SIB FOLK NEWS NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY ISSUE No 68 DECEMBER 2013

GRAPHICS & MONTAGE – JOHN SINCLAIR 2 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY NEWSLETTER Issue No 68 December 2013 COVER John Rae PAGE 2 From the Chair

PAGE 3 A treasured photograph inspires a search From PAGES 4& 5 Deep Genealogy of the Stouts the Chair

PAGES 6 & 7 We have come to the end of another successful year for the Society, Regulations Must Be Observed with our membership continuing to grow at an even greater rate, thanks largely to the fantastic web-site set up by our web master Dave Higgins. PAGE 7 The new facility for paying membership dues through paypal has proved The Evangellne to be a great success. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank PAGE 9 our secretary for keeping an eye on the site while Dave is away on his Tumbledown. round the coast of Britain walk. Stoneflit in Deerness If you haven’t looked at our website for a while, you will find that we

PAGES 10 & 11 now have over 1500 of the family trees held in the office, scanned and Robert Rendall available for you to view online. I'm also delighted to see that over 300 a cHudson's Bay Man members have submitted their trees for our members to view. Sib Folk News is also very popular and I would like to thank our Editor

PAGES 12 & 13 John Sinclair for his hard work over the last year producing four issues The John Rae Statue to a very high standard. We are all very proud of the magazine and many members tell me that is the main reason they keep paying their PAGE 14 membership. Odds & Ends We are very fortunate that we are able to man our office 6 days a week PAGE15 with volunteers, so if you have struck a brick wall with your research do How not to celebrate come in and maybe we can help. a Royal Marriage We are always delighted to welcome members at our office and if you Pages 16 & 17 are planning to visit Orkney next year, let us know in advance of anything Good Luck Followed Me you require help with and we will try to have some information ready for all over Orkney your arrival. This could give you more time to see the county and maybe

PAGE 18 even visit your ancestral home if it still exists. St Magnus and the Finally, may I take this opportunity on behalf of everyone at the OFHS, Ancient Game to wish you peace and happiness at this festive time and throughout the coming year. PAGE 19 Susan Park Marble needs your help

PAGES 20 & 21 Andrew Stewart of the Commercial Bank Anne Rendall

PAGES 22 & 23 50,000 Balfour Letters

PAGE 24 Membership Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 3 A treasured Photograph inspires a search for Orkney Ancestors By Anne Rogan, Member No 3117

Hello! I am writing from the American Midwest – a long, lost Leith in 1903, and Mary Ann died in Leith in 1894. daughter of Orkney, looking for answers about my ancestors and Two siblings of Mary Jane’s were also born on Orkney. James their lives. I have always known my grandparents on my mom’s Wards was born in 1856 and William Wards was born in 1854, both side were from Leith, with an Orkney connection, but what was inKirkwall. Besides my great grandmother and these two siblings the connection? This summer, I decided to dig deep and try to find born on Orkney, William and Mary Ann had 3 more boys born in out more about which relatives came from Orkney. This prompted Leith between 1860 and 1870. In digging deeper into the family my mom to dig out her notes, letters and photos from long ago. She of William Muir Wards, I found a living descendent of one of his shared with me an old photo that she had saved - it was described brothers on Orkney who is a third cousin to my mother. He told us by a relative as the only photo that remained of Mom’s Orkney about a relative who was an Olympic wrestler, Tom Ward, from grandmother. While I have been able to discover names and dates Orkney. of some of my Orkney family, this photo still remains a mystery! We Back to the treasured and very old family photo that inspired the have theories about who is in the photo, but I’m hoping someone search for our family’s roots in Orkney. My mom’s Auntie Mary who reads this newsletter can help us solve our mystery. gave her the photo asking that she take care of this one and only My interest in my Scottish background was sparked when, as a existing image of Mary Jane Ward. We think that she is at the center 19 year old, I went to live in Scotland as an exchange student. I felt of the photo standing behind the older gentleman, and placing immediately connected to the country and the culture. My time in her hand on his shoulder. We believe the gentleman is her father, Scotland was spent reconnecting with relatives, learning history, William Muir Wards of Kirkwall St. Ola. However, we don’t and experiencing the culture through Scottish Country Dancing, know who the other people are in the photo, or where and when learning Scots Gaelic and traipsing through the highlands. When the photo was taken? One theory is that it was taken before Mary my mom and dad came to visit me during my time in Scotland, we Jane’s wedding in Leith. Her mother had passed away not long made a short trip to Orkney. The idea of Orkney possibly being an before, and wouldn’t have been in the photo. We wondered if ancestral home for me was intriguing. It seemed remote, and far the two men with wives and children could be her two older, removed from any place I had ever lived or visited. At the time, Orkney born brothers, William and James, perhaps visiting we didn’t have any specific ancestral information about Orkney, from Orkney? but enjoyed our visit nonetheless. In addition to finding out more about this photo, we would be Researching my mom’s family has been such a great experience. really excited to discover stories, additional photos or anecdotes It gives my mom and I something exciting to talk about whenever about my great grandmother’s family on Orkney. How far back we are together. My mom’s parents came to North America were they in Kirkwall? Why did they leave Orkney? What from Scotland in the early 1920s. While Mom had heard that her was going on during the late 1850’s that would prompt them to grandmother came from Orkney, she had no evidence or concrete leave Orkney for Leith? What happened to their relatives who information. In my searching with online genealogy tools, I was stayed on Orkney? Did they stay in touch? Might we have other able to confirm for my mom that her grandmother’s family did cousins on Orkney or abroad? come from Orkney. I was able to discover these details mainly I would love to find out more about this photo- or see if anyone through Scottish census records. Through the Orkney Family has a connection to our family and help fill in some missing History website, I have even been able to dig back a few more details. I’m new to ancestry research, but hope to find more generations on Orkney as well. details as time goes on- to round out our family story. I was My mother’s maternal grandmother, Mary Jane Ward was born in delighted to find this group and hope to make connections that 1870 in Leith, Edinburgh, and her parents were both born on Orkney. will feed my desire to know as much about my family’s history William Muir Wards was born in 1834 and Mary Ann Harcus was in Orkney as I possibly can. Thanks in advance for any help this born in 1831 in Kirkwall St. Ola. William and Mary Ann were community can provide. [email protected] L married around 10 Nov, 1853 in Kirkwall St Ola. William died in 4 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

By Bill Stout, Member No 1001

Lamb in his “Orkney Family Names” says of the surname Note that although there were Stouts on Stronsay in 1633 when Stout:- the poor crofter, Henry Stout died at Dritness, the population there had disappeared by the mid-eighteenth century, when Stout: Henry Stout, Dritness, Stronsay, 1633; pronounced proper records began to be kept. The current Stronsay Stout ‘Stoot’; from the nickname ‘stout’ with its original meaning population all has a nineteenth century Fair Isle origin, some of ‘firm’ or ‘bold’; the place-name Stout Farthing in Holm recorded it via Westray. in 1500 suggests that this family name had been long established in Orkney; a common family name in Orkney but with a limited One of the frustrations of researching family history is the distribution; Westray and Stronsay account for almost half the closeness of the historical horizon. We are seldom able to see back Stout families in Orkney; Stouts of Orkney origin are found in beyond the mid-eighteenth century. Very few earlier documents Canada; Stout is also an English family name. survive and the paper trail comes to a sudden stop.

In the above entry Lamb omits some of the more speculative There are now, however, ways of doing family history by other content of the Stout entry in his earlier book “Orkney Surnames”: means. We may not be able to put names to individuals or places to names, but we are nevertheless able to ask and to answer Stout: Henry Stout, Dritness, Stronsay, 1633: almost certainly interesting questions about the group history of our family. a nickname: the OE word ‘stot’ meaning a young ox has been Genetics and population studies are a means to this end. suggested but it is likely to stem from ON ‘stóth’, a stallion since horse nicknames were common but cattle nicknames For example, how did the distribution of Stouts reach the point were rare: this surname appears very late but we know from it did in Orkney and Shetland in 1841? How long have Stouts placename evidence that it is much older e.g. Stoddisyord in lived on the islands? As suggested by Lamb, “Stout” probably Sandwick in 1500 and Stout Farthing in Holm the same year: a belongs to the class of surnames derived from nicknames. Was common Orkney surname with a limited distribution: Westray it coined independently in Orkney and Shetland (as well as and Stronsay account for almost half the Stout surnames in elsewhere), or was the name brought to Orkney by an incomer Orkney: many of the Westray Stouts came originally from the – or were there elements of both? If coined in Orkney was the Fair Isle at the beginning of the 19th century: Stout is certainly a name invented once or many times? native Orkney surname too however, possibly in the case of the Stronsay Stouts and very likely in the case of the Stouts of South In the case of the Stouts, the end point of the paper chase and Walls: Stout is also found as surname in Cumberland. the start point for using the methods of deep genealogy lies in the finding that the ancestry of all of the Stouts born in Orkney In 1841, with a count of twenty-two heads, there were more and Shetland between 1855 and 1900 (and hence that of their Stouts living on the tiny island of Fara in the parish of Walls descendants) can be traced to one of thirteen couples living in and Flotta than on any other Orkney island. Taking Shetland into the isles in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. They account, only the Shetland Mainland, with sixty-four Stouts and are as follows: Fair Isle, with twenty-three each had a larger Stout population. John Stout and Margaret Aiken living in Corston, Of the Shetland Mainland Stouts, twenty-seven were clustered in Dunrossness (son James b. 1791) the Quendale area of Dunrossness at the southern end of the isle. Robert Stout and Christina Burgher or Burgess in Twenty-two were living in Lerwick. Hillwell, Dunrossness (son George b. 1775) Malcolm Stout and Catherine Humphrey in Garth, Scatsa, To complete the distribution picture of 1841, Westray, Stronsay Delting (son Thomas b. 1792) and Sanday also had Stout populations, all recently established by Gilbert Stout and Phillis Hughson in Greenha, migration from Fair Isle at the behest of the laird, who wanted to Nesting,Lunnasting (m. 1844) transfer fishing skills to his estates in the North Isles of Orkney. In John Stout and Isabella Georgeson in Lerwick (m. 1816) the South Isles, in addition to Fara, there were also Stouts on Walls Thomas Stout and Barbara Smith living in Lerwick and Hoy. Kirkwall and Stromness as yet had no Stouts. In Scotland (grandson Thomas b.1806) as a whole, outside of Orkney and Shetland, there were only thirty- Thomas Stout and Girsy Smith living on Fair Isle (son five Stouts, many of whom were migrants from the isles. George b. 1794) A Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 5

FLaurence Stout and Margery Williamson on Fair Isle (son George Stout); and a descendant of Thomas Stout and Girsy Smith Magnus m. Mary Brown 1809) in Kirkwall (the late Tom Stout of Whitehall, Stronsay). George Stout and Anne Wilson living on Fair Isle (m. 1798) James Stout and on Fara (son Harry b. about 1790) The implication of this is that all of the Stouts of Shetland, Fair Isle James Stout and Elizabeth Bain, probably in North Walls and the North Isles of Orkney are not only related to each other, but (son William b. about 1802) are all descended from the same man, bearing the name Stout, who James Stout and Isabella Bremner in Brims, North Walls probably lived in Shetland about five hundred years ago. (daughter Mary b. 1815) William Stout and Elspeth Cromarty probably in Misbister, But what of the Stouts in the South Isles of Orkney? Are they part Walls (son James b. 1791) of the same family or do they constitute their own family group? On the basis of available records it would appear that most of the living Those who had moved away from the isles before 1855 include: Stouts originating from the South Isles are descendants of James Stout and Isabella Bremner. Genetic testing of descendants of William Stout and Grace Irvine (son Oliver m. Louisa three of their sons has confirmed that there is no close relationship Williamson in 1850 in Lerwick then moved to Aberdeen) to the Shetland Stouts. The conclusion is that there are in fact two William Stout of Fair Isle moved to Glasgow, m. Mary quite separate Stout groups. Russell (son William b. about 1804) William Stout and Marjory Leask of Lerwick, whose sons, There are still unanswered questions about how the surname Thomas (b. 1815) and John moved to Glasgow originated or how often it was separately coined or whether it was brought to the isles from elsewhere. Family tradition in Fair Isle has There have been speculative attempts to construct a relationship it that the first Stouts in Shetland came from Yorkshire. It should be between the three Fair Isle couples listed above based on oral possible to use genetic testing to show whether that is true. L c tradition, land tenure papers and pre-1841 census documents. However, it cannot be reliably concluded from these sources that there was indeed such a relationship. Of course it would not be any surprise if there were. But was there?

The Dunrossness Stouts were part of a community in relatively close contact with Fair Isle, probably providing marriage partners and new blood from time to time. There was a large number of Stout families in the Quendale area of Dunrossness in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Due presumably to the impact of emigration and possibly high mortality, only the John Stout and Margaret Aiken line survived in the isles into the latter half of the nineteenth century. Prima facie it would not be surprising to discover that the Fair Isle and Dunrossness Stouts were related. But were they?

The case of the Lerwick Stouts is not so clear. Even in the eighteenth century they were well established among the merchant class of the town, socially fairly far removed from the fishermen and crofters of Dunrossness and Fair Isle. It was one of their number, a great-grandson of Thomas Stout and Barbara Smith, who was eventually to become Prime Minister and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. Were these folks, including a grocer & spirit merchant, a postmaster and a building contractor related to the Dunrossness families?

To cut a long story short, the answers to the above questions are unequivocally “yes”, “yes” and “yes”. All five of the Shetland patriarchs have been shown by genetic testing to share a nearest common ancestor in the recent past. How recent is not yet clear, but the fifteenth or sixteenth century seems plausible. A more precise estimate will become possible as the interpretation of genetic test results becomes more sophisticated.

Genetic testing of only one representative descendant of each patriarch was required in order to confirm the relationships. I found a descendant of John Stout and Margaret Aiken living in China (Brian Stout); a descendant of Thomas Stout and Barbara Smith living in New Zealand (Ron Stout); a descendant of Laurence Stout and Margery Williamson living in Dundee (the late Prof. 6 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

A ‘must have’ addition to your Orkney bookshelf from Bertha M. Fiddler

‘Regulations must be obeyed’ is the title of Bertha Fiddler’s new book that tells of her experiences at school in Stronsay and then as a school girl away from home and living in the Grammar School Hostel in Kirkwall in the early 1950s. “It certainly brought back happy memories to me” says Nan Scott, OVER Member No 8, “ I stayed in the hostel four years earlier and was one of the first pupils to be there. I was delighted to be in the hos- 160 tel for prior to this pupils had to find and pay for accommodation PHOTOS near the school. Food parcels hadn’t been invented then but had become the norm in Bertha’s day. I guess I was lucky too that the cat hadn’t had time to multiply before I left. Ex hostellers have found the book fascinating,” continued Nan “and I have grand- children who couldn’t lay it down.” post office staff, engineers, sorting clerks and telegra- Family history researchers will find the book invaluable. loads phists. Sandy’s narrative is reprinted here and records of dates, loads of pictures with everyone in them named. many interesting facts which might otherwise be lost:- Another Family History Society member, Nancy Scott (nee “In her book ‘Regulations must be observed’, Costie) No 578, wrote to say that Bertha had often thought of Bertha Fiddler mentions soldiers being billeted in the Post Of- writing down her memories but had been put off by people tell- fice Hostel in Old Scapa Road. l have no knowledge of that ing her that she would be wasting her time as no one would be- whatsoever. So far as l am aware the hostel was built in the lieve her. How wrong they were said Nancy as she knows many early forties for use by Post Office personnel who were tem- senior citizen ‘girls’ who agree that Bertha tells it just as it was porarily based, on fairly long appointments, in Orkney in- like. Bertha also recalls life in a small country primary school and stalling telephones at various Naval, Army and Air Force es- compares this with the huge KGS and this, Nancy says, is good tablishments and also dealing with Forces mail. When l was history in itself. She is also reminded of a visit to the hostel by transferred from Banff to Kirkwall in1943, l lived in the hostel the Director of Education and of Bertha asking him to come to which was used by telephone and postal staff. There were dor- the drying room. Nancy says that everyone was agog at Bertha’s mitory wings for Telephone supervisors, Telephone engineers boldness but the result was changes for the better, including a and Postal staff. Hundreds of telephones were installed by the fresh smelling drying room. engineers throughout Orkney and the local Postal staff was un- Nancy goes on to say how good it is that Bertha recounts the able to cope with the amount of mails which were received many happy times when a bunch of teenage girls were ‘punded and sent by the 60,000 or so members of the Armed Forces together’ a term common at the time. Friendships were made that stationed in the islands. The Post Office had its own Home have lasted half a century not least with Catherine who was able Guard unit so perhaps Bertha’s information was partly correct. to produce an unbelievable number of ‘artefacts’ of hostel life. It All able bodied personnel in the Hostel were obliged to become is good also that the kindness of relatives especially those living members of the Home Guard. Engineers and postal staff who in town is emphasised. Nancy says that these people probably were not yet twenty years of age were automatically placed in kept them alive. a “Reserved Occupation” until they reached the age of twenty. Nancy concludes by saying that the book should be compul- We were all issued with “Certificates of Employment” which sory reading for all present day hostel pupils so that they might we had to carry on our person - l still have my certificate. l have no complaints. Bertha, she says has shown that it was a very am unable to remember the room number l was allocated but different life in the old hostel in Old Scapa Road. it was the very end room on the left of the upper photograph Sandy Clark, member 164 has also been in touch. He was one on page 100 in Bertha’s book. Every time l come in from the of the post office workers that the hostel had been built for. He en- airport on the bus, l see that room as we come down the Holm joyed the book thoroughly and and sends Bertha his best wishes. Branch Road. There were so many of us young postal workers Sandy was telling Nan Scott that each time he visits Orkney that the hostel was full-up and many were billeted with families and travels down the Holm Branch in the airport bus he can still in the town. see the window of the room he used to stay in. He was also de- We were employed as Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists, - very lighted to spot it on the left of the photograph of the hostel on hard worked S C and Tsl - as in those far-off days the main parcel page 99 of ‘Regulations Will be Observed’. mail only arrived at around seven in the evening, being carried Sandy’s letter gives a bit of wartime history plus valu- through from Stromness by contract with P F Thomson. Quite A able research material together with the names of all the often up to one thousand bags of parcels would arrive to be Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 7

F sorted, bagged off for local delivery to the other delivery ley and Mr D Scrimgeour who went to Motherwell. Mr Christie offices throughout the County, all for delivery next day. Often stayed in Old Scapa Road and kept a look-out for any of us who it would be midnight before we finished work and then we were a bit “latchy” in the morning — if it was after five minutes were on duty the next morning at five o’clock to despatch the to eight, you ran! North lsles parcel mails. All inward parcels for Orkney, apart Assistant Head Postmaster was Sinclair Ross. from those addressed to Stromness, were dealt with at the Par- Overseers were - Bob Manson; George Flett; W L Marwick; cel Sorting Office in Junction Road which was situated next D D Marwick; Bob Wilson and Charlie Norn. to Dowell’s yard. Houses have now been built on the site. We Other local staff included - Maurice Gray; Jimmy Dick; Ken- quite liked the late shift followed by the early shift, we were ny Sutherland; Billy Groundwater; Jim Cromarty; ? Harrold; able to enjoy the afternoon and evening off every second day! ? Miller; Gordon Fiddler; Jim Chalmers; Reggy Swanney; All letters, outward and inward, carried by Highland Airways, Maurice Allan; Sandy Budge; Sydney Peace; Jimmy Horne; were dealt with at the Head Office on Broad Street. Every bag Muriel Manson; Mabel Brown; Margaret Burch; Madge Fid- of outward mail was weighed before being transported to the dler; and quite a lot more, I can remember faces but not names. airport. All parcels for delivery outside the county were dealt Sorting Clerk and Telegraphist staff on loan from other of- with at the Head Office. fces included — All mail for the Armed Jimmy McGregor, Forces units was dealt Elgin; Jimmy Rob- with at the Parcel office. ertson, Elgin; Ronnie The Post Orderlies from Steel, Broughty Fer- the various units collect- ry; Bill Wallace, Car- ed their mail, providing noustie; Euan McGre- they produced evidence gor, Oban; John of identity signed by Owens, Linlithgow; the unit Commanding Alistair Binnie, Bor- Officer. ders?; George Brown, I remember the first Borders?; Jimmy day l ever served at the Wiseman, Peterhead; Post Office counter on David Noble, Fraser- Broad Street. l was at the burgh; George White, parcel end of the counter Aberdeen; Raymond and when l balanced at Gerrie, Aberdeen; night l was five pounds Walter MacFarlane, short - l was excused as it Some of the hostel ‘girls’ help Bertha launch her new book at the meeting on Hamilton; Andy Turn- was my first day on coun- the 14th September. They are, left to right Nan Scott (née Pottinger), Bessie bull, Dunfermline; ter work!!! We also did Muir (née Scott), Muriel Wylie (née Drever), Marion Flett (née Spence), Rosemme Jimmy McCowat, quite a lot of Telegraph Guthrie (née Scott), Mimes Manson (née Slater0, Kathleen Stephen (née Hay). Burntisland; Harry work. l had completed a MacDonald, Bancho- course in teleprinter operating in lnverness prior to being sent to ry; Angus MacKenzie; Elgin; Jimmy Kean, Markinch; Norman Kirkwall and passed as a competent operator when l was able to Smith, Ellon; Alistair Mclntosh, Lossiemouth; David McLaren, send an average telegraph message of 12 words length, plus the Borders?; and John Geddes, Buckie, rather a motley crowd!!! preamble, in a minute! I am sure that I speak for everyone who reads ‘Regulations Must The names of some of the staff employed during my time in be Observed’ when I say “thanks Bertha for reviving so many happy Kirkwall were as follows, though the list is far from complete. memories, for memories are the precious presents that we can unwrap Head Postmasters were Mr J J Christie who went to Pais- and enjoy time and time again”. L

Here’s another unidentified photograph from the thousands that have ended up in the Orkney Library Photographic Archive. From time to time, when space permits, we in- clude random pictures in Sib Folk News and our members have been quite successful in identifying people and places. If you recognise an- yone here please let me know and I will pass the information on to the Archives. Ed. 8 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

One year, when the work of the fleet was done, The Evangeline The Skipper set sail for the homeward run, While the crew of the good Evangeline Anne Rendall found this poem among her Waving their hands, on the deck were seen, grandmother’s papers and as it is about the While their voices rang back that old refrain loss of the Stronsay lugger the Evangeline ‘Goodbye, Good Luck, We will come again.’ which appeared in our September And no one dreamed that they ever would fail newsletter she thought that some In the roaring rage of an Orkney gale. members might find it of interest.

It is dated January 1905 but Christmas was past with its kindly cheer, there is no record of the author’s And Hansel day of the new born year, name. When, after a feast, come need on need, Perhaps some of our The fish must be caught that the children may feed. readers can help.? So out from Portknockie the fisher fleet steered While the wind to the deadly south eastward veered, As taut a craft as ever was seen And woe to the craft that with it must sail Was the Portknockie lugger, Evangeline, In the furious rage of an Orkney gale. Built for the swirl of the wild North Sea, Of the toughest of oak and larch was she; The night came down like the fall of doom; Her masts and sails and rigging and all Not a star shone out on the fearful gloom, Were built to stand what might befall; When suddenly rushed the wind to its worst. But even the strongest craft may fail With a bound from their nets the fisher fleet burst. In the roaring rage of an Orkney gale. Then, by God alone that night was seen The lights of the little Evangeline. Her Skipper was built on the self-same plan, As she drove, bow down, with her tattered sail A rugged storm-trained Banffshire man, In the furious grip of that Orkney gale. Calm as a sea-bird, strong and brave, He could ride the ridge of the roughest wave: Past Borough Head like a feather she flew His spirit and grit nerved all his crew; Beyond will or skill of her captain or crew; What the Skipper would dare they would forthwith do; They had done their best; they had done their last, But even the bravest men may fail For the breakers rushed through the raging blast In the roaring rage of an Orkney gale. And the billows swept over the groaning deck, Leaving the lugger a crewless wreck Season by season for many a year To drift without mast, or wheel, or sail She swung to her berth at Stronsay Pier, In the flying scud of that Orkney gale. The silver freight of her latest catch, Glistening down her main deck hatch. They all came back, but not as before But whether her luck was good or bad, With a leap and a laugh to Stronsay shore: A right warm welcome she always had, They all came back, but silent and still And no one thought she would ever fail As men who had yielded to God’s great will. In the roaring rage of an Orkney gale. And the Stronsay folk remembered with pain . . . ‘Goodbye, Good Luck, We will come again.’ The Stronsay folk and her fisher crew And they prayed, ‘Lord, may thy mercy ne’er fail Forgathered as fisher folk aye do, The fishermen’s need in an Orkney gale.’ For, search the world, you will never find Men of such single heart and mind; They meet and they part like brothers all With a smile, and a shake, and a cheery call, Nor think of the day when their skill may fail In the roaring rage of an Orkney gale.

Don’t forget — It is really important to keep the articles coming — photos welcome too! January 11th is the Deadline for the March 2014 issue — earlier would be even better. Articles on Word doc please. Photos as ‘good quality‘ JPGS to Issue No. 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 9

A ‘Tumbledown’ tale from Mabel Eunson. Member No 123 In 2012 I attempted my first Tumbledown for Sib Folk News intrigued me, conjuring up pictures of the burden borne by featuring Millhill in Deerness. A lovely new house which nestles those who built it. Now that might not be too far off the mark into the brae has now been completed and I’m pleased to see for tradition has it that the stones were gathered from another the old ruin still standing as a memorial to its former occupants, site by women who carried them in their ‘secky brats’. But an example of a much earlier type of small crofthouse. from where and how far away is not known. The ruin is near For my second Tumbledown I decided that I would investigate to what we call the Lighthouse Corner and stands in a small the background of Stoneflit in Deerness. The name has always triangular field between two roads leading south.

RESIDENTS OF / PARK COTTAGE Residents of ‘Stoneflit’ 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 Name age age age age age age age

James Vedder, fisherman/farmer 38 41 51 60 - - - Margaret, wife, nee Tulloch 45 56 66 76 - - - James, son 9 ------Margaret, daughter 7 ------William, son 4 13 23 34 - - - David, son 1 12 21 - - - - Margaret Manson, grand daughter - - 6 16 - - -

Robert Rich, Farmer - - - - 59 68 - Mary, wife, nee Stove - - - - 57 66 - Mary, daughter, unmarried - - - - 25 35 -

ALL THESE PEOPLE WERE BORN IN DEERNESS In 1841 James and Margaret Vedder were living at Little Quoys aged 40, at West Heath in 1886. The cause of death, reported in the which is not far from Stoneflit. In 1871 both William and David Register of Corrected Entries, was a haemorrhage. Vedder were ‘Joiners out of employ. David was possibly too ill to Robert Rich came to Stoneflit from Netherstove. In the 1911 work. He died the following year ‘after a long illness’ and the eldest census he was at Old Lighthouse, a widower, living with his son, James had drowned in Lake Eyrie, Canada in 1866 aged 24. unmarried daughter, Mary. Theirs is the only Vedder Memorial in the Deerness Churchyard. In 1905, William Foubister of Newbanks bought the lands of It was ‘erected by William T Vedder in memory of his beloved Stoneflit which lay at the north of the main road and built a house brothers’. In 1881 William is a joiner and Margaret Manson is a which he called New Lighthouse. He also added a workshop domestic servant. By 1871 the daughter, Margaret Vedder, was and a Grocery Shop. The dwelling house of Stoneflit has been married to James Manson and raising a family at West Heath in unoccupied for over 100 years but the small croft has had a few Holm. They became the grandparents of Ian Vedder and Maurice owners. The present proprietors have permission for a new house Manson. James Vedder died at Stonflit in 1886 aged 66 years on the site. I wonder if the remaining stones will be flit once more and Margaret, his wife, died in July 1889, aged 74 years, at West and be incorporated somehow into the new build. Heath in Holm, the home of her daughter. William Vedder died,

The ‘Tumbledown’ articles were first produced by Alan Clouston when he was ‘Chair’ of the society. When he retired from that position he hoped that other members would carry on the research into these old properties. Mabel Eunson has now produced two and I hope that her latest effort will encourage other members to follow suit. Alan tells me that they are fairly easy to do and if any member is thinking of producing a ‘Tumbledown’ he will be happy to tell them how he tackled it. You can contact him at [email protected] 10 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

By Joan Barrett, Member No 994 Robert Rendall was my ggggrandfather, born 1789 1820, 8 Sept Home, per Eddystone and died 1878 in Westray. He spent about two decades working for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada. Remarks in HBC records about Robert Rendall in- clude: Many years ago I communicated with other descend- 1812 Parish in ship’s log, Stronsay ants, each of whom had a story to tell. Nina Goodman 1813-1814 Parish given was “Westra,” like the man Eldridge said that Lady Franklin had tried to enlist listed above him, Peter Rendall Robert Rendall for the search to find her missing hus- 1815-1816 “An interested young man for the good of band, Lord John Franklin, who had praised Robert’s the employ” skill in navigating rapids. Mrs. Thomas Rendall said 1819 5’8” dark complexion, “an excellent that Robert and a man named “Gulljem” left Westray Servant” together, that Robert became fluent in the local Indian I assume that the reference to Stronsay can be ex- language and became an interpreter. Sadly, I can find plained by clerical error. nothing to substantiate either story. I ordered and read microfilm HBC records for 1817- Robert Rendall’s grandson, Walter Rendall, wrote 1818. They contain a wealth of information not only that Robert had gone to Canada at age 17 and worked about my ancestor but also about the life of men work- for the Hudson’s Bay Company before returning to West- ing in the outposts of civilization. The surnames suggest ray and becoming “a successful tenant farmer.” Accord- an abundance of men from Orkney working there. The ing to Walter, Robert Rendall returned home in 1822. following pertains to 1817: But as usual in tracing ancestors, contradictions and confusions arise. May 21 James Marwick and Robert Rendall sawing Judith Beattie, Head Research and Reference officer May 16 Robert Rendal & Michael K. for HBC wrote to me in 1988 that HBC records show thrashing barley a Robert Randall/Randle sailing from Orkney 1 July Oct 4 Robt. Rendal & Alexr. Baconner 1800 on the Prince of Wales to York Factory, arriving in chopping logs September. He worked there as a labourer from 1800 to Oct 12 Rendel & Work finished thrashing & 1803, returning home by the King George III on a voy- winnowing the barley, 300 gallons in all, age that began 30 Aug 1803. “In an account, it appears but a great part of it not ripe. that his age in 1800 is given as 10 years, but in the Oct 14 Rendal hauling home wood on a cart ship’s log it is shown as 33 in 1803.” broke one of the shafts, & put another into its place Ms. Beattie enclosed “two brief resumes of the careers Oct 24 Rendal went for & b[rought] the horse of two men named Robert Randall (also Rendal, Rendall, which yesterday Bremmer could not find. and Randall).” She said that all references may be to the Oct 26 Rendal & Bremner clearing out the forge same man but some are listed from parishes other than & cutting a window out in it Westray. However, in 1813-1814 the parish is Westray, Oct 28 Sent Rendal & Joe off with two days’ and the man listed above his name was Peter; Robert provisions to look for a mare of the Rendall’s brother was Peter. Both men were working at company’s. Swan River. Nov 1 Rendal & Joe arrived. Did not find the mare--br[ought] meat from the hunter on Mrs. Beattie included this data regarding Robert their horse Rendall: Nov 2 Sent Robt. Rendal and two boys with 1812-1815 Labourer at Swan River four slades and dogs to meet 1815-1819 Middleman and Steersman, Swan River, Mr. Sutherland W. Winnipeg 1819-1820 Steersman, Moose Lake, W. Winnipeg A great deal of Rendal’s time was next spent making A Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 11

Fhorse shafts for flat slades, cutting and hauling wood, gathering sap from maple trees and making sugar. On and bringing a horse back to camp. On December 16 he April 25, “All the men home from the sugar camps as noth- was sent to the hunting tent; on the 21st he arrived back ing is doing at them . . . Mild evening--Mapple rum. How at camp with fresh meat. On the 22nd he and Killcot tantalizing.” were sent to Ft. Hibernia with the packet to Mr. Suther- land. I cannot prove that the Robert Rendall who appears in the Swan River journals is my ancestor, but I believe that Early in January 1818, the situation at Swan River he is. Robert Rendall married Betsie Seator in 1825, not was desperate. The journal reported that one of the men long after he returned from Canada. He probably was able arrived back “from the hunting tent with meat, says our to attain the tenancy of Noltland farm from his wages hunter has fetched off with all the rest of the Indians to earned from HBC. His grandchildren’s memories support attend general assembly at the thunder hill, convened the history. Robert Rendall allows us a glimpse into the by his Excellency, the rascal Mr. Rattle Snake. This life of one working under difficult, often dangerous condi- unlucky affair will destroy us, as our stock of provisions tions. is small and a long time of the best hunting season will be lost.” Knowing that he was a Steersman for HBC makes me curious. Might Robert Rendall actually have met Lord In mid January Robert Rendall, Thomas Setter, and Franklin and taken him safely through the rapids on a Donald McDonald were taken as witnesses to a judi- Canadian river? I will never know. L cial matter. On the 16th Robert Rendall and Tom Setter “sailed round the bay.”

In late January two of the Red Deer’s river men, George Sinclair and John Flett arrived with “11 otters, 73 martins, 69 rats, 1 damaged red fox, 1 mink, 1 fisher, and two leather skins.”

By February, three of five men “are invalids, but all of them able to eat up their allowance of freash meat a day.” The Indian hunter, Natat, is drunk.

On March 3, “Robert Rendal & Gro’ sent to Jack River, the latter, a man of very little consequence to the com- pany, is to remain at the Big (Falls?), from where we got him and another to accompany Rendal to Jack River.”

On March 9 Bremner is sent “to Natat’s tent. Re- turned in the evening with the unpleasant news that he refuses to hunt any more for us, being intimidated by Mr. McDonald’s threats to beat him if he continues with the English, that he is now to change his colours and take shelter under the French flag, tho it must be confessed he has always till winter of 1816 and 17 been a Nor’west trader.”

The HBC record states that on March 28, the Indians who had arrived with skins were given rum. On the 29th the Indians were “still drunk and troublesome. Two of them quarreled when the one, Natat, gave the other, Canteouteneu, four terrible cuts in the head and neck with a hatchet.” He reports also that Natat “is a quiet Indian,” but that “whenever he drinks a quarrel is the result.” On April 5 the wounded Indian “died and was buried. McDonald, our neighbour, gave out Rum on the occasion to his Indians, which puts me to a little expense also.” I hope that you are doing likewise. It’s not as if I’m asking you to spend four years on your back painting On April 17 James Marwick and Robert Rendal “are a ceiling, a couple of pages would be great and if to go down Red River with Mr. Sutherland in the Boats you have a photo or two that would be even better. . . . .” On May 12 they returned, “also James Mowat, Articles can be on a Word doc and photographs with six Horses and two Carts with some provisions.” should be scanned as ‘good quality’ and set as email attachments to:- [email protected] to reach Throughout March and April, the men were busy me by January 11th for the March edition. 12 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013 Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 13 On his 200th anniversary, the Arctic’s greatest explorer stands tall in Stromness By John Sinclair, Member No 588 John Rae was born in Orphir on mainland Orkney on the 30th little hesitation in accepting the assignment. of cannibalism. The Gerald Dickens, subsequently apologised on behalf of the Dickens September 1813. He was the sixth child and fourth son of John Rae At the time there was great rivalry between Inuit showed Rae many family, to Tagak Curley, an Inuit leader and politician, for his great and Margaret Glen Rae.John Rae senior was the factor of Sir William the Royal Navy and the HBC to finish objects identified as great grandfather’s ill chosen remarks. Honeyman’s estate and their home was the Hall o’ Clestrain where mapping the frozen wastes of north west coming from the In 1854 Rae had continued to map and explore the continental life would be quite Canada and discover the fabled passage to expedition and Rae northern coast. He discovered that King William Land was in fact an luxurious compared the Orient. purchased these island and that the stretch of water separating it from the mainland, with that of the In 1845 the British Naval Northwest to present to the now known as Rae Strait, was the last uncharted link in the North average Orcadian Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin Admiralty together West Passage. Rae was unable to navigate through the Strait because of the period. Sir was searching for a north west passage with his report. of ice at the time and it was not until Roald Amundsen made it Walter Scott visited in an unexplored region Southwest of the Rae arrived in through in 1900 that Rae’s discovery was proved beyond doubt. in 1814 and his record Barrow Strait. Earlier that year HMS Erebus, London to find that It was not until 1981 that an expedition stumbled on proof of what speaks highly of farm captained by Franklin, and HMS Terror, sailed the Admiralty had really happened with the Franklin Expedition. They discovered a The Hall o’ Clestrain, Orphir management and he from London leaked the report human femur with knife cuts, a broken skull and a disproportionate seemed particularly impressed with the horses. In 1887 The Orkney equipped with to the Times. Lady Jane Franklin number of human bones. The conclusion must be that the men of Herald suggested that John Rae’s sisters, Janet and Marion, were the enough provisions They were incensed that anyone should suggest the Royal Navy were carrying the most portable portions of their original models for the characters of Minna and Brenda in Scott’s to last for seven that officers and men of the Royal Navy would comrades to sustain them on their journey. novel The Pirate. years. They were resort to cannibalism. This from a service where men In 1992 a new Franklin site was discovered with human bones scattered Young Rae revelled in the outdoor life of hunting, fishing and sailing. last spotted by two were imprisoned in a basket around. Some 25% showed evidence of being cut with steel knives By all accounts he excelled in all of them and the skills he acquired whalers heading below the bowsprit of a ship; consistent with chopping and defleshing for human consumption. were to prove invaluable in his later life in the new world. for Baffin Bay in were keelhauled; suffered Three major bones had been broken to expose the bone marrow. The Rae children were privately educated at home and for young July 1845. What slow strangulation by being Makes one wonder if the Franklin sailors killed and ate the living or John Rae this ended at the age of 16 when he went to Edinburgh to happened to the hanged from the yardarm or simply cannibalised the dead. study medicine. two ships and the flogged mercilessly with a Despite the efforts of the establishment to belittle his achievements After four winter sessions he sat his one and only examination and 129 crew remains a cat o’ nine tails. Would such Rae was not completely ignored. He was made a Fellow of the Royal on the 18 April 1833 he qualified as Licentiate of the Royal College mystery. men resort to cannibalism? Society in 1880 and received Doctorates from both Edinburgh and of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was 19 years old. Sir John Franklin Rae, meantime had Unthinkable! McGill Universities. In addition to his position as factor of the Honeyman estates, Joh Rae completed a most successful expedition and his Rae was ostracised and It is galling, however, that John Rae, arguably the greatest of the senior was also the Orkney agent for the Hudson’s Bay Company and party had returned to York Factory after 15 months thousands of miles of Arctic Arctic Explorers, never received a knighthood or the recognition it was at their offices in Stromness that young Rae was fascinated by with all of the men in good health. coastline mapped by him that he undeniably deserves. the exciting tales and adventures related by many of the Orcadians There was still no news of the Franklin was falsely credited to Charles Dickens A memorial to Sir John Franklin lies within Westminster Abbey with and sailors familiar with the new world. Once qualified Rae lost no expedition, however, and the Admiralty Captain Richard Collinson of the Royal Navy. the wording : time in applying for a position with the HBC and in June of 1833 Rae decided that the ships Lady Franklin was of To the memory of Sir John Franklin, born April 16 1786 at Spilsby, senior received a letter informing him that his son Jock had been must be icebound and course incandescent with Lincolnshire, Died June 11 1847, off point victory in the frozen appointed Surgeon of the Prince of Wales for the ensuing voyage to a search should be rage at Rae’s report and ocean, the beloved chief of the gallant crews who perished with him Moose Factory in the south of Hudson Bay. instigated. The Rae- rallied her cohorts to At last we have a statue of John Rae, the Orkney explorer in completing the discovery of the North West passage. It was not long before the chief factor at Moose realised what an Richardson expedition villified by Charles Dickens and Lady Franklin and denied his discredit Rae and banish asset the young Orcadian would be to the HBC. George Simpson, was the first of these but place in history by a Royal Navy whitewash. him to the margins of In 2009, Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael, recently the overseas Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, agreed and he had no success. This magnificent life-size bronze by the eminent North history. Among these appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, tabled the following offered Rae a contract as clerk and surgeon at £100 per annum. Rae The following 10 years Ronaldsay artist and sculptor Ian Scott, stands at Stromness was Charles Dickens, motion in the House of Commons calling on Westminster Abbey was to remain at Moose Factory for the next 10 years as surgeon and saw many ships being pier not far from where Rae would have boarded the Prince of probably the most amongst others to recognise the historical inaccuracies contained was soon established as an officer of the HBC. sent to search the area. Wales, as ship’s surgeon, to join the Hudson’s Bay Company prominent and popular within the inscriptions and give John Rae his rightful recognition. During this time he made many friends among the First Nation’s Lady Franklin offered at Moose Factory. writer of the time. That this House records its admiration for all those in the nineteenth people who were frequent visitors to the fort and by the time he left a reward of £5000 and The unveiling ceremony was part of a celebration marking Dickens soon expressed century who contributed to the exploration of the North West Passage Moose Factory they had helped him become a skilled woodsman and the British Government the 200th anniversary of John Rae’s birth. The statue is a his xenophobic and in Canada; congratulates Billy Connolly on his recent programme, hunter, capable of travelling and surviving all over the harsh northern £20,000 to try to discover generous gift of Stromness born Alan Twatt of Banff, a long racist views in an article “Journey to the Edge of the World” retracing their steps; further territories of Canada. the fate of the expedition time admirer of John Rae, who said “All I have really done discrediting Rae’s report congratulates Mr Connolly on his conclusion that it was not in In 1844 Rae was due for promotion and it was proposed that he take but without any success. is something that should have been done 150 years ago or and calling the Inuits’ fact Sir John Franklin but John Rae who was the first to discover charge of the Rupert’s River District. Sir George Simpson, who was In 1854 John Rae was more.” In his closing remarks he expressed his pleasure in evidence unreliable and the final link to the passage while searching for the lost Franklin following young Rae’s career with interest, had other ideas. surveying the Boothia being able to hand the statue over to the Orkney Islands and attacking their character crew in 1848; regrets that memorials to Sir John Franklin outside One of the reasons the HBC was granted its charter was in order Peninsula for the HBC the Stromness people for safekeeping. as covetous and cruel. He the Admiralty headquarters and inside Westminster Abbey still to explore the uncharted continent and search the north coast of when he met an Inuit claimed that the Inuits inaccurately describe Franklin as the first to discover the passage Canada for a north west passage. If such a route could be found hunter near Pelly Bay. had murdered Franklin and calls on the Ministry of Defence and the Abbey authorities to it would revolutionise trade and travel to the Orient and provide a He told Rae that 35 - 40 and his men and covered take the necessary steps to clarify the true position. faster alternative to the hazardous horns of South Africa and South white men had died of starvation near the mouth of the Back their tracks with reports of starvation and cannibalism. It is America. Simpson outlined his plan for the expedition and Rae had River. Other Inuits confirmed the story which included reports significant to note that the great great grandson of Charles Dickens, Will it ever happen? Will pigs be taking to the skies? 14 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

I thought that the BB Leslie Foubister’s Home Guard photograph would have photograph did slightly better Leslie’s photograph of the WW2 Orcadian Home brought a good response Guard officers did a little better. Just by chance I came from our members across the same photograph in the Orkney Images web site with six of the officers identified. It certainly raised a lot of interest when it did the No’s 3 and 6, however, are still nameless while var- rounds of the tables at the British Legion one Saturday ious names have been put forward for No 4. J. Shearer night.Lots of stories told and lots of people recognised. I has been suggested but George Esson of St Margarets thought that it would also be of interest to our readers Hope thinks that it could be a W. Stainsby who came but evidently not. I was lucky to get one response so its to the islands in WW1, married a local girl and decid- thanks to Kate Butlin, Member No 1594 who sent me ed to stay in Orkney. Stewart Ferris, however, plumps the following interesting information. Ed. for a a Mr Dickson who was the manager of the Royal The woman third from the right was our aunt –Mrs Bank of Scotland during WW2 Hetty Findlater. Her son was Angus Findlater, in the When the proofs of this edition were being checked same row second from the left. at the OFHS office, however,it was decided that all Her maiden name was Mowat and she was one of the these suggestions were wrong and that without any family of four of Mr & Mrs Charles Mowat of Cellardy- doubt No 4 is in fact a Colonel J. T. Goodsir. So there! dke, Deerness. The oldest son, Charles was our father. Angus and his mother were associated with the Boys‘ Brigade for many years. At one time Angus had a weekly programme on Radio Orkney. I believe he was the voice who did the commentary at Skara Brae some years ago. He was a popular singer and made commercial tapes/CDs. He was best man at more than a few weddings [in double figures!] in and around Orkney! The Findlater family lived at 34 White Street,Kirk- wall. Thank you for including a photograph which brought back so many happy recollections. More Bews News From Geoff Norris, Member No 2145

An article that I prepared about ‘The Wreck of the “Marion” Bound for South Australia’ was published in Issue No. 57, March 2011 of the Sib Folk News. I had searched the passenger list and traced the Orkney fam- ilies who joined the ship. The “Marion” was wrecked The passenger list that I used did not record the on Troubridge Shoal, about 58 miles (93 kilometres) District where the wives and children of each family from its final destination of Port Adelaide, South Aus- had been born. If both the wife and son of a family tralia. were born in the Orkney Islands, I feel that the family Recently while researching various Bews fami- can be considered as being from Orkney. lies, I realised that I had omitted one family from my My great-great grandmother was Elisabeth Marion research. Bews (named at birth as Elspeth). The ship on which The family was that of David Bews, a Miner, who she came to South Australia was not as famous as the was born about 1826 in Renfrewshire, Scotland. His “Marion”. wife Ann, nee Bichen, was born on 6 March 1826 at It is surprising that there has been little mention St Andrews, Orkney. Their son David Bews, who was of Bews families in the Sib Folk News. (See page 17 of born on 12 April 1850 at St Andrews, Orkney, accompa- Issue No. 166, June 2013.) Perhaps this little article nied his parents to South Australia. will help the flow of BEWS NEWS to Sib Folk readers. Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 15

“We were not amused” Orkney plans to celebrate the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Thanks to George Gray, Member No 14 for this article he found in the John o’ Groats Journal of February 1840 and, as George remarked, written by a very erudite person.

of musicians. Should such prove to be the case, I would advise each guest, according to use and wont at public dinners to try and, “play the first fiddle,” and if delicacy prevent his blowing his own IRKWALL 11th February Since my last, a general trumpet, to blow that of his neighbour. The dinner, however may movement has taken place anente the matter of the cel- be got over with music, the harmony of knives and forks, clatter of ebration of her Majesty’s marriage. This, I am glad plates, and dulcet sounds of hip, hip, hurra, with a running accom- of, and beg to make the amende honourable for ever paniment of ruffing, will I doubt not, suffice, but how the tee-to- Khaving supposed that it would be otherwise. On that auspicious tallers are to get over the difficulty puzzles me not a little. As to day we propose eating, drinking and dancing in honour of our the ball, it would never do without tweedle dum and tweedle dee. beloved Queen, and it would not astonish me if a loyal feeling, You shall hear from me soon, with a further account of our, “Say- joined to an inclination for strong drink, should induce some of ings and Doings”. Our Orkney friends have the disadvantage of us to get drunk in honour of our Liege Lady Victoria. She will having a portion of the German Ocean running between them and be honoured, however, if not in‚“imperial tokay” at least for liba- her Majesty’s mails. This accounts for their being a, “day after the tions of tea and coffee, down to baneful whisky. A tea and coffee wedding.” Their loyalty however will be as much marked by their demonstration to be held in the grammar school- a dinner with holding their grand day on Thursday as on Monday.- Ed J.O’G.J. “someu’t strong” during and after it, is to be given at McDonald’s Hotel-and the Town Hall is to resound to the sound of mirth and Orkney’s plans to celebrate the marriage of dancing. The boys have been actively employed for some days Queen Victoria ends in smoke. past in gathering together all the old boxes, old barrels, and old Since the above was in type, we have been favoured with an- boats they can lay their hands on, with a view to a bonfire; and other communication from our Kirkwall correspondent, dated the immense amalgamation of heterogenous combustible matter 17th instant. The substance of it is as follows:- The grand Jubilee they have contrived to heap into one mass, is really admirable to it was in contemplation to hold here last week in honour of her behold. Men, women, and children, young and old, rich and poor, Majesty’s marriage, has ended in smoke. Unfortunately the pa- married and unmarried, are to have an opportunity of evincing pers brought us word of the 10th inst. being the day on which the their loyalty to our amiable Sovereign, on whose beauteous head Royal marriage was to take place. This was two days too late for may the blessings of heaven be amply showered. H.M. cutter us to observe that day, so we gave it up. There were some local Speedy is still here, being detained by contrary winds. The peo- circumstances too that also prevented the demonstration. So we ple of Kirkwall, owing to this circumstance, have every chance had no ball, no dinner, no soiree, no illumination. There was a of having a similar favour conferred on them to that bestowed on considerable bustle and noise, however. The boys got a bonfire Prince Albert, viz, “the honour of a Royal salute.” It is a pity that into operation, but it only served to show more distinctly the rueful the day of the nuptials is not at once announced, as I should not visages of the population. Some firing also took place, but hearts be a bit surprised if we were in the wrong box after all, and that were the only matters that suffered and these from the darts of either the marriage will be over before we celebrate it, or that we the, “bonny blue een,”of the fair that congregated in our streets. celebrate it before it takes place. We have been without a mail We had some beautiful fire-works also and royal salutes from the for some time, and are in consequence steering by a dead reck- Speedy. The Aberdeen Zetland mail packet from Lerwick put in oning. The good folks here have fixed on Thursday the 13th as here on Thursday evening last owing to contrary winds and sailed the marriage day. Whether it takes place that day or not I will not next day. The former mail cutter Speedy also sailed yesterday for undertake to say, but our having determined on holding it is in my Cromarty after having been detained here more than a month by opinion a sufficient reason for its being consummated. It is well S and S.E. winds. To Lieutenant Wright of this cutter were we in- that the stir attendant on this happy event should have happened debted for the fireworks on Thursday evening. The gallant officer and at this season of the year, when nature may be said to be without others belonging to the Speedy, showed their respect for Her Majesty a charm, and our pleasures sit within the sphere of the fireside. in every way possible, affording evidence of there being none of her The rejoicings will frighten the blue devils into the Red Sea for subjects more imbued with detachment and loyalty to the throne, at least an entire month, and then let us hope that more cheerful than her naval officers. weather will be ours. Report has it that there will be a dearth Continued on Page No 17 16 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

By Jenny Buchan, Member No 2348

How lucky can one person be? My luck started in 2002 I did, how- when a school friend from my days in Aberdeen sent me ever, have an a newspaper cutting about North Ronaldsay and the afternoon to names of the families in the graveyard. One of them visit the of- was Cutt which was my maiden name. fices of the This was the prompt I needed to arrange a visit to Orkney Orkney and in particular to Stromness and North Ron- Family His- aldsay. My mother had died when I was three and my tory Society father had been a very quiet man who never spoke about and what a Orkney or the family there so I had no idea just what I wonderful might find out. time I had. While arranging a B&B in North Ronaldsay I men- George and tioned my maiden name and was told I would need to his ladies see John Cutt of Gerbo. I wrote to him first and then found out so he put me in touch with Marian who “would know a lot much about more about the Cutts”. She did indeed. my mater- Marian gave me so much useful information then and nal great has continued to do so right up to my visit this year. Not grandpar- only that but she also told me about some relatives that ents (Allans I didn’t know I had. Jean is from my paternal grand- and Groats) mother’s line and on all my three visits we have spent who were hours talking about the Ritch family of Deerness and in- both from cidents that happened. She also introduced me to Mabel Shapinsay who could fill in other details but better still could take as well as me to the family home named Fea in Deerness which further in- various generations of Ritches had lived in. This was formation when two of my genealogy friends began to get jealous! on the Ritch, At that first visit in 2003 it was not clear which John Manson and Cutt (out of 9 of a possible age) was my great grandfa- Murray Photo of Jane Allan (nee Groat) who was my great grand- ther as he and my great grandmother did not marry al- families - mother and who was born on Shapinsay in 1841. With though he is given on my grandfather’s birth certificate although her is her daughter Jane Allan, born in Shapinsay in 1860 with an address near Kirkwall and my grandfather was still not yet and she was sister to my grandfather William Allan born in given his name. Marian had her ideas but proof was still on which 1862. needed and that was elusive. John Cutt. I One of the few facts that I knew was that my father was getting more and more excited while my friend, who had lived in Stromness as a child and I managed to find is from England, couldn’t believe how lucky I was and the house. However I also knew my grandfather had when we were given tea and biscuits just couldn’t help belonged to the ‘Masons’ and I managed to make contact comparing this wonderful afternoon with what she’d ex- with them and learn more about him as a man and how perienced when doing her own research. respected he was both in the ‘Masons’ and in the church George sent me various certificates after my visit as where he was an elder. That was so lovely. well as a photograph of the farm on Shapinsay where my Later I wrote to the Masons to see if they had any great grandparents had lived. This made me even more details about my grandfather’s parentage. This drew a determined to return and visit Shapinsay and Rousay - blank but it did lead to David who had North Ronaldsay yes, I had ancestors there too. connections. He too has found out so much for me al- By now Marian and David had met and had discussions though to begin with still not which John Cutt I needed. about John Cutt but it was one of George’s certificates My second visit to Orkney was on a Ramblers’ Walk- that gave the final clue - just when I wasn’t even looking ing holiday in 2010. As this was an organised trip I had for it. limited time for Family History but plenty of time to fall With that settled I now had details back to all my great even more in love with Orkney than I had before. great grandparents and in some cases beyond that. Thus Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 17

I returned this summer with the same friend. I think three farms where my ancestors had lived. Well I found she just wanted to see if I could be lucky again. I most them but much more importantly I also found three sis- certainly was. ters to whom I am related - same great great grandpar- We were visiting Kirkwall, Deerness, Rousay, North ents, William Groat and Jane Shearer. I was told about Ronaldsay, Shapinsay, Stromness and finally Thurso be- them and the sisters had been told that there were two cause of my maternal grandmother. Mostly I just want- ladies going around taking photographs of Groat prop- ed to be in the places where my ancestors had lived and erties. We spent a lovely morning with them sorting out worked and to see their homes if they still existed. I got which farms were for which parts of the family - some- so much more than that. thing I could probably not have done on my own. Later Firstly I managed to meet up with the people who had they sent me some very precious photos showing mem- been so kind and helpful - Jean, Mabel, Marian and Da- bers of the Groat and Allan families - something I did vid. The latter two still surprised me with more infor- not possess but will now treasure. mation about the Cutts on North Ronaldsay which led to Last stop on Orkney was Stromness where I hadn’t antic- some beautiful walks across the island and a collection ipated anything new but my friend found a memorial tran- of photos of various dilapidated houses but all in glori- scription in the church where my grandfather had been an ous settings. Stennabreck was particularly interesting elder and we then found my Aunt’s grave in Warebeth church- as it had the carpenters’ workshop attached. I was also yard. Lizzie Cutt had been married to William Rendall, print- introduced to Billy at the lighthouse who told me about er, and died in 1924 but the stone was still easily read. the Cutts good workmanship and how they had been in- My final pieces of luck were in Thurso. It had taken volved in laying the floor in the lighthouse. He then real- me three attempts to book a B&B but, at this third one, ly surprised me by saying that he had a wooden surround it turned out that my landlady’s aunt had been married to a fireplace which Cutts had made and which I could go to my mother’s cousin. We met up and she filled me in on and see. That was such a thrill and totally unexpected. half remembered family details. She told me a lovely story I had been in touch with Tommy on Rousay as someone about how my aunt had worked in a sweet shop and dur- who would know where Tofts was. This was my great great ing the war used to throw sweets to the soldiers marching grandmother Murray’s family home and was reportedly through Thurso on their way to Orkney. She also point- the first two storey house in Orkney and the only house ed out a display board in the Heritage centre about the not demolished when boatbuilding busi- over 200 people were ness my grandfa- cleared from the land ther Allan and his in the west of Rousay in brother had set up the 1840s. Tommy not after they moved to only showed us where Thurso from Shap- Tofts is but gave us a insay. I had known tour of the island point- they were fisher- ing out various other men and fishcurers Murray homes and but nothing about telling us stories about the boatbuilding one of the real family business. characters. That was I sat in the train one of the few wet days going south and we had but the next day thought what a was glorious so we went wonderful holiday back to the area and I had had. I could after contending with never have antic- bog and marshland, The tumbledown ruins of ‘Tofts’—gg grandmother Murray’s family home ipated it and but streams and barbed for all the help I wire, we reached Tofts and had a picnic while enjoying the have had from so many people - both as individuals and wonderful view. When we reported back to Tommy he gave through the Family History Society - it could never have us pieces of newly made bere bannocks which was a real happened. I am so grateful to them all for making my treat. How lucky I was to have been put in touch with him. family come alive and giving me such lovely experiences. Since then he has sent me a splendid photograph family How lucky can one person be? Answer VERY, VERY, character - the only one I have of that particular line. especially if their ancestors are Orcadians. Next stop was Shapinsay where I had hoped to find Jenny Buchan Member No 2348 August 2013

Continued from Page No 15 The Speedy commenced firing Royal salutes at 1 o’clock Thurs- place in about ten days hence. We have hardly had any snow yet day and continued them throughout the day. That vessel was and the land is turned over ready for the seed. The sacrament of decked out with numerous flags and had a really beautiful ap- the Lord’s Supper was held in the Secession Church here yester- pearance. The commander, officers and crew of the Speedy are day. The Rev. Mr Paterson was assisted on the occasion by the held in much and deserved respect here. A public ball will take Rev. Mr Stobbs. 18 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013 St Magnus and the Ancient Game

By Bill Wilson Yestreen his bells rang “Guid New Year!” The two squads meet afore the cross Ower a crowded street and green And wait there fer the throw, Noo there’s no a soul in sight, As men have din fer centuries - As though it had never been. Ten more minutes tae go. He pits his hands taegether, The scrum up the street gets bigger, And peels oot twelve in a row Hid’ll be quite coorse you know, Tae summon men tae their ancient game - Uppies and Doonies get restless, Sixty minutes tae go! Five more minutes tae go. Noo twa three gather at the cross. “Whar is the man wi the Ba’?” “No long noo tae the throw!” The time is passan so slow “A Guid New Year” and a shak o’ hands - “At last! He’s on the market cross” - Thirty minutes tae go! Two more minutes tae go. Mansie’s hand moves up his face, This past winner, ba’ in hand Does he hiv to be so slow? Is honoured wi’ the throw He kens the folk wait on the green - The players, eye him and the clock, Twenty minutes tae go. Just a minute tae go. Noo fae up Victoria Street The ba’ held high, Mansie peels wan, And Albert Street below, A thousand voices roar. Comes the sound of marching feet - The toss fae the cross tae the men below - Fifteen minutes tae go. “Noo - Uppies and Doonies - GO!”

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, visitors barricades becomes obvious. Often the majority of players have to Orkney might be perplexed to see barricades no idea where the ba’ is—they go with the flow as fake breaks being erected across doors and windows. Is and ba’ smuggling are employed to confuse the opposition. The some serious weather expected or perhaps players make the most of Kirkwall’s narrow streets and winding an attack from the West Mainland? It is lanes and have even been known to clamber over rooftops to reach understood a certain rivalry exists between their goal. The Doonie’s goal is the sea and the Uppies must get the two camps. Neither is true; it is simply round Mackinson’s corner. Once a goal is scored the game is over. Kirkwall gearing up for a game of football. It is time now for the ba’ to be awarded to a player in the winning Well, to call it football is a bit tame; to quote the BBC Spectrum side who has been a prominent participant over past years. The programme of 1982 It is not so much a game—more a civil war. winner then invites everyone to his home for drinks. There are, of course, two sides, as you will see from Bill’s poem—the The ba’ is a prized trophy. One winner, who shall remain nameless, Uppies and the Doonies. Strictly speaking it depends where you were once said to me, being awarded the ba’ was more important to me born; Uppies come from South of the Cathedral and Doonies from than my wedding day. the north. With incomers it depends on which direction you entered There is nothing that sums up annual ba’ ritual better than this final Kirkwall. There are no rules and no limit to the number of players. quote from BBC spectrum 1982. Even the law has been known to Two games are played on Christmas Day and New Years Day. The stand impotent as combatants surged and counter-surged through Boys Ba’ begins at 10.30 and the Mens Ba’ starts at 1pm. the environs of the police station, and memory has hardly dimmed The ball is thrown up at the Mercat Cross and the game begins. A the occasion when the local manse was invaded and despoiled. game can last five hours and has been known to go on for eight. Casualties are high—but who cares? Crushed ribs and broken Both the boys and mens games can be running concurrently. The limbs are never enough reason for the enthusiastic participants to streets of Kirkwall are now the playing field and as the scrum desist from this traditional orgy of Orcadian violence which not braces itself against buildings and doorways the need for the even a sheriff’s edict could ban—the Kirkwall Ba’. ED. Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 19

By Susan Park Marble, Member No 2140 My grandfather, Isaac Park (born May 27, 1886, during my Orcadian trip this upcoming June. My four Berston, Orkney), was a two year old toddler when the times great-grandparents were George Park (born family, consisting of father, John Park (born Decem- about 1760 in Orkney and died in Orkney) and Cath- ber 21, 1858, South Ronaldsay, Orkney), mother, Eliz- erine Esson (born about 1760 in Orkney and died in abeth Swannie (born November Orkney on about 1821). The fourth 15, 1858, South Ronaldsay, Ork- mystery to solve is where are they ney), and older sister, Elizabeth, buried? This is another location I age five, immigrated to the United Before visiting Orkney would be compelled to pay a visit to. States from Orkney. Isaac trave- in June of 2014, Susan My three times great-grandparents led by ship to New York and settled Park Marble, member were Robert Park (born about in New Jersey with his parents and number 2140, would like 1791 in Burray, Orkney), and Bar- older sister. John and Elizabeth to challenge any Orkney bara Dass (Dundass) (born about had four more children, John, Ellen, resident and/or member 1797 in Orkney). One small clue Peter, and Jane. After adulthood of the Orkney Family that we do have is that they are and marriage, Isaac relocated to History Society to exer- buried in Burray Cemetery at St. New Hampshire. I know very lit- Lawrence Churchyard. The fifth tle about Isaac and his family as he cise their inner Sherlock mystery to solve is why Barbara died before my parents were mar- Holmes and help her has a discrepancy in her last name. ried and only a small amount of in- solve some family myster- Which is the correct last name and formation was shared with me. The ies. Unfortunately, there why is there a difference? Marriage only two major clues I have that are only a very small records list Barbara as Dass, but were mentioned were that Ork- number of clues to work her headstone lists her as Dun- ney was the origin of birth for my with, so it will not be an dass. My two times great-grand- grandfather, Isaac, and John and easy task! parents were Isaac Park (born Elizabeth left behind fairly large July 23, 1832 in Burray, Orkney, families. My father, Donald Ir- died June 6, 1902 in Burray, Ork- vine Park and his sister, Dorothy ney) and Elisabeth Berston (born Park Brown, both deceased, were the children of Isaac February 25, 1824, South Ronaldsay, died January 22, Park. Two cousins, I, and our children are the only 1898 in South Ronaldsay, Orkney). The sixth mystery living descendents of John, Elizabeth, and Isaac here to solve is where are they buried? This is also a site I in the United States as far as we have been able to lo- desire to visit. My great-grandparents were John Park cate. I am extremely interested in finding any relatives (born December 21, 1853 in Orkney) and Elizabeth in Orkney or Scotland that might be able to shed some Swannie (born November 15, 1853 in Orkney), mar- light on my Park family history and hopefully meet with ried 1882. Another interesting piece of information is me while I am in Scotland. This will be a multi-faceted that John’s sister, Elizabeth Park married Elizabeth’s mystery to solve with family tree information that goes brother, Peter Swannie, also in 1882. The seventh mys- back seven generations. tery to solve is what prompted John and Elizabeth My five times great-grandparents were George Park Park to immigrate to the United States and leave all of (born about 1740 in Scotland, died in Orkney) and Cath- their families behind? erine Woolridge (born December 12, 1737 in Scotland, According to ship’s records, John and Elizabeth died in Orkney). The first and second mystery to solve Park brought very few possessions with them when will be where did George and Catherine Park immi- they immigrated to the United States. Everything fit- grate from and what brought them to Orkney as well as ted into three pieces of luggage. Of those items, none were they the first Parks in Orkney? The movement of appeared to be any photographs. I have no pictures of this couple occurs around either Jacobite rising, the “Fif- any of my family members, except of my father as a col- teen” or “Forty-five” and my curiosity questions whether lege student, his military photograph, and then with my the Parks had any involvement with either of these piec- mother and me as I grew into adulthood. es of Scottish history. The third mystery to solve is where are they buried? I would be excited to visit their graves Continued on Page No 21 20 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

By Peter Wilke, Member No 2956 One of the most enduring memories of visiting my late aunt In January of 1894 and uncle’s house was the large photograph on the living room a second daughter wall of a rather stern looking Edwardian gentleman. This was Marion, was born my uncle’s Grandfather, Andrew Stewart and we were often followed by my reminded of how he had been a banker with the Commercial uncle’s Father, Bank of Scotland and had lived in Orkney. My uncle also had William in 1895 a rather splendid hooded Orkney chair with a brass inscription and a fourth son which read; “Presented to Andrew Stewart Esq by the Orkney Charles in March Christian Fellowship Union as a small recognition of his most of 1899. Tragically valuable services as their secretary, 1911”. Charles died from Andrew Stewart was born on the 10th of December 1853 at hydrocephalus aged Stobo in Peebleshire. He was the fifth of six children born to just three months Andrew Stewart, who was a shepherd and agricultural labourer and two years later, on Stobo Estate, and Marion Laurie. Sadly young Andrew’s in 1901, Marion Mother, Marion, died on the 11th of February 1867, but in spite died from enteric Commercial Bank of Scotland - Stromness of this tragedy Andrew fever (typhoid). went on to start an Oddly the headstone was only erected in about 1908 as it reads; apprenticeship with “In loving Memory of Charles Gordon who died 11 June 1899 the Commercial Bank aged 3 months and Marion Laurie who died 12 October 1901 of Scotland in Peebles aged 7 years, 9 months. Beloved children of Andrew and Christina in August of 1869. Stewart, Commercial Bank House, Stromness.” His first posting was During his time as Bank Agent in Stromness Andrew was to Crieff, Perthshire heavily involved in the community serving as Chairman of the where he met his Stromness Harbour Commissioners and from 1893 to 1896 future wife, Christina Provost of Stromness. When the family were on holiday, in 1903, Mitchell. She was Andrew took the the eldest daughter of time to visit head James Mitchell and office in Edinburgh Catherine Brough. and was offered the James had been a agency at Kirkwall. woollen manufacturer The appointment Andrew Stewart and Christina Mitchell in Comrie before was formally made moving his family to on the 4th of August Crieff and building a mill at Bridgend. Andrew and Christina were and he took over on married on the 21st of July 1881 at the Mitchell home, Earnvale the 22nd of August Cottage, and had twin sons, Walter and James, the following 1903. His departure year. In 1883 Andrew was promoted to Bank Agent and his first from Stromness responsibility was to open a new agency at Lochboisdale where was recorded in the their daughter Catherine was born in May of 1884. Orcadian and the In 1886 Andrew turned down an appointment to the Sub- Orkney Herald of that Agency at the Comrie Branch, but two years later, in March of year. The Orkney 1888 he was offered the Stromness Agency on the retiral of Mr. Herald dated 26th of Alexander Coghill which he formally accepted on the first of August gives a most May 1888. Andrew and Christina with their young family moved Commercial Bank of Scotland - Kirkwall glowing description to the bank house located in Victoria Street, Stromness where of his ability and contribution to Stromness over the preceding they were to make their home for the next 15 years. 15 years. The Orkney Herald of 25th November gives a report A Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 21

F of a presentation given to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart at the Stromness a man like Mr. Stewart was an acquisition to any community”! Hotel where they were presented with a solid silver tea service. The Having lost two children during their time in Orkney the article goes on to mention his service to the Town Council, School Stewart family were to suffer further loss during the Great War Board, the Natural History Society and the Horticultural Societies when their eldest son, Walter was tragically killed at the battle as well as the church, religious, philanthropic and benevolent of Passchendaele on the 5th of September 1917. He had also work. In his reply he is quoted as saying; “I do not know what we joined the Commercial Bank of Scotland and was apprenticed have done to deserve such kindness. Indeed we have received to the Stromness Agency in December of 1898. On completing nothing but kindness ever since we came among you upwards of his apprenticeship he was transferred to the Inverness Agency. 15 years ago.” During the same evening he was also presented By the time of the outbreak of war Walter was a clerk at the with a pair of silver mounted bowls from the Stromness Bowling Hutchesontown Agency in Glasgow. He enlisted with the Argyll Club. A further article in the Orcadian of December 1903 records and Sutherland Highlanders and was tragically killed at the battle a presentation from the West Mainland Agricultural Society of a of Passchendaele on the 5th of September 1917. In the early 1900’s “timepiece” recognising his services as their treasurer. his younger twin brother, James, emigrated to Saskatchewan in Unbelievably he seems to have found the time to be involved Canada and married Sarah Pendlebury who was the daughter of in many institutions whilst in Orkney and continue his work as an English builder from Lancashire. They had three children and bank Agent, for he also represented Hoy and Graemsay for 12 James died in Winnipeg in 1954 at the age of 72. Their daughter years, from 1890 -1902 on the County Council and served on the Catherine never married and died in Edinburgh in 1967 and my Stromness Town Council. He was superintendent of the Sunday uncle’s Father, William, died in Forfar in 1972 following a career School of the King Street U. F. Church and president of the Guild in the ailing Lanark tomato industry. and Congregational Treasurer and a prominent member of the On moving to Lanark Andrew Stewart became involved with Bible Society. many different organisations and joined St. Kentigerns Lanark, Another area of interest was in education and I’m sure he was where he was their Congregational Treasurer and a Presbytery most aware of his own circumstances as a young man. I’ve Elder. By the time he retired from the Commercial Bank of read several reports of his interest in young people who showed Scotland on the 30th of November 1923 he was the Bible Society promise of doing well in the world and that his “kindly word vice President for Lanark, had an interest in the Lanark Y.M.C.A., and practical help were never wanting”. Although he was not was the Lanark Nursing Association Treasurer and Lockhart an educated man, having left school at the age of 15, he was 12 Hospital Treasurer. years a member of the Combined School Board for Orkney and Having given so generously of his time and abilities with Chairman of the Secondary Education Committee. numerous groups over his lifetime and with 54 years’ service In 1911 Andrew accepted an offer of the Lanark agency which to the Commercial Bank of Scotland he died on the 23rd of June he took up on the 24th of November that same year. The Orkney in 1923 and is buried at St. Leonards Cemetery in Lanark. His Herald dated 19th of July records the presentation by the Orkney wife Christina survived him by four years and died on the 17th Christian Fellowship Union which “consisted of an excellent of June 1930. hooded Orkney chair in oak (with a plate on which is a suitable His photograph now hangs in my hall and when visitors ask inscription) made by Mr. D. M. Kirkness, Palace Street; and a copy who this stern man with the slight look of disapproval is I have of “Hossack’s “Kirkwall in the Orkneys” bound in morocco, and pleasure in telling them. If they have the time that is. having the Kirkwall City Arms. These two articles were for Mr. Stewart; while for Mrs. Stewart were a silver tea kettle and spirit If any member has anything to add about the Stewart or Mitchell lamp, and a mahogany, silver mounted tea caddie.” The article families, or wishes to comment on the article, I would be goes on to say; “In these days when so many high positions are delighted to hear from them. I can be reached by email at: filled by men having no backbone, and lacking in moral principle,

This endeavor will facilitate discovering whether there Continued from Page No 19 are relatives still living in Orkney or Scotland who will From the research that my husband has accom- be willing to meet with me during our trip in the summer plished, it appears that my family’s livelihood in Orkney of 2014. consisted of farming, fishing, carpentry, and coopering. If you can help Susan you can email her at : My grandfather, Isaac Park, has his birthplace listed [email protected] as Berston, South Ronaldsay. We believe Berston is also the name of the croft he was born in, as well as Berston being the maiden name of my two-times great-grand- Dave’s round mother, Elisabeth (Betsy) Berston. The eighth mys- tery is whether this croft might still have some of my Britain walk relatives living in it and if so, would they be willing to allow me to pay a visit while I am in Orkney? Have you been following our Webmaster The families of my ancestry were fairly large and Dave Higgins on his walk round Britain in there are several surnames from marriages that took aid of Parkinsons? Log into www.coastin- place. Amongst those names are: Berston, Dundass, groundbritain.co.uk and follow Dave’s pro- Laughton, Louttit, Swannie, Reid, Newgar, Taylor, and gress. He has passed the halfway mark now, Woolridge (Wooldrage). Again, I would appreciate any 3000 miles, and still going strong. Follow his detective work that anyone is willing to do in order to progress and enjoy the running commentary assist me in gaining knowledge of my family heritage. and photographs taken daily on the route. 22 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 68 December 2013

Nan Scott, Member No 8, reports on Jocelyn Rendall’s talk to the Society here was a good attendance at this meeting in should have no problem remembering her membership the St Magnus Centre. Our chair person Anne number1066! We hope to hear from Anne sometime. Rendall, after a few intimations, welcomed her Jocelyn interspersed her talk with slides. The first of sister-in-law, Jocelyn Rendall as the speaker. them showed some of the closely written letters. Some We have enjoyed talks from Jocelyn before had lines written at right angles across the original ones, Twhen she came following the publishing of her first book as you do! Other slides showed maps, Trenaby House, a “A Jar of Seed-Corn” and again after writing “Steering family tree and portraits of William Balfour (1719-1786) the Stone Ships” and his son Thomas (1752-1799).Jocelyn went on to give This time her talk was entitled “Set a Stiff Heart to a lot of information that she had got by studying what a Stae Brae”. This was a quote from one of the Balfour had gone on in the lives of the wives of these two men. Letters of which there are 50,000 in the Orkney Archives William married Elizabeth Covingtrie from Deerness. rescued by a former librarian Evan MacGillivray. This She proved to be a major asset and a valuable help- promised to be mate. She had interesting as learned the the annual out- skills of run- ing of the soci- ning a large ety had been to household, Shapinsay and the baking, finished up with the brewing, afternoon tea in the salting the Balfour Cas- of fish and tle. meat so there Jocelyn start- was enough ed off by begging food stored to any of us who last the long write letters to hard winters. continue to do His marriage so for the benefit came at a of future histori- good time as ans. The Balfour he was in an letters cover 400 impoverished years from the state. Trena- mid 16th centu- bie House, We- ry until the mid stray had been 20th century. burned down Letters written by Moodie by a family of and his gov- land owners nat- Photo taken at Orkney Family History Society meeting on the 12th September where Jocelyn Rendall was the guest ernment sol- urally include speaker. Left to right are:- Jocelyn, Anne Rendall her sister-in-law and chairman of the OFHS,, together with David diers in Jaco- contemporary Murdoch, Anne Mitchell and Edna Panton. The title of the talk was “Set a stiff heart to a stae brae”. bite times and economic condi- he had been tions as well as family news and gossip. The threat of forced to hide in caves on threat of death. Once the dan- French invasion is mentioned and also the war in Amer- ger was past he did all he could to make money. This ica. All the information that Jocelyn was going to pass took him away from home a lot and many letters were on had come from these letters. written to Elizabeth with instructions on how she must She indicated that there was a heroine in the room conduct things in his absence. There were six surviving who was making it her life’s work to catalogue the Bal- children to look after in the home already. From Ed- four letters. She is Anne Mitchell, daughter of Ethel inburgh he wrote, “If therefore I should stay away longer Mitchell from Inverurie but born in Deerness. Ethel than I wish or expect, you must take courage and set a A Issue No 68 December 2013 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 23

A stiff heart to a stae brae and exert yourself so much the more not only in the case of your family and children Help us keep but also of non-family affairs, as to which I shall help you with my directions from time to time and must leave you to execute them as best you can”. He seized every opportunity to make money by trading, salvaging ships, factoring other estates and successfully turned around the Balfour fortunes. Elizabeth did the best she could and followed the instructions of the let- ters both inside and outwith the family. As well as that his family were given good educations. His son Thomas who was a doctor married an English aristocrat, Frances Ligonier and they returned to Orkney to another estate. DOWN Jocelyn went on to say here that she would love to imag- Since we started to put Sib Folk News online ine Frances’ reactions when she first arrived in Orkney, quite a number of members have decided to after 800 miles of uncomfortable journey by coach and ‘opt-out’ of receiving a printed copy. ship. She had been brought up in London and Surrey, This helps us reduce our printing and especially and probably her knowledge of farming amounted to the our mailing costs. view out of the carriage window. Kirkwall with its one Every copy of Sib Folk News can now be viewed filthy street, must have been as much of a shock to her online and we try to make the current issue avail- as a first visit to a third world country is to us, and one able in advance of the printed copy. wonders how much she would have understood of what To ‘opt out’ simply go to ‘My Details’ on www. anyone said to her in Westray. (English visitors are still orkneyfhs.co.uk. To view any issue click the ‘SIB struggling with that one). Frances, although she applied FOLK NEWS’ link herself 100% to the estate for Tom’s sake, never got dewy eyed about Orkney. She always writes about herself as being a grim exile. She had been a London society host- ess until she was 34 but soon became a practical hands- on Orkney farmer. When Thomas was settled in Shapinsay in 1787, he SIB FOLK started to modernize his estate with enclosures and new NEWS BINDER methods and Frances may be due some credit for this too. When we were in Shapinsay this summer we were able to For members who still admire how the square fields had been laid out. prefer to collect printed Like his Dad, Thomas was away from home a lot on copies of Sib Folk News trading exploits. He was also an army officer. For years this handsome binder will his commission had been a sinecure but the war with keep them all neat and tidy. Manufactured in dark France and the threat of French invasion finally sent him green simulated leather with gold blocking it allows into action in Ireland He was also someone who enjoyed for the easy insertion and removal of copies. An addi- having a good sociable time and that did not mean stay- tional feature is that it opens flat at any page. ing at home with an older woman. He died aged 47 in Price is £6 plus post and packing which can be 1799. In all his long absences and for seven years after calculated at www.orkneyfhs.co.uk following the links he died the management of his farms and his ships and under publications. the sale of his merchandise were left to Frances. She managed all the estate including the farm in Caithness until her younger son William retired from the navy in Just a reminder in 1806 and took over. Her London upbringing had never prepared her for case you missed it running an estate in Orkney, on her own, having lost her husband and a son killed in military action, but she just NEW MEMBERSHIP FEES got on with it. The husband she had adored was neglect- FROM SEPTEMBER 2013 ful and unfaithful, but she was steadfastly loyal to him and his interests, even when that meant dealing with the £10 STANDARD UK membership and members mistress from hell after he died. She was not always abroad opting out of receiving a printed a likeable character and sometimes she was infuriating copy of Sib Folk News. but it is impossible not to admire the sheer guts with £15 OVERSEAS (surface mail) which she “set a stiff heart to a stae brae”. Jocelyn gave us much more interesting details about £18 OVERSEAS (air mail) the lives of these two women from the Balfour letters and You can join or renew your subscription on line at it has encouraged me to do some more research especially www.orkneyfhs.co.uk. To join click ABOUT US then MEMBER- in the Westray branch of the family. SHIP DETAILS. To renew subscription go to MEMBERS PAGE Anne thanked Jocelyn for her excellent talk and the then MY DETAILS. It couldn’t be easier. usual cuppa and biscuits were enjoyed by all. THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

rkney Family History Society was formed in 1997 NEW MEMBERS and is run by a committee of volunteers. Membership of the Society is through subscription and O It is similar to societies operating worldwide runs for a period of 12 months from date of application. where members share a mutual interest in family history Our magazine, ‘Sib Folk News’ is available to members and help each other with research and, from time to every 3 months unless they have agreed to ‘opt out’ (see time, assist in special projects concerning the countless new rate structure) as all issues are now available online. records and subjects available to us all in finding our Our ‘Members’ Directory’ can also be found online at roots. www.orkneyfhs.co.uk following links members page/ The main objectives are: Members’ Directory. This lists members’ contact details 1 To establish a local organisation for the study, and their research interests. collection, analysis and sharing of information about Members will receive a password to access the individuals and families in Orkney. members’ pages on the website, details of which are 2 To establish and maintain links with other family shown on the Home Page. history groups and genealogical societies throughout the A great deal of research can be achieved through UK and overseas. these resources at www.orkneyfhs.co.uk. 3. To establish and maintain a library and other reference facilities as an information resource for NEW RATES from 1st SEPTEMBER 2013 members and approved subscribers. 1. All UK Membership and overseas members 4. To promote study projects and special interest opting out of receiving a printed copy of Sib Folk groups to pursue approved assignments. News (available on our website) £10.00 We are located on the upper floor of the Kirkwall Library next to the archives department and are open 2. OVERSEAS - Surface Mail £15.00 Mon–Fri 2pm–4.30pm and Sat 11am–4.30pm. 3. OVERSEAS - Air Mail £18.00 Our own library, though small at the moment, holds a If you pay by standing order, the amount should be variety of information including: amended to £10 if due on or after Sept 1st 2013. The IGI for Orkney on microfiche. The Old Parish Records on microfilm. DOWNLOAD THESE and SEND The Census Returns on microfilm transcribed WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION on to a computer database. Visit www.orkneyfhs.co.uk/docs/mempack.pdf where Family Trees. you will find a New Membership Application form and Emigration and Debtors lists. a blank Family Tree. Please complete these, print and Letters, Articles and stories concerning Orkney send with the appropriate subscription to The Treasurer and its people. at the address below. Hudson’s Bay Company information. EXISTING MEMBERS CAN RENEW ONLINE Graveyard Surveys (long term project). This material is available to members for ‘in house’ Existing members wanting to renew their subscription research by arrangement. can now do so online. Just Log In and use the link from My Details on the Member’s Page. You can, of course, Locally we have a Members’ Evening, most months, with still send your subscription to the Treasurer at OFHS. a guest speaker. We produce a booklet of members and interests to CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE allow members with similar interests to correspond with Overseas members, paying in their own currency, should each other if they wish. check the exchange rate to ensure the correct amount We also produce a newsletter 4 times a year and are is forwarded. Our bank will accept overseas cheques always looking for articles and photographs of interest. without charging commission. We regret that foreign A stamped addressed envelope should be included if Postal Orders are not acceptable in the UK. these are to be returned. Back copies of the magazine Members residing in the UK may pay their subscriptions by Bankers Order and if they wish can have their can be purchased at £1 per copy. We can usually undertake research for members subscriptions treated as Gift Aid donations. Forms are who live outwith Orkney but this is dependent on available on request. the willingness of our island members giving up their Cheques should be made payable to:- spare time to help. Any costs incurred, such as fees for ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY certificates, will require to be reimbursed by the member. and forwarded to The Treasurer ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Orkney Library & Archive 44 Junction Rd. Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1AG Scotland. General enquires should be addressed to the office in writing or to Treasurer George Gray (e-mail: [email protected]) General Secy. Jackie Harrison (e-mail: [email protected]) Research Secy. Enquiries should be sent to George Gray until a new research secretary is appointed Editor. John Sinclair (e-mail: [email protected]) Orkney Family History Society website— www.orkneyfhs.co.uk Articles in the newsletter are copyright of the Society and its authors and may not be reproduced without permiss- ion of the editor. The Society is a registered charity in Scotland and a member of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies. The Society’s newsletter, Sib Folk News is registered with the British Library under the serial number ISSN 1368-3950. The Orkney Family History Society is a Registered Charity in Scotland SCO26205 MEMBERSHIP subscriptions etc