Issue 17, 2005
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Issue 17 NEWSLETTER Friends of Perth & Kinross Council Archive Hon. Presidents: Bob Scott, Provost, Perth & Kinross Council: Sir William Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie In this issue: CLASSIC SHOPFRONTS IN PERTH ARTICLES IN STOCK Chairman’s Notes Page 2 News from the Archives 2 Gunpowder, Treason and Plot 3 Family History 1) Some Do’s and Don’ts 4 Family History 2) How the Archive Helps 6 Architectural Gems on City Streets 7 Dunkeld and Birnam History Society 10 A Dunkeld Policeman’s Strange Ordeal 11 Water, Drains and Cholera in Perth 14 Friends’ visit to Weem 16 Perth & Kinross Council Archive, AK Bell Library, York Place, Perth PH2 8EP, Tel: 01738 444949 Email: [email protected] Chairman’s Notes Our outing to Weem in July to explore Menzies Castle and St Cuthberts Old Church once more confirmed that a large number of Friends enjoy our visits to historic sites. The castle, with its imposing tower, was built in the 16th century by Menzies of Menzies and remained the seat of Clan chiefs until 1918. In 1972 the Menzies Clan Society began restoring it and are attempting to save as much of the original building as possible from the scourge of dry rot. They are also rehabilitating the remarkable, though neglected, walled garden. In the church I was intrigued by the ‘mortheads’ of the Menzies family (motto: Will God I Shall). They give a fasci- nating insight into the ways in which the aristocracy have commemorated deaths. All told, it was most enjoyable day out— including the tea and scones. For a more detailed picture, Vera Purves gives her impressions on page 16. Friends continue to do useful work on a variety of projects. Marjorie Howat, Jackie Hay and Vera Purves are work- ing on burial records, while John Howat, our able secretary, is in charge of the project’s ‘quality control’; Margaret Borland-Stroyan is researching Maritime History; Hilary Wright is dealing with Women’s issues; Graeme Watson has completed his work on Word Wars I and II and is now working on the Perthshire Militia; Gavin Lindsay and my- self are dealing with local Authority Planning records, and David Wilson compiles and edits our newsletter. Recently, the Friends committee wrote to all the Community councils in Perthshire asking if any of their members would be interested in joining us, to work on projects in their own locality. To date we have had six positive replies. Finally, I wish you all the compliments of the season, and hope that 2006 will be yet another successful year. ——————————————————————————————————————————————— News from the Archives Friends volunteers, Marjory Howat and Jim Ferguson gave a very helpful hand to Archive and Local Studies staff at the first Family History Day held at the AK Bell Library. Marjory showed visitors the potential of the Perth Burial Registers database, while Jim was handing out general information and advice to those who had never visited the Archive before – can you believe that there are such people?! The whole day was a tremendous success and it seems that this will be an annual event. The work of the Archive continues with our regular band of volunteers helping produce finding aids and weeding duplicate material to give us more storage space. Archive staff have updated the guides to the collections, particularly family history resources, which you can pick up in the searchroom or download from the website. Work on the web pages continues, but we would like more ideas to include on the Friends’ section, so if you can, have a look and let me know if you have any suggestions. You can download the guides and see the Friends pages via www.pkc.gov.uk/archives. Recent visitors have been looking at: distilleries in Perthshire, Kinross Town Hall, Perth’s Improvement Acts, Perth City Hall, house history, railways, the Belsen trials, the Hays of Errol, Kinross Baronial Status, the Crook of Devon and of course, family history. Recent accessions include the Electrical Association of Women, scrapbook of activities, 1950-1975; VisitScotland leaflets and publications, c1950-c2005; Kinross Town Hall booking records, 1997-2002; typescript narrative of the life of William Lawson Greenhill, particularly of his experiences in and after WW1, 2005; legal papers relating to the case between Thomas Graham of Balgowan and Andrew Straiton, 1784-1814; generic letters concerning the arrange- ments to celebrate the Jubilee of King George V, 1935; Girls Brigade, Letham, Perth Division, 1993-2005; legal pa- pers of John Pitcairn, weaver, c1600-1757; and log book and admission registers of Pitgcairngreen and Almondbank schools, 1902-1939 2 Gunpowder, treason and plot over four centuries by Margaret Borland-Stroyan In the Fair City we have just celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot with a huge bonfire and magnificent fireworks. Earlier this autumn, I had encountered various ref- erences in the city archive to the foiled terrorist atrocity against James VI. In 1605, bells were rung in Perth on the 8 November ‘for joy of His Majesty’s delivery from the cruel and treasonable fact done in London’ and there was an order for ‘this day to be keipit holie and in gude exercise with setting furth at ewin of bonfires conforme to the missive sent to that effect’. At the meeting of the Perth Council on 18 November 1605, a letter st from the Lord Chancellor (Alexander Seton, 1 Earl of Dun- fermline) was produced, with the instruction ‘to examine and detain all Englishmen coming to the burgh in respect of the Treason against His Majesty’. Throughout this year’s celebrations, my thoughts kept turning to the implications both for England and Scotland if the Gun- powder Plot had succeeded. James VI was ambitious to in- James VI herit the English throne, and probably returned to Scotland only once after the Union of the Crowns; but historians tell us that he had the vision to want his kingdoms to unite as Great Britain. Had the conspirators been successful in their intention of igniting a ton of gunpowder at the right moment, they would most certainly have de- stroyed the King, his sons and all present in the English Parliament building. Apparently they planned to install the princess Elizabeth as the Catholic Queen of England (ironically in reality her descendants were the stoutly protestant Hanoverians) But even if they had succeeded in their plan, would the majority of the English people have accepted her as Queen? Would the Scots have chosen a monarch from among descendants of James IV? Would the Coven- anters have been spared the persecution suffered under Charles II (himself a signatory of the Solemn League and Covenant) and his brother James? And when, if at all, would England have united with Scot- land to form a new country? But aside from these interesting might-have-beens, the atrocities in London on 7 July 2005 provide curious, if uncomfortable, parallels between acts of terrorism plotted, not by ‘foreigners’, but by native-born citizens from respectable families, and between the public reactions to those events. 3 James VI © Scottish National Portrait Gallery/SCRAN Children watching a bonfire © Scotsman Publications Ltd/SCRAN Interest in Genealogy or Family History, has grown enormously in recent years, and we know that sev- eral Friends have taken it up or are contemplating doing so. With that in mind, Vera Purves gives us the benefit of some thirty years’ hard-won experience in researching her own family’s forebears, while Jan Merchant, our Assistant Archivist, describes the help the Archive can give to the researcher. 1) Family History; Some Do’s and Don’ts I’ve been looking into my family history for several years now, and because I have ancestors from both sides of the border, and so experienced the different types of records available in both England and Scotland, I was asked to jot down some of my experiences – to offer some tips and hints and what to expect for those starting their own genealogical research. One major change over the years has been how we can access the records we use for our research. When I started, in the 1970s, it used to be that researchers were given, say, the old parish register, open at the relevant page. We were allowed to look, but not touch; if a page crackled on being turned, the custodian bore down with a look of disbelief and scorn at such temerity. Many other records were simply not available to the general public. It’s still the case that some records in England are not as publicly accessible as they are in Scotland. But thanks to micro-filming and digitisation and a more welcoming attitude from archives and local studies centres, more and more records are more readily accessible. Before anyone starts on their research, they need to think about how far they wish to go. Genealogical research usually consists of a tree or list of family names, their dates of birth, death and marriage and the places they lived. But family history delves deeper, and can be a compilation of facts and fables recounted or recorded by family members. You have to ‘seize the moment’ when you’re with family, especially eld- erly members, and get them to talk about their relations and ancestors. My relations do not mind providing factual information, but going further can prove tricky. I have to reassure them who potential readers of the family history might be, and may even promise to censor more sensitive information. If you don’t have many surviving fam- ily members to add colour as well as information to your family history, you may just have to dig a wee bit deeper into a wider range of records – an exciting possibility You also need to define your research parameters: will you stick with your mother and father’s line or do you want to research other branches of the family too? Side tracking is inevitable, but try to keep it to a minimum.