Maxwell Ancestry is on Flickr

We have started a Flickr account! The first photos to be added are the Hobkirk Kirkyard photos we took the other day. Over time we will be uploading the local photos collection already on our website with new additions.

At the moment we have not transcribed the gravestones. If you have a few minutes to spare and you can add a transcription in the comments box below the picture, I will come along and add your transcription to the description and add search tags so that everybody else can find and benefit from your transcription.

We are setting the copyright on our gravestone photos as attribution - creative commons, so whether you are a fellow professional or you find a a stone relating to your own family, feel free to use the image, just mention where you found it.

Add us as a contact and you’ll see when we add any new photos.

Come and see us: www.flickr.com/photos/maxwellancestry

Margaret Gow, died 1848 aged 33 years

I’m sorting through the photos from this morning (before I forget the order). Here’s another well preserved gravestone from Hobkirk Kirkyard.

In Memory of

Margaret Gow, wife of Walter Taylor, Farmer, Howahill,

Who died at Greenriver, 4th. November

1848, aged 33 years.

Also the above

Walter Taylor, Farmer, Howahill,

who died 9th January 1884 aged 74 years.

Also Isabella Taylor their daughter

died 13th October 1884 aged 46 years.

Also John Taylor their son

died 15th January 1885 aged 48 years

Also Thomas Taylor, their son

died 29th Sept. 1894 Aged 49 years.

www.maxwellancestry.com

Hidden under a yew tree

Found this stone hidden under a yew tree in Hobkirk Kirkyard. It’s been sheltered from the wind and rain.

In

Memory of

Margaret Jessie Kinsley

Only daughter of Jos. Kinsley

Causewayfoot, who died

October 30th 1869

Aged 3 months

Matt. XIX.14

Hobkirk Kirkyard photos

I had an enjoyable day out in the Scottish countryside today. It was a very cold but very sunny day. As traditionally gravestones face east I made a fairly early start to ensure I could catch the morning sun hitting the front of the stones.

I was looking for a particular stone, which I found quickly, but as I was there on such a beautiful day I decided to photograph all the gravestones in the older part of Hobkirk Kirkyard. An example is shown below, but someday we will try to make them all available online. In the meantime if you are looking for a particular grave e-mail me and I’ll see if I can find it for you.

In Memory Of

James Binnie Oliver son of

George Oliver Shepherd in Gatehous-

ecott who does at Carolcroft

June 21st 1853 Aged 20 years

Also

George Oliver who dies at Burnfoot Sept. 12

1878 Aged 76 Years.

Also

Elspeth Murray wife of George Oliver

who died at Gatehousecott, March 13th, 1862,

aged 62 years.

Also Robert Barnes their son in law

who died at Hawthornside 18th July 1894.

Aged 57 years

Also Elizabeth Oliver his wife who died

at Kinninghall 17th Aug. 1917, aged 86 years.

A Midnight Adventure

Whilst researching in the National Library of Scotland today I came across this interesting tale:

A Midnight Adventure – A lady and a gentleman were disturbed in their slumbers one night last week by the very unpleasant noise of a slight move under the bed. The lady expressed alarm, but her somewhat sleepy caro sposo said, “Oh it is only one of the dogs,” and, putting his hand down by the side of the bed, his hand being licked, after a moment the pair were satisfied and they soon slumbered again peacefully. In the morning, however, they found that all their money and jewellery had disappeared, and it was clear that the lick had been the dernier ressort of an ingenious biped concealed under the bed – Court Journal.

Source: in the Montrose Standard and Angus And Mearns register, August 26^th 1864, Page 3

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

Make good use of the NAS catalogue

The National Archives of Scotland, which has recently merged with the General Register Office for Scotland to form the National Records of Scotland (NRS), holds some wonderful material; most of which is not accessible online. What is accessible online is their catalogue. It is vital to serious genealogy that we make use of this catalogue and the interesting records it relates to.

Graham and I are publishing some of the most useful and interesting records that we have found. We are starting with parish records of births, marriages and deaths that are not in the OPR’s for various reasons, but this is the tip of the iceberg.

We are in Edinburgh regularly and are familiar with all sorts of different types of records found in the NRS. Deeds, wills, court records, sasines (land records), valuation rolls, prison registers, church records and company records to name but a few.

If you search the catalogue and find an interesting document that you would like searched for your ancestors (or a client’s ancestors) email me for a free no obligation quote. The NRS can supply copies but do not conduct lengthy research, we can and we have the expertise to carry it out.

If you want a job done quickly you may have to pay a little more but if you’re happy to wait until I have a full days work a typical search based on a reference found in the online catalogue costs just twenty five pounds including copies.

Email me at info@maxwellancestry.com for more information.