Sir Walter Scott

I was in Edinburgh the other day looking at Selkirkshire Sheriff Court papers. Obviously it could be a bit of a blow if you discover your ancestor committed a terrible crime, however, in Selkirkshire it could be softened by the fact that Sir Walter Scott could have signed some of the papers!

Graham is working on indexing the Selkirk Prison registers now, so if you see they were tried at the Sheriff Court it would be worth looking at the trial papers, you never know what you might find!

Family History Links page updated

I have just updated our family history links page. Take a look you never know you may find something really useful.

www.maxwellancestry.com

The Tormaukin Hotel Glendevon

We have been on holiday in Dollar for the last few days and found a great wee pub and restaurant, the Tormaukin Hotel. The reason why I am writing about them in my blog is because they have on display their guest books going back to the 1930’s. It’s a really fantastic idea and as some addresses are included it could be a great source of information on our grandparents or even parents!!

The thing is though there must be a great multitude of guest books in hotels up and down the country and although they wouldn’t give genealogical information they could be quiet interesting and you never know could reaveal a lot about a family depending who was with them on holiday.

I am uploading a photo of the book and I would definitely recommend a visit to the Tormaukin Hotel if you are in the area.

Are you available on the 28th of August?

I have just been reading the Border’s Family history society’s blog. They are looking for volunteers to help transcribe the Coldingham Priory gravestones and the next opportunity is Saturday the 28^th of August 2010.

The work being done by groups up and down the country is really commendable, many of the stones are wearing away and the sooner they are transcribed the less information is lost: See the Aberdeen Family History Societies website.

So if you will be in Berwickshire this weekend take a look at the Borders Family History Society’s blog for detail of how to help out. It doesn’t have to be a whole day just an hour or two will assist the volunteers greatly.

The Kelso Dispensary

I was looking at the records of the Kelso Dispensary (held by the National Archives of Scotland) the other day. These are fascinating records and an amazing number of people seem to have gone through their doors. The Kelso Dispensary was founded in 1777 and people from all over the Scottish Borders and Northumberland were treated there and for quite a surprising number of different diseases. There are a number of records remaining; the most interesting being the admission registers. The earliest of these (commencing in 1777) gives the name, parish, date of admission, age, disease and “event” of their cases. As time goes on more details are recorded, and a page per person allowed for more details, having said that as with many records they exact details vary from person to person. The “event” of their cases column generally tells us whether a person was cured, relieved or died, as these are pre-1855 this could be another source of death records when other records do not exist.

Accounts books also survive which could give an insight into an ancestor’s financial circumstances, however most of the funds seem to have come from a few wealthy patrons and not the individual patients.

I’m not sure whether these will be records we will transcribe or index at the moment, however we can easily look at them on an individual basis if you are interested.

Research in Edinburgh  

New book - Applegarth Parish Register

Applegarth (Dumfriesshire) Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1694-1719 - £8.99

  

This book contains baptisms, marriages and burials which are to be found in the Kirk Session records of Applegarth Parish, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. These records are held by the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The entries in the register are taken from two Kirk Session volumes: Volume 1 contains baptisms and marriages from 1694-1703; as well as four death entries from 1697-1702, and four baptism entries from 1763. Volume 2 contains baptisms from 1703-1719; marriages from 1703-1712; and a few mortcloth records from 1704-1715, as well as nine baptism entries from 1765-1766 and a marriage from 1763.

These entries are not to be found in the Old Parish Registers of Applegarth parish kept by the General Register Office (Scotland) at New Register House in Edinburgh, which does not commence until 1749, and it is believed they have not been transcribed or indexed before.

Buy Applegarth Parish Records - £8.99

Greenlaw Prison Index, Volume 2 1848-1862 - £9.99

This index contains details of the crime the prisoner was accused or convicted of. The index also contains the birthplace, residence, occupation and approximate birth year of prisoners, enabling you to identify individuals in the much more detailed original records held at the National Archives of Scotland, for which we can provide full transcriptions/copies for a small fee. The Greenlaw Prison Index, Volume 2 is available for £9.99, with our usual bulk discounts and postage rates for publications applying.

Buy Greenlaw Prison Vol. 2 Index

Chirnside Burials 1817-1854 - £8.99

This book contains a transcription of the registers of deaths or burials for Chirnside parish, Berwickshire which are to be found amongst the Kirk Session records for Chirnside parish held by the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The main register, Volume 7, commences in January 1817, and the last burial entry in this volume is from August 1841. Another burial register is contained in Volume 8, which commences in August 1841, and we have transcribed until the year 1855, when civil registration of deaths commenced in Scotland.

These entries are not to be found in the Old Parish Registers of Chirnside parish kept by the General Register Office (Scotland) at New Register House in Edinburgh (the burials for Chirnside in the Old Parish Register end in 1815), and it is believed they have not been transcribed or indexed before.

Buy Chirnside Burials 1817-1854 - £8.99

New Monumental Inscriptions for Duns, Berwickshire

Just to let you know the Borders family history society have published another MI CD. This one has photos of the gravestones too! They have quite a number of interesting publications and seem to have released quite a number of new titles this year so it’s worth keeping up-to-date with their website.

www.bordersfhs.org.uk

1841 and 1861 Fala and Soutra census now online

Just to let you know we have uploaded the 1841 and 1861 census of Fala and Soutra to www.maxwellancestry.com. We have also added notes and household links. We have been sent research by various people which we try to verify and as soon as possible.

The website is still under review and we have received some great feedback but if you have not been in touch yet but have some suggestions please let us know as we want to make it as easy as possible to use.