 4th century bishop and hermit. St Ninian, an important figure in the Christianisation of Scotland often overshadowed by the better-known St Columba, studied at Marmoûtiers, St Martin’s monastery, and he dedicated one of the earliest churches in Scotland to St Martin. Martinmas is still used as the name of the winter semester at the University of St Andrews, and was historically used by the other ancient universities of Scotland (Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh). The date is of course now better known as Remembrance Day, marking the end of the First World War.
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History talks and events 25 April - 1 May 2016

19/4/2016

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Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 25 April - 1 May 2016

Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list.

Monday, April 25 2016, 7.30 pm

Planned villages in Perthshire and Angus

Dr Douglas Lockhart (SLHF)

Venue: Chapelhill Hall

West Stormont Historical Society

Non-members: adults £3, concessions £2. (Open discussion meetings at Luncarty are free)


Monday, April 25 2016, 7.30 pm

TBC

David Smith, Archivist, William Patrick Library

Venue: Caldwell Halls, 16 Campsie Road, Torrance, G64 4BN

Torrance Heritage and History Group


Wednesday, April 27 2016, 7.30 pm

The Home Front in World War I: its impact on Local Communities

Ken Nisbet

Venue: Highland Archive Centre, Bught Park, Inverness

Highland Family History Society


Thursday, April 28 2016, 7.30 pm

Scottish Silver and Jewellery

Gordon Foster

Venue: Smith Museum and Art Gallery

Stirling Local History Society

Preceded by AGM


Thursday, April 28 2016, 7.30 pm

Stories from the Courts

Brian Adair

Venue: Glen Halls, Neilston

Barrhead & Neilston Historical Association


Thursday, April 28 2016, 7.45 pm

Members' night and AGM

Venue: Drymen Village Hall, Main Street, Drymen, Glasgow, G63 0BP

Drymen & District Local History Society

Short talks by members of the Society with wine and cheese followed by our short AGM.


Thursday, April 28 2016, 8 pm

Life of Florence Nightingale

Barbara Graham

Venue: Chapel Hall, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, 2 Crummock Street, Beith, Ayrshire

Beith Historical Society

Followed by AGM


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P is for Poor Law, paupers and payments

19/4/2016

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In January 1843, the Conservative government under Sir Robert Peel established a Commission of Enquiry to study the Scottish system of poor relief. There had been growing concerns about the effectiveness of poor relief in Scotland, which at the time was in the hands of the Kirk Sessions of the Church of Scotland. A few months after the Commission was set up, the Church of Scotland split in the Disruption, with around 40% of ministers leaving to form the Free Church. This further eroded the position of the Church of Scotland, and made substantive reform inevitable.
​
The earliest record of poor law in Scotland dates back to 1425 (not 1424 as is sometimes incorrectly stated). Those aged between 14 and 70 who were able to earn a living themselves were forbidden from begging, on pain of branding for a first offence and execution for a second offence:
Of thygaris nocht to be thollyt
Alsua it is ordanyt that na thigar be thollyt to thyg nor bege nothir in burghe nor to lande betuix xiiij and iij score [and ten] of yheris of age bot thai be seyne be the consall of the toune or of the cuntre at thai may nocht vyne thar leyffing othir vays. And thai that sa beis fundin sall have a takin to land of the schera and in bwrowis off the aldirmen and baylyheis, and that undir the payn of birnynge on the cheyk and bannyssing of the cuntre.

Translation:
Of beggars not to be suffered
Also it is ordained that no beggar be suffered to thig or beg either in burghs or in the land between fourteen and seventy years of age, unless it is seen by the council of the town that they cannot make their living in other ways. And they that are so found shall have a token from the sheriff in the land, and from the aldermen and bailies in the burghs, and that under pain of burning on the cheek and banishing from the country.
[The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2016), 1425/3/22. Date accessed: 17 April 2016.]
Three years later, the king decreed that officials who failed to implement this act would be fined.

In 1535, the system was further formalised. Poor relief was only to be granted to individuals in their parish of birth, and the “headmen” of each parish were to award tokens to eligible paupers, thereby introducing the concept of a licensed beggar. People caught begging outside of their parish of birth were subject to the same harsh penalties as before.
​
An Act for punishment of the strong and idle beggars and relief of the poor and impotent was passed in 1579. This established the basic system of poor relief which was to continue for hundreds of years.
Sic as makis thame selffis fuilis and ar bairdis or utheris siclike rynnaris about, being apprehendit, salbe put in the kingis waird and yrnis salang as they have ony guidis of thair awin to leif on
[​RPS, 1579/10/27]
​If they had no means of sustenance, their ears were to be nailed to the tron or any other tree, and they were then to be banished. The penalty for repeat offenders was death. As for able-bodied beggars:
​all personis being abone the aige of xiiij and within the aige of lxx yeiris that heirefter ar declarit and sett furth be this act and ordour to be vagabundis, strang and ydle beggaris, quhilkis salhappyne at ony tyme heirefter, efter the first day of Januar nixtocum, to be takin wandering and misordering thame selffis contrarie to the effect and meaning of thir presentis salbe apprehendit; and upoun thair apprehensioun be brocht befoir the provest and baillies within burgh, and in every parochyne to landwart befoir him that salbe constitutit justice be the kingis commissioun or be the lordis of regalities within the samyne to this effect, and be thame to be committit in waird in the commoun presoun, stokkis or irnis within thair jurisdictioun, thair to be keipit unlettin to libertie or upoun band or souirtie quhill thai be put to the knawlege of ane assyse, quhilk salbe done within sex dayis thairefter. And gif they happyne to be convict, to be adjuget to be scurget and brunt throw the ear with ane hett yrne
[​RPS, 1579/10/27]
​So “strong and idle” beggars were to be captured, imprisoned or put in stocks or irons, and brought before a court within 6 days. Upon conviction, they were to be burnt through the ear with a hot iron. The law puts in this caveat:
exceptit sum honest and responsall man will, of his charitie, be contentit then presentlie to act him self befoir the juge to tak and keip the offendour in his service for ane haill yeir nixt following, undir the pane of xx libris to the use of the puyr of the toun or parochyne, and to bring the offendour to the heid court of the jurisdictioun at the yeiris end, or then gude pruif of his death, the clerk taking for the said act xij d. onlie. And gif the offendour depart and leif the service within the yeir aganis his will that ressavis him in service, then being apprehendit, he salbe of new presentit to the juge and be him commandit to be scurgit and brunt throw the ear as is befoirsaid; quhilk punishment, being anys ressavit, he sall not suffer the lyk agane for the space of lx dayis thairefter, bot gif at the end of the saidis lx dayis he be found to be fallin agane in his ydill and vagabund trade of lyf, then, being apprehendit of new, he salbe adjuget and suffer the panes of deid as a theif.
​[​RPS, 1579/10/27]
In other words, the convicted idle beggar would be spared this punishment if someone offered him a job for a year. If he were to leave such employment without his master’s approval, he would be burned through the ear, but if convicted a second time, he would be put to death as a thief.
​
The law then moves on to detail who should be subject to punishment. Not just beggars, per se, but also:
all ydle personis ganging about in ony cuntrie of this realme using subtill, crafty and unlauchfull playis, as juglarie fast and lowis, and sic utheris, the idle people calling thame selffis Egyptianis, or ony utheris that fenyeis thame selffis to have knawlege of prophecie, charmeing or utheris abusit sciences, quhairby they persuaid the people that they can tell thair weardis deathis and fortunes and sic uther fantasticall imaginationes
​​[​RPS, 1579/10/27]
​So people claiming to use witchcraft, self-styled “Egyptians” (i.e. Gypsies or Romanies), those claiming to have the gift of prophecy, charms, or fotune-telling. Other people to be punished include those with no visible means of support, minstrels, singers and storytellers not officially approved, labourers who have left their masters, those carrying forged begging licences, those claiming to be itinerant scholars, and those claiming to have been shipwrecked without affidavits:
​utheris nouthir having land nor maister, nor useing ony lauchfull merchandice, craft or occupatioun quhairby they may wyn thair leavingis, and can gif na rekning how they lauchfullie get thair leving, and all menstrallis, sangstaris and tailtellaris not avowit in speciall service be sum of the lordis of parliament or greit barronis or be the heid burrowis and cieties for thair commoun menstralis, all commoun lauboraris, being personis able in body, leving ydillie and fleing laubour, all counterfaittaris of licences to beg, or useing the same knawing thame to be counterfaittit, all vagabund scolaris of the universities of Sanctandrois, Glasgw and Abirdene not licencit be the rectour and deane of facultie of the universitie to ask almous, all schipmene and marinaris allegeing thame selffis to be schipbrokin, without they have sufficient testimoniallis
​​[​RPS, 1579/10/27]
Those hindering the implementation of the law would be subject to the same penalties. Having established the penalties, the Act requires all poor people to return to their parish of birth or habitual residence within 40 days of this act. Parishes were to be responsible for supporting their native-born paupers or those who had been habitually resident there for seven years, and were to draw up rolls of the poor. Aged paupers could be put to work, and punished if they refused. Children of beggars aged between 5 and 14 could be taken into service until the age of 24 for boys or 18 for girls, and could be punished if they absconded.

An Act of 1597 on “Strang beggaris, vagaboundis and Egiptians” explicitly transferred responsibility for poor relief to Kirk Sessions. The 1649 Act anent the poore introduced a stent or assessment on the heritors of each parish to pay for poor relief.

The 1672 Act for establishing correction-houses for idle beggars and vagabonds ordered the opening of 
correction-houses for receaving and intertaining of the beggars, vagabonds and idle persones within their burghs, and such as shall be sent to them out of the shires and bounds aftir specified
in Edinburgh, Haddington, Duns, Jedburgh, Selkirk, Peebles, Glasgow, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Ayr, Dumbarton, Rothesay, Paisley, Stirling, Culross, Perth, Montrose, Aberdeen, Inverness, Elgin, Inveraray, St Andrews, Cupar, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, Banff, Dundee, Dornoch, Wick and Kirkwall.

By the time the Commission of Enquiry was set up, it was clear that provision was inadequate. The Commission’s exhaustive report (nearly 6000 pages in total, including evidence; even the index is 300 pages long!) made a series of recommendations:
  • Establishing a Board of Supervision to monitor implementation of the Act
  • Appointing a Parochial Board in all 880 parishes, with responsibility for implementing the Act, and deciding whether to raise funds voluntarily or through a compulsory assessment
  • Each Parochial Board would appoint an Inspector of the Poor to examine all applications for relief
  • Poor relief should be limited to the sick or destitute, and should not be given to the able-bodied poor
  • Parishes could combine to form Combinations to administer relief
  • Poorhouses could be founded by parishes or combinations of parishes with a population of more than 5,000
These recommendations were enacted by the 1845 Act for The Amendment and better Administration of the Laws Relating to the relief of the Poor in Scotland, ​more commonly known as the Poor Law (Scotland) Act. From this point on, poor relief was at least theoretically in the hands of civic rather than ecclesiastical authorities. However, Section 22 of the 1845 Act stipulated that:
​in every such Parish as aforesaid in which the Funds requisite for the Relief of the Poor shall be provided without Assessment the Parochial Board shall consist of the Persons who, if this Act had not been passed, would have been entitled to administer the Laws for the Relief of the Poor in such Parish; and in every such Parish as aforesaid in which it shall have been resolved, as herein-after provided, to raise the Funds requisite for the Relief of the Poor by Assessment, the Parochial Board shall consist of the Owners of Lands and Heritages of the yearly Value of Twenty Pounds and upwards, and of the Provost and Bailies of any Royal Burgh, if any, in such Parish, and of the Kirk Session of such Parish, and of such Number of elected Members, to be elected in manner after mentioned, as shall be fixed by the Board of Supervision
This meant that where a mandatory assessment was used to raise funds for poor relief, the Kirk Session no longer controlled the system, although it was still entitled to appoint up to six members of the Parochial Board. When the Act entered into force, 230 of 880 parishes were subject to statutory assessment. Within a year, that almost doubled to 448 (compared to 432 using voluntary contributions). By 1853, 680 parishes were using statutory assessments, compared to just 202 relying on voluntary contributions. The number of parishes relying on voluntary contributions continued to decline steadily, with only 108 doing so in 1865, and just 51 by 1890.

For genealogists, the implications are clear: after 1845, records of the poor will mostly be found among local government records, mostly held in local council archives around the country. That said, there are significant post-1845 poor records found among the Kirk Session records, not least because as we have seen, in many cases responsibility for poor relief remained with Kirk Sessions long after the Poor Law was enacted.

However, the records of the Board of Supervision, being a national body, are held at the National Records of Scotland. One of the responsibilities of the Board of Supervision was to hear appeals against inadequate relief. These appeals are an excellent source for family history – they will tell you much about the individuals, as well as their families. They often include medical reports, information on the earnings of applicants and their families, names and details of children and the like.

Before 1845, records of poor relief are more often with Kirk Session records. We saw in a previous post how it was possible to trace individual paupers in for instance Kirk Session accounts and other church records. Some of these records can provide excellent detail - we've seen examples of church poor relief records giving names, relationships, occupations, details of payment in kind, poor children being lodged out with other families and so on. They can be therefore be an excellent source for family historians, and should not be neglected.

We are currently working on a national index to a particular set of Poor Law records from 1845 to 1894, which we plan to release later this year.
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O is for Obituaries and old age

18/4/2016

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Two days ago, I wrote about death (in the guise of mortcloths), and yesterday's blog was about newspapers. So I thought I'd continue with a morbid approach to blogging by writing about obituaries. Obituaries have a long tradition, and most newspapers have at the very least carried what is often jocularly referred to as Hatches, matches and dispatches (Births, marriages and deaths).

In historic Scottish newspapers, these notices are usually fairly brief, and generally only mention the great and the good - either national figures, or prominent local figures. Ordinary people usually didn't get a look in. One instance in which ordinary people would be mentioned was if they lived to a ripe old age. Even today, centenarians are relatively uncommon, but in the 19th century, they were sufficiently rare as to be reported in newspapers often far removed from where they lived.

Our first centenarian is Isobel Taylor or Alice/Ellis, whose death was reported in 1818:
Died in Old Assembly Close on 23d ult, Mrs Isobel Taylor, aged 105. She was born in the parish of Crieff, county of Perth, on the 4th of March 1713, in the reign of Queen Anne. Her memory remained nearly unimpaired, and she would converse on the events of 100 years since, with surprising correctness. Her hearing and sight were good to the last day of her life, and her recollection continued till within an hour of her death.

​Aberdeen Journal, 6 May 1818 p. 4
Old Widow Ellis was a well-known figure in Edinburgh, sufficiently so that the celebrated caricaturist John Kay (about whom we've written before) produced a caricature of her:
Picture
Old Widow Ellis
This print was taken from a painting by Mr William Donaldson of this city, by whom it was exhibited and sold to the late Earl of Buchan. From a card, in the hand-writing of his lordship, we observe in addition to the information conveyed by the inscription on the Engraving, that Widow Ellis was married in 1745 to Francis Ellis, shoemaker in Keltie, Kinross-shire, who died next year of an iliac passion.

At the time the portrait was executed (December 1816), Widow Ellis lived in Rose Street, where she had resided for many years. The particulars of her life are few and uninteresting. She was a sensible, shrewd person; had been active in her youth, and retained even in old age an unusual degree of freshness and vigour.

​Kay, John. A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings. Edinburgh, 1877. New Edition. p. 154
Our next centenarian, Thomas Adamson, was a weaver from Pittenweem. Unsurprisingly, his death was reported in the Fife newspapers:
​Pittenweem. Longevity. Thomas Adamson, weaver in Pittenweem, died on Saturday week at the advanced age of one hundred years, five months, and two days; having been born on the 1st of May 1746. Throughout the whole course of his lengthened pilgrimage, Thomas was never peculiarly distinguished as an instrument by whom the simple denizens of earth were excited to wonder or admiration. In the literary world, he was only characterised by the “noiseless tenor of his way”. In the commercial world, by means of his industrial apparatus, he made as much noise as any other wabster of the last century. In the political world, he was merely a silent observer of the election hubbubs, for which his burgh was so eminently distinguished in days of yore, having never been invested with the franchise, either under the old or new system. In the religious department of society, he created considerable stir and noise, having for many long years occupied the precentor’s desk in the Old Kirk, where he conducted the sacred music, and gave the people line upon line according to the fashion of the good old time. In this he always aided the devotion of the sincere, and sometimes supplied fuel to the fire of waggery that through all ages has been found smouldering even in the kirk itself. Through all the vissicitudes [sic] of the commercial horizon to which this nation has been subjected, Thomas managed to rear a numerous family, and keep himself beyond the pale of starvation by tossing the shuttle, harmonising the kirk, and polishing the cheeks and chins of his fellow mortals who could not perform that duty for themselves. Being a member of a respectable society in Pittenweem, called the Trades’ Box, he in his latter years derived much benefit from the funds thereof, when the infirmities of age began to cramp his energies. We are not aware, now that Thomas has departed from the stage of time, that he has left his equal in age on this coast.
Fife Herald 15 October 1846 p. 3
His death was also reported further afield in Dundee:
​Death of Thomas Adamson, the patriarch of Pittenweem - This event took place on Saturday morning last, October 3, at ten o'clock. He was born on the 1st of May, 1746, and on the 1st of May last, had completed the extraordinary long life of one hundred years. Mr Adamson was a weaver, and continued to ply the shuttle until within a very few years back. He was what most long livers are, an early riser; six o'clock scarcely ever found him in bed; he was generally up and at work by five. He had a strong clear voice, and was for many years precentor in the parish church. He had a perfect recollection of seeing Paul Jones sail past Pittenweem, on his way to Leith, about 70 years ago, and of the tempest which providentially arose and drove the pirate out of the Firth. He never was what may be called really sick, and never complained of a head-ache. For the last six months he was confined to bed, but felt no pain or sickness. He retained his senses to nearly the last day of his life, and during harvest he was every day inquiring about how far the different farmers had got in their crops. The failure in the potato crop gave him much uneasiness. During the whole of his long life, he was only three weeks absent from Pittenweem. His fortune was not chequered with ups and downs; he always continued to plod away at work. Perhaps the most remarkable event in his whole life was the meeting which was held in the Town Hall on the 1st of May last, in commemoration of his having on that day completed his hundredth year. His body was laid in Pittenweem Church-yard on Wednesday last, and the attendance at his funeral was numerous and respectable.
Dundee Courier 20 October 1846
The Dundee obituary adds a few more details, such as his recollection of seeing John Paul Jones and his flotilla in the Firth of Forth (this would have been in August 1779), and the fact that he'd only spent three weeks out of Pittenweem in his entire life. This obituary - possibly reprinted from one of the other Fife papers - was reproduced more or less verbatim in M F Conolly's Supplement to his Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Men of Fife some twenty years later.

Our third centenarian was the daughter of a soldier, apparently born in Edinburgh Castle. Her death was reported in Dumfries, where she'd lived most of her life:
At Maxwelltown, on the night of Sabbath last, Catherine M’Donald or Hutchison, at the extraordinary age of one hundred and four years. She was born in the castle of Edinburgh early in the ’45, a year memorable for the last attempt of the Stuart family to regain the throne which they had so long tilled. Her father, a private soldier, was stationed in the garrison at the time, and being ordered to repair to Dumfries, brought his daughter along with him. Soon after her father obtained his discharge, and with his wife and child settled in the Brig-end, and thus became one of the early colonists of the now thriving burgh of Maxwelltown. Here Catherine, best known as Mattie Hutchison, resided as girl, wife, and widow, for a hundred and three years, during which she lived under seven British Sovereigns. Through her long life she conducted herself with propriety, and showed great respect for the ordinances of religion. She was somewhat eccentric in her manners, and her dress to the last was of the primitive cut, fashionable eighty or ninety years ago. She was a little deaf, but with this exception, retained the full use of her faculties up till the day of her death. She was a widow for thirty years, and had one son, who died a few years before her. Latterly she was partly dependent for her support upon parish aid, but the path of life’s decline was smoothed by the benevolence of several charitable ladies, who were very attentive to the grateful centenarian.

​Dumfries and Galloway Standard 24 May 1848 p. 4
Once again, her age was considered sufficiently newsworthy to be reported further afield, this time in Dundee:
Death of a centenarian - On Sunday night last, Catherine M'Donald or Hutchison, residing in Corbelly Hill, Maxwelltown, departed this life, in the one hundred and fourth year of her age. She was born in Edinburgh Castle in the early part of 1745, when her father, a private soldier, was stationed with his regiment. Part of the force was ordered to Dumfries at the time of its occupation by Prince Charles Stuart in the ill-fated rebellion of the '45. Catherine, then a child at the breast, was brought by her parents to this town, and her father, having obtained his discharge, settled at the Brig-end, in which, now become the burgh of Maxwelltown, she has resided, girl and woman, for fully one hundred and three years. She wore her dress in the same fashion which prevailed when she was a young woman, and indeed, in all things was a thorough Conservative. With the exception of a slight deafness she preserved her faculties unclouded to the very last. Dumfries Herald.
Reprinted in the Dundee Courier 14 Jun 1848
Catherine appears to have had two children with her husband William Hutchison - Martha baptised 8 August 1784, and Thomas baptised 2 July 1787, both in Troqueer parish. The first obituary suggested she had been at least partly dependent on support from the parish. A quick look at the 1841 census for Troqueer shows Catherine living at Corberry Hill aged 100, where she is described as a pauper.

​Records of some of the payments from the parish that Catherine received are recorded in the Troqueer Kirk Session Accounts (NRS Reference CH2/1036/20):
Date Name Amount Page
Feb 3 1817 Widow Hutcheson 4s 68
May 1 1817 Widow Hutcheson 4s 70
Aug 4 1817 Widow Hutcheson 4s 73
Nov 9 1817 Widow Hutcheson 6s 75
Jan 4 1818 Widow Hutcheson 5s 77
Feb 2 1818 Widow Hutcheson 8s 79
May 4 1818 Widow Hutcheson 7s 82
Aug 3 1818 Widow Hutcheson 8s 85
Aug 6 1821 Widow Hutcheson 5s 125
Feb 4 1822 Widow Hutcheson 6s 134
Apr 29 1822 Widow Hutcheson 5s 137
Aug 5 1822 Widow Hutcheson 5s 140
Nov 2 1822 Widow Hutcheson 5s 144
Dec 30 1822 Widow Hutcheson 4s 147
Feb 3 1823 Widow Hutcheson 5s 150
May 2 1823 Widow Hutcheson 5s 153
Our final centenarian was evidently another local character in Edinburgh. His death was recorded in the Caledonian Mercury:
On the 16th current, in the Old Fleshmarket Close, Canongate, William Wilson, commonly called Mortar Willie, at the advanced age of 106 years. He was taken from the plough in the rebellion of 1745, to serve in the Royal army, where he remained for several years. After being on the Continent he came home to this country, where he has since been employed in the capacity of druggist-man, 40 years of that time in this town. He has left an infirm old widow, aged 73, to whom he has been married 50 years, in very poor circumstances.

​Caledonian Mercury, 31 July 1815 p. 3
Mortar Willie's death was widely reported - in the Scots Magazine, in The Examiner, printed in London, and even in the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser on August 10. He was also described in Kay's Portraits:
William Wilson, or Mortar Willie
This venerable personage was a native of Perthshire, and born in 1709, to use his own words, “within a bow shot of Castle Huntly”, parish of Longforgan. The first thirty years of his life were devoted to agricultural employment. He then enlisted, fought against the Pretender, and afterwards served for nineteen years in the army – the greater portion of which was spent in the German and American wars. (1) After obtaining his discharge, he wrought for nearly twenty years in a bark mill in the neighbourhood of London.

About 1778 he returned to his native country, and settling in Edinburgh, found employment in the capacity described in the Print. He was a long time in the establishment of Dr Burt of this city, who generously continued to pay him his usual allowance of two shillings daily for his labour, after he had attained the long age of a hundred years, and although unable to work more than a small portion of the day. Willie was gratefully sensible of the Doctor’s kindness in this respect – “Eh, man,” he would remark, on occasions when he had done little, “ye’ve got a bad bargain the day.” He was remarkably honest and attentive. He occasionally nursed the children; and as he sat by the fire, used to tell them amusing stories. He always rose about four in the morning; and, at this early hour, seldom failed to rouse the domestics of his employer, in order to gain admission to the laboratory. He lived in the Old Hard-Well Close, Canongate, where he died on the 16th July 1815, in the hundred and sixth year of his age. It is supposed that, but for a hurt he received by a fall, he might have lived several years longer. He left an infirm old widow, aged seventy-three, in very poor circumstances, to whom he had been married fifty years.

(1) He was for many years servant to Lord John Murray, eldest son of the Duke of Atholl, who in 1745 was appointed Colonel of the 42d Highlanders, and fought at the battle of Fontenoy.
(2) He had previously been in the employ of Mrs Macdonald, who kept a laboratory shop in the Lawnmarket, with whom Dr Burt served his apprenticeship, and to whose business he afterwards succeeded. Indeed the labours of Mortar Willie were not confined to one or two employers, his important services having been rendered, at various periods, to almost every drug establishment of any extent in town.

​​Kay, John. A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings. Edinburgh, 1877. New Edition. p. 101
Picture
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N is for newspapers

16/4/2016

4 Comments

 
Strictly speaking, there is a difference between genealogy and family history. Genealogy is the study of ancestry, of biological relationships. Family history on the other hand is about people, and their stories. One of the best sources for family history stories is historical newspapers.

The first newspaper is generally considered to be the Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien produced in Strasbourg in 1605. It was another 55 years before the appearance of the first Scottish newspaper, the Mercurius Caledonius, although it only ran for 12 issues before closing in 1661. Newspaper production really took off in Scotland in the 18th century with the first appearance of the Edinburgh Courant in February 1705. Newspapers have continued in Scotland since then.

The oldest daily newspaper in Scotland still in print is the Press and Journal, originally published as a weekly newspaper under the name of the Aberdeen Journal in 1748. The name is perhaps slightly misleading, as it always covered national and international news, albeit with a strong local element. While newspapers may sometimes be useful for genealogy, they are often much more useful for family history.

In the Aberdeen Journal of 21 July 1800 is the following short, but horrific, story:
​We hear from Buchan, that on Sunday the 29th ult. Margaret Keith, in Auchtydonald, was barbarously murdered. She was seen that morning with a man to whom she was supposed with child, who decoyed her to the river Ugie, and threw her in. she was scrambling to the other side, when the villain went across by a small bridge a little higher up, and ere she could reach the brink, he knocked her on the head by repeated blows of a bludgeon, when she sunk and perished. The murderer immediately absconded.
[Aberdeen Journal 21 July 1800, p. 4]
The next issue of the Journal contained the following, to modern readers rather bizarre, poem, entitled "​On the melancholy death of Margaret Keith, a widow in Auchtydonald in the parish of Longside, who was barbarously murdered on Sunday, 29th June, 1800"
​O’er scenes of woe, where common griefs prevail
Where pity melts at sorrow’s mournful tale
Death’s solemn call in peaceful hope obey’d
No law transfress’d, no innocence betray’d
Oft has the muse pour’d forth her doleful lay
And wept the just effects of Heaven’s dread sway.
And shall no muse be found to wield the rod
And vindicate the injured laws of God?
No friend of truth to scan the murd’rous mind
And rouse the virtuous feelings of manking?
O say, thou impious wretch! What fiend posses’d?
What dire delusion steel’d thy hard’n’d breast?
Hadst thou no fear of God, no fell remorse
No dread of angry Heaven’s avenging curse?
No thought of that blest day – the first of seven
Ordain’d to life the souls of men to heaven?
Could nought awake thee, nought make thee relent
Or lay aside thy murderous intent?
No – nought avail’d, thy hardy soul enchain’d
Fix’d in its purpose to the last remain’d.
That sacred day, when mortals find release
And leave their toils to seek th’ Almighty’s peace
On that blest day the impious deed was done;
No covert sought, but brav’d the mid-day sun;
When all the neighbours to God’s house repair
And pour out all their souls in fervent prayer;
In pious adoration bend the knee
And leave the world to Satan and to thee.
Methinks I see thee bold, yet still afraid
Through all thy mien, thy purposes betray’d:
Now hurrying rapid on, now moving slow
As thy just fears impel thy feet to go;
On ev’ry hand thy guilt creates a spy
And dread detection trembles in each eye;
Till all the threat’ning ddangers having pass’d
And all thy guilty fears dismiss’d at last
Th’ infernal worker gives the needful aid
And crowns th’ intent his own devices laid.
But see the guileless object of thy hate
The hapless victim of a dreadful fate!
See her advance in homely, trustie guise
Thoughtless of aught thy malice might devise;
Perhaps deluded by some tale of love
Perhaps some proffer’d marriage vow to prove;
Mean was the conquest o’er such poor defence;
Unguarded, easy, heedless, see her come
With careless step, to meet her certain doom.
Perhaps no time allow’d, no respite given
No power to use the trembling lungs beneath
See her resisting, struggling hard for breath
And striving oft to shun the double death;
Till faint and languid in th’ unequal strife
She courts thy strangling grasp, scarce feeling life
And from that fatal brink where late she stood
Is thrown resistless sinking in the flood.
Yet she revives, and panting seeks the shore
And rears her head, thy mercy to implore;
Mercy, a boon thy ruthless soul deny’d.
Again, she plunges in th’ o’erwhelming tide.
Thy ready bludgeon ply’d with brutal force
In deepest gulph to sink the hated corse.
But say, what first impell’d thee? What the train
That brough thee under this relentless chain?
Where was thy manhood, where thy better sense
What the temptation to this foul offence?
Thy feelings though couldst not at once forego
And be the thoughtless worker of such woe.
No – thou hadst motives, motives worth such fruit
Motives, of all our ills the baneful root;
False pride, false shame, a sordid love of self
Fear of abridging thy well hoarded self
These were thy guides, these urg’d thee to conceal
By this black deed, what time would soon reveal;
These steel’d thy breast, and in the fatal hour
Mark’d thee a proper tool for hell’s dark power;
Crush’d all thy tender feelings, left thee blind
To every nobler impulse of the mind;
To all th’ inhuman guilt, the monstrous shame
The horrid action would in end proclaim;
A woman murder’d in deliberate mood
Thy savage hands imbru’d in human blood!
No provocation given, no passion try’d
But ineffective, merk, the victim died!
A mother too! A widow! Once the ward
Of manly feeling, virtuous regard;
A widow, reft of her protector’s arm
To shield her breast from ev’ry dire alarm;
A mother torn from all her wedded joy
Two little daughters and a smiling boy;
Torn from her house, her home by guileful art
Of unprepared for death to feel the smart;
Sent to her last account in trembling dread
With all her imperfections on her head.
Here, let us pause, and drop a silent tear
O’er this poor widow’s sad untimely bier
And hope, that mercy she from God will gain
Which, from relentless man, she fought in vain.
Her infants, may th’ Almighty shield from ill
And bend their tender hearts to do his will;
Preserve them in his ways till life be o’er
Then take them to himself to die no more.
And thou, ill-fated man! Whose impious deed
Has made each heart on Ugie’s banks to bleed;
If doom’d a wanderer o’er the world to roam
And ne’er in peace to hail thy native home
Thy greatest, only curse, O! May it be
In blackest dye thy heinous guilt to see;
The pangs of deep remorse still mayst thou know
And let thy conscience be thy greatest foe;
That, if no earthly doom thy crimes await
Thou may’st in wringing sorrow expiate;
With contrite heart thy Savior’s wrath remove
And flee the vengeful judgment from above.
And let the tale to youth this rule convey
To shun th’ approach of sin’s imperious sway.
From flight beginnings, mighty crimes arise
And little faults indulg’d, inure to vice;
The lesser sins, the greater always claim
To ease the anguish, and to hide the shame.
This awful truth the horrid tale declares
And youthful minds for wisdom’s paths prepares
Shewing in sin the progress of disgrace
And of forbidden roads the rapid downward pace.
[Aberdeen Journal 28 July 1800 p. 2]
Newspapers not infrequently published poems from their readers, although this particular example is longer and a little more morbid than most. But as well as news, newspapers carried adverts to cover their costs. The next issue of the Aberdeen Journal carried the following:
​A Reward Offered
Whereas, upon Sunday the 29th day of June last, Margaret Keith, in Auchtydonald, was barbarously assaulted and drowned in the Water of Ugie, where her body was afterwards found – and whereas, there is the strongest reason to suspect, from some investigation already made, that this most atrocious deed was committed by JAMES CARLE, in Auchtydonald, who has absconded and fled from justice; these are offering a REWARD of TEN GUINEAS, to be paid by Chares Keith, in Pitcow of Kininmonth, to any person who will give such information to William Burnett, advocate in Aberdeen, procurator fiscal for the county, as may enable him to cause apprehend and incarcerate the said James Carle in the tolbooth of Aberdeen – or to any person whatever, who will procure the said James Carle to be confined within any jail in Scotland, upon intimation thereof being given to the said William Burnett.

​The said JAMES CARLE is by trade a weaver, aged 30 years or thereby, about 5 feet 8 inches high, stout made, has duskish hair, grey eyes, a sour look, and a swelling on one side of his neck. He left the part of the country where he resided, upon the 3d day of July last, and is said to have passed through the town of Aberdeen. He usually wore, when dressed, a dark green coat and a hat.
August 2, 1800.
[Aberdeen Journal 4 August 1800 p. 1]
Clearly the advert had the desired effect, because 4 weeks later, we can read the following:
Aberdeen
On Wednesday last, James Carle, who was lately advertised on suspicion of the murder of Margaret Keith, Auchtydonald, was brought into prison here.
[Aberdeen Journal 1 September 1800 p. 4]
Three weeks later, the Journal reports - disappointingly briefly - on the trial before the Circuit Court
​Aberdeen
On Saturday morning, the Circuit Court of Justiciary was opened here by Lords Craig and Armadale, with the trial of James Carle, accused of the murder of Margaret Keith in Achtydonald. The trial lasted till near 7 in the evening, when the jury inclosed, and are to return their verdict this morning at ten o’clock.
[Aberdeen Journal 22 September 1800 p. 4]
The next issue is even more sparing with regards to the verdict:
Aberdeen
On Monday Morning, the Circuit Court received the verdict of the jury, on James Carl, unanimously finding the libel not proven, on which he was dismissed from the bar.
[Aberdeen Journal 29 September 1800 p. 4]
The same issue also includes an appeal for the three orphan children of the victim, Margaret Keith.
​It having been suggested, that a small fund should be established for the future support of the THREE ORPHAN CHILDREN of the late Margaret Keith, in Auchtydonald, who was recently found murdered in the Water of Ugie – the smallest sum, for this purpose, will be thankfully received at Mr Ewen’s, Castlestreet.
[Aberdeen Journal 29 September 1800 p. 4]
We have some more details of the case, courtesy of James Bruce in his Black Kalendar of Aberdeen published in 1840:
​James Carle
On a Sunday morning, towards the end of June, another barbarous murder, equalling in atrocity that of Elspet Imlach, was committed at Auchtydonald, in Banffshire. Margaret Keith, a widow, living there with her children, had been courted by a man called James Carle, a weaver, to whom, at the time, she was supposed to be with child. Her body was found in the river Ugie. She had been decoyed out of her house on that Sunday morning, and had walked with Carle to the banks of the river, when he seized her, and threw her into the water. The poor creature contrived to scramble to the other bank, when her inhuman murderer seeing her likely to escape, ran up the side of the water, and having crossed it by a bridge, came again on his victim, and, as she was struggling in the water, gave her several blows on the head till she sunk and perished. Carle absconded, but in July following, he was committed to jail in Aberdeen on suspicion of the murder, and was tried at the September Circuit. Mr Gordon of Craig was counsel for the prisoner. We understand that Carle was not identified completely to the satisfaction of the Jury, who brought in a verdict of Not Proven. The evidence was in substance, that, on the Sunday morning, the woman was enticed out of her house by Carle; this fact was proved by the evidence of her children. Her body was afterwards found in the Ugie. A lad, who was keeping sheep on a hill, saw a man, whom he could not identify at the distance, struggling to keep something down in the water, but he did not pay much attention to this, as he thought that it was a person drowning a dog. The verdict of the Jury was unanimous, but, we believe, that it did not give satisfaction to the public at the time.
[Black Kalendar of Aberdeen, [by James Bruce]. Aberdeen, 1845. p. 182-183]
Of course not all newspaper stories will be so dramatic, or tragic. The same issue of the Aberdeen Journal that carried the long reader's poem about this terrible murder, also contained the following snippet:
Marriage – At Fintray the 21st cur. Ann Ferguson, after a courtship of ten days, presented herself before the Altar of Hymen, and gave her hand to Robert Porter. The age of this venerable and happy pair amounts to about 150 years. So large was the company who honoured them with their presence, that it was judged expedient for the clergyman to perform the ceremony in the Grand Temple of Nature. That the scene of festivity might not be too soon interrupted by Sunday, the marriage was solemnized on Monday afternoon. In the evening there was an elegant ball, attended by many Ladies of the first rank in that corner of the country. From one family were present no fewer than 30 persons. An assembly so numerous, so chearful, and so elegant, has not been remembered at Fintray for 50 years past.
[Aberdeen Journal, 28 July 1800 p. 4]
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M is for Mortcloth, Money and Morbidity

15/4/2016

8 Comments

 
As a genealogist I've long identified with Haley Joel Osment's famous line in the film The Sixth Sense: "I see dead people". To non-genealogists, family historians can sometimes seem obsessed with death. Death comes to us all, in the end, and ultimately much of genealogy involves not seeing but researching dead people. Friends and family have come to accept that I can't pass a graveyard without wanting to pop in for a quick - or not so quick - look around.

Of course, most of our ancestors are dead, and as genealogists we want to know when they met their end. In Scotland there has been a legal requirement since 1855 to register all deaths, and statutory registers of death are excellent sources for family historians. In most cases, they record the name of the deceased, their spouse(s) if any, their parents, the cause of death and so on. Before 1855, however, the records are less helpful.

There are gravestones, tangible reminders of the existence of our ancestors. Many graveyards have been recorded by enthusiasts and their inscriptions published (usually referred to as Monumental Inscriptions or MIs). More recently, the rise of digital photography has made collections of photographs of gravestones popular. But not everybody could afford a gravestone, and not all gravestones survive in a legible condition.

A few years ago, Scotland's People made available the burials recorded in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs). These are a great resource, but they are far from complete. There are some OPR burials for around two-thirds of Church of Scotland parishes, but in some cases there are very few burials recorded - there are only two for Fearn in Angus, and only nine for Galston in Ayr.

So if there is no gravestone, and no OPR burial, does that mean we can't find out when our ancestor died? Not necessarily. There is another type of record that can help: mortcloth accounts.

A mortcloth (from the Latin mors meaning death) was a ceremonial cloth draped over a coffin (or a corpse if the family could not afford a coffin) at a funeral. Most families didn't have their own mortcloths - not unreasonable when you consider that any one person only needs it once! - instead hiring them for the occasion. In burghs, the individual trades might have their own mortcloths which were lent to members for the occasion. But in most cases, mortcloths were available to hire from the Kirk Sessions.

In many cases, the Kirk Sessions owned more than one mortcloth - smaller ones for children, or more elaborate ones for a higher fee. (Even in death, not everyone was equal.) The money raised from renting out the mortcloth was generally used for poor relief, and as a result, the Sessions often kept good records of payments received. While they may not necessarily contain a great amount of detail, mortcloth accounts may be the only way to identify when an ancestor died. (See for instance Aberlady accounts 1826-1846, Forgandenny minutes 1783-1836 and Dalmeny Accounts 1736-1779.) They should however be treated with a degree of caution, as the date recorded for payment may be some time after the death and funeral. ​

We've extracted some entries from Dalmeny [NRS Reference CH2/86/8 p. 294-295] below.
Account of Mortcloth money for Dalmeny parish
Aprill 15th 1751 Thomas Ponton the best large cloath £3
26th Isabel Miller a child the best little cloath £1 16s
May 1st William Smith the best large cloath £3
25th James Livinston the best cloath £3
26th Mrs Borthwick the best large cloath £4 16s
27th Hellen Anderson the best large cloath £3
31st Mrs Wilkie the best large cloath £3
August 24th John Riddel the best little cloath £1 16s
Septr 19th Alexdr Ponton the best large cloath £3
Decr 28 James Hamilton the best large cloath £3
Janry 20th 1752 Anna Ramsy a child the best little cloath £1 16s
22d Robert Lang the best large cloath £3
Febry 1st Adam Mcauly the best large cloath £3
11th Helen Kay the best large cloath £3
28th William Broun the best large cloath £3
Idem Janet Page the Sexton's large cloath £2
Aprill 15th Christian Henderson a child the best little cloath £2 8s
26th Anna Bunton the best large cloath £3
June 15th Janet Thomson the best large cloath £3
August 15th William Hill the best large cloath £3
Octr 9th Isabel Lourie the best large cloath £3
Novr 16th Alexander Mcauly the best large cloath £3
Decr 23d Janet Bruce the second large cloath £2
23d Susan Ross the best large cloath £3
23d Walter Miller the best large cloath £3
January 22d 1753 Agnes Parish the best large cloath £3
Febry 2d Christian Riddell the best large cloath £3
3d Walter Ponton a child the best little cloath £1 16s
14th Ninian Forrest the best large cloath £3
March 13th Hugh Steuart the second little cloath £1
15th Alexander Mcally a child the best little cloath £1 16s
17th Isabell Miller a child the best little cloath £1 16s
April 3d John Mure the second large cloath £2
15th a child of John Morrisons the second little cloath £1
25th George Ponton a child the best little cloath £1 16s
May 7th Walter Gogar the best large cloath & bigg Bell £4
Octr 15 Gilbert Candlemass the best large cloath £3
Novr 21 Marjory Prap the best large cloath £3
Decr 18 William Anderson the best large cloath £3
March 30th Jean Shade the best large cloath £3
Aprill 29 a child of Thomas Anderson's the best little cloath £1 16s
April 30th James Forrest the best large cloath £3
June 11th Isobel Collin the best little cloath £1 16s
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History talks and events 18 - 24 April 2016

14/4/2016

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Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 18 - 24 April 2016

Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list.

Monday, April 18 2016, 7 pm

Ayrshire's Great War: an overview

Tom Barclay, Ayr

Venue: Newton Lounge

Cumbrae Historical Society

Followed by AGM


Monday, April 18 2016, 7.30 pm

AGM & Illustrating Glasgow

Bill Black

Venue: Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow

Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society


Monday, April 18 2016, 7-9 pm

Elsie Inglis and Birth Records

Venue: Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

Scottish Genealogy Society


Tuesday, April 19 2016, 7.30 pm

Scottish Historic Buildings

Venue: Leith Community Education Centre in the New Kirkgate

Leith Local History Society


Wednesday, April 20 2016, 2 pm

A look back at Monifieth

Venue: Monifieth Community Cabin, South Union Street, DD5 4JG

Monifieth Local History Society

Viewing of the MLHS Video filmed in 2002. Entry to talks followed by afternoon tea £4


Wednesday, April 20 2016, 6 pm

Glasgow's Architectural Legacy: Practice and Conservation

Prof Robin Webster and Andrew Wright

Venue: GCHT, 54 Bell Street, Glasgow

Glasgow City Heritage Trust

Andrew Wright OBE will be discussing the philosophy of conservation underlying work within the heritage building sector. Professor Robin Webster OBE will speak about his practice, Cameron & Webster, and how it demonstrates the application of the practice’s conservation philosophy.


Wednesday, April 20 2016, 7.30 pm

Photo Album of Falkirk

Jean Jamieson

Venue: Falkirk Old and St Modan's Parish Church

Falkirk Local History Society


Wednesday, April 20 2016, 7.30 pm

AGM

Venue: Volunteer Hall, Galashiels

Old Gala Club


Wednesday, April 20 2016, 7.30 pm

Vanished railways of West Lothian

Harry Knox

Venue: Ecclesmachan Village Hall

West Lothian History and Amenity Society


Wednesday, April 20 2016, 7.30 pm

Crimes of an Henious Nature - Looking at some High Court Trials

Margaret Fox

Venue: Selkirk Parish Church Hall

Selkirkshire Antiquarian Society


Thursday, April 21 2016, 2.30pm

Convicts and Transportation

Ken Nisbet

Venue: Moulin Hall, Moulin

North Perthshire Family History Group

£3 for visitors


Thursday, April 21 2016, 7 pm

AGM

Venue: Rothesay House, Cumnock

Cumnock History Group


Thursday, April 21 2016, 7.00 pm

From Hudson Bay to Surinam: Scots in the Americas, 1600-1707

Dr David Dobson

Venue: Sandeman Room, AK Bell Library

Friends of PKC Archives


Thursday, April 21 2016, 7.30 pm

Captain Orr – Battle of Waterloo

Lady Rosslyn MacPhail

Venue: Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley

Renfrewshire Family History Society


Thursday, April 21 2016, 7.30 pm

Campaign for Women's suffrage in the Highlands

Susan Kruse

Venue: Council Chamber, Carnegie Building, Dornoch

Dornoch Heritage Society


Thursday, April 21 2016, 7.30 pm

An East Lothian soldier of the Great War, August to October 1914

Peter Ramage

Venue: Haddington Town House

Haddington's History Society


Thursday, April 21 2016, 7.30 pm

The Reading of Brochs

John Barber, AOC Archaeology Group

Venue: Brora Community Centre

Clyne Heritage Society


Saturday, April 23 2016, 1.30 pm - 4 pm

Become An Urban Detective

Venue: Central Library, Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen AB25 1GW

Scotland's Urban Past

If you enjoy solving history mysteries, attend our workshop for Urban Detectives and discover how you can contribute to Canmore, the online catalogue of Scotland’s archaeology, buildings, industrial and maritime heritage. During the afternoon, you'll investigate the history of spaces and places through maps, historical documents, directories and online database and build your confidence in starting your own historical research. Suitable for heritage newcomers. Familiarity with the internet is required. Due to limited capacity of the venue, booking in advance is essential. Please note, a photographer may be present at Scotland's Urban Past events and the images may be used for promotional purposes.


Saturday, April 23 2016, 10 am - 12.30 pm

Exploring Archives

Venue: Aberdeen Town House, Broad Street, Aberdeen, AB11 1FY

Scotland's Urban Past

Embark on a step-by-step investigation of the architectural and social history of Aberdeen in an interactive event from Scotland's Urban Past and Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives. This guided journey through maps and historical documents will give you the skills and confidence to use archives for research purposes and gain a new understanding of Aberdeen through the years. Suitable for heritage newcomers. Booking in advance is required for this half-day workshop. Please note, a photographer may be present at Scotland's Urban Past events and the images may be used for promotional purposes.


Sunday, April 24 2016, 2.00 pm

Members' Short Talks and Questions and Answers

Venue: Corn Exchange & Ormiston Institute, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 9PN

Borders Family History Society

An opportunity for members to give a short (5 to 10 minutes) talk on a subject of their choice.


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L is for Lookups

14/4/2016

0 Comments

 
​A couple of months ago, while doing some eighteenth-century research for a client in the Carrington Kirk Session records, I came across a much later letter which had evidently been bound in with the accounts at a later date:
[Blind-stamped address]
Vogrie
Gorebridge, N[orth] B[ritain]
Aug 27th 1902

Dear Sir

I understand that a register of the Kirk discipline of Carrington is in existence dating from 1653 also Minutes of the Kirk Session of Carrington from 1695 to 1698,

I do not know whether they will be in your possession or not but if they are I should be greatly obliged if you would be so kind as to examine them & let me whether they contain any references to Dewar. My G. G. G. G. grandfather resided in the parish & his 2nd marriage is duly noted in the Register of Baptisms & Marriages under date 1658.

He died in 1699 & is buried at Carrington. The period I should like the two registers examined is from 1653 to 1699.

Very truly yours

J Cumming Dewar
​In a different hand – seemingly that of William Granville Core, minister of Carrington, who at this time was also acting as session clerk for the parish – the following two entries are extracted:
1695 Febry 10 Received from James Dewar in Capilaw & his wife being th[ei]r collection for the building of Kinkell harbour 7 shillings by reason they were not here the day if was gathered.
​
1696 April 26 This day given in by Wm Cunningham as he & Robt Tait had received it from Sir John Ramsay of Whitehill & James Dewar in Capilaw £2-10 as their collection for the harbour of Queensferrie.
This is an example of what is known in genealogy circles as a lookup – a request for somebody to inspect a particular record set and to report back any entries that match the requester’s requirements. Instances are scattered throughout the Kirk Session records. There was a particular flurry of them following the enactment of the Old Age Pensions Act 1908, which for the first time granted the right to a pension to people aged 70 and over. Claimants had to prove their age, and often this would involve the pensions committee contacting the parish of birth to request confirmation of the information provided by applicants. Diligent clerks in some parishes incorporated copies of these lookup requests into the original Kirk Session records, sometimes providing useful information about what happened to parishioners.

Occasionally you will come across a request from someone researching their ancestry. We also recently found a letter to the session clerk of Dumbarton requesting a lookup about the writer’s grandfather, who was born in 1854. The letter was sent from Tasmania in 1973 – a fantastic discovery if you happen to be researching Robert Brown Ballantyne.
​
In the modern age, however, you don’t have to find the name and address of the parish clerk, send off a speculative letter and wait for a response by post, which might never come. (It would seem Robert Brown Ballantyne’s grand-daughter may never have received a reply, as her international reply coupon is included with her letter in the Dumbarton records!). We have recently launched a service offering lookups in Kirk Session records for a very affordable price, which we are gradually rolling out across the whole of Scotland. Those parishes currently available are shown below. If you don’t see the parish you’re interested in listed, let us know and we’ll have a look for you.
Lookup parishes currently available
Parish County NRS Reference
Aberdeen St Nicholas Aberdeenshire CH2/2
Aberdour Fife CH2/3
Aberlady East Lothian CH2/4
Alford Aberdeenshire CH2/9
Alva Stirlingshire CH2/10
Alves Morayshire CH2/11
Anwoth Kirkcudbrightshire CH2/14
Arbuthnott Kincardinshire CH2/16
Athelstaneford East Lothian CH2/18
Auchtergaven Perthshire CH2/22
Ayton Berwickshire CH2/26
Beith Ayrshire CH2/31
Bolton East Lothian CH2/37
Cambusnethan Lanarkshire CH2/48
Canisbay Caithness CH2/52
Carmichael Lanarkshire CH2/57
Carmunnock Lanarkshire CH2/58
Carnock Fife CH2/59
Carriden West Lothian CH2/61
Carrington Midlothian CH2/62
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K is for Kirk Session

13/4/2016

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The Church of Scotland is a Presbyterian church. Although the term Presbyterian is now often associated with a stern, austere form of Christianity, strictly speaking the term refers to the Church's hierarchical organisational structure. The supreme body of the Church of Scotland is the General Assembly, which meets annually in Edinburgh. The next level down from the General Assembly are the Synods, which are organised on a territorial basis. Synods are further subdivided into Presbyteries (whence the word Presbyterian). Finally, presbyteries are in turn divided into parishes. The parish is the basic unit of church governance.

Each parish had its own governing body, known as the Kirk Session. Each Kirk Session was convened by a Moderator, who in practice was the parish minister. The Session also had a Session Clerk who, in addition to his (until relatively recently, all members of the Kirk Sessions were men) duties as minute taker and record keeper, also had a significant role as an intermediary between the minister and the congregation. Parish schoolmasters often served as Session Clerks to supplement their meagre teaching incomes. The other members of the Kirk Session were the elders, generally chosen by the congregation. Elders were ordained for life, or until they resigned their position (usually through ill health, but occasionally elders were effectively forced out by scandal).

Perhaps the best way to understand the role of Kirk Sessions is to consider them as a combination of court and management body. In some parishes – particularly larger urban parishes – the administrative functions of the Session were hived off to a separate management committee, responsible for such matters as maintaining the church buildings, secular business and the like. Before 1845, and to some extent afterwards, Kirk Sessions were also responsible for provision of support to local paupers – often including members of other denominations – and Kirk Session records contain a great deal of information about payments to poor people. These records can be particularly informative where a dispute arose as to which parish was responsible for supporting paupers. Parishes would often make interim payments to poor people, and then claim the money back from the responsible parish. We will consider Sessions' role in poor relief in a future post.

But perhaps the most useful role of the Kirk Session was its quasi-judicial role. Kirk Sessions were notoriously inquisitive about what were considered sexual improprieties – particularly children born outwith marriage – and records of their interrogations of unmarried mothers are among the most interesting and useful of the Kirk Session records (see for instance here, here and here). Even if your ancestors were not cited to compear before the Session for sexual misdemeanours, they may have been cited as witnesses, or for other “scandals”, such as Sabbath breaking and irregular marriage.

Other records produced by the Kirk Session include Communion Rolls (see here for an example from Kinclaven), accounts (which can include payments for mortcloth hire, which can serve as a substitute where no burial or death registers survive), testificates (the system used when parishioners moved from one parish to another, certifying that they were members of the Church), registers of marriages and baptisms (which continued after the introduction of civil registration of births and marriages in 1855, and as we have seen, can sometimes contain important information not included in the statutory registers), as well as many other records.

Kirk Session records are a fantastic resource for genealogists and family historians. Unfortunately, unlike birth, marriage and death records, they have for the most part not been indexed, and are therefore much harder to access, particularly if you don’t live in Scotland. That is why we have started offering a lookup service, to make them accessible to Scottish genealogists around the world. To see which records we are currently able to lookup, browse our parish pages starting here. If we haven’t yet listed the available records for your parish, let us know and we will be glad to do so.
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J is for Jamaica

12/4/2016

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There have long been links between Scotland and Jamaica. As early as 1656, 1200 prisoners of war were deported to Jamaica by Oliver Cromwell. Later, many Scots migrated to Jamaica in search of their fortune. Famously, Robert Burns was set to sail for Jamaica before the success of the Kilmarnock Edition of his Poems Chiefly in a Scottish Dialect persuaded him to remain in Scotland.

Many Scots became plantation owners and wealthy merchants in Jamaica, frequently based on the exploitation of slaves. Often they would return to Scotland, having made their fortune. Others would leave money to the poor in their home parishes. One such was William Duffes (or Duffus), from Deskford in Banffshire.

The Kirk Session records of Deskford include a list of the recipients of £15 left to the poor of the parish:
​List of the Poor of the Parish of Deskford nominated by the Revd Walter Chalmers Minister of Deskford & George Duffes in Knappycawset in terms of the will to receive the Legacy bequeathed by the late Mr William Duffes of Jamaica 17th November 1826
Christina Huie 4/-
Janet Keir 7/-
Isobel Nicol 8/-
Ann Currie 5/-
Elisabeth Dougal 8/-
Jane Riach 8/-
Margaret Cruickshank 6/-
Girrel Dunbar 6/-
Ann Whyte 7/-
Margt Taylor 7/-
Margt Huie 7/-
Isobel Ingles 8/-
Elspet Duffes 1
Jane Mcintosh 8/-
Isobel Duffes A Duffes' sister 1
John Wright's Relict 6/-
John Milton 8/-
Isobel Duffes 1
Elspet Longmore 5/-
Helen Fraser 9/-
Isobel Smith Craibston 6/-
Elspet Henderson 6/-
James Ritchie 9/-
George Taylor 8/-
Isobel Ross 10/-
James Craib 6/-
Jane Leg 6/-
Isobel Mess 6/-
Jane Ball 6/-
Alexr Wilson 8/-
Elspet Huie 4/-
Andrew Morison 8/-
Isobel Smith Kirktown 10/-
Janet Robertson 10/-
Ann Dawson 8/-
Elspet Keir 8/-
Margt Hunter 4/-
15
You can find more information on the records of Deskford - including nearly 700 heads of families from 1834 to 1840 - here.
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