he variety of events and attractions that can be enjoyed in had been chosen as a host port for the Tall Ships Race of Orkney seems to get bigger every year. 2011 you might say that we pushed the boat out (ouch) preparing Visitors come in their thousands to enjoy The St Magnus a huge variety of events to mark the occasion. TFestival, Shopping Week, Wine and Folk Festivals, Golf Stromness and went overboard (groan) with music and Competitions, Marathons for the fit, a Blues Weekend, the Orkney dancing and arranged for over 1500 people to party or sail aboard Vintage Society Rally, the Riding of the Marches and a variety of the vessels. agricultural shows culminating in the ‘big one’—the County Show All in all it has been one of our most eventful years yet both for which attracts half of Orkney to Kirkwall every year. tourists and Orcadians. Wall to wall entertainment all year long—and This year proved to be extra exciting for as soon as we heard that with a bit of luck we’ll do most of it again in 2012. NEWSLETTER OF THESIB ORKNEY FAMILY FOLK HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSISSUE No 59 SEPTEMBER 2011

Photographs and composite by John Sinclair. Tall Ships photographs courtesy of Wikipedia Creative Commons or in Public Domain and the following photographers or companies are credited: Zeglarz, GNU Free Documentation, Samhlili, Remigiusz Jozefowicz and Albert Bridge. 2 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 59 September 2011

ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY NEWSLETTER Issue No 59 September 2011 CONTENTS FRONT COVER Orkney Summer & Autumn Events From PAGE 2 the Chair From the Chair

PAGE 3 Our Outing As you saw from the last Sib Folk News Alan Clouston has decided to stand down as PAGES 4 & 5 Chairman and concentrate on his other projects More Deldays of and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for his leadership over the last 4 years which, he tells me, he enjoyed PAGES 6 & 7 Tracing my Orkney enormously. Laing connections He had great satisfaction from the interest and feed back shown in his

PAGES 8 & 9 ‘Tumbledown’ articles which concentrated on the area. Now that he has Two Stone completed the series he hopes that some member will start off another parish Memorials in and keep the feature going. St Magnus Cathedral Our `summer ooting’ this year was to Rousay and even though there were ominous clouds hanging about all day the weather stayed dry for us and we PAGE 10 had a great time. First priority on landing was coffee and home bakes which we The "Herdie" Boys and Girls all enjoyed to the full at the Pier Restaurant.Then it was back on the bus to begin our tour of the island which was made all the more interesting by our guide for PAGE 11 the day—Tommy Gibson. He knows his island inside out and obviously enjoys The short life of my Great pointing out the ancestral homes of well-known Orcadians and regaling visitors Grandfather with stories of local people and places of interest. Thomas Lennie Our visit to House gardens was very interesting and we could not fail PAGES 12 & 13 to be impressed with all the hard work that had already gone into the ongoing Willie Farquhar project to restore the gardens and grounds to their former glory. They are and the Golden Slipper already beginning to look quite beautiful and when finished will be one of the ‘must see’ attractions when visiting Rousay. PAGES 14 & 15 Chance All this sightseeing and blethering certainly works up an appetite but fortunately Encounters or the Taversoe Hotel came to the rescue with a wonderful selection of hot soups Magnus Miracles and sandwiches which we thoroughly enjoyed before boarding the Ferry back to PAGE 16 TIngwall. The Tale of Two As usual we have had a very busy summer with visitors from far and near Ionas looking for their ancestors and thanks to our hard working volunteers they PAGE 17 have, mostly, gone away knowing a lot more about their family than when Mystery Photographs they came—the majority of them having been helped greatly by the encyclopaedic knowledge of our Treasurer/Researcher George Gray who has PAGE 18 been on our committee from the start of our Society 14 years ago. As George More Orcadian connections to has a `significant’ birthday this year we thought it was an opportune moment St Magnus Church to have a celebration and give him a token of our appreciation of all his hard Duntroon N.Z. work and I'm sure a lot of you who have been helped by him will join me in PAGES 20 & 21 wishing him a very happy birthday. From Manse to the Yardarm Anne PAGE 22 Chairman Robertson's Fudge

PAGE 23 Membership Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 3 4 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

By Mabel Eunson Member No 123 In Issue No 50 I wrote an article about Deldays of John, the eldest. never married and died in 1989. James Deerness when I followed my connection to that family William (Billy) went to farm in Aberdeenshire where through George (Muckle Geordie) of Greentoft to my he married and his two sons, Patrick and David, carry grandmother Mary Dunnet Delday (later Work) who on the Delday surname. Arthur, unmarried, still lives was the last in our line to be born with that surname. in Deerness. The daughter, Ann, became Mrs Thomson. Now to return to another son of John Delday and Louisa Descendants of William Eunson Delday became Bruce, Spence. King, Sinclair, Eunson, Thomson and more, and can be John the eldest,(1835) went to Midhouse to work for his found in New Zealand, Australia. Aberdeenshire, Inver- uncle William Eunson and ness, Stromness and Holm. aunt Rebecca (nee Spence). Second of the six sons was Alexander (1864), remem- As they had no family John bered as Sandy o’ Quoykea in Toab, where he lived with Delday followed them in his wife Mary Anderson who came from . They the tenancy of Midhouse. married quite late in life and had no family. Sandy was a He married Mary Dunnet good farmer and a who came from Holm and champion plough- the couple had six strap- man, winning ping sons. Mary boasted medals and cups that she had 36 feet of at both locaI and men. (Before his marriage, county matches. John had fathered an ille- Next came gitimate daughter Becky James (1866). He Delday Skea.) spent his young John and Mary’s eldest life working at son William Eunson Del- various farms in day (1862) was known lo- Deerness before cally as Billet o’ Midhouse. setting off to Texas Billet o’ Midhouse He married his neighbour to visit his cousin Robina Ritch from Kitchen of Brecks and there are still Elizabeth Ved- some of their descend- der (nee Delday ants bearing the Del- of Greentoft). He day surname. Billet intended to stay and Robina had four but didn”t enjoy children – John (Jock the Texan lifestyle o’ Newark), Bella Jane and after maybe Jeemie Delday & Jeannie (nee Spence) of Smiddybank who married Charles ten years came home. After his return he married Jean- Bruce from Burray, nie Spence who had a teenage daughter. The couple lived James who died in at Smiddybank and had a daughter Ethel but the little infancy and Alexina girl, who was never very strong, died aged 3 1/2 years in who married her cous- 19l1. in, my uncle, John James and his younger brother David spent many Work of Greentoft. seasons travelling stallions round the East Mainland The couple stayed at and maybe further afield. These splendid leather-belted Midhouse but had no Clydesdales were managed by the East Mainland Horse family. Jock o’ Newark Breeding Society and were stabled in a shed at Smiddy- continued the Del- bank. There’s a story that one day James’ stallion got out day line. He married of control and made its escape from him. David, also on Barbara Pottinger the rounds with his stallion, noticed the run-away and, and they had three realising what might be the outcome, took his now ex- sons and a daughter. Sandy and Mary Delday of Quoykea, St Andrews cited beast into a nearby shed and shut the door. It wasA Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 5

Fnone too soon as the run-away soon arrived. Presum- panies Numbers 1 and 8 were present. The Volunteers ably the escapee was caught and brought under control accompanied the body as far as Warren field but David had been in no enviable position in that shed with the Band playing the Dead March in with the agitated beast that could easily have trampled Saul. Mr Delday was an adherent in the him. Much of his clothes bad been torn. King Street United Free Church and the I can remember Jeemie Delday of Smiddybank walk- minister touchingly referred to the sad ing past the Deerness school when I was a senior pupil. event the following Sunday. There is a Each summer we were allowed to play in a small field fine grey cylindrical stone in the Deer- belonging to him that we called Delday’s park. We were ness Churchyard remembering John warned by our headmaster Mr Taylor that we must be- and Mary Delday and their two sons have and not be seen walking on dykes or spoiling fences John (25) and George (29). and therefore felt somewhat in awe of the elderly gentle- David, the sixth and youngest son man whenever he appeared. was born in 1877. In 1901 be was a There’s a five year gap between James and the next horsemans’ groom living with R.O. son, John, (1871). He went to Holm to train as a coop- Watson at 39 Broad Street. As already er. In 1891 we find the 20-year-old a lodger in St Mary’s mentioned be travelled a stallion for with Jessie Dunnet who was most likely his aunt. His a good number of years. David Delday career was sadly cut short at the age of 25 as I learned married Maggie Kennedy from Burray from the following item in The Orcadian of February 6th and farmed at Haggishall in Toab. The 1897. “STROMNESS - On Saturday last in the Cooper- couple had two daughters, Ruby (Mrs age of Messers Baillie and Terrace, John Delday, a cooper Tait) and Mary Ellen (Dolly) who mar- in their employ, when in the act of trussing a barrel, fell ried James Pottinger of Horsick and dead at the feet of his fellow workman. Deceased was not had a family of six daughters and of a strong constitution, and had twice experienced para- two sons. After many years working lytic shocks. The body was taken to Scapa per S.S. at the Hall of Tankeress James and on Monday last and from there conveyed to his native Dolly Pottinger retired to Gran- parish of Deerness.” don. Through David and Mag- George (1873) came next. After school he went to Kirk- gie Delday there are still a good wall where he was a tailor and also a member of the 1st many descendants but the sur- Orkney Volunteer Artillery. He stayed at 9 Bridge Street names have become Tait, Pot- with his cousin Louisa Delday of Seatter who had a lodg- tinger, Bews, Cormack, Miller. Rus- ing house. In 1901, two other Deeress men also lodged sell, Slater and more. there; James Bichan of Musterhall and William Bruce of Following my previous article on the DELDAYS Northhouse, both 16-year old apprentice joiners. Amongst of DEERNESS I had a letter from Karen Mitchinson relatives there is a memory of George being chosen to car- of Ontario, Canada. Her grandmother, Bella Delday, ry the Volunteers’ in the procession through Kirkwall had emigrated about 1911 as a 16- year old along with to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. a brother Jim and another Orcadian, Barbara Inkster. Rough weather was expected and he was supposedly the Like many immigrants, Bella had brought memories of only member strong enough for the job. Furthermore, relatives such as the story of George Delday’s death in there was a tattered old flag at Smiddybank while his the Mallack and of Muckle Geordie not believing that the brother Jeemie Delday lived there. This son of Midhouse world went round, thus reassuring me of the truth of the also had a short life. He was found dead in his bed at 9 information handed down to me. Bridge Street on the morning of 2nd January 1902. The Her Family Tree (researched by OFHS) going back to time of his death was given as between 4am and 9am. No her ggg g/f Magnus Delday leads me to believe that he cause of death was given until a Corrected Entry issued and my ggg g/f George Delday were brothers, thus link- two weeks later said Heart Failure. ing the two Delday families that lived in the East Main- George was given a Military Funeral. The Band of the land where most of the Deldays were to be found. 1st Orkney Volunteer Artillery and Headquarters Com- Mabel Eunson Orkney Family History Society Newsletter Binders Attractive dark green binders with gold embossing . Three will hold every edition up till Decermber 2011 so maybe you should have four. Easy insertion and removal of contents. Open flat design. £5 per binder plus post and packing which can be easily calculat- ed by consulting our websiite at www.orkneyfhs.co.uk and following the links under publications. Why not drop a hint to Santa and see what happens? 6 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

Tracing my Orkney Laing connections

By Lucy Richards. Member No 966 The name Laing used to be well known in Orkney al- of family though I believe few if any with that name live there history were now. Until its recent move, the address of the Kirkwall clearly gar- Library and Archive was Laing Street, and readers of Sib bled, and I Folk News may well have heard of some members of the began to won- family after whom the street is named: Malcolm Laing der how much of Papdale (1762-1818), the historian and MP, and his weight I should brother Samuel (1780-1868), best known for his trans- attribute to any of lation of the Icelandic Sagas, Heimskringla. They may it. also know the house where they were born, marked by a Although I had little plaque in Albert Street, Kirkwall, outside which stands definite information, the con- the ‘Big Tree’ planted by their father Robert in 1803. nection with Orkney seemed clear. My mother’s grand- My mother’s maiden name was Laing (which, inciden- father (another Malcolm Laing (1827-1890)) is described tally, she pronounced “Layng” rather than “Lang”) and her in Venn’s Alumni Cantabrigienses as the son of Robert branch of the family believed they were descended from Laing “late of Kirkwall, Orkney Isles”. I also knew that the Orkney Laings, more particularly from Malcolm the this Robert was a barrister, so my next step was to see historian. There was only one problem with this story: whether I could trace him in the records of the various although Malcolm married (fairly late Inns of Court in London or of the Scottish in life) there is no record of his leaving Faculty of Advocates. I found only one any children, or certainly no legitimate Robert Laing in the relevant period. He children. We therefore assumed that was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn in 1785 and my mother’s great grandfather Rob- was described as “only son of Malcolm La- ert Laing was an illegitimate son. Not ing late of Kingston, Jamaica, deceased”. knowing his mother’s name, tracing This made him rather old to have been the his birth was like looking for a needle Robert who had a son Malcolm in 1827, (he in a haystack and we might well have would have been at least 55), but it was left it at that, had there not been vari- not impossible. Here was a potential West ous vague clues that made me want to Indian connection, but was there any con- pursue the matter further. nection with Orkney? A note of our family history copied I was soon able to confirm that the Ja- down by Victorian aunts in the 1860s maican Malcolm Laing was an uncle of seemed to confirm the illegitimacy, Malcolm the historian. The disposition though of course at that date they under which Malcolm the historian left all avoided stating this explicitly. Robert his property to his younger brother Sam- “thought himself badly treated by his uel (dated 23 November 1818, SC11/51/2) family who never had any intercourse mentions his uncle “the late Malcolm La- with him”; despite the “great” Malcolm ing of Jamaica”. The same uncle is referred Laing having large possessions in Ork- to several times by Samuel in his autobi- ney and the West Indies, all trace of ography, a typescript version of which can The ‘Big Tree’ planted by Robert Laing in 1803 these had vanished, though “how these be found in the Orkney Archives. This and still flourishing over two centuries later. were lost or what caused the decadence has been ably edited and supplemented of the family is more than I can say.” One thing puzzled by Dr R.P. Fereday (The Autobiography of Samuel Laing me about this: I could find no trace of Malcolm Laing the of Papdale 1780-1868, Bellavista Publications, Kirkwall historian owning property in the West Indies, though he 2000) and provides fascinating details of the earlier his- had fairly extensive lands in Orkney, including not only tory of the Laing family as well as Samuel’s own life and the estate at Papdale near Kirkwall, but also land in travels. According to Samuel, Malcolm “went to Jamaica , , and Sanday, which were left and there acquired an immense fortune”. Having “no le- on Malcolm’s death to his brother Samuel and sold by gitimate children”, Malcolm left his property to Samuel’s him in the 1840s. Other details in this manuscript note father, though “the bulk of his property seems to have A Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 7

F been lost, as West Indian property often is, by the ne- glect and mismanagement of the Executors”. A copy of the will of Malcolm Laing of Jamaica can be The Ploughing Match found in the National Archives, and does indeed leave the No lazing in the sun for these cattle. They had to earn their keep by residue of the estate to his brother Robert Laing of Kirk- staying on the straight and narrow at this ploughing match at ‘Whites- wall. But the will also gives a bequest to “my reputed tone Bu’ in Burray. son Robert” by Elizabeth Fickle deceased, who was said Anne Miller, member No 2149, sent these photographs from her to be in England. A search of the records for the parish of Orkney keepsakes. The photo is small but Anne knows that the man at Kingston, Jamaica, confirmed that a son Robert was born the extreme left is John William Kennedy Laird of Burray. He was born to Malcolm Laing and Elizabeth Fickle, “a free mulatto”, in 1881 and died in 1971. No names for the other two and no date for in 1767. There seemed little doubt that this was the Rob- the Match. Can any member help? ert who, despite his origins, became a barrister, but I was no closer to proving that he was my ancestor. The breakthrough came when I was trying to find a record of Robert’s death. I knew this was before 1836, and after 1827 when his son was born. In searching Palmer’s Index to The Times newspaper (I did not at that time have access to the online version which is easier to search) I came across an entry for 8th December 1832, summarised as “Laing, Mr Robert, Serious Case of”. I hurried to find the microfilm of the newspaper itself and my excitement grew as I read what I found. It appeared that a local curate had come before the magistrate in Anne’s second picture is a copy of a copy and is looking a bit rough Westminster asking for assistance on behalf of “an un- but you should still be able to make out the faces of the bairns at the fortunate gentleman and his family, who were reduced Burray Baptist Church Sabbath School in July 1928 along with their from a state of affluence to absolute want and misery”. teacher Eva Laird. To the right of Eva is Ina Kennedy of The Bu, Burray. This “heart-rending” case concerned Mr Robert Laing “a Jack Kennedy Wylie is the second boy from the left standing in front of gentleman of good birth and a native of ” who the two sitting on the wall. Does anyone recognise the other bairns in had been found starving in a garret with his two daugh- the picture? ters and a son (his wife having died a couple of years previously in childbirth). Mr Laing had been a barrister (his former acquaintances are named) but had fallen on hard times, chiefly, it appears, “owing to speculations... in reversionary interests, which had turned out unfor- tunate.” No doubt if Mr Laing had always been a poor man his case would have excited no interest or sympathy but, as it was, a fund was set up for his benefit to which the magistrate himself immediately contributed! Of par- ticular interest to me were the ages given for Mr Laing and his son, which exactly corresponded with those of “my” Robert and his son (my mother’s grandfather). I had proved the missing link! One difficulty remained. Why was Robert Laing de- scribed in the newspaper article as a native of Scotland, when I now knew he had been born in Jamaica? It is true that he was related to the Orkney Laings and I have discovered from letters preserved in the Orkney Ar- chives that for some time at least he received the sum of 25 guineas a year from his cousin Malcolm the historian and Malcolm’s brother Gilbert Laing Meason – so much for the claim to have been badly treated by his family. But I am not able to establish whether he in fact visited Orkney or met his cousins. In fact I have not been able to discover anything positive about his life between the time when he apparently gave up practice as a barrister My thanks to George Gray and Angus Heddle, member No 644 in 1795 and his marriage in London in 1826. He may from Longhope, for putting a name to the author of the article on have spent time in Orkney, or perhaps in Edinburgh (as- Fara which appeared in the March edition wihout a credit. suming he didn’t return to the West Indies), but I can They both agree that it was written by the late Henrietta Robson only assume that he was deliberately trying to obscure from Fara. She and her husband, Gavin S Mackay, eventually retired his somewhat doubtful Jamaican origins by emphasising to Stromness after spending their working life on the island. Gavin died on the 22nd June 1960 aged 87 and Henrietta passed his more respectable Orkney connections. L away on the 2nd July 1978 aged 89. Lucy Richards. April 2011 They are both buried in Stromness Kirkyard. 8 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

By David Eaton, Member 430 While I was in Orkney at the beginning of the year I was given the memorial on your right when entering the cathedral from Broad privilege of being the speaker at the OFHS February meeting, my Street. It has a good array of what can be found on a memorial talk being entitled “Memento Mori,” or “How We Commemorate of the early post-reformation period. The outer edge of the face Our Dead.” My talk was based on a series of slides showing how of the stone tells us who it commemorates; HEIR-LYES-IN- beliefs, and wealth, have influenced the type and designs of the HOPE-OF-A-BLESSED-RESSURRECTION-A-WORTHE- memorials we have raised to our ancestors from prehistoric times GENTLE-MAN-GEORGE-LIDDELL-OF-HAMMER-WHO- to the present day. These slides were taken from all over Scotland, DIED-THE-27-OF-OCTOR-1681-AETATIS- [at age] 48. the only Orcadian monuments shown being the prehistoric sites of The centre of the stone is divided into three panels, the top Maes How and Midhowe. However I hoped that at least some of one displaying a coat of arms, or more correctly two coats of the others would relate to types erected in Orkney. arms on a single shield. That to the Dexter (the left hand side for Before I started my talk I was approached by Elaine Sinclair the viewer) is the arms of the laird of Hammer, George Liddell; who asked me if I would write an article for Sib Folk News about while those on the Sinister side are the arms of his wife’s family. the contents of my talk. However on reflection, and a chance Above the shield there is a helmet complete with mantling. The meeting with James Irvine small roundels on top of the helmet represent the wreath, a twisted in the OFHS office, I have piece of cloth which covers the crown of the helmet holding the produced this short article mantling in place. The wreath also covers the joint between any instead. crest and the helmet. Here the crest is shown as a heart, but in this case it is more likely to be a love-heart as it is displayed James asked me what my between the husband and wife’s initials. At the foot of this panel talk was going to be about. we can see two small faces. That to the left is shown with two When I told him he took small wings; this is a symbol of eternity and represents George’s me through to the Orkney soul being carried off to heaven. While to the right there is a face Archives and showed me a complete with hat and neck band, presumably showing that Mrs series of books held there, Liddell was still alive at the time the stone was carved. about Orkney memorials. These were produced The bottom panel displays the symbols of death, the skull and by Sarah A. Tarlow in cross bones not only being the most prominent but also the most 1995 as her dissertation common death symbol. Above the skull we see a hand holding for the degree of Doctor the death bell, flanked by a candlestick with the candle burnt of Philosophy from the until it no longer shows and an hour-glass, both representing time University of Cambridge. having run out. Next to the candleholder we have a coffin and on I had, on the morning of the perimeters of the panel we have the sextons (gravediggers) my talk, visited St Magnus tools. That on the left being the instrument for cutting the turfs Cathedral to look at the of grass, and that on the right the spade. magnificent collection of The centre panel is in Latin and as I have enough problems memorials displayed there, with English I am not going to try to translate it for you. I will so now with the request however bring to your attention the last two words, MEMENTO from Elaine, and the MORI (Remember death), the title of my talk. knowledge that these books The second stone I chose is placed very close to the above stone existed, a return visit to the within the cathedral. It is of quite a different style, putting much Archives became a must. I more emphasis on the afterlife than death. It commemorates picked out one of Sarah’s Nicola Trail, spouse to David Covingtrie, Merchant & Burges of books, with the rather long Kirkwall, who obit (died) on the 23rd July 1688, at the young age title Metaphors of Death of 33, and also to some of her children. in Orkney 1560-1945 Again we have the skull and cross bones, and if you look – St Magnus Cathedral, carefully you may just be able to see the words MEMENTO Kirkwall C1-83, Interior, MORI on the ribbon at the bottom of the oval panel. However, it and from this have borrowed is the rest of the stone which must interest us here. Here we have the illustrations of two stones which I describe below. the deceased standing on a ball with the word VANITAS written The first stone I chose is the easiest to find as it is the first large in large letters across it. My small Collins Gem LatinA Dictionary Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 9

FDictionary translates this as; emptiness, falsehood, worthlessness, fickleness and vanity; so Could Janette the ball represents the world and all the things be this well that the deceased is happy to leave behind. connected? We see the figure looking Janette Sullivan, nee up to God in heaven, her Tinson, a member of the left hand is open and held Milton Ulladulla Family up in an asking manner, History Society of New South while her right hand Wales in Australia, wonders points down to that vane if this bloke might be a long lost relatve. world that she is now no longer part off. God is Robin Wilcockson put the shown holding in his right King Henry I of England idea into her head when she read the opening paragraph hand a staff in the shape of his article in Sib News No 56 and discovered that the ‘Yeos’ of a cross, and hanging of Devon could probably be linked back to the Norman Kings from the staff there is a of England via Henry 1. pennant, also displaying Janette’s research showed that she had a number of ‘Yeo’ a cross. While by his left rellies and from the right part of England too. hand he holds the crown, Her ggg grandfather James Tinson, b. 1760 Barnstaple, showing him to be the Devon, married 29 Mar 1784 in Atherington Devon Mary King of Kings. His halo Yeo, b. 1760 Barnstaple, she d 4 June 1844. is shown as the rays of Mary’s parents were Thomas Yeo, b 1715 Atherington, the sun and he is coming Devon and Mary Davis, b Barnstaple Devon. through the opened door Thomas’ parents were James Yeo b 7 May 1682 to welcome Nicola into Hatherleigh Devon and Eleanor Bragg b his kingdom, the winged 1680 Devon. cherubs at the top of the James’s parents were Andrew stone having done their job. But what is God standing on? He is Yeo b 1650 in Devon, d 16 Nov standing upon the clouds which stop us, alive, mortals being able 1729 in High Bickington Devon to see into heaven. and Prudence Avery, b 1659 in I hope the above will encourage members to go into St Magnus Hatherleigh Devon. (Prudence’s Cathedral, or an old cemetery or church near your home, and take parents were James Avery and a fresh look at these gravestones, and just maybe you will be in Emett Beer). luck and find one commemorating someone in your family tree. Andrew’s parents were Andrew Yeo b 1630 in Beaford, Devon and d 1662 Beaford, and Joan. Andrew’s parents were Bartholomew Yeo b 1600 in Kings Nympton Devon, m 20 Mar 1623/4 in Beaford to Zenobia Halse b 1600 in Beaford. Bartholemew’s parent was Phillip Yeo. I bet that Janette can’t wait to drop this into the conversation at the next barbie. Ed

MARCH ISSUE No 57. Corrections On Page 14, the date of the Lieutenancy Dinner should be 1990 and not 1900. On Page 16, Column 1 second last para- graph: Thomas Irvine’s year of birth should probably be 1841 and not 1881 as printed.

If you have an article for our December issue could I have it by the beginning of November please. You can email your story (Word doc if possible)and any photographs (Good quality JPGs) straight to These stones are on the south wall of the nave when entering from the editor at: the west door located at the front of the cathedral. [email protected] 10 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

Written by Johina Leith in the early 1900s In many an Orkney family history them going and follow them, they’ll of the last century one may well Peter Leith, member no. 65 from , always make for home. come across herdie boys (or girls). came across this article written by his mother, Before fences were common When there were no fences to control Johina Leith, when she was a girl in many animals were tethered. If grazing, cattle had to be herded. This where she spent the early years of her life. horned, they were tethered by a rope was usually done by children and Peter thought that members would be inter- having a prunning race [loop] on the they played a significent part in the ested to know that at one time many children, end, put round the horns and a half community. some as young as 5 years of age, were ex- hitch round the left ear. The stake Families were big and many pected to earn their keep as herdies; a prac- was driven into the ground with a children went out herding, living at tice common all over the islands. festing stone usually left nearby. It the house where they worked. They was said to be dangerous to tether a got exemption from school for the horse with an iron stake if the tether summer. The twelfth of May was the starting date. was made of horse hair. The tether was so springy that if the horse One girl I know left home when she was eight, and never made a sudden spring and took the stake out of the ground it could slept in her parents’ home again until she was over twenty. I knew do damage. There are stories of horses being killed when this also of a five year old boy who was taken to his new place of happened. L work in the dark so that he would not know the way back home. For most it was an advance and they were well treated, but for some it was slavery. One boy, not very old, found conditions so bad with short food and poor bed he decided to return home. His uncle worked at a farm nearby and at night the boy went to him and asked to be taken home. This the uncle could not do, as he might be accused of helping and lose his job, but when the boy went off on his own he followed him at a distance to see him safely home. Later the boy was put to another farm where the food was so plentiful it upset him, but he recovered and remained there for some time. One herdie got thirty shillings for six months herding. The cows grazed about the farm in the morning, then in the byre for a spell to chew the cud and avoid soiling the grass. Then out to the hill with the herdie in the afternoon, The herdie was usually a school-bairn armed with a stick, and possibly an old watch with only one hand to give a time for coming home. It gave a sense of responsibility to be in charge of the working capital of the farm. At that time there would have been no suckling calves; cows were all hand milked and the cream saved for butter. The calves got skim milk in cogs [small wooden tubs]. In summer when milk was plentiful, butter was salted and stored in jars for use in winter. Some town houses would send their jars to a farm to be filled. On a fine day it was nice on the hill. Birds were singing, there were flowers to be picked, daisy chains to make, beetles to be watched, butterflies to be caught, and faelie [turf] houses to build to give some shelter if it rained. Cattle regularly travelling a dirt road made a characteristic Here are a couple of interesting photos from Anna C. Ellis, member ribbed pattern across the road as each cow stepped in the footmark 1778, of the Stromness BB, taken perhaps, outside the little school of the one in front. hall in Hellihole. The hill might be a mile or more away and there was always Anna’s father, Henry Velzian Mowat is arrowed in both. In the lower the chance of mist coming down and the danger of going will photograph he would have been 15 years of age. [getting lost]. Orders were, if mist comes down, gather the herd If any member has information on the other boys or officers please together and start to drive, make no attempt to guide them, keep get in touch with the editor. Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 11

Photo D. Horne. Orkney Library Photo Archives By Evelyn Grassick. Member No 2259

My great grandfather, Thomas Sinclair Lennie, was born at Stron- bourer, residing with his second wife, Ann, aged 31, and their two say, Orkney, on 26th October 1853 but was not baptised until 6th sons of this marriage, William, born 31st March 1869, and James, June 1855. His parents were Thomas Linay, who was born on 24th born 18th September 1870. They later had a third son, John, born April 1821 at St. Andrews, Stronsay, and Betsy Peace Sinclair, 1st October 1872. Also living at Lenabrake in this Census was a who was born on 13th October 1829, at Stronsay. They were both lodger, May Swanney, who may be a sister of Ann. th 22 when they got married on 12 May 1853 and at that time he When he was 22 years old Thomas married Mary Sutherland was a farm labourer and she was a housemaid. When Thomas Thomson on 27th July 1875 at Orphir, Orkney. After they were was very young, his mother, Betsy, died within a few years of married they resided at Neuk Caldale, Kirkwall, Orkney, and are her marriage. By the 1861 Census, Thomas is recorded as being shown in the 1881 Census as residing there with their two chil- 7 years old and a scholar. He was living with a number of people: dren, Helen, born 4th July 1876, and Sinclair, born 14th June 1879. his father, Thomas (a widower of 38), his aunt, Elizabeth Chalm- At this time Thomas is a farmer of 14 acres of which 7 acres were ers Linay (unmarried aged 40), his grandfather, also named Tho- arable, and Mary was shown as a farmer’s wife. mas, aged 82, a farmer of 12 acres, and his grandmother, Marga- ret Peace, aged 75. They were all living together at Lenabrake, On 2nd November 1883, Thomas’s father, Thomas, died while Stronsay, in a croft with 2 rooms. living at Timberhouse with his wife Ann, being looked after by their daughter, Elizabeth Chalmers Linay. We do not know what By the time he was 11, Thomas’s father had married again to rd happened to Ann after that until the 1920’s when she was living Ann Swanney at Stronsay on 3 March 1865. At this time the with her youngest son, John, in Leith. She eventually died in the spelling of the family name had changed to Lennie. Soon after Royal Asylum in Edinburgh on 6th October 1926. that, Thomas’s grandparents died, Margaret on 5th February 1866, and Thomas on 23rd June 1869 both while residing at Midgarth, Sadly Thomas died at Quimbister, Firth, Orkney, on 10th Stronsay. In the 1871 Census, Thomas is recorded as living with March 1884 aged 29 years of abscesses of the groin. His Death his aunt, Elizabeth Chalmers Lennie, at Timberhouse, Stronsay, Certificate records him as a Pauper and former agricultural la- which was a dwelling house adjacent to Lenabrake. Both are bourer. The informant on the death certificate was an Inspector of shown on the census as agricultural labourers. the Poor. He left his wife Mary destitute aged 29 years with their two children Helen aged 8 and Sinclair aged 5 living at the Valley In the same Census, Thomas’s father, Thomas, now aged 50, of Venus, Orphir. is shown as still living at Lenabrake. Thomas’s father is recorded as a farmer of 36 acres of which 20 were arable, employing 1 la- Evelyn Grassick No 2259

Can any member tell us more about the Kirkwall Bakery? June Lemon, member 1716 from Sydney, Australia, sent me this amazing photograph of the staff of Kirkwall Bakery – all 59 of them. The only information that June has is that the girl third from the right, in the front row, is Margaret (Maggie) Arthur Crumbley, a sister of June’s Nanna, Emma Arthur Crumbley. June thinks that the photo would have been taken mid 1890s as Maggie had become a draper’s assistant in the 1901 census. She eventually married Andrew McAlister and moved to Australia. June suspects that the man in the middle of the picture, wearing the hat, is the owner, George Arther, an uncle of Emma and Maggie. Finally, the man front row, bottom left was known as ‘Moonie’ the dwarf – a local identity. 12 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 Sepotember 2011

By Kristin Parry, Member No 1481 There must be many members outside Orkney who saw the solution to the mystery photo in SFN 51 but who the farming community, especially in the West Mainland. know nothing of the “famous” Willie Farquhar or of the In 1930 he married Ivy Rendall of Hall of Quholme in Golden Slipper which Stromness and they had a son, James, but the marriage is a pity as his is a good ended in divorce and by March 1940 Willie was living story. with his widowed mother at the Bridge of Waithe, a Willie, or William cluster of houses just off the Kirkwall to Stromness road Alexander Watt Flett about two miles from Stromness. He had given up farm- Farquhar to give him his ing and was working as a cobbler and his mother had a full name, was born 28th cafe licence and sold tea, coffee, soft drinks, sweets and January 1894 to Charles crisps. Farquhar and Helen (El- The Second World len) Omand Isbister who War had started, were married on 26th the Royal Navy January 1893. was based in Scapa Charles Farquhar was Flow and the Ger- the youngest of at least man Luftwaffe was ten children of James searching for weak- Farquhar and Isobel nesses in the defenc- This is the Willie Farquhar that many mem- Sclater and the grand- es. On Saturday 16th bers will remember. Photo: Orkney Library son of Robert Farquhar March an air raid Photographic Archive. and Elspeth Clouston. began about dusk. ( He was almost certainly related to the Farquhars of Some bombs fell on Tumbledown SFN 56). and some Brought up at Mondays damage was done but in Orphir, Charles be- bombs fell elsewhere came a mason but later in Orkney, those that farmed Nearhouse in Or- fell on the Bridge phir with his mother and of Waithe doing the James Isbister and his wife Lily Isbister, nee Tait, on their wedding day. James was just 27 was also a cattle dealer. most damage. Willie was standing in the years old when he died in the German air raid. Helen Isbister, b 1870 Photograph published with permissiion of his son was descended, as I am, doorway of his house Neil who was a baby of 3 months on the day of from the Isbister/Omand/ watching the action the tragedy in 1940. Louttit family who when he was severely had owned and farmed injured in the leg by one of the bombs which fell almost Bigswell in Stenness for on top of the hamlet. Having calmed his mother who many years. She was the was badly shaken he went to help Lily Isbister¹ whose eldest child of William Is- husband Jim had also been hit. Willie helped carry him bister and his wife Jean inside then went in search of whisky but there was none (Jane) Bews. to be had, which is ironic in the light of what happened Willie followed his later. Poor Jim was beyond help and became the first father as a farmer and civilian casualty of an air raid in the war. Willie then cattle dealer, first at saw that an elderly neighbour had managed to crawl out Nearhouse and later at of her partially demolished house and went to her aid. Minehill in Stromness. When outside help arrived Willie and the other injured A not so familiar vision of Willie, looking were taken to hospital. His photograph appeared in the As a cattle dealer he unusually well turned out, in the doorway of became widely known in the ‘Golden Slipper’. Orkney Library Photo. newspapers sitting up in bed, cheerful in adversity, the wounded hero. A Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 13

FAt the start of the air raid the young men who and the whisky was all returned. It was said that the habitually gathered at the Farquhars’ house had left for daughter of the Chief Constable was among the revellers their own homes. The cafe was a popular meeting place and the police were unwilling to risk what she might with the young locals and became so with the troops say in court. The story was known throughout Orkney stationed in Orkney. Stromness was dry (there were no and further afield, probably with many embellishments pubs) so a cafe was the next best meeting place and Wil- of the facts, and the authorities were the butt of much lie himself was popular. He was a welcoming, gregarious hilarity. Such flouting of the law couldn’t be expected to man, jovial and full of good cheer, always ready to help last long. Authority was going to get Willie. anyone, the life and soul of a party. The end, when it came, seems to have been sheer bad It is unclear just when the rather mundane cafe luck. A police sergeant visited Willie one evening on an developed into the Golden Slipper and became part of unrelated matter and saw John Colligan from Midlothi- Orkney folklore. Before the end of the war it was quite an drinking whisky in Willie’s kitchen. He was prepared widely known among the young folk of Orkney and the to testify that he had bought it from Willie. Another raid armed forces that a visit to Willie’s cottage could result was organised and 32 bottles of whisky were removed. in enjoying a glass of whisky in front of his kitchen At the trial in the Sheriff Court in Kirkwall in March fire. As his fame grew the curious, and those who found 1961 Willie was convicted of selling illegal alcohol de- excitement in a little law breaking, flocked to his door. spite 2 Orcadians testifying that Colligan had provided There was never a board over the door with “W. Farqu- his own whisky. har, licence to sell...... ” Willie never applied for a pub So ended the Golden Slipper. Willie and his son left licence, he would have been refused if he had, but to sell the islands in 1967 and he died the following April but alcohol without a licence his legend lived on. Just when it might be expected that is illegal. Eventually it the memory would fade it was revived for a younger gen- became clear that the eration when Alan Plater, a well known playwright and police knew what was visitor to Orkney, wrote Tales of the Golden Slipper as happening but for them the third of a trilogy of plays for the St Magnus Festival to prove it was another which was also performed at the Edinburgh Fringe. matter. Willie seemed The spirit of Willie Farquhar lives on. to have a sixth sense as ¹ At the time Willie’s mother said she and Jim Isbister were not related. to who he could safely They were in fact distant cousins. Both were descended from Janet serve and tales were Omand: Helen through her first marriage to Thomas Omand in 1748 Picture credit— Wikipedia in public domain. told of undercover police and Jim through her second marriage to David Isbister in 1754. being sent to the hotel down the road when they re- Time for a blether outside the Golden Slipper on a quested whisky rather than tea. None of the locals were fine summer’s day pre WW2. Can any of our members prepared to help the police, no Orcadian ever testified help identify the people in the photograph? Adrianne against him. Leask thinks that the woman on the extreme left could In October 1959 the police, tired of the game of cat be Jean Clouston, nee Fiddler. Next to her is Willie and mouse, obtained a search warrant and removed 72 Farquhar but who is the big lad in the dark suit? Jim bottles of whisky from the house but no charges followed Isbister’s son Neil thinks that the man with the bicycle could be his father’s brother John who had a black smith’s business at Brig o’ Waithe. - The children have not been identfied. They would be at least in their late seventies and eighties now. My thanks to Davina Brown for the use of the photo. 14 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

With the increasing amount of information available on the in- ternet, tracing one’s ancestry has become much easier, but per- sonal – and often chance, encounters – can often add more mean- ingful detail to the bare facts. Since the St Magnus Church Trust took over respon- sibility for the church on Wednesday April 16, St Magnus Day, 1997, there have been many examples of this, and I thought that a few of them might be of interest to readers of Sib Folk News The first example came just a month after the official forma- tion of the Trust, on Thursday 15 May, to be very precise. At that time all the tour buses came into the village, and I always went into the church after lunch to see that there were plenty of leaflets for visitors. On this occasion I saw that the visitors’ book had been signed by Heather McPherson Jensen and Jeannie McPher- The watercolour of St Magnus Birsay by Loveday McPherson, wife of the Rev. son from California, who added that they were grand-daughters Joseph McPherson. She also designed the stained glass window. of Rev Joseph McPherson and Mrs Loveday McPherson. Rev manse and the Palace ruins. If anyone can tell us more about this Joseph McPherson was minister of St Magnus Church in Birsay painting, we would be interested to know where it has been for from 1900 to 1906, and his wife, Loveday, an artist, designed the the last hundred years. much-admired stained-glass window. The McPherson sisters had In 2002, Rev John Waugh, who had been minister of Birsay been in the shop but the assistants didn’t know where they were from 1973 to 1992, retired from his charge at Auldearn. His new staying, however, they said they would recognise them if they house was smaller than the manse and he no longer had room for came back. I phoned the Tourist Board, as it was then, but they a painting by Mrs McPherson which he had bought at a sale in had no record of any transaction. I then tried about a dozen hotels, . It shows the exterior of the church, and had been painted but drew a blank. But on Saturday the McPhersons came back to for the contractor who did the work of refurbishment in 1904. the shop; they were staying in self-catering accommodation and Mr Waugh wondered if the McPhersons would like to buy the I was able to meet them and lend them a copy of Birsay Church painting, which they duly did, taking it back to on one of History so that they could photocopy the information about their their later visits. Both sisters have been back more than once, and grandfather. on one of these occasions, Heather was able to visit the former Just a fortnight before that, I had been told the story of the pulpit manse where her grand-parents had lived, thanks to Sheila and Bible, which shows that it was donated by Thomas Linklater. Evi- Iain Campbell, the present owners of what is now St Magnus dently Thomas didn’t like the idea of the alterations being made House. to the church in 1903/1904; a door was replaced by a window, In mid-July 1998 the church was visited by Mrs Wynn Osborn- a proper floor was put in, the position of the pulpit was changed Clarke from Bristol, whose grandfather, Rev Henry Dodd, had and the stained-glass window was installed. But when the work been minister of St Magnus Church from 1884 to 1899. Having was completed, Thomas liked what he saw, and he donated the previously visited Birsay in 1955 with her father, who was then Bible. So the McPherson grand-daughters were able to handle the celebrating his 70th birthday and renewing acquaintance with pulpit Bible their grandfather had used every Sunday from 1904 people who remembered him from their schooldays, she knew to 1906. “And to think we just dropped by for a pint of milk!” said that the best thing to do was to go into the shop and ask if there Heather. was anyone who might be able to tell her more about the church. Later that day, when I was taking a bucket of weeds to the In our exhibition of old photographs which began a week or two shore, I stopped to chat to a neighbour, telling her about the visi- later we had a photograph taken by her uncle George, showing tors, and she said, “Oh, I’m sure my mother had two paintings by a number of local men “parting the catch” — very similar to a Mrs McPherson.” She did indeed, and prints of these now hang in postcard by Tom Kent. the little gallery in the church — and in two houses in California. June 1999 saw the visit of Andrew Douglas, great-grandson Another painting came to light in Kirkwall, and yet another was of Rev James Struthers Douglas, who had been assistant to Dr bought over a year ago at a sale. It shows the Earl’s Palace and Traill from 1870 to 1877 before moving to a charge in Yell. An- the East end of the church from a point in the field between the drew didn’t make contact at the time, but on his return to KentA Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 15

carefully. I approached her and asked if she was looking for a particular stone. She said she was looking for the name Liddell. I told her that there was no Liddell gravestone in the churchyard, and that the most likely p1aces to find the name Liddell would be Orphir and Kirkwall. She explained that she was an Australian and was doing some research for an Australian friend who was then living in New York and planned to come over the following year. This turned out to be Deirdre Hay, a direct descendant of Rev Francis Liddell, minister of St Magnus Church from 1627 to 1635! Deirdre came over in 2003, and as well as visiting the church, she traced some of her Traill relatives. Family commit- ments have so far prevented her from paying another visit. But I’ve also made contacts of a more personal nature. At the end of August 2004 I had gone into the church one day to put up a notice about a forthcoming event. While I was doing this, a New In this Birsay version of ‘parting the catch’ we have three local men. On the left Zealand couple came in, and the lady exclaimed, “I’m so excited! is David Whitelaw and in the centre James Johnston of Grindally. The man on the I’ve just found the gravestone of some of my ancestors.” I asked right is Tom Bias, the grandfather of Annie Irvine and Jean Muir and a nephew of who they were and when she said “George Folster and Catherine the George Folster and Catherine Bias mentioned later in the article. Bias,” I replied, “In that case, you’re a relation of mine.” We worked out that her father and I would have been third cousins. F Kent he sent an order for some items of the jewellery which The following year, the visitors’ book was signed one day in we then had on sale, based on a design from the stained-glass early July by Bea Cherniack from Winnipeg, who gave details window. In a few subsequent of her connection with Birsay: she was a descendant of the same letters he sent quite a bit of family. information about his fam- I tried to contact her by means of a message on Radio Orkney, ily. His grandfather, James Robert Douglas, had been born in the Old Manse in 1874. In July 1999 we had an exhibition, ‘Old Things’, and among the exhibits was a cradle found in the loft of the Old Manse. Since we know about the families who lived there after the Douglas fam- ily, we can say that it is al- most certain that this would have been the cradle used for James Robert Douglas. Each of these encounters took us one step further back Rev. Jas. Struthers Douglas. in the list of ministers who Pictured left to right : Jean Muir and Bertie Harvey with Annie Irvine have served St Magnus Church, and we couldn’t reasonably have and Bea Cherniack on a visit from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.. expected to find a link going even further back, but .... but it produced no result. She had just given her address as Win- nipeg, Manitoba, Canada” but I decided to write to her, thinking that, with an unusual name like Cherniack, my letter just might reach her — which it did, although the name is actually quite common there among Russian and Ukranian immigrants. As well as giving her some details of the family in Orkney, I was able to put her in touch with her New Zealand relative. Bea came back last year with her husband and stayed in Birsay for a few days, when she was able to photograph the Folster and Bias family homes, and to meet another two relatives on the Bias side of the family. There have been many more contacts over the years, but these are among the most interesting. I often reflect on the fact that, if the St Magnus Church Birsay Trust hadn’t taken over responsibility Bertie Harvey with Deirdre Hay, a direct descendant of the Rev. Francis Liddell, for the church, these people would have visited Orkney and no minister of St Magnus Church, Birsay from 1627 to 1635. doubt found their ancestors’ gravestones, but nobody would have known anything about it. one evening in 2002, I saw a lady examining the gravestones Make the most of chance encounters! L 16 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

By Nan Scott Member No 8 The Iona, about 1919. from Leonard’s Orkney series of postcards. Shipping of all sorts has been a big part of the life of Kirkwall during do some family research. James has been associated with the sea the summer of 2011. The most exciting visitors must have been the and boats most of his life. He has creeled, been to the white fishing twenty tall ships that perhaps dwarfed the many yachts that filled and also worked on the boats in Scapa Flow. He is also a volunteer the marina. Then since April 11th and by October 2nd there will have coastguard. In the course of the research his sister’s full name been 70 cruise liners that have visited Kirkwall. Some tied up at appeared as Sharon Iona Dennison Edge (nee Delday). It seemed Hatston, some anchored in Kirkwall Bay and others were able to that there was a story here! come along side Kirkwall pier. The said pier also had its moment At the time of Sharon’s birth the Delday family were staying when a plaque marking its bicentenary was unveiled on the base of in Shapinsay. That was Douglas and Brenda (nee Gardner) and the lighthouse that stands on the part known as the West Pier. four children with another on the way. The latter made a sudden About a week before all this excitement appearance one stormy day, 3rd January 1956 on the MV Iona James Martin Delday, member 1038, somewhere between Kirkwall and Shapinsay. Brenda and one of the brought his daughter Jade and his Dennison men who was skipper were the only ones brave enough to sister Sharon into the OFHS office to embark that day but there were three when it came time to disembark! Mr Dennison wanted to claim that he had acted midwife but Brenda insisted that his hands had had to stay on the wheel! The experience does not seem to have harmed Sharon and it did not scare Brenda who went on to have another six children. Sharon now has five grandchildren to pass the story on to. They are Eden 13 yrs, Thomas 10yrs, George 7yrs, Jessica 4yrs and Oliver 2yrs. The Iona however does not exist anymore. She was built in Shapinsay in 1893 and was fitted with a diesel engine after the war in 1949. She retired in 1964 having been the mail vessel for Shapinsay for 70 years. She had been a familiar sight in the Kirkwall Basin and lay idle at the West Pier before being taken home to Shapinsay where she disintegrated but not before Sharon had one last p i c t u r e taken inside her!

James Martin Delday and his daughter Jade. Seated in front is his sister, Sharon Iona Dennison Edge, nee Delday. Photograph taken by Nan Scott at the OFHS office.

Sharon inside the remains of the ‘Iona’ which have now all but disappeared. Inset is the photograph from Alastair and Anne Cormack’s book ‘Days of Orkney Steam’, showing the old steamer beached at Elwick Bay. Allthough stripped of engine and fittings she still looked remarkably sound in 1970 when Alastair took the picture. Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 17

Could these photographs Another 3 solved—still thousands to go! Mystery Photo No L5389 from England be Rendalls from our March Newsletter George Gray, member 14, solved from the Orkney Islands? this one. They are the Scollays from Joan Barrett, from Whitesboro in the state of New York, Papa and from left to right has puzzled over these photographs for many a year and we have Ernie, Betty, Netta, Jackie now that she is a member of our society she wondered if and Harry. any member could help her identify them? They came from Gentle- Mystery Photo No 4078/3 man’s Farm in Essex, Eng- Thanks to Liz Murray, mem- land, once the home of John ber 1395, we can now put a David Rendall of Breck- name to this couple. They are askaill, Westray, and his wife John and Maureen Gray now Margaret Rendall of Noltland living in Stromness. John’s in Westray, and they were mother was Teenie Corse and Joan’s GGGrandparents. his father, Captain John Gray, is The first four were taken a cousin, once removed, to Liz. in Sinclair’s Studio in Kirk- wall and the odd one out Mystery Photo No 5451 at the foot was taken by D Norman Windwick, member 393, Morgan, Photographer and recognised this photo as Kenneth Watchmaker of Kirkwall. Findlay, the painter, and his family. If you can help identify Norman’s wife, Anne has also them you can reach Joan at: added two more of the missing joan_e_barrett @ yahoo.com names in the egg packers photo from our March newsletter. The two ladies in the second row, numbers 1 and 4 are Jessana and Mary Matches from Braehead in Birsay.

Steve Clifford, whose article on ‘Orkney Pioneers at Fort Vic- toria’ which appeared in our March 2011 newsletter, has now linked all of the material, including photographs, and much more that he sourced for the article, to his blog. Even if you have no connection to Fort Victoria you will enjoy a visit to Steve’s site. If your family had links to this area then you are in for an even bigger treat as you trawl through a treasure trove of photograps and information. Years of research are just waiting to be accessed at:- http://talkinboutmygenerations.wordpress.com/ofhs/ 18 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

St Magnus Church, Birsay Ann Trewern (nee Taylor) St Magnus Church, Duntroon This article has been written in response to an article ing, relatively treeless stretches of grassland. that featured in SIBS in December 2010 submitted by The connection between Birsay, Orkney and Duntroon James R. (Bertie) Harvey, Member #94. In this article he New Zealand is a strong one for there were a number asked for further information about any connections be- of Duntroon’s first settlers who left families in Birsay in tween Orcadians who may have settled in and around Orkney in the late 1860s and 1870s to make new lives on Duntroon North Otago and the naming of the Duntroon the other side of the world. The session records for the Presbyterian Church, St Magnus. newly established Upper Waitaki church in December 1882 note that a moderator had been selected and the voting of elders had taken place. Among the first three elders ordained, admitted and confirmed were James A Taylor (my great grandfather) and James B Taylor. My great grandfather arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand, from Birsay, Orkney in 1869 as an assisted passenger on the ship Helenslee. He was 21 years of age. One year later he still had a £4 debt owing on his fare. I am not sure when his second-cousin, James Taylor, arrived but by 1879 my great grandfather had married Janet Don and his second-cousin James Taylor had married Christi- na Roberston, both witnesses at James and Janet’s mar- riage. When the two men approached the Oamaru bank for loans for land purchases it was the bank manager who renamed them James A Taylor (because he was first to walk through the bank manager’s door) and James B Taylor (because he was second). These two were to keep and use these assigned initials throughout their lives and have them engraved on almost identical headstones in the Duntroon Cemetery. Both men were extremely suc- cessful sheep farmers and were to take a dominant role in the development of the Duntroon area serving togeth- er as church elders through the 1880s and on the local school committees. Both James A and James B had family members who emigrated from Birsay and settled in the Duntroon area. James A Taylor’s first-cousins, Peter (a farmer at Toker- Family of James A Taylor and his wife Janet Don taken in the early 1890s aki by 1880), Margaret-Ann (who arrived in Dunedin on Anyone visiting Duntroon today will be struck by the the Canterbury in 1877), and James Robertson Moar Tay- solitude of the tiny township perched on a rise above the lor all settled in the district. JRM Taylor farmed in the Waitaki river some thirty-six kilometres northwest of Duntroon area from about 1889 to 1908 and then eventu- Oamaru. People who come here now are either passing ally settled near Gore in Southland. Margaret–Ann Tay- through or stop because they are following the ancient lor married John Linay Corrigall who was born in 1850 at limestone fossil trails, and visiting the weirdly shaped El- Langalour, Redland, in the parish of Firth and emigrated ephant Rocks, used as a location in the Narnia films. Yet to New Zealand on the Edward P Bouverie in 1871. the Duntroon we see today is a larger community than Margaret-Ann and John Corrigall were also my great when my great grandfather James Taylor, and his very grandparents. They had a small mixed farm called ‘The close friend and second-cousin James Taylor, purchased Willows’ on the river flats below the township of Duntroon extensive and adjoining tracts of land in the Kokoamo and were well known for the beautiful rose garden and hills above the Waitaki Valley in 1879. Born and bred in excellent honey produced. Both John and Margaret-Ann Orkney they would have been drawn to these open, roll- Corrigall were members of the Duntroon Church. JohnA Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 19

FCorrigall’s younger brother Francis who also emigrat- a headstone still to be found in the St Magnus Church ed to the area, became a very successful wheat farmer in cemetery in Birsay. the Hakataramea Valley west of Duntroon. Cousins Margaret Ann Taylor (born in 1850) and her James B Taylor has left a poignant memorial in the brothers Peter and James RM Taylor (born 1863) were born to parents Peter Taylor and Catherine Moar who lived at Waird, Birsay, Orkney. James B Taylor was born in 1850 to parents Peter Taylor and Ann Huntow who lived at Cumlaquoy. I have not yet been able to establish whether headstones exist at the Birsay church cemetery for Peter and Catherine Taylor and Peter and Ann Taylor. It is these first families to establish themselves in the district that later influenced the renaming of the Dun- troon church to reflect the connections with their home- land. There is no mention in the session records around the period that the new church was built that it was called anything other than the Duntroon Church. In 1892 both James A and James B Taylor resigned their posi- tions as elders and communicant members of the Dun- troon Church after a disagreement with the minister and from then on both attended services at Ngapara. They were not involved with the building of the new church in 1897. I have not been able to establish when the Dun- troon Church also became known as St Magnus Church, Duntroon. Other Orcadians, particularly John Corrigall and his family, did remain communicant members of the Duntroon Church. His eldest daughter Catherine Corri- gall later married the Rev. Alexander Sangster who was the minister of the Duntroon Church from 1915 to 1927. They continued to live in Duntroon after his retirement from the ministry during the 1930s. These first Orcadians strongly identified with and main- tained strong connections to their homeland throughout Margaret Ann Corrigall (nee Taylor) pictured with four of her children. This pho- their lives. It is fitting that the local church maintained tograph was taken about 1895. The youngest members pictured in each of the those links until its recent closure. family photographs were to become my grandparents. I would like to acknowledge the special help of John Moar, Duntroon Cemetery to his two older brothers who also Orkney, in sorting out the Birsay Taylors. Also my aunt came to New Zealand and predeceased him. Peter Taylor Joan Manson (nee Taylor) for her wonderful family stories was only 26 when he was killed in a building accident in and Jeannie Blaker (nee Kirkness) from Auckland NZ, Dunedin in 1868, and Thomas settled at Tokeraki, near who like myself are descendants of James A Taylor; and the Duntroon area, but died aged 40 in 1882. Heather Craw (Orkney Society, Christchurch, N.Z.) who James A Taylor was born in 1848 to parents William Tay- have all helped gather the above information about the lor and Mary Anderson. They farmed at Grigdar, Mar- first Taylor and Corrigall settlers in North Otago and in wick from about 1847 until after his death in 1883. His particular Duntroon. mother died after 1891. His father is commemorated on

I HOPE THAT YOU SPHINX SERIOUSLY ABOUT IT I’d love to excavate an article from you about your mummy, daddy or anyone else in your dynasty. If you make a start now you might be able to dig something up for our December issue. Don’t be in denile. Remember it takes a pharaohld number of articles to fill our 24 papyri. Story (Word doc please)and good quality jpgs to [email protected] P.S. Remember what happened to Howard Carter when he didn’t send a story! 20 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No.59 September 2011

By Elizabeth Copp. Member No 1350 When I started to look into the family tree of my grand- him was killed, the man father William Creighton Allan, born in Kirkwall in 1899, behind had his leg blown I had a bit of a surprise. I certainly wasn’t expecting to off, while he himself es- find a pirate among my ancestors. Needless to say, this has caped with shrapnel in been a talking point in the family for a few weeks now. his finger. I have a piece I had wanted to research my grandfather’s past for 2 of embroidery which he reasons. Firstly, I hoped to put into some order the docu- stitched in hospital after ments from his war years. He was called up on the 3rd the attack. It is framed April 1917, one month after his eighteenth birthday, hav- and on my study wall. I ing worked for about a year as a fireman on board the cannot believe that this Admiralty Transport Drifter, David Flett. This job ex- quiet, sensitive, young empted him from having to join the army as the work was man, barely 18 years of “national importance”. However, whether by choice or when he signed up, car- whether the job on the David Flett expired, he joined the ried a rifle and saw - un Gordon Highlanders in October 1917. speakable sights. My second reason for John Glendinning Bryden researching his past was to try to solve the mystery of the unknown minister. In that same photograph album was a portrait of a minister on a postcard. Next to this postcard was a photograph of an elderly woman, presum- ably the minister’s wife. With no one to ask, I needed to go back through my grandfather’s family to solve the mystery. I started research- ing the Allans first. My great-grandfather, John Allan, was latterly a mer- chant seaman on, I be- William Creighton Allan, second from the right. lieve, the Amelia which In an album is a photograph of sailed from Kirkwall to 25901 Private William Creighton Leith. He had been born Allan - 15 Platoon, 9th Gordon High- on and his landers - standing second from the ancestors all came from right. Theo Tullock of Tullock’s Ga- either Westray or Papa Janet Bryden nee Creighton rage in Kirkwall stands far right. Westray. The earliest record I have is the marriage of I do not know the other two young my four times great- grandparents, William Allan and soldiers. I presume it was taken be- Ann Drever, who married on the 2nd August 1818 in the fore they left for the front. He made East Parish of Westray. it back home from the trenches My grandfather’s mother, Mary Ann Williamson, was mainly through luck. He told me originally from . My grandfather had told me that they had been attacked while Badge embroidered by that his father had been working at the time on a shop marching. The man in front of William while recuperating. boat which used to sail to Shetland. One day they had A Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 21

Fto moor the boat offshore. Shoppers would have got their Moncreiff, An- feet wet. John Allan, however, gallantly waded towards drew Peterson his young customer waiting on the sand and carried her and Arthur in his arms onto the boat so that her feet stayed dry. The Moar, pushed rest, as they say, is history! They were married on the their boat out 28th of Janu- one Sunday in ary 1897 in June 1849 to the parish hunt whales, of Aithsting they were spot- in Shetland. ted and report- Mary Ann ed to the min- then moved ister and Kirk to Orkney Session. John and eventual- G l e n d i n n i n g ly to Kirkwall Bryden wrote where my a statement grandfather regarding the was born. profanation of Her fam- the Sabbath by ily were more the aforemen- widely travelled than that of her new husband for, to my tioned men. surprise, I found out that her great-grandfather, John This was a se- Glendinning Bryden, had been born in Dumfriesshire and rious charge. had travelled from there to the far-flung parish of Sand- The Sabbath was a day strictly for Bible Study and wor- sting and Aisthing in Shetland where he was the parish ship. Ironically, it could well have been around this same minister for 42 years. In 1819, already the minister of time that John’s elder son was hanged for piracy. A rap this parish, he married Janet Creighton, also from Dum- over the knuckles for profaning the Sabbath is mild com- friesshire, and brought her north with him. As this was pared to hanging. long before railways made travel easy and before roads Angus Konstam’s most read- were smooth carriageways, I can only think this long trip able book Piracy: The Com- north was a courageous decision for a Lowlander. John plete History is a good source Bryden and his wife Janet must have both had a sense of information on pirates and of adventure. piracy throughout the ages. So I had solved the mystery of the minister, but there He points out that Hong Kong were more surprises to come. Quite by chance while island had been ceded to Brit- browsing on the internet, I came upon Bayanne.info, a ain in 1842 and trade routes website which is a vast database of Shetland’s genealogy. opened up. However, pirates There on the screen before me, I was amazed to see the had been attacking clipper family tree of my great-grandmother, Mary Ann William- ships and disrupting trade so, son. Not only that, but I was shocked to find out that her by 1849, there was a permanent Royal Navy presence great-uncle, Robert Creighton Bryden, (elder son of the working in conjunction with the Chinese government and manse), had been hanged for piracy in the East Indies the East India Company on the Chinese coast. By the “before 1851”. Robert was 15 at the time of the 1841 cen- mid-19th century the waters of the South China Sea were sus, so he died before he was 25. deemed clear of pirates. It looks as if my three times I have to assume that the statement “hanged for pi- great- grand-uncle could have been one such. racy” is accurate. I have no proof and do not know where the information came from. Assuming it is true, I won- Or maybe I should stick to the known facts and not do der how Robert got into this situation. Did he inherit any supposing. Robert Creighton Bryden died overseas his parents’ sense of adventure and want to travel far? before 1851. He was the elder son of the minister in my De Liefde, a Dutch East Indies man, had been lost with grandfather’s photograph album. Perhaps I should be all hands in a storm off Shetland a century before. Sil- content with solving the mystery of the photograph and ver ducatoons and some gold coins were to be washed leave it at that. ashore years later. So perhaps Robert had worked his passage east on a similar sailing ship lured by the prom- Sources: Days of Orkney Steam by Alastair and Anne Cor- ise of wealth, but then had unwittingly fallen into bad mack company. Piracy: The Complete History by Angus Konstam Or is it a classic case of the elder son of the manse re- Shetland Genealogy source: http://www.bayanne.info/Shet- belling against a strict Sabbatical regime? John Glendin- land/ ning Bryden was, to my knowledge, a respected minister Information on the wreck of De Liefde was found at http:// but in those days the parish minister had a lot of “clout” www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/search_item/index.php?service=R in the community. When 3 Shetland fishermen, Robert CAHMS&id=102891 L Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 22 ROBERTSON’s ORKNEY FUDGE

By James Muir, Valdigar,

Orkney has many places to bring the tourists joy St Magnus Cathedral, and the Old Man of Italian Chapel, Skara Brae, you really shouldn’t miss it And Tankerness House Museum is really worth a visit.

Orkney cuisine is also special, many folk have said Partans, spoots, cockles, bere and flour bread But one thing overides them all, opinions never budge From a factory in Stromness, they gave us Orkney Fudge.

When my brothers and me were boys, we had sweets that is true ‘McCowan’s Highland Toffee’ with the picture of a highland coo Puff Candy was delicious, we ate it very quickly But it contained bicarbonate and quickly made us sickly!

Then one year before Christmas, a relation of my dad He came down from Stromness, Christmas presents to be had Vanilla, Ginger, Chocolate, many different flavours And ‘Roberson’s Orkney Fudge’ was a name we had to savour.

Some years ago, an Orkney man and a wealthy English rose Had been ‘going out’ for several years , but he would not propose But when dad bribed him with Orkney Fudge and Highland Park foreby He soon got down on one knee, in the twinkling of an eye.

At Ascot racecourse, at the start, a horse was being mulish The handlers tried to coax him on, but ended looking foolish A carrot held in front of his nose did no good at all But a lump of Orkney Fudge got him in the stall!

Now, when our lives are over, and our time is getting late And we make our upward way to meet St Peter at the gate Though Orkney folk are good at heart, we are not perfect yet To enter heaven, we ‘ll need all the help that we can get.

So we will take a ‘sweetener’, a very special prize To enable Orkney people to enter Paradise We’ll give the angels and the saints, without the slightest grudge To eat with their ambrosia – a bar of Orkney Fudge.

WORDS JAMES MUIR. GRAPHICS JOHN SINCLAIR

Evelyn Wilson from Holm wonders if anyone can provide the missing names? Evelyn thinks that this might be a show committee from years gone by and while she has a number of names, a few are missing including, she thinks, Alex Calder of Sebay and Charlie Hourston of Beaquoy. BACK ROW: 1. J.G.S. Flett, Nistaben, Harray. 2. Wm. Corrigall, North Bigging. 3.? Learmonth, Pow. 4. James Flett, Kingshouse, Harray. 5.? 6.? 7.? 8.? FRONT ROW: 1. Jim Wood. 2.? 3. Peter Johnston, Dale, Costa. 4.? 5.? Information to the Editor at johnsin.gotadsl.co.uk or you can ring the OFHS office on (01856) 879207. Issue No.59 September 2011 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 23 Did you have a relation at the Orphir Picnic? Here’s a great photograph from June Murdoch, Member No 846. It was sent to the 4th July Picnic Day”. No year is given but June thinks 1925 or 26 is probable. her grandmother, Jessie Bews, by her Aunt Madie—Margaret Muir, nee Bews. Four people in the photograph are identified and their names are indicated below. Margaret was the daughter of James Bews, once Harbourmaster at Scapa, and If any of our members know more about this picture June would love to hear from the wife of Jim Muir who succeeded James as Harbourmaster at Scapa. June’s them. If it was an annual event she is sure that her gran—Jessie Bews wouldn’t gran’s father was Madie’s brother James Bews—a captain in the merchant have missed it while she lived in Orkney. service. There was also a brother John Bews who emigrated to Canada. The in- June tells me she is planning an article on James Bews, the Harbourmaster, and I formation given on the reverse of the photograph is “taken at Kirbuster, Orphir, on am sure it will make interesting reading.

Margaret Muir (Mother)

Jamie Muir (son) Jim Muir (Jamie’s Dad) Margaret Muir (Daughter) MEMBERSHIP and SUBSCRIPTIONS NEW MEMBERS EXISTING MEMBERS Membership of the Society is through subscription and runs for a Existing members wanting to renew their subscription can now period of twelve months from date of application. do so online. Just Log In and use the link from My Details on the Member’s Page. You can, of course, still send your subscription to Members will receive our magazine ‘Sib Folk News’ which is the Treasurer at OFHS. published every 3 months and the ‘Members’ Directory’ which is CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE renewed annually in September. This Directory lists members’ Overseas members, paying in their own currency, should check contact details and their research interests. the exchange rate to ensure the correct amount is forwarded. Our Members will receive a password to access the members’ pages on bank will accept overseas cheques without charging commission. the website, details of which are shown on the Home Page. We regret that foreign Postal Orders are not acceptable in the UK. A great deal of research can be achieved through these resources. Members residing in the UK may pay their subscriptions by Bankers THE PRESENT MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES AND RATES ARE Order and if they wish can have their subscriptions treated as Gift 1. UK only ORDINARY Aid donations. Forms are available on request. Cheques should be made payable to:- Family membership £10.00 ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 2. UK only FAMILY MEMBERSHIP and forwarded to The Treasurer Spouse, Partner and Children under 18 £15.00 ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 3. UK only SENIOR CITIZENS Orkney Library & Archive Single or couple £7.00 44 Junction Rd. Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1AG Scotland. Telephone 01856 879207 4. OVERSEAS - Surface Mail £12.50 General enquires should be addressed to the office in writing or to Treasurer 5. OVERSEAS - Air Mail £15.00 George Gray (e-mail: [email protected]) General Secretary. Elaine Sinclair (e-mail: [email protected]) DOWNLOAD THESE and SEND Research Secy. Adrianne Leask (e-mail: [email protected]) WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Editor. John Sinclair (e-mail: [email protected]) Orkney Family History Society website— www.orkneyfhs.co.uk Visit www.orkneyfhs.co.uk/docs/mempack.pdf where you will Articles in the newsletter are copyright of the Society and find a New Membership Application form and a blank Family its authors and may not be reproduced without permiss- Tree. Please complete these, print and send with the appropriate ion of the editor. The Society is a registered charity in Scotland and a member subscription to The Treasurer at the address in the next column. 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 Orkney Family History Society is a Registered Charity in Scotland SCO26205 ISSN 1368-3950. SENDING AN ARTICLE? SEE PAGE No