Sib Folk Hews

Kirkwall About 1970

St. ttfaqnus Cathedral

dominates the centre ol town

Contents:

Page 2. From the chair S TCSP's call lor recognition of family history societies 3. Correspondence 5 Requests 4. Profile 5. Obituary & Book review 6. Orkney crewmen In Durham Ports on 3rd April 1881 7. Open meeting & T} B Co. Reunion 8. Company oT Adventurers S. Quiz 10. Open Meeting. Forthcoming Events and Request 11. George Jrvine in Brechness 13. Lrte In rjorray Toonahtpa 16. Treasurer's Report 17. fl.Q.m. IS Migration to Australia in 1851

Newsletter oT Hie ©rhney Family history Society

From the chair

Here we are at midsummer already. In Orkney the days are long and the sunsets brilliant. Visitors from the south are apt to be confused about when to go to bed!

This is a special summer for most folk if participation is mainly from looking at the T V. Those interested in football are very interested in the results of the World Cup Tournament. It has been a busy year for our Royal family as the Queen's Golden Jubilee is celebrated but especially in the summer months. I 'm sure that many of our members are interested in the history of the last fifty years, in the history of our monarch's family in general and in the pageantry and heraldry that has been in evidence during the celebra-tions.

How many of our members have seen the Queen personally during the year? It was very gratifying that our treasurer George Gray, and his wife, Elaine, were asked to the Queen's garden party at Holyrood in May, George admitted to wearing his OFHS hat! One of them did wear a hat anyway. How-ever one suspects that his invitation came because of conscientious work in other fields as well I 'm sure they both enjoyed the expe-rience

Recently someone from Holyrood in the person of Brian Adam SNP MSP for North East Scotland walked up the Strynd and saw our office He was unable to visit when it was open He is very interested in family history and has been keeping in touch faith-fully He sends us reports of all the questions and answers on Genealogy Tourism when it comes up in the Scottish Parliament. He feels that the Scottish Executive should be encour-aging family histories because of the work they do voluntarily.

Others who have shown an interest and have offered to help are Rhoda Grant, Mau-reen Macmillan and Peter Peacock all mem-bers of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands.

I'm afraid help is what the society does need at the moment We miss Janice Sinclair for lots of reasons but especially for her vast knowledge and for her willingness to do

research for us, not sometime but immedi-ately. We do have two or three who may soon be able to fill the gap but in the meantime we hope that members will bear with us if an-swers to their queries take a while in coming.

Then too we need help in editing Sib Folk News. In the interim a group of us are going to try and produce four editions. It has really brought home to us how much we are in-debted to Gavin Rendall for all that he has done over the last five years. Some time ago we gave him life membership but we plan to acknowledge our appreciation later in the year as well In the meantime we are looking for articles, stories, pictures etc from all our six hundred plus members!

Anything for the magazine should now be addressed to the Editorial Committee, Orkney Family History Society, Community Room, The Strynd, Kirkwall, Orkney Isles KWI5 1HG.

MSP CALLS FOR RECOGNITION OF FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES

SNP (Scottish National Party) MSP (Mem-ber of the Scottish Parliament) for North East Scotland, Brian Adam, has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament urging the Scottish Executive to support the family history socie-ties to deliver their services within the niche market of genealogy tourism

Speaking from his Aberdeen constituency office, Mr Adam said:

"I believe it is time to recognise the great work that is being done throughout Scotland by the network of local family history socie-ties. The societies are an excellent and essen-tial part of the tourism services, which Scotland has to offer those visiting Scots who want to team about their family history. However, many of the societies provide this service under conditions which are wholly inadequate

I challenge the Scottish Executive to recog-nise the work done in the past and that done now. The Scottish Executive must find a way to increase funding and support for this work As a result, family history will become an increasingly valuable part of the tourism in-dustry in Scotland "

newsletter of Oe Orkney Family IHstory Society

Brian's motion reads as follows' 'That the Parliament recognises the excellent

work being done by the many volunteer genealo-gists within the network of family history socie-ties throughout Scotland, despite facing problems of unsuitable accommodation, lack of funding and support, and asks the Scottish Ex-ecutive to consider how it might best support this network as part of the genealogy tourism niche market strategy

Correspondence & Requests

Mowat Plea

Is there anyone from the Orkney F.H.S who can help me? I am researching the name Mowat, and know that my G,G,G Grandfather John Mowat (Cooperhouse?) married Margaret Tay-lor on 24lh December 1776 But that is as far back as I can go. 1 have no knowledge of his birthdate, parents, or place of birth. They had a son Nicol Mowat who has married Janet John-stone, from Leary, on 16th July 1816.

Jf someone has researched the name Mowat and can help me, 1 would be most grateful.

Linda Galley (nee Mowat) Member No 671.

Leasks of Papa Westray

I am researching my Leask ancestors from Westray and Papa Westray

Thomas Leask and Isobel Harcus had children on Papa Westray 1785-1807

My ancestor was Anne Leask b 1792 who married a Francis Barnett in Kirkwall

Anne's sister Jane b 1788 married a Thomas Scatter on Westray in 1819. They had a child Thomas Seatter b 1820 Westray but 1 haven't been able to find anything on this couple or any other children

Have you encountered this family in your re-search?

Roy Flett e-mail roy.flett@btinternet.com

Researching emigration from Scotland to Queensland between 1885 and 1888.

1 have been researching emigration from Scotland to Queensland between 1885 and 1888.

I now have a database of Scots with over 4,000 entries. I should be most interested in learning more about these emigrants, particu-larly reason for leaving Scotland and what they did on arrival in Queensland and should be happy to hear from anyone whose relatives may have emigrated during that period. Conversely, I shall be pleased to assist anyone who thinks that their forebear may have emigrated during this time but who does not have evidence Please contact me by e-mail on elrojo@sol co.uk or in writing to Elspeth John-son at 6, Ralston Mount, Broughty Ferry, Dun-dee. DD5 INN.

Thank you in anticipation. Yours sincerely

Eispeth Johnson

Lost House

Can any reader identify this house. The only clue is that it is within walking distance of Kirkwall

It is a postcard which was posted in Kirkwall in 1909.

Replies to member #72, Ruth Mclnroy, Quoy Bow, Cairston Road, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3JU, or care of geo rg e. gray @ unison free net

PROFILE Alastair and Anne Cormack

Our people in profile this time are Alastair and Anne Cormack who left Orkney recently. They have been valuable members of OFHS since its inauguration. Alastair was an office volunteer and a researcher. Anne was a com-mittee member and latterly vice-chairman.

Although neither was born in Orkney they have been well-known in Orkney for many years. Both have Orcadian ancestors some of whom were schoolteachers who must have passed on their gifts to their descendants. It was appointments at the school in Sanday that brought Alastair and Anne to Orkney in 1971.

Alastair's grandfather, David Cormack, had come from Caithness in 1884 and went on to teach in several South Ronaldsay schools. His wife Margaret, also from Caithness, was origi-nally his assistant teacher One wonders if the Cormacks were returning to their roots as Gre-gor Lamb records a Cormack in St Margaret's Hope in the early 17ft century. Alastair's father, Ronald, was born in Dundas House in South Ronaldsay. The last of that family left Orkney in 1928.

Readers may recall that Anne wrote about her Greig ancestors in SFN numbers 8 and 9. They go back to Thomas Greig who married in Kirk-wall in 1754. His descendant James Greig, Anne's grandfather, was a compositor with The Orcadian before moving to Glasgow His wife, Lizzie, nee Ledingham, was a pupil teacher at the old Glaitness School in Glaitness Road, in Kirkwall.

So one is not surprised that they went on to become schoolteachers and then on leaving Sanday to become joint-editors of The Orkney View, a magazine they started in 1985. While staying in Kirkwall they were a kenspeckle couple in town and in St. Ola, because they are fond of walking A misquote of a well-known song, "Anne and Alastair go together like a horse and carriage" came to mind when one saw them walking briskly along - side by side that is! Their friendliness attracted people to talk to them and thereby they gleaned lots of informa-tion which sometimes appeared later in The Orkney View The Orkney View, printed on quality paper with a bright cover, became a very

popular magazine with Orcadians everywhere It will continue to be of interest to genealogists, historians and those interested in dialect etc

On completion of the one hundredth edition of the magazine, Feb/March 2002, they decided to retire and very soon after they moved to Pit-lochry They attended the North Perthshire Fam-ily History Group's inaugural meeting. Orkney's loss could become North Perthshire's gain!

When the OFHS said farewell to Alastair and Anne at the March meeting there were definitely some wet and shiny eyes in the room! In his speech at the end of the meeting the hon. presi-dent, Brigadier Robertson, paid tribute to them for all they had done for the society and for Orkney. He said they would be missed for many reasons and personally he would miss their cheery greeting as they walked up the hill near his home. He went on to say that he was sure they would continue their association with the society from a distance. They in turn promised to return from time to time. It is true to say that Orkney is a better place because the Cormacks have been there

Alastair & Anne

Bcreteter of Hie Orkney Family JHstory Society

Issue 22

OBITUARY

Janice Sinclair

The sudden ard untimely death of Janice Sin-clair of Nisthouse, Brough, Harray was an occa-sion of shock and sadness to family, neighbours and friends alike.

To most folk she was best known for her long-term interest in family histories to the ex-tent that she corresponded with Orkney descen-dants world-wide. Her gift of being able to recite generations of families without recourse to notes made her a much consulted member of Orkney Family History Society

However Janice also did much voluntary work with local charities and clubs being an Office Bearer in Age Concern and running the Dounby Senior Citizens Club for many years. In addition she took part in many local community activities with an interest in Traditional Dancing and Indoor Bowls but never at the expense of her loyal and devoted attention to her family.

In all these activities Janice was kind, helpful and self-effacing with no expectations of mone-tary reward. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than to see the delight enjoyed by someone whom she had helped to trace a family connec-tion. In this day and age of the cult of self, when 'personal bests' and 'self-aggrandisement' is encouraged in all aspects of work and play, Janice was a breath of fresh aiT.

My friendship with Janice goes back many years to when our children attended firstly Play-group then through Primary and Secondary schooling. Over these years our meetings were erratic but, like all good friendships, intervals of time were irrelevant - we always had common interests to discuss.

The founding of Orkney Family History Soci-ety in 1997 coincided with the growing inde-pendence of our children and we could meet once again more frequently with our common interest. It was a great sadness for me when this new phase of our friendship was so tragically cut short

All her many friends, myself included, will always have good memories of Janice and our sincere condolences go out to her family at this time.

Sheila Spence

BOOK REVIEW

"For Freedom and Honour"

by George Esson

When we spent a few days in Lille two years ago Alastair and I achieved a long held ambi-tion of visiting the WW1 war memorials in Arras, and in Ploegsteert in Belgium. As a student in the late 50's, I had worked as an au pair in Lille, and one Sunday 'my' family had taken me on a tour of the WW 1 graveyards. In those days the graves were marked with simple white crosses - in my mind's eye today it seems that there were thousands of them. It was a sight I have never forgotten because I realized so many of those who had lost their lives had been no older than jl was in 1958. At that time I was not interested in family history, nor did I know that my father's mother had lost two brothers in the conflict. Alastair, however, had always known that his mother and father had both had an elder brother who was killed. When we started researching on the internet (by entering www.cwtfc.orti). we found to our amazement that the war memorial at Arras bore the names of one of his uncles and one of my great-uncles While the one at Ploegsteert com-memorated his other uncle and my second great-uncle. None of the four men had a known grave.

We took the train from Lille to Arras and waiked from the station to the cemetery. Here there were hundreds upon hundreds of graves, with my remembered white crosses now re-placed by the traditional stones such as are seen in St OlaTs, as well as a vast memorial with around 35,000 names for those with no known resting place We had known ahead from our internet researches which panels contained the names of our forebears and we found them without too much difficulty, particularly as a helpful gardener tending the beautiful kept cemetery pointed us in the right direction. At the memorial there are books listing in alpha-betical order the names of all those buried or commemorated there, and we were able to find several Orkney names among them Obviously many people visit during the summer, since there were quite a few crosses and poppy

Reviewed by Anne Cormack

wreaths with poignant messages such as:- "To the grandfather whom I never knew, but who gave me the gift of life".

The next day we caught another train, this time to Armentieres (where the Mademoiselle came from!), the nearest station to Ploegsteert which lay about five miles away across the Belgium border. A very pleasant lady in the tourist office in Armentieres arranged a taxi for us and gave us amap of the WW1 cemeteries in the surrounding area - there must have been ninety graveyards on the map. The Ploegsteert memorial and cemetery was relatively small and we easily found 'our' names and took photographs The taxi driver had told us to take as long as wanted - he would wait. He even charged us less than the previously agreed fare, as we had taken less time than he had estimated. He had not been at Ploegsteert before and had assumed that the cemetery was huge, as so many of them are.

It is hard to describe one's emotions after such a visit There is a feeling of young lives wasted, of future generations who would never be bom. Most of these lads never had the chance to 'head* a family tree, to be remem-bered and researched by their descendants. Who knows of them now?

This is where South Ronaldsay is incredibly fortunate in having George Esson For a num-ber of years George has been investigating the names of all the men on the South Ronaldsay war memorial, tracing their relatives to find out personal details, collecting photographs, and reading widely and in great depth the histories of both world wars. These years of research have culminated in the publishing of his book 'For Freedom and Honour'. In his book George has been able to devote a mini chapter to every man named on the island memorial - each has his own little biography. Here we read of the service man's parents, see his photo, learn of his job before he joined up, his regiment, the battles he fought in, where and when he died. Not forgotten either is where he is buried or on what memorial he is commemorated. One of the chapters in 'For Freedom and Honour' re-members Alastair's uncle, twenty-year-old John D Cormack, whose name we had found on the Arras memorial. George's researches, how-ever, have filled in details of Jack's service life and the different military offensives his regi-

ment was involved in, of which we knew nothing. Family history is not just about the bare bones

of names, relationships and dates. It embraces the times as well as the lives of our forebears and this is whal makes George's book so valuable to a wide audience. While it deals only with South Ronaldsay young men who paid the supreme sacrifice, it still describes the conditions endured by all servicemen in the two world wars. There can't be many families who didn't lose someone dear to them in one of these major conflicts. 'For Freedom and Honour' makes us realise what life and death were for these brave young men, no matter where they came from

"For Freedom and Honour' is published by Information PLUS, Finstown, Orkney KW17 2LH at a price of £8.99.

Orkney Seamen on ships in Durham Ports on the night of3rd April 1881

James Sutherland 38 Flotta George Harcus 43 Westray Peter Cragie(sic) 29 Shapinsay James Walts 19 Kirkwall William Cumming 17 Kirkwall George Warwick 52 Stromness James Harcus 47 Westray John Reid 45 Westray James S eater 35 Westray William Rendall 19 Westray Robert Paterson Leslie St La(sic) William Lennie 40 Westray Robert Muir 26 Kirkwall William Bews 17 Stromness George Valzian(sic) 16 Kirkwall Thomas Drummond 52 Ork James Hewison 29 Ork John Great(sic) 21 Ork John Mackie 16 Ork Thomas Cooper 37 Eday James Shearer 20 Kirkwall David Velzean 18 Deem ess George Yarston(sic) 16 Kirkwall Peter Craigie 50 Ork John Sinclair 35 Ork Peter Craigie 21 Ork Thomas Wilson 20 Ork Thomas Graves 20 Ork James Sutter 18 Ork

Rcnesietfcr of ffae Orkney Family lpstfory Society

Open Meeting held in the Supper Room, Kirkwall Community Centre

Thursday 14th March 2002 at 7.30pm

Chairperson, Mrs Nan Scott, welcomed 46 members and visitors, old and new, to the meet-ing.

There were apologies from Mrs Helen Man-son, Miss Helen Angus and Mrs Irene Miller.

Nan announced the sad news that our main researcher, Mrs Janice Sinclair, had passed away suddenly that morning. Janice was known for several fields in Orkney including Age Concern, The Dounby Senior Citizens Club, Bowls and Dancing. Although not Orcadian herself she had married an Orcadian and had been very inter-ested in Archives. She worked as a professional, Nan said, but with no payment

Honorary President, Brigadier S P Robertson, then paid tribute to Janice and asked for a mi-nute's silence.

Vice Chairperson, Mrs Anne Cormack, and her husband, Alastair, who works in the office will be leaving Orkney soon to live in Pitlochry and a card was passed round for everyone to sign

As our Editor, Mr Gavin Rendalt, is resigning from his post Nan asked for anyone with the skills needed to attend a meeting to discuss production of future issues of the SFN.

Mr Frank Eunson will be in Edinburgh the week after the meeting and is willing to do research at Register House

Nan then introduced the speaker for the eve-ning, archivist Mr Phil Aslley

Phil also paid tribute to Janice saying that she had done so much research among the archives that she was almost looked on as a member of staff and he dedicated his talk to Janice

Phil had recently spent some weeks in Winni-peg and gave us a very interesting talk on 'The Company of Adventurers' as the Hudson's Bay Company was originally called. He has kindly agreed to submit his own report for the maga-zine. He hopes to keep up the historical connec-tion between Orkney and Winnipeg and intends to write a section for the Hudson's Bay Ar-chives' web site. Dave Higgins offered to make a CD of our Census Records to send to Winnipeg

Mrs Davina Brown gave thanks to Phil in appreciation of his talk and felt that it gave the Journals a personal aspect and we could soak up the atmosphere and in her own light-hearted way

suggested, "maybe we should all go there some-time".

Nan then spoke of Anne and Alastair's long time in Orkney and their connection with the Society Alastair had been a dependable worker in the office every Monday and extra busy this year helping to make Census books and Anne, as Vice Chairperson, had stood in for Nan on occasion and had given talks. Brigadier S P Robertson presented them with a wooden fruit bowl, locally made, and a picture of a grave-stone they had written an article on for their magazine, 'Orkney View'.

The meeting closed with the usual informal discussions over a welcome cup of tea and biscuits This is the time when, very often, many a family connection is found.

(frtltM

REUNION

Hudson Bay Company Descendants 2005 Reunion in Manitoba, Canada

As part of Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site's 175th anniversary, the Volunteer Asso-ciation is planning a reunion in 2005 of the descendants of Hudson Bay Company employ-ees who settled in the Red River Settlement (which now includes Winnipeg and the sur-rounding area). The three to four day event will be held at Lower Fort Garry with a number of activities from which to choose as well as op-tional bus tours. The reunion itself will be held on the final day. A registration fee will be charged but fundraising will be done to help offset the costs. The Committee is researching and trying to locate these descendants. If you are one of these descendants, or want more information, please contact the Committee chair, Barbara Gessner c/o Box 394, Selkirk, Manitoba R1A 2B1 or e-mail at hbcreunion.committee@3web.net.

Rewsktter of the Orkney Family X^siory Society

SIX WEEKS WITH THE 'COMPANY OF ADVENTURERS'

By Phil Astley

During the summer months, the lilt of Cana-dian accents excitedly discussing the finer de-tails of family histories is a familiar sound in the Orkney Archives. The majority of these transatlantic visitors are the legacy of a most remarkable historical connection between Ork-ney and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

The Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA) now forms part of the Provincial Ar-chives of Manitoba. Located in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, it is a unique and price-less repository chronicling the birth and in-fancy of a nation. Incidentally, while it no longer has any connections to the fur-trade, the Hudson's Bay Company is still in business after 331 years The Winnipeg department store is barely a minute's walk away from the archive, which lent an almost surreal sense of continuity to my work there.

When I initially contacted the HBCA in November 2000 with a view to undertaking a six-week spell of employment between July 30* and September 7® 2001, it was with the aim of building on this historical connection and establishing a much stronger working rela-tionship between our two repositories. By combining forces, it seemed logical to me that we would be able to offer an enhanced level of service to family historians, academics and other researchers.

Incorporated by royal charter in 1670, the 'Company of Adventurers of England Tradeing (sic) into Hudson's Bay' was born out of the demand in European markets for furs, which were used primarily in the manu-facture of hats. In the course of its fur-trading activities, the Company became a vast com-mercial enterprise, forging the nation of Can-ada in the process

Orkneymen were crucial to this success, being the mainstay of the Company's labour force during the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-turies. By 1700, HBC vessels had already fallen into the habit of stopping at the port of Stromness on their way north from London in order to pick up last minute supplies before striking out across the Atlantic.

In 1702 the Company ship was instructed to hire a dozen or so young men for the Bay on its stop here - thus began a relationship that was to last nearly 200 years. Orkneymen were fa-voured as employees because, in the words of a contemporary account of 1794, they were "more sober and tractable than the Irish, and they engage for lower wages than either the English or Irish". By 1799, out of a total of 530 persons employed at the Company's fur-trading posts in North America, a staggering 416 (very nearly 80 percent) hailed from Orkney

With the rare privilege of having a free rein to rummage around in the vaults of this, one of the world's most prestigious archives, I quickly became aware that during this six-week stint I would barely have time to scratch the surface of the 2km worth of records, so saturated are they with references to Orkney and Orcadians.

The staff of the HBCA are acutely aware of the significance of the Orkney connection, al-though the interpretation of some of the per-sonal and place-names which we take for granted, naturally present problems for them Consequently, the opportunity for them to tap my local knowledge was enthusiastically ac-cepted, helping enormously with work on a number of different series of records, most notably the contracts (which will soon be avail-able on microfilm at the Orkney Library & Archives) signed between the Company and the employees. Incidentally, many of these contain the farm name where the employee hailed from, making it possible to pinpoint their exact ori-gins.

My visit also garnered a good deal of media interest, including interviews on two radio sta-tions in Winnipeg, one on a station broadcast-ing to northern Manitoba and finally a 25-minute slot on national Canadian radio. This excellent coverage, along with participation in events such as the 'Red River Rendezvous' at Lower Fort Garry (a preserved fur-trading post), certainly achieved the desired effect of publicising the work of the HBCA and the Orkney Archives, resulting in a surge of enquir-ies from those interested in the Orkney connec-tion. Looking to the future, our plans include writing an Orkney section for the excellent HBCA website (www, gov mb. ca/chc/archives/hbca/ index.html) the pages of which receive an incr-

R e w s J e t t c r r f f t e G f k i ^ f a m f l y l H s ^ S o c t e J Y

edible 40,000 hits per month, while efforts are already under way to share relevant resources. Just as I benefited both professionally and per-sonally from the opportunity to work in Canada and to experience some of the landscape and places which dominate the history of the fur-trade, so it is hoped that a future reciprocal work experience opportunity can be provided for one or more of the HBCA staff here in Orkney. Successful though it was, this project was never envisaged as an end in itself, rather the start of much greater co-operation between our two ar-chives. By building on the momentum generated by this visit, we can ensure that this is one histori-cal connection that has a very bright future.

The Hudson's Bay Archives, located in down-town Winnipeg, Canada, now forms part of the Provincial Archives of Manitoba.

The vaults

Orkney Surname Quiz

1. You'll find this later inside 2. A drug, a touch to the right 3. Time to go north 4. He took a degree with the French 5. Are confused 6. COOL NUTS 7. Spoil the candle 8. Backward small party has a number 9. Set up in a kind of island 10. Be in stitches with a heavy load 11. Sounds as if he i s a gloomy fellow 12 Join at another time 13. Dog sit next to the queen 14. This is a bit off but it seems as if he wis on 15. Almost the last performance

And here are two not found in Orkney today

Quiz compiled by Mimes Man son

16. The couple are all right 17. Isn't he sweet!

Answers next magazine

Open Meeting Thursday l l 0 1 April 2002 at 7.30 pm

Supper Room Kirkwall Community Centre

Chairperson, Mrs Nan Scott, welcomed the gathering of 54 people to the meeting, espe-cially some new faces and a visitor from Kent, Mr Stan Sutherland as well as Mr James Ir-vine from Surrey who was our guest speaker for the evening.

There were apologies from Mrs Hazel Goar and Mr Malcolm Macrae

Nan had received a letter from Alastair and Anne Cormack in thanks for the gifts we presented to them on their move from Orkney and they wished us successful future meetings.

Honorary President, Brigadier S P Robert-son, had sent a letter of condolence to the family of our late researcher, Mrs Janice Sin-clair, and mentioned her unselfish work with no recompense to herself. The secretary had sent a 'Sympathy' card from the Society. Several messages of condolence have been received from members all over the world and the Society will decide on something in Jani-ce's memory at a later date.

Previously ordered copies of George Es-son's book "For Freedom and Honour" were available - price £8.55 and copies of our flyer were there for anyone who could help to distribute them to places of public interest, hotels etc.

On display was a beautiful tapestry, sewn by a lady in America who is a descendant of Thomas Irvine (bom in Deemess in 1750). The tapestry was designed and stitched in black and white by a family connection of Mrs Kathleen Kirkness and depicts scenes of Kirkwall taken from a tourism brochure Kathleen is donating it to the Society and there are plans to hang it in the new premises when building of the new library is completed.

George Gray then read a list of names he was looking for help in researching

Nan then introduced James Irvine who, although living in Surrey, was no stranger to our meetings and had attended the first meet-ing in Billy Cardno's house to set up the Society in 1997. James is descended from Irvines of Sandwick and started his interest in genealogy in 1963. He has also worked in

Edinburgh. His talk on "Family History Sources in Orkney' was sub-titled 'Life before IGI', a name actually suggested by Janice. He explained in detail how and where to look for information in Orkney and a hand-out was available This talk was on sources actually available in Orkney so James intends to submit an article to the magazine on sources for people who live elsewhere.

Nan then proposed the vote of thanks to James for his talk and also for his encourage-ment and support, and special thanks to our faithful and much appreciated tea hostesses Mags and Annie Rendall.

fyttc**

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

July and all summer -Graveyard recording

September -Papa Stronsay night

October -Eoin Scott will give a talk on 'Heraldry'

November -Annual meal

Can Anyone Help?

The society want to trace the descendants of Marjory/May Seatter who was born at Kings-dale, Firth in 1865 She was the daughter of George Seatter and Margaret Reid In 1871 the family were at Kirkhouse, Westray home of the Reids. Maijory was last sighted in the 1881 census again at Kirkhouse along with siblings George 14, Margaret 13, Daniel 11 and To-mima 3.

The family emigrated to Canada in 1889 apparently without Marjory who would have been 24 at the time. No record of her death or mamage has been found in Scottish registers so far.

If anyone can help please get in touch with the Research Secretary, OFHS, The Strynd Community Room, Kirkwall, KW15 1HG

Tracing the life and ancestry of

George Irvine in Breckness

by James M Irvine

Early in 2000 I learnt from a descendant of a George Irving that her forebear had been press-ganged into the Navy after going into Stromness for a drink, had won a silver medal at the Battle of the Nile, and been taken prisoner by the French, and was a farmer in Breckness She knew the names of his two wives and eight children, but not the dates of his birth, marriages or death, nor any other details of him or his ancestry.

George proved to be a most rewarding choice of subject for research and an essay I was to write for Stirling University's external course on Scottish Family History While adapting this essay in 2001 for his descendants I gleaned further information, not least that George had over 600 descendants! My summary of his life was published in The Orcadian of 11th April 2002. Here J describe how I undertook this research.

A couple of visits to the Public Record Office at Kew threw some light on George's brief but eventful naval career A browse in their excel-lent library revealed that "official" medals for gallantry were not awarded during the 18th century However a Naval War Medal had been issued in 1848 following advertisements pub-lished in the London Gazette inviting those still dive who had served in some 200 naval actions since 1793 to "receive this mark of their Sover-eign's gracious recollection of their services" A manuscript volume listing the applications for this Medal is extant, and I found a "George Irvin" was one often survivors from HMS Lean-der to apply (PRO ADM 171/1).

The original Muster Lists of Leander, large and dirty, showed George Irvine was on her payroll from February 1797 till May 1799, was aged 22 in 1797, and had been born in Strom-ness He had joined Leander as a "volunteer from Supplementary List", with the rating of Able Seaman, implying this was not his first ship. The records in PRO do not facilitate finding previous or subsequent ships, so I was unable to ascertain when he had been "im-pressed", and could only guess this was proba-

bly after the outbreak of war with France in 1793. But I now knew he was born in 1774/5 and was still alive in the late 1840s.

Back in the library I was able to glean details of Leander and her three actions while George was aboard: Nelson's raid on Tenerife in July 1797, at which six of Leander's crew were killed, the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, at which Leander was heavily damaged but had no deaths and only 14 wounded, and a two ship action off Crete later that month when the undermanned Leander, carrying the news of Nelson's victory to his Commander-in-Chief, was forced to surrender after a six hour duel in which 35 of her crew were killed and 57 wounded. Leander was towed to Corfu, whence her crew were sent insufficient provisions At that time combatant nations ex-changed prisoners of war Leander's last Muster Book suggests AB Irvine was exchanged by May 1799, when he was discharged from the ship's books, having earned pay of some £15 8s per annum (ADM 35/974, 36/12544-6).

Routine searches of census returns, IGI print-outs, the "Scots Origins" website, microfilms of Old Parish Registers ("OPR"). And the recently published graveyard data for Stromness were complicated by there being no less than five comtemporary George Irvines in Stromness and Sandwick But a consistent picture emerged of "our" George's two wives and ten children, bap-tised between 1803 (when he was a "sailor in Stromness") and 1848, and one OPR baptism entry even noted George Irvine and Christina Johnston were "in Breckness" He had lived in Outertown, Stromness between 1821 and 1851 -initially at the exposed farm of Breckness near the shore, latterly in Rum Cottage (which the 1882 Ordnance Survey map showed at the cross-roads above Stromness cemetery, and a piece in "Stromness Round About" in the Orcadian of 9th August 2001 revealed had been demolished in 1970!). Christina Johnston's gravestone showed she died in 1842 George's second marriage, to Isabella Robson, came four years later. Evidently George's family were amongst the large part of the Stromness congregation who seceded with their Rev Learmouth after the Disruption of 1843, as it was he who married George's young-est son Charles Clouston (named after Rev Clouston) to Bella Tait in 1848. But I still could find no record of George's, his birth in Stromness in 1774/5, the date of his first marriage, or of his

SforoUtRewa J s s u e t a JiBieSQOS

death, which I had to presume was between 1851 and 1854, when he was aged nearly eighty.

Aware that Breckness farm was part of the Breckness Estate (to which it had given its name), I then checked the yearly rentals of this estate which are extant since 1779 and are owned by the present laird, Major Malcolm Macrae. These showed that half of the lands of Breckness farm were rented to a George Irvine, who was still there in 1785 but was dead by 1786, his heirs/widow paying until 1787, and his son-in-law James Inksetter from 1788 till 1802. William Watt's nephew Dr. James S Watt, ancestor of the Watts of Stromness, was tenant from 1803 to 1808. From 1809 to 1830 the farm was split again, half being occupied by a George Irvine, half by David Marwick, who in 1810 was replaced by George Inksetter. The rentals include details of the rent payable by each - £15 per annum - and the payments actu-ally made.

This was all very interesting, but did not make clear where the tenant of half of lands of Breckness actually lived, whether "our" George was the son of the George who had been tenant there in the early 1780s, and whether he was the same George as the sailor in Stromness.

Searches for George Irvines in the ubiquitous index to Sheriff Court process papers (Orkney Archives SCI 1/5) and the annual Abridgements of the Particular Register of Sasines (National Archives of Scotland RS78/5, copies available on the Orkney Archives Reading Room shelves) showed that "John Hourston, weaver in Strom-ness and George Irvine, Sailor there" had jointly inherited property in the South end of the village of Stromness in 1804, including "half the pier", but George had sold his interest in 1808, the new owner taking possession on 18th May The full 1808 entry in the Register of Sasines (N AS RS43/12) revealed George had built a dwelling house on this ground.

Surprisingly these sources revealed nothing further, but searches for references to George Irvines in the indexes of other records the Breckness Estate, held in Edinburgh as NAS GD217, in Kirkwall as OA D3, and by Major Macrae as "SH", added several interesting fea-tures. I learnt, in chronological order:

- From a statement made to a Teinds Court in 1820 (OA D3/16), "George Irvine in Breck-ness" agreed on 18th May 1808 (noteworthy for being the same day as the property in Stromness

had been sold) to take a 19-year lease from Wil-liam Watt, for the half of the farm of Breckness, to run from Martinmas (November 11th) 1808.

- From the same source, George claimed he had frequent opportunities of being employed in piloting vessels out and into Stromness Harbour and to Long Hope Sound by which [he] made about £50 during the first six years he was in Breckness. [But] since the pease [i.e. 1815] thai employment has entirely failed[,] the resort to Stromness of shipping having decreased so much thai the deponent [witness] did not find it worth his while to devote his time to piloting and to keep a man to assist him in it as formerly. This document thus provided the crucial links showing our "sailor in Stromness" was the same person who moved to Breckness on 18th May 1808, and explained how George had earned his living between leaving the navy and 1820.

- Tenants had no rights to kelp, and most leases included a requirement for their "services" which often took the form of collecting and burning the landlord's kelp for no payment. George's lease of 1808 did not require him to provide such services, but estate accounts (SH 13-15) show "George Irvine in half of Breckness" received credit against his rents for work collecting and burning kelp which he and members of his family undertook on behalf of the laird:

Dele work undertaken Credit

1810 181) 1812

July July July Summer 1814

1815 1818 1819 1820 1828

Summer 1829

\5'A cwt kelp 6 cwt. kelp 6 cwi. kelp 2 cwt. kelp 9 cwt. 2 qtr. kelp 9 cwt. 2 qtr. kelp 25'A cwt 2'/. qtr. kelp '/: cwt. Kelp share, + 2 cwt, burned by his daughters 8 cwt. kelp

£3. £1.

rate/ton (of 24c wt) £5 l i s £4 16s £4 16s £4 16s £6

1 Od 4. Od

£1. 4. Od 8 Od

£2. 7 6d £1. 18. V4d £4 16s £6. 7. lOVid £6

2. 6d £6 £2 8 3d £6

£1. 4. Od £4

Although this work was unpleasant and the hours long, it was completed in less than two months each summer; and with kelp selling at about £10 per ton through this period, the rates per ton for labour show that both laird and tenant could earn significant income, albeit on an irregu-lar basis. From a letter written in 1812 by a Hary Cruik-shank: I am truly sorry to inform you that David Kirkness, Magfnujs Garson, George Marwick and John Spence are all desparatefy wounded, they say, by the family of George Irvine ofBrakness,for

12

attempting to impress one of his servants, your presence will be needful as soon as possible. Kirkness had a com hook stuck in his belly, but Jaffray thinks it will not be mortal (OA D3/358). Evidently George was now old enough to be left alone by the press gangs, but fit enough to defend his interests!

- Estate accounts for the years 1815-1819 show George's rent was offset by £5-£10 for Mr Graham's desire for his daughter's board; and for 1818 by 17s 6d for pointing the roof of the main house. These entries suggest George was indeed then living in the mansion built for Bishop Graham in 1633 1

- To a plea by George in 1820 for a reduction in his rent, Watt replied that as [the Rev ] Mr Clouston the pursuer was at present leading a valuation of the Teinds of the parish it would not look well to make a reduction of the rent at present as it might seem to have been done in purpose to diminish the Teinds but that if Mr Clouston agreed to a valuation of the farm at a lower rent than that Stipulated in the Tack he would make a corresponding deduction to the deponent (OA D3/16) The outcome of the ac-tion is not clear, but subsequent rentals show his plea was unsuccessful.

- With the lease due to expire at Martinmas 1827, on Candlemas (2nd February) that year

George Irvine and William Watt had evidently discussed extending the lease for two years How-ever a surviving letter suggests their recollections of this conversation differed:

Brackness 21stJanry 1828 Wilm Watt Esqr. sir I received yours of the tenth Currt. that you wished to have more rent but I am inclined to think that you have forgot the agreement that we made the last Canlesmas that I was to occupy this half oj Breckness at the usual rent for two years to come, if that is so that you are inclined to deviate from your word of honour it is at our desposall to do as you please for 1 am not able to give any more than the usual rent and lam willing if it be your request to remove at mertimas first.

sir I remain your Obt. Svt George Irvine (OA D3/310).

- The rentals show George remained in Breck-ness in 1828 and 1829, but at the increased rent of £17 10s Od) per annum. The latter entry was annotated "G. Irvine's last crop" (SH 15)

1 Bryce Wilson has questioned the statement in my article in the Orcadian of April 11th that Breckness House remained inhabited until 1891 I had deduced this from the Census returns, but failed to recognise a smalt famhouse nearby built during the 1850a hod taken the same name. It thus appears that the last inhabitant of the old Breckness mansion was probably George Irvine

To be continued.

Life in Four Harray Toonships - from the Census Returns

by Sheila Spence

A study of the Census Returns for the decades between 1841 and 1891 gives a picture of the growth and changes in these toonships during that time. The first census of 1841 was quite a brief survey listing only the names of the hold-ings and their occupants, along with their age, sex, occupation and whether they were born in Orkney or the British Isles Any other birth place was recorded as foreign.

The subsequent censuses of 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 expanded on these details and recorded the acreage of the holdings, number

of scholars and the specific parish or country in which they were born.

The increasing prosperity of the toonship dwellers during the years of the census can be demonstrated by the increasing size of the hold-ings. The increasing acreages were given a boost in 1854 when the Hill Commonty of Harray was divided amongst the landowners. More modem farming methods were being adopted in Orkney in the following decades enabling farmers to take more difficult land into cultivation. By the 1871 census a Farm Manager is listed and by 1891 acreages were no longer recorded but farmers were listed as employers, self employed or em-ployed with even the members of the farmer's household being recorded as 'employed'.

The demise of straw plaiting by the 1861cen

This article war first published in the Orkney Vintage Club's Letter Num-ber 18 in 200J.

Rewstetter of Hie Orkney Family Ifctory Society

sus and the appearance of seamstresses, milli-ners and dressmakers from this time on pointed to a slightly more affluent society. Straw plait-ing seemed to be engaged upon by the younger females - probably because strong supple fin-gers were required for this work - whilst stock-ing knitting seemed to be the occupation of older females

The number of women engaged in farming was also much higher than men and is explained by the fact that Harray has no sea coast and farmers were unable to supplement their living by means of fishing or gathering ebb 'maet' from the shore. In these circumstances many of the young able-bodied men of the toonships signed up for a season at the whaling or on longer spells of duty with the Hudson Bay Com-pany of North America leaving the farm work to be done by the women. It was also said that in the times when it was not customary for women to attend funerals, the women of Harray did so out of necessity.

The parents of children in Harray, in spite of their poverty, seemed to have been anxious to take advantage of anything that couid improve their children's education and the listing of scholars in the census returns bears this out. It could have been thought that the 1872 Education Act, legislating for the setting up of a school in every parish, would have shown an immediate increase in scholar numbers but, in the case of Harray, numbers throughout the census returns were pretty constant although boys outnum-bered girls throughout the decades. The average age of pupils also remained constant, being be-tween the ages of 9 and 10 years, although there were listed scholars as young as 4 years and as old as 17 years. Schools had been established long before the 1872 Education Act and John Firth, writing in the book Harry - Orkney's Inland Parish states that in 1732 a joint school for the pupils of Birsay and Harray had been set up on the 'advice of the Presbytery and at the expense of the heritors'. Prior to that, the Soci-ety in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge had set up a school in Harray in 1712. In the 1854 Commonty Map this school is shown as being located at Madras in Over-brough toonship and did not close until the pupils transferred to the state school in Bimbis-ter toonship in 1874 Other small schools, run by private individuals, existed throughout the toonship long before the 1872 Act

What now remains of these old buildings in the present day? Farming methods continued to improve and the beginning of the 20 century saw many of the earlier dwellings being con-verted in animal housing or demolished and the stone used to build newer, bigger dwellings close by. Most of these are still in use today, but with the provision of generous Government Grants for house improvements during the early 1970s onwards, most were extended with con-crete blocks and the new extensions along with the original stone-built walls were plastered and harled. In the four toonships studied an interest-ing fact is that there are very few new-built houses in new areas. Many of the farms are still with us today, especially those that were within the toonships, but as improved farming methods continue to advance they have continued to increase in size by absorbing much of the land of the smaller holdings and selling off the farm houses to non-farming occupants. Most of the small holdings that stood outwith the toonship dykes disappeared as more of the brecks were taken into cultivation.

As for the inhabitants of the 1941 century, some moved to bigger farms in other parishes or other parts of the country. Many emigrated to Canada, America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and their descendants still commu-nicate and visit their distant cousins living here. Other families are still here perhaps in a differ-ent farm or with a different surname but there are four farms where the present owners are descendants living in the same farms and having the same surnames as those found in the 1841 census.

(The table on page 15 is data taken from the Census Returns for Harray and compiled by Sheila Spence.J

Late News North Ronaldsay and Holm &

Paplay Monumental Inscriptions have now been completed.

Books are available from the Office costing £2.00 and £4.00 respectively to members (£3.00 and £6.00 to non-members).

Wo. at Inhabitants 1 $41-1891 41

236 51

206 61

192 71

153 1 f-n u 170 ~ 5 T 156

No. of Dwellings 1841-1891 34 46 47 40 i 42 42 A v. Acres I W f - l f t f f 10.3 11.3 25.1' 35.4

51 j

Occupations 1841-1891 j 41 51 61 7J| I 81 91!

: M F Ml F M F' M F M t M F Annuitant/Independent Means : 1 1; 1 5 Blacksmith : 1 i 1 1 \ Cartwheel Maker t Dress Maker 2 2 Egg Gatherer j 1 j Evangelist • 1 1 Fanning 21 9 47 25 39 52 33 65| 36 40i 35, 37 Grocer (Refd) 1 Herd 1 2' I Invalid 3! Joiner 1 1 2 1! Labourer 2 "1 1 Mason 3 4 5 1 4: 1 Merchant (ftet*d)/Farmer 1 Milliner 2 T' Pauper 1 1 1 3 1 1 i Pedlar 1j Pensioner (Sea) 1 3 1! 1 1 1 Ploughman 2 PuMc House Keeper " i Quanyman 1 i Safe* (Mer. And Roy. Navy) 2 4; Scholar (incl Servant/Scholars) 25 19' 21 16' 11 1S d 13 9 School Mistress 1:

Seaman's wife 1 Seamstress 2t" t Ship's Carpenter • ii Shoe Maker 2 1 Stocking Knitter 10 3 1 • 8 11 i s Straw Plaiter/Bonnet Maker 26 10! Taitor i; 1 1 Weaver/Farmer 2 1 1; Wool Spinner/Stocking Knitter 1 1

Where Bom 1841-1891 41 51 61 71 ! 81

Australia Birsay 17 Caithness Deemess

r 1 •

12 T5i 14

Eday Edmburgh England Evie Firth ' Foreign Greerwc IT Renfrewshire Harray 162 142 112 KiricwaR Limerick Ireland Moose Factory HudsorTEay 1' " i f - t -

"TIT

New Deer Aberdeenshire Oban A/gyl On Voyage from N. America Orkney 231 RendaR Sandwick

7l "7

Shelds England St Ola Stenness Stromness 10

HewsteJter of the Orkney Family lJteJory Society

ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

Incomes Expenditure for the veer 1/3/2001 -26/2/2002

Income

Current account at 28/2/2001 Petty Cas/i et2B/2/200l Cash in hand 2B/2/2001

Subscriptions - 615 members

7524.36 60.00 20 29 7804.65

6337 23

Donation b BanK interest

Meetings Outings - Stronsay

Meetings - Collections

Sales • Census Booklets Sales - Magazines Sales - Cook Book Photocopying

Lottery Grant

416.92 243 33

386,25 83.65

4171.38 38.00 70.43

169.00

3463.00

Expenditure

Office Costs OIC Lease Electricity

Water charges Insurances

Cleaner's Wages

Adverts Stationery/Office Supplies Magaiines{Pnnting only) Members interest Directory Postages SFN Postages - Other

Meetings Outings • Stronsay

Mall Rentals

Wise Office Equipment - Lottery Office Equipment - Other Subs to other bodies

Current Account at 26/2/2002 Petty Cash (Office) 26/2/2002 Cash on hand at 23/2/2002

350 00 444 27 94.19

25366 26000

1332.65 654.74

3165.30 1468.65

1,402 12

79 72 2,105 91 1,089.72

220 00

1,987.39

451.38 82.85

0380

4,633 95 58.50

10,719 36 60.00 11.14 10,790.50

Totals

Sipned 4 r QperfgeR.

22985.84 Totals

Date Gray - Treasurer

22,985.84

i certify that I have examined the entiles or this form and the related accounts and records of the Orkney Family History Society for the year 1/3/2001 - 28/2/2002 and have obtained such explanations as I considered necessary I am of the opinion that the entries are fairly stated and me expyidftuirtas been property Incurred.

Signed Date Branch Auditor

Ati

f t e v s l e r t e r of tbe O r h n e y F a m i l y I H s f o r y S o c i e t y

AGM Thursday 9th May 2002 at 7.30pm

Supper Room, Kirkwall Community Centre

Chairperson, Mrs Nan Scott, thanked eve-ryone for attending on such a lovely evening welcoming some new faces especially James & Jean Shirer from the Aberdeen and NE Scotland Family History Society.

There were apologies from Alan Clouston, Brigadier S P Robertson and Hazel Goar.

Membership forms, back numbers of SFN and census books were available and names were taken for the Annual Outing. Sugges-tions for the Outing are Kirbister Farm, Bar-ony Mill and/or Harrold Esson's collection followed by a meal at the Smithfield Hotel. Saturday the 22nd June is the proposed date leaving Kirkwall at 3.00pm with a 6.30pm meal. Cost of a bus would be about £120,

Six people had attended a meeting to set up an editorial committee and are hopeful that they will be able to produce the SFN for at least the next year or so. Articles are always welcome as well as queries, letters of some kind etc.

Nan noted that there had been 2 representa-tives from Shetland at the last SAFHS neeting but only 1 allowed from Orkney Jim llling-worth had reported that progress was slow with the Burials' Index and none had been received from Orkney yet. Fourteen maga-zines/journals had entered the competition in January.

MSP Brian Adam, keen to promote geneal-ogy and tourism, had sent a questionnaire before a visit to America and Nan had re-sponded.

Graveyard recording is the usual event in July but getting the work checked is proving slow so it was proposed not to record this time but to check those already done It was also suggested to do this every Thursday in the month. Details of the work needed can be had from the office Some material has been received from the Archives Department but plans of the graveyards still have to be made

Acceptance of the minutes of the AGM 2001 was proposed by Betty Cameron and seconded by Adrianne Leask.

There were no matters arising.

New members on the committee Proposed Seconded

Mrs Adrianne Leask George Gray Frank Eunson Mrs Irene Miller Olaf MooneyDavina Brown Miss Anne Rendall George Gray Bill Irvine Mr Alan Clouston Olaf MooneyFrank Eunson

Treasurer, George Gray, reported that a lot of money had come in from the sale of census books, especially since the 1901 issue. There are 615 members. Over four hundred of those live outwith Orkney. We have members living in Scotland, England, Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand, United States of America and Wales.

All money from the lottery grant hasn't yet been used but there is still difficulty obtaining the hand-scanner. In response to a query from Mr Alistair Tulloch George replied that we do have to detail what the money is needed for when applying.

As chairperson, Nan reported that this had been an eventful year. We were still in shock at the sudden passing of our researcher, Mrs Janice Sinclair, and surprised at Alastair and Anne Cormack's decision to leave Orkney. Gavin Rendall had given up editorship of the magazine after 5 years of work at no cost to the Society. There had been extra work for the volunteers selling as well as making the new 1901 census booklets and for Davina, the post-person who makes up and posts the parcels, and for all the transcribers. Nan asked the audience to applaud them.

Guest speaker for the evening was Mrs Sheila Garson who gave a talk on the island of Shapinsay.

In 1778 Thomas Balfour bought property in Burray. He was interested in improving agri-culture, possibly because he had been out of Orkney a lot and perhaps seen changes else-where, and had the house called Cliffdale built on Shapinsay. This house is now 'lost' inside Balfour Castle Thomas employed men to build more houses which are now Balfour Village, originally Shoreside. After about 10 years he lost interest and started up the Volunteer move-ment, the Defencibles. He died in 1799 aged 47 and his elder son was killed in action a few weeks later so Thomas' 2nd son, William, then became the Laird of Shapinsay.

The Balfours eventually owned all of Shapin-say Thomas' enthusiasm for agricultural im-

Rewaklter of Hie 0rhney Family JJtetory Society

SibFoUtRews Issue 22

provements had led him to appropriate some of the common land on the island but William was a traditionalist and although extending Cliffdale and building El-wick Bank he made few other changes. The population of Shapinsay in 1841 was 935, 116 of those lived in the village and earned their living by the sea. The Village be-came a fishing village. William's father's brother, John, had made a lot of money with the East India Company and William inherited the money but he became ill and his son, David, managed the estate. David had illusions of grandeur He had the Castle built in 1847 with 52 rooms, 365 windows, 12 doors and 7 turrets -a calendar house. Apple trees and greenhouses growing figs, peaches and grapes produced food for the kitchen.. He received permission from the Post Master General to call the island Balfour and the name is still in use. He researched the possibility of producing gas and there is evi-dence of the gas works yet which was demol-ished in the 1920s. A Smiddy (Smithy) was built

in 1850 and the island had a girls' school from 1853 until about 1872 to educate the young ladies in 'womanly skills' A Caithness man, Marcus Calder, was employed as Factor. The land was divided into square fields and subse-quent houses were all built 'square to the plan'. Things were not always as rosy as it would seem. There were disputes and David did evict 60 people but he spent over 40 years improving his estate. He encouraged agricultural shows and held New Year Games every year. By 1952 all the farms were owner occupied.

The Vote of Thanks to Sheila was proposed by Mr Frank Eunson . We had learned some-thing of the history and geography of the island and Frank praised the hard working Shapinsay farmers, not just the Balfour Estate, for winning prizes at the agricultural shows.

The meeting closed with the usual informal discussions over tea and biscuits.

Janel Stevenson lives in Cremorne, NSW, Australia and de-scribes herself as an Irvine descendant.

She sent this report to George Gray on the

24*' of March i

Migration to Australia in 1851 by

Janet Stevenson The information which I received regarding

the sad passing of Mrs Sinclair made me decide to seize the day and write this report for you which 1 promised some months ago. My own illness and the illnesses of some close family members have absorbed my time and time waits for no-one. It is of course the anniversary of the departure of the "Marion" from Plymouth.

So here is my report and I hope that you will find it interesting and informative.

On the 24"' March 1851 the ship "Marion" left Plymouth with 3 50 migrants aboard destined for Adelaide in South Australia. Among the pas-sengers there were 18 from Shapinsay My great grandfather, Thomas Irvine, his wife and their two children, Thomas and Mary, were joined by John Heddle and his wife, Margaret, and their four children, Jane, James, John and Margaret. Mary Irvine and Margaret Heddle were sisters. Also from Shapinsay came John Dinnison and his wife Mary (nee Irvine) We have been trying to establish the relationship between Mary Din-nison and the Irvine sisters. There was also a young unmarried woman named Margaret Work. Again, we have tried to establish a rela-

tionship between Margaret Work and the others as young unmarried women were to have a connection to some of the married passengers. Perhaps somebody reading this in Orkney may be able to throw some light on proving a con-nection between the Dinnisons, Margaret Work and the Irvines.

Only recently we have learned that there were others from Shapinsay who made the journey and they were John and Mary Reid, John Rob-ertson and Alexander and Margaret Williamson and their one-year-old son, James. It is possible that the people who left Shapinsay to journey to Australia were related in some way Information on the people mentioned in this paragraph is scanty at this stage

It is also possible that a family named Bews, David, Anne and their son also named Bews came from St. Andrews in Orkney although the passenger list suggests otherwise, that in fact they came from Renfrewshire.

We have never been able to establish to our own satisfaction why the families left their homes to journey to the other side of the world and take up the challenge of the unknown We have read of some of the conditions of the people in Shapinsay at the time and feel that the clearances were largely responsible, but perhaps there were other reasons?

There was a large contingent on board the "Marion" from Wiltshire, and we have read arti-cles recently about the economic conditions in Wiltshire at the time and how the people were encouraged to migrate to find a better life by Lord Bruce of Savemake Estate at Pewsey in Wiltshire. In fact, there are written records which prove thai this happened. What happened in Shapmsay? Is it possible that a representative of the Colonial Land and Emigration Office visited Shapinsay? I have read a document from that Office which states that the "Marion" had been chartered to convey the emigrants to South Australia, the date of departure being given as about (P March 1851. The Captain was to be George Kissock. Joseph Sanger was the Sur-geon Superintendent and John Bettess at the age of 22 was appointed Schoolmaster. Sarah Tre-wartha, aged 21, was appointed Matron. We wonder also how the group travelled to Ply-mouth from Shapinsay They were required to make their own way and provide certain items before they were allowed to board the ship. This suggests to us that considerable expense would have to be met at the time.

The "Marion" was a large three-masted ship of 919 tons, built in Quebec, Canada in 1850 and was on its maiden voyage under the command of Captain Kissock. The journey was lengthy, last-ing for 128 days, and there were six deaths and nine births during the voyage. The Irvines' youngest child Mary, was one of the six who died. At about 10pm on Tuesday 29th July 1851 the "Marion" struck the outer edge of Tourbridge Shoal and was stranded Long boats were launched and the coast of Yorke Peninsula was only a few miles away, but various boats rescued some of the passengers. One long boat was smashed into a rocky foreshore and, thanks to the bravery of the crew, all were rescued. Eventu-ally 150 people who had remained on the "Mar-ion" as the rudderless ship was foundering were rescued with Captain Kissock who had remained in charge. It was incredible that all survived the stranding of the ship although one lady died when the dray in which she was travelling was upset because of the rocky terrain

Most of the passengers remained in South Australia where they contributed in various ways to the progress of the colony, although some were drawn to the Victorian goldfields in search of gold and stayed in that colony. My great

grandfather did travel to the goldfields and was successful enough to buy land on his return to his wife and child in the Angaston area of South Aus-tralia.

On the 29th July 2001 there was a commemora-tion, the 150fc anniversary of the wrecking of the emigrant ship "Marion", and descendants of the passengers were invited to attend the ceremony at Edithburgh on the Yorke Peninsula. The day was organised by the Edithburgh Museum and Pro-gress Association and the commemoration in-volved the placing of copies of the original passenger list in a glass case in a specially built small building which already houses the anchor of the "Marion" which had been retrieved about 1970. The Progress Association also used the occasion to open officially a new boat ramp. At the end of the ceremony those in attendance were offered the opportunity to board a launch and venture over to where the wreck, or part of it, is still visible.

Because of the interest in the stranding, gener-ated by the commemoration ceremony, John Keynes, one of the Wiltshire descendants, pro-duces a newsletter each month which includes extracts from the diary kept by a young man named Arthur Poole who was from Wiltshire. It was a miracle that the diary survived the adventure of the stranding Other descendants have also made contributions and among their number is an Irvine descendant.

The reason for the length of the journey has been the matter of some conjecture for a long time but some light has been thrown on that by reading the diary entries of young Arthur Poole. It is quite amazing that the passengers eventually reached their destination as he is quite critical of Captain Kissock's handling of his role, although it is inter-esting to note that Captain Kissock complained on August 1* that the charts of the coast are not properly laid out and the reef on which the vessel stranded was not named in them. Also there was no lighthouse. There were no criticisms of Cap-tain Kissock in the press at the time, although it is interesting to note that no gratuity was given the Captain, or his Chief Officer.

If there is anybody who would like to read about the "Marion" the website is www users.on.net/esmarion and it is expected that the monthly updates will continue for as long as people provide the necessary information for the newsletter to be prepared.

- 1 • • • Newsletter of Hie Orkney family IJistory Society

The Orkney Family History Society Membership, Subscriptions, etc.

Membership of the Society runs from 1* March to 28/29 February and subscriptions should be renewed during the month of March. All subscriptions should be sent to the Treasurer at the OFHS address below

New members joining before 1* December will receive back copies of the three magazines for the current year. From the 1° December new members will receive membership for the remainder of the current year plus the following year but will not receive the back copies of the magazine.

The present subscription rates are as follows:

£10.00 1 Ordinary - Adult membership £15 00 2 Family membership - (Spouse/partener & children under 18) £7.00 3 Senior Citizens - ( single or couple) £12.50 4 Overseas - (Surface Mail) £15 00 5 Overseas - (Air Mail)

Overseas members should pay their fees in sterling or its equivalent. If it is not possible to send pounds sterling, please check exchange rate. Our bank will accept overseas cheques without charging commission Receipts will be issued with the next magazine. Members residing in the United Kingdom may pay their subscriptions by Bankers Order and if they wish can have their subscriptions treated as Gift Aid donations. (Forms will be sent on request) Cheques should be made payable to: ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY.

The Society publishes 4 magazines in the year. Members may place queries in the magazine at no charge. Queries should be sent to the Editorial Committee. Back copies of the magazine may be purchsed at £1.00 per copy.

Our office address is: The OFHS, The Strynd, Kirkwall, Orkney. KW15 1HG.

Office opening hours are as follows: April to September Mon to Fri 2 .00pm to 4.30pm

Sat 11.00am to 4.30pm October to March Mon, Wed, Fri 2.00pm to 4.30pm

Sat 11 00am to 4.30pm

Articles in this newsletter are copyright to the Society, and its authors, and may not be reproduced without permission of the Editorial Committee. The Society is a registered charity in Scotland, and a member of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies The Society does not necessarily accept the views expressed in letters and articles published within. The Society's newsletter Sib Folk News is registered with the British Library under the serial number ISSN 1368-3950.

General enquiries should be addressed to the office in writing or to

The General Secretary, Mrs Gillian Mooney, at: olaf.moonev@virgin.net

Specific research enquiries may be sent to Mr George Gray at the Society's office or his e-mail address: georRe.gray@unisonfree.net

This magazine has been compiled by the Editorial Committee consisting of: Nan Scott, Adrianne Leask, Irene Miller, Olaf Mooney, Dave Higgins, Gillian Mooney

Serial Number ISSN 1368-3950.

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