The Museum Pier Stromness 2 NEWSLETTER of the ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORYSOCIETY Issue No38 June 06
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NEWSLETTER OFSIBTHE ORKNEY FAMIFOLKLY HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSISSUE 38 JUNE 2006 The Museum Pier Stromness 2 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORYSOCIETY Issue No38 June 06 ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY NEWSLETTER Membership up! Issue No 38 June 2006 CONTENTS Visitors up! FRONT PAGE and it’s thanks to our hard The Museum Pier Stromness. working committee and PAGES 2 & 3 volunteers says From the Chair. May Minutes. Chairperson Anne Rendall PAGE 4 Portrait of an Island Registrar. y the time you read this letter we will I was very pleased to see such a good have had our AGM and office bearers turnout at our last two meetings in March PAGE 5 & 6 and committee will have been and April as both speakers had travelled Vedder. B A trip sooth. appointed. overseas to talk to us.Firstly Jim Hewitson Jim Muir visits I would just like to take this opportunity from Papay gave us a very interesting talk Vedder. to thank the committee and volunteers who on emig-ration and left us wanting more, so have helped to keep the office manned, doing I hope he will come back again in the future. PAGES 7, 8 & 9 Elizabeth Briggs from Winnipeg, very kindly My Orkney Granny. research for our members, booking the monthly meetings, making sure the post made a special trip up to Orkney from PAGE 10 goes out on time and last but not least for London to give her talk on the Orkneymen Robbie in a raffle. making sure our members get their Sib folk in Hudson's Bay, and she hopes to visit our More on the Papay every quarter.With 900 members it is a islands again next year . Rocket Brigade. mammoth task. How many of you have put your family PAGE 10 We are looking forward to seeing many tree on the website? Dave Higgins has set it Orcadian War visitors over the summer and hope we are up to be very user friendly, and the more Memorials. able to help them find the information they trees that are online the better the resource Tom’s Treasure. need. Last year we had more than 370 visitors is for our members, particularly our PAGES 12,13 & 14 sign the visitors book and there are always a overseas members who can’t come into the The Great Escape few who don’t put their names down. office. PAGES 14 Laurie’s Irvine research. ORKNEY FAMILY PAGES 15 & 16 Orkneymen located HISTORY SOCIETY in Hudson’s Bay Records Minutes of AGM held on Thursday PAGES 17 & 18 My distant 4th May 2006 at 7.30pm in the connection with the Supper Room, Town Hall Kirkwall Orkney Islands Minutes recorded by our Research Secretary Adrianne Leask PAGES 19 & 20 Searching for 1. Remarks from the Chair the visitors in the visitors’ book over the past William Louttit Chairperson Anne Rendall, welcomed forty year and said there were 370 signatures in PAGE 21 people to the meeting. it. She also said that it was good to see so Stan Sutherland’s 2. Apologies many visitors and there probably would have Flotta CDs. There were apologies from Helen Manson been more as every visitor did not sign the and Dave Higgins. book.. PAGE 22 Memories from the 3. Adoption of Minutes of AGM held on We also have had a great lot of appreciation Mantlepiece 12th May 2005 from members who had been delighted with Minutes of the 2005 AGM and a statement the research we had done for them and for PAGE 23 OFHS Publications, of the accounts were circulated. Adoption of the birth, marriage and death certificates Family Trees and the minutes of the AGM was proposed by we had forwarded. Anne thanked all the Website Alan Clouston and seconded by Helen Volunteers for their help in the office. Also Angus. she thanked Hazel for booking the various PAGE 24 4. Matters Arising halls for meetings and to Mags and Annie for Membership Details There were no matters arising. coming along to the meetings and making 5. Chairman’s Report the tea. The Chairman Anne Rendall had counted John was thanked very much for his Issue No38 June 06 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORYSOCIETY 3 excellent work on our Sib Folk News. All Proposed Seconded the members enjoy the articles very much. Davina Brown Adrianne Leask George Gray Davina was also thanked for all her hard Alan Clouston Nan Scott Alfred Flett work on dealing with the mail. Elaine Sinclair George Gray Alan Clouston Dave Higgins has also requested that BettyThomson Alan Clouston Adrianne Leask members put their Family Tree on the Web. Helen Manson George Gray Nan Scott We now have 900 members The Annual trip to the island of Sanday will 10. Any other business:- be on the 4th June, with Lunch at the Anita Thomson would act as a guide on our Kettletoft @ £3.00 per head. The bus for a tour of Sanday tour round the island is £10.00 per head. All It was agreed that the Bus drivers and Guide those travelling should be at the Kirkwall on Sanday should be provided with lunch by Pier for 9am. The boat arrives in Sanday at the OFHS. It was also suggested that perhaps Did you 11.05am and departs from Sanday at 6pm. the Society should pay for the hire of the know? Graveyard recordings are planned for July, buses on Sanday for the OFHS outing. weather permitting. The monthly meetings However, before this could go ahead it was that if you are a visitor to will start again in September. agreed that it would need to be discussed by Orkney be careful no Speakers for October: Joyce Peace to speak the OFHS Committee at a meeting. one persuades you to on her father who was on the Shetland Bus. The business over, Anne Rendall then accept a copy of the Future Speakers: Bill Miller to speak on the introduced Mimes Manson who gave us a talk Book of the Black Arts. Ballad of Andrew Ross. This devilish tome, November 9th Annual Dinner printed white on black, confers special magic 6. Treasurer’s Report powers on its owner but The Treasurer, George Gray explained that before you get too £3000 of the Subscriptions have been paid in excited you should know advance this year. He also said that there is that if you die with the a lot of members who don’t renew their subs. book in your possession We have received over £800 in donations of Auld Nick will claim both which £300.00 was used for research fees the book and your soul. and certificates.We also now pay for a If you have been gullible cleaner in the Office. enough to accept a copy Helen Angus proposed this was an accurate getting rid of it can prove statement of accounts and Hazel Goar tricky. You can only seconded. Mimes Manson dispose of it by selling it 7. Annual Fees on the island of Sanday. for a smaller coin than The Fees for membership were also Mimes began with telling us she had left the you paid for it or by discussed and it was proposed by Helen island when she was fourteen years old. giving it away. Angus that there should be no increase and Mimes had various pictures which she had A Sandwick man tried it was seconded by Adrianne Leask. It was painted to illustrate her talk and a map she every way to dispose of therefore agreed that there would be no had drawn of the island which had the various his copy eventually increase in the annual fees. roads marked on it. It also showed where weighting it with stones 8. Election of Chairman several of the larger farms were on the island. and throwing it Anne then asked Nan to take the Chair for Mimes then explained who lived on each farm. overboard into deep nomination of chairman or chairperson. The island has three parishes namely Lady, water. He was still in Cross and Burness, deep water when he got Position Proposed Seconded The talk was full of information about the home for there was the Chairperson: kirks, schools, farms and the people who lived book sitting high and dry Anne Rendall Helen Angus Betty Thomson there.Mimes also mentioned how they took on the kitchen table. horses to Eday to cart peats as there were no A Sanday girl fared no 9. Anne returned to the Chair for the peats on Sanday. The peats were only for the better when she tried to election of Secretary and Treasurer and Lairds.All the other islanders had to burn rid herself of the copy up to nine committee members seaweed or cow dung. There is a dyke built on that she had unwittingly the island called Galloway’s dyke which was accepted from a local Treasurer: built by a man named Mackenzie who came witch Reechal Tulloch. In George Gray Nan Scott Mimes Manson from the Highlands. desperation she turned Secretary: Mimes had also taken along several books on to the local minister of Nan Scott Mimes Manson Alan Clouston Sanday for people to have a look at. She also the Sanday Free Kirk who had a list of names to be found in the census managed to dispose of The new committee is :- showing how many people there were with the offending volume. Proposed Seconded each name between 1841 – 1901. Just how is not known Dave Higgins Nan Scott Marion Flett Anne gave a vote of thanks to Mimes for her and the Reverend Tulloch Adrianne Leask Nan Scott George Gray very interesting talk.