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Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 22 May - 18 June 2017
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. Thursday, May 25 2017, 7 pm King Robert, the Bruce Dr Fiona Watson Venue: Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries, 1-7 Abbot Street, Dunfermline, KY12 7NL Join us for an evening with historian, Dr Fiona Watson on 25th May at 7pm at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries as she takes us through the life of King Robert – the ‘Bruce’; the King who threw out the rulebook of medieval warfare. Thursday, June 1 2017, 6 pm A Walk Round Kelso Christine Henderson Coldstream and District Local History Society Field trip Thursday, June 1 2017, 7 pm The Scottish Diaspora Billy Kay Venue: Balgonie Castle Free to members and £2 for non members Friday, June 2 2017, 11.00 am The Black Arts behing Turkey Red Dyeing David Harvie Venue: National Mining Memorial Centre, Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, Dalkeith EH22 4QN National Mining Museum Scotland Saturday, June 3 2017, 10 am - 4 pm South Ayrshire History and Family History Fair
Venue: Walker Halls, Troon, Ayrshire Our Speakers for the day are: Tuesday, June 6 2017, 1 pm - 2 pm Using Film for Local and Family History Research
Venue: National Library of Scotland at Kelvin Hall, Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena, 1445 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AW Find out how archive film can enhance your family or local history research. Learn about the range of Scottish material preserved by the Moving Image Archive, and discover the wealth of information about the past that films can provide. Workshops last approximately one hour. Monday, June 12 2017, 7 pm for 7.30 pm AGM and Members' Night
Venue: Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place, Edinburgh Non-members, £2.00. Tuesday, June 13 2017, 7.30 pm AGM and Members night
Venue: Volunteer House (Vonef Centre) in 69 Crossgate Cupar KY15 5AS Thursday, June 15 2017 Annual outing
Renfrewshire Family History Society Thursday, June 15 2017 AGM with Wine & Nibbles
Venue: Portland Church hall Troon & Ayrshire Family History Society Thursday, June 15 2017, 7.30 pm Open Night
Venue: Brora Community Centre A selection of the Society's images on display Thursday, June 15 2017, 7.30 pm The Gordonbush Estate Papers: Setting the Archive in Context Dr Annie Tindley and Dr Iain Robertson Venue: The Community Centre Lounge, Brora School, Johnstone Place, Brora Gordonbush in Context: Landed Estates in Sutherland, c. 1890-1945 and Gordonbush in Context, Part II: Looking for the Sutherland Land Rebels, 1918-1939. Admission and refreshments are free Sunday, June 18 2017, 2 pm Charles Mackie: 'The Provost, the painter and the millionaire: the Dunfermline connection.' Pat Clark Venue: Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries, 1-7 Abbot Street, Dunfermline, KY12 7NL £2. http://www.onfife.com/whats-on/detail/local-studies-sunday-seminar-charles-clark
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We've written before about researching graduates, and finding ancestors who went to university in Scotland. The University of St Andrews recently launched a digital biographical register. The database covers almost 12,000 students, and is fully searchable. It is based on Robert N Smart's register, originally published in 2004 in print form. Not only is the new version fully searchable, it includes much information beyond students' time at university. I have strong ancestral connections to East Fife (Ceres, Crail, Abdie and St Andrews), and am also fortunate enough to be a St Andrews' graduate, so naturally I was very interested. I have a copy of James Maitland Anderson's Matriculation Roll (published in 1905), so I was aware that some of my family had studied at Scotland's oldest university. Naturally, I was interested to see if the new register had additional information. I was not disappointed ... My first search was for David Cunningham Graham, something of a black sheep in the family. I knew from the Fasti Ecclesianae that he was minister of Ormiston from 1911 to 1924. The register entry confirmed that he had studied at St Andrews, and showed that he had studied Latin, Greek, Mathematics, English Literature, Chemistry among other subjects, although oddly enough Theology doesn't seem to have been among his studies. Perhaps that might explain why some 20 years after he graduated, he was declared bankrupt while minister at Ormiston, with some suggestion that he might have been a bit too keen on spending other people's money. Another entry that was even more revealing was for David's first cousin once removed, Robert Graham. I knew that Robert had been schoolmaster at Leuchars, but later moved with his family to Glasgow and became an accountant. I'd always assumed that he'd switched jobs to earn more money to raise his growing family. It hadn't occurred to me that he may have had other reasons for his sudden career change, as his register entry shows:  So not only do I now know why Robert stopped being a schoolmaster - he clearly didn't have a choice in the matter - I've now got references to some newspaper reports about the circumstances surrounding his departure. A quick check in the Fife Herald for 14 November 1867 leads to the first report:   A few days later, the heritors of Leuchars held a meeting, at which there was only one subject up for discussion - the absconding of Robert Graham (Fife Herald 5 Dec 1867):  Five weeks later, the Fife Herald carries an advertisement on the front page for a "Roup of household furniture at Leuchars" being held by warrant. Robert's victims clearly didn't wait long to try to reclaim their money. In its 20 February 1868 issue, the Fife Herald reported from the Sheriff Court: Sheriff Court of Fife Fast-forward two months, and Robert's case is heard by the Circuit Court in Perth (Fife Herald, 16 April 1868): Breach of Trust and Embezzlement A quick check of the National Records of Scotland's solemn database reveals that he was indeed declared an outlaw and fugitive on April 13 at Perth. At the time of the 1871 census, his wife Margaret Grant, was living on John Street with three of their children, her sister, and two lodgers. Robert is nowhere to be seen.
He next turns up in the 1881 census, reunited with his wife and two of his children. The family are now living at 9 Ibrox Place, in Govan, and Robert is still at the same address in 1891, although this time without his wife. He was evidently still keen to use his knowledge of maths and numbers generally, as - despite being declared a fugitive for embezzlement - he was working as a book-keeper! When I was applying to university in the mid-1980s, the then Scottish Education Department maintained a register of educational trusts that were available to provide support to prospective students. There were hundreds of such funds, some of them very specific. One of my university friends was given a significant amount of money each year from a variety of these funds, because of his surname and the small town where he was born. Most of these funds derived from bequests left over the years to various good causes. Kirk Session records often contain records of these legacies – often described as mortifications – as they were often tied to specific locales, and the Kirk Session was the obvious group to administer them. Aberdeenshire and the North-East in general are particularly well represented in such legacies, at least in terms of records surviving in the Kirk Session collections. There are a number covering large parts of the region, and many more covering individual parishes. Some legacies were intended to benefit the poor of the parish in the form of poor relief, but in keeping with the traditional Scots respect for education, many were intended to fund education in one form or another. The minutes of one such trust fund can be found among the Kirk Session records of Birse, in Aberdeenshire. [1] These minutes largely consist of details of payments made every six months to “the most indigent of the poor of the parish”, and are a handy source of information about some of the poorest people in this part of the north-east in the early 19th century. They even include a few payments to cover the cost of funerals of paupers, a useful source for genealogists given that the Old Parish Registers for Birse do not include any death or burial records. As is often the case for records of legacies and mortifications, the minutes include a transcript of the original deed or will establishing the fund. In this case, although the minutes begin in 1800, the fund was actually established in the will of Doctor Gilbert Ramsay, written in 1728. Dr Ramsay was an Episcopalian minister, originally from Birse. In 1686, he had arrived in the Caribbean as minister of St Paul’s, in Antigua. [2] By 1689, Dr Ramsay had moved to Barbados, where he became Rector of Christ Church. He remained at Christ Church for nearly forty years, before returning to the UK, “sojourning” in Bath, where he wrote his will. Presumably he was in Bath to partake of the waters, as in his will he writes that he is sick and weak in body, but (thanks to God) of sound and perfect disposition, mind and memory His first legacy is £4800 sterling to the “Corporation of New Aberdeen in North Britain, i.e. to the Provost, Bailiffs, Town Council, and governing members of the same city for the time being”, which is to be used to purchase land “as near to the City of New Aberdeen as can conveniently be purchased”. The proceeds from these lands are to be divided among various good causes. The “yearly Rent, Interest or Income” of £1000 is to be paid as a salary to a Pious, Learned, and well qualified Professor of Hebrew, Arabic and Oriental Languages, in the Marischall College of the said city of New Aberdeen, for the advancement of true learning, to the glory of God and the good of his Church. The second provision is that the proceeds from £2000 (of the £4800 left to the city of Aberdeen) should be used to provide a yearly pension to four hopeful, deserving young scholars, Masters of Arts, students of Divinity, which four students of Divinity conscionably elected I order shall be placed in said Marischal College of New Aberdeen to pursue diligently their Theological Studies there, for the Service of the Church … for the term of three years and no longer. The third provision of Ramsay’s will is a continuation of a Deed initially granted by him in Barbados in 1714, to provide for “four hopeful young men called Bursars, for ever to be educated in the knowledge of the Greek Tongue and Philosophy in the said Marischall College in New Aberdeen, during the space of four years and no longer.” This was to be funded from the proceeds of £800 of the legacy left to the Corporation. Ramsay did not forget his home parish. The “yearly rent, interest or income of five hundred pounds sterling” was to fund a salary to a pious, provident and experienced Schoolmaster well qualified to instruct the youth in the Parish of Birse … the place of my nativity … in the Principles of Religion, to read and write English, and to understand both Greek and Latin Before employing a schoolmaster, the proceeds were to be used to fund “building a schoolhouse in the most convenient place of the said Parish of Birse”. The remaining £500 of the legacy was to be given “to the order of the Reverend Ministers and Elders of the said Parish of Birse … to be forever by them conscionably and impartially distributed yearly among the poor of the said parish of Birse” on the first Monday of January and July each year. Patronage of the foundation was granted to Gilbert’s cousin, Sir Alexander Ramsay, Baronet and Laird of Balmain in Kincardineshire. Various other smaller legacies are given to “the poor Episcopal Clergy of Scotland”, to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Scots Corporation in London, Balliol College, Oxford, and to various family and friends. Another £500 is left to Christ Church, Barbados to educate the poor youth of the parish. Reading all of this, you cannot help but wonder how an Episcopalian minister born in 17th century Aberdeenshire could have accumulated what was, for the time, a substantial sum of money. One clue is given in another provision of his will and my will is that all my slaves except my negroe man Robert here now attending me, be immediately sold after my death by my executor after named to such persons as will use them well tho’ at a cheaper rate than to others and to my said negroe man I give him his freedom from the day of my decease, and I will that he shall be taken care of and sent to Barbadoes at my charge, as soon as may be after my death and that the executors of this my will do pay him five pounds of that country money on his arrival at Barbadoes and likewise order, and appoint that all the money arising by such sale of my negroes shall be applied with the rest of my estate to pay off my legacies. Gilbert had evidently benefited significantly from the proceeds of slavery in Barbados. And his legacy continued to have knock-on benefits for a very long time. The Minute book of the Birse trust only cover the period 1800-1838, but the National Records of Scotland hold files on the Birse Mortification dating from 1886 [3] and 1889 [4] over 160 years after the bequest was made. Even that is not the end of the story: another record held by the NRS shows that it was not until 1961 that the trust fund was wound up.[5] For over 230 years, the people of Aberdeenshire benefited from an endowment established on the basis of profits from slavery. A number of prominent scholars are today attempting to unravel the ramifications of the proceeds of slavery on Scottish society. You have to wonder how many – if any - of the beneficiaries of this foundation were aware of where the money came from to fund their education. Sources:
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 15 - 21 May 2017
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, May 15 2017, 7 pm for 7.30 pm Leith at War Andrew Grant Venue: Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place, Edinburgh Non-members, £2.00. Wednesday, May 17 2017, 7.30 pm AGM
Venue: Leith Community Education Centre in the New Kirkgate Thursday, May 18 2017 100 yrs of Gutta Percha John Stevenson Venue: Portland Church hall Troon & Ayrshire Family History Society Thursday, May 18 2017, 2.30 pm AGM
Venue: Moulin Hall, Moulin North Perthshire Family History Group Visitors £3.00 Thursday, May 18 2017, 6 pm Coupar Angus Abbey and AGM Professor Richard Oram Venue: Soutar Theatre, Perth £5 for non-members Thursday, May 18 2017, 7.30 pm The Photographic Archives Dr Nick Lindsay Venue: Brora Community Centre Thursday, May 18 2017, 7.30 pm AGM Followed by 30 Years of Fife Constabulary George Beattie Venue: Abbey Church Hall, Abbey Park Place, Dunfermline Dunfermline Historical Society Visitors are charged a fee of £2.00 per meeting and are made very welcome. Thursday, May 18 2017, 7.30 pm AGM
Venue: Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley Renfrewshire Family History Society Saturday, May 20 2017, 10 am - 12 pm Kirk Session Records Bruce Bishop Venue: Scottish Genealogy Society Library, 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL These records are an invaluable part of researching family history. Held at the National Records of Scotland on Princes Street, they very often contain information not usually found in the usual birth, marriage and death records. Bruce Bishop, who has many years’ experience and a vast knowledge of family history, will show what they contain and how they can help with your research. Sunday, May 21 2017, 2 pm Migration to the Americas from Fife Dr Bruce Durie Venue: Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries, 1-7 Abbot Street, Dunfermline, KY12 7NL £2 charge. http://www.onfife.com/whats-on/detail/local-studies-sunday-seminar-migration-americas-fife# Between Daylight and Hell, Scots who left a stain on American history There is a long tradition of books about the Scottish diaspora across the world. From Thomas Fischer’s books on the Scots in Germany and Prussia to Arthur Herman’s How the Scots Invented the Modern World, many of them adopt a reverential tone, what might be described as the Wha’s Like Us school of thought. In his informative and entertaining book, Iain Lundy takes a very different approach: rather than the Great Man approach, he takes what could be called the Terrible Man (and Woman) approach. Lundy, a journalist by trade, has spent years investigating the dark side of the Scottish-American story – researching Scots behaving badly. So whereas Fischer and others wrote about the excellent service provided by Scottish soldiers abroad, Lundy opens his book with an account of the misdeeds of Adam Stephen, who was court-martialled and cashiered out of Washington’s Continental Army whose drunken incompetence and disobedience resulted in an early friendly-fire incident at the Battle of Germantown. The Roll of Dishonour continues throughout the book: Charles Forbes embezzled millions of dollars from the Veterans Bureau after World War One. There are also killers: Thomas Cream, a notorious poisoner originally from Glasgow; William Stewart, one of the leading figures in the notorious Mountain Meadows Massacre. Sport also gets a mention: Robert Millar, originally from Paisley, was a professional footballer renowned for his Cantona-like temperament. In one game, he punched a fan to the ground, and in 1921 he was suspended for punching fellow Paisley-born Scot Neil Clarke at halftime. In athletics, Jock Semple, organiser of the Boston Marathon merits a mention for the notorious incident when in 1967 Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially enter the race, through an administrative error. Switzer’s boyfriend knocked Semple to the ground when he attempted to stop her running. (Switzer ran the Boston Marathon again earlier this year to mark the 50th anniversary of her first race). The rest of the chapters discuss fraudsters, libellous journalists, ungrateful divas, cruel slave owners and bumbling military officers. As you would expect of a journalist of many years standing, the author is a talented storyteller, and has clearly done his genealogical research (Scotland’s People gets an acknowledgement). The book itself is entertaining, and a useful antidote to much of the often self-congratulatory tone of much of the popular writing on the Scottish diaspora. Clearly well researched, it provides a very interesting alternative perspective on the Scottish diaspora in the USA. Chapters:
Between Daylight and Hell is published by Whittles Publishing and costs £18.99 If you're a publisher or author and would like us to review your history or genealogy book, please get in touch.
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 8 - 14 May 2017
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, May 8 2017, 7.30 pm Alexander 'Greek' Thomson Iain McGillivray Venue: John Knox Church Hall, High Street, Stewarton Stewarton and District Historical Society The eminent Glasgow architect was a Victorian pioneer of sustainable housing. His beautiful buildings, including Holmwood House, the Egyptian Halls on Union Street, and Caledonia Road Church can still be seen. Members £1 Non-members £2. Monday, May 8 2017, 7.30 pm Open Evening
Venue: Luncarty Church Centre West Stormont Historical Society Tuesday, May 9 2017 Outing to Ceres Folk Museum
Tuesday, May 9 2017, 7.30 pm AGM
Venue: Community Room, Largs Library, Allanpark Street, Largs North Ayrshire Family History Society Tuesday, May 9 2017, 7.30 pm - 8.30 pm Green Treasures from the magic mountains- Project JADE on Neolithic Axheads from the Alps Alison Sheridan Venue: Edinburgh Cine and Video Society, 23a Fettes Row, Edinburgh, EH3 6RH Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society Tuesday, May 9 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm The Relief of Malta Alexander Hall Venue: Masonic Halls, Collier Street, Johnstone Wednesday, May 10 2017, 2 pm - 3 pm Family history from medieval charters Dr Alan Borthwick Venue: New Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh Dr Alan Borthwick (Head of Medieval Records, National Records of Scotland) will talk about how family trees can be created using Scottish medieval documents, like those in the current NRS exhibition 'Scribes and Royal Authority', and how he has used this genealogical data to illuminate his research. Wednesday, May 10 2017, 6.00 pm The Lost World of Rossie Priory: Pioneering Photography Rachel Nordstrom (University of St Andrews) Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee PRECEEDED BY AGM Wednesday, May 10 2017, 7.45 pm AGM and Inside Dumbarton Castle Jean Scollay Venue: RAF Club, Ardgowan Square, Greenock Thursday, May 11 2017, 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm My hands are tied but my tongue is free: Swords with songs and Kinmont Willie Dr Valentina Bold Venue: Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, The Observatory, Rotchell Road, Dumfries, DG2 7SW Dumfries and Galloway Museums and Galleries The talk will be followed by refreshments and an evening opportunity to visit the museum exhibitions. Free but pre-booking is required: please call 01387 253374 to book a place. Thursday, May 11 2017, 7.30 pm Member’s Night and Forum AGM
Venue: The Shawl Gallery, Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley Renfrewshire Local History Forum Renfrewshire Local History Forum Lectures are open to non-members with no admission charge but a small donation would be appreciated. Thursday, May 11 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm AGM
Venue: Johnnie Walker Bond, Strand Street Kilmarnock East Ayrshire Family History Society Friday, May 12 2017, 7.30 pm The Strathyre Studio of Mary Ramsay, Jessie Wilson, and Margaret Macdonald Heather Jack (Independent arts professional) Venue: German Speaking Church, Chalmers Crescent, Edinburgh, EH9 1TW |
Old ScottishGenealogy and Family History - A mix of our news, curious and intriguing discoveries. Research hints and resources to grow your family tree in Scotland from our team. 
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