A Hawick Man's Brush with History

Winnie and Bob at home in Hawick

All of our ancestors played a part in history. No matter what they did, where they lived or who else remembers them we want to find out more about them, and the mark they made on their community or the wider world. Sometimes, though, there are certain discoveries that make you stop dead in your tracks.

This happened to me a few days ago. I was researching the Grieve family of Branxholm Braes, near Hawick. If you follow us on Flickr or Facebook you will have seen a lot of photos, postcards and even letters which belonged to this family. I have been going through the family archive and in the process I have come across three identical postcards (see front below) sent by Robert Grieve to his young wife Winnie in 1908. We’ll have to presume that the hotel only had one postcard on offer, either that or our Bob wasn’t very imaginative!

Celerina

These precious postcards are dated January and February 1908 and posted from Celerina (Schlarigna) in Switzerland. Bob writes about curling matches in which he had taken part. On a postcard dated 15 February 1908, he writes ‘We have had a great victory to-day’. This made me curious, what competition was going on?

I headed to the British Newspaper Archive to search their large collection of newspapers. It didn’t take long to locate a reference to the championship. I found in an article in the Dundee Courier of 6 February 1908 (page 3) that our very own R. Grieve was playing in the International Bonspiel. 

There were several other results so I continued my search. Again an article in the Dundee Courier caught my eye, this time it was dated 4 February 1908 (page 6). Entitled ‘Scottish Curlers in Switzerland, Bonspiel at Celerina, Opening Day’s Play’, it begins:

“The great International bonspiel commenced this morning at ten o’clock. His Imperial Highness the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir-apparent to the Austrian throne, threw the first stone amidst the enthusiastic cheering of the curlers. The ice was in excellent condition.”

Another search revealed an article from the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer dated 4 February 1908 (page 8):

“The fourth annual international curling bonspiel commenced on the Cresta rink here to-day. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, who is staying the the same hotel with the curlers, consented to throw the first stone, which he did with great accuracy and speed amid cheers from Scotchmen and Engandiners (sic).”

Today of course we are all too familiar with who the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was and the influence his death would have on the world.  Did ‘our’ Bob see him, did he meet him? We may never know, but this simple research shows that by reading family letters and postcards carefully and comparing these to other sources, such as the newspaper, you can build up a far more exciting picture of your family tree. 

He didn’t win by the way!

The End of an Era

The National Health Service (NHS) was implemented across the UK in 1948. The new NHS brought to an end the charitable Kelso Dispensary which had been established as far back as 1777.

The Kelso Dispensary

In the records of this charitable institution there is a final report by the directors which I found interesting (NRS reference HH71/6). Here are some excerpts:

The

Kelso Dispensary and Cottage Hospital

“REPORT by the Directors to the Forty-first Annual Meeting of the Members to be held on Wednesday, 25th August, 1948, in the Town Hall, Kelso, at 3 p.m.

WITH the coming into operation of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act on the appointed day, 5th July, 1948, the Duties of the Directors as regards the administration of the actual Hospital ceased. The provisions of the Act as affecting the Hospital are, very briefly, that the Hospital Buildings and Equipment are transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland, and the other assets comprising Invested Funds, Cash, etc., as ascertained at 4th July, are to be transferred to the newly-formed Border Hospital Group Board of Management, which body is responsible for the management of the Hospital from and after the appointed day…”

“The directors feel that as their last Act of Administration it is their duty to place before the subscribers and the general public this Report, including audited Accounts for the period from 15th May, 1947, to 5th July, 1948.

It is fitting to record that the Hospital and the Kelso Dispensary, whose functions were taken over by the Hospital in 1908, have given an uninterrupted record of service to the public since 3rd October, 1777. The Dispensary was the first of its type in Scotland, and served as a prototype for many similar Institutions in both Scotland and England.

One of the purposes of the Dispensary, a continuance of which was one of the conditions upon the Dispensary Funds we made over to the Hospital, was the provision of an Outdoor Nursing Service. The provision of this service is, since the passing of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, wholly the responsibility of the Local Government, which in the case of Kelso, is Roxburgh County Council.”

I am working on an index to the patient registers, beginning in 1777 and working forward in time. Year One is available as a free PDF and the first complete volume will be published shortly from www.maxwellancestry.com. To register an interest please email me and I’ll notify you when Volume One is ready for sale: info@maxwellancestry.com

Sale on at Maxwell Ancestry

It’s getting cold outside! The nights are fair drawing in. Time to curl up with your laptop or iPad and get back to your family tree, perhaps work on some of those brick walls.

To help you we are having a sale! I know, I know, we are just too good to you.

As an introductory offer we are reducing the cost of our new paternity case transcriptions from £10 to just £5! We are also offering a discount on multiple orders. If you want 4 cases we will charge just £15 for all 4! Where can you get a better deal than that?

How to order

If you are ordering 1-3 just order as normal through the website, the reduced cost will be shown in the PayPal shopping cart.

If you want to take advantage of our multiple purchase discount price email me directly and I will send you a combined PayPal invoice for the special rate.

Search on-line today 

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Maxwell Ancestry, a member of the Scottish Genealogy Network

Records of Scottish Quakers 1669-1867

Update - December 2014
You can now search Quaker births and marriages on our new website www.scottishindexes.com


I was in the National Records of Scotland (formerly the National Archives of Scotland) yesterday and consulted a lot of interesting records. One register I consulted (which I haven’t had the need to consult before) was Records of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Digest of births, marriages and burials, Scotland 1669-1867. (NAS reference CH10/1/64).

The volume is a digest of birth, marriages and deaths from the various record books around Scotland. Whilst I didn’t find what I was searching for, it may contain what you are looking for! The books is a transcription of records dating back to 1669 and continues to 1867. A bonus I discovered yesterday is that it is alphabetical; making it much quicker to search.

Here’s an entry that caught my eye:

Book: 17

Page: 123

Name: Wood, George

Date of Death: 14^th of January 1762

Age: [Blank]

Residence and Description: Ednam. Weaver and Bleacher

Date of Burial: 16^th of January 1762

Place of Burial: Kelso

N.M. for Not Members: [Blank]

Monthly or other Meeting Record: Kelso Mo Mg

So if you can’t find a birth, marriage or death in Scotland have you considered the possibility your family were Quakers? If you would like it searched e-mail me and I’ll see what I can do: info@maxwellancestry.com

www.maxwellancestry.com

Sir John Pringle

One of the reasons I have been so slow to produce the first volume of the Kelso Dispensary records is that I keep getting distracted. The diseases are so interesting, not to mention the people in the registers and my constant amazement that so many ordinary people were given treatment.

Today I have been looking at Sir John Pringle who is one of the “Recommenders”, a quick Google search revealed that there is actually a monument to Sir John Pringle in Westminster Abbey!

By the time the dispensary opened its doors Sir John was about 70, but that doesn’t seem to have held him back.

So you never know perhaps you are alive today because the dispensary saved your GGGGgrandfather!