Harrowing with oxen in Longhope, Orkney

The photo below shows my father’s cousin Sandy Barnett harrowing with oxen at the Lythes, Longhope, Orkney, Scotland (parish of Walls). Alexander Barnett (1907-1941), to give him his full name, was probably in his late teens or twenties at the time. That means the photo would have been taken in the 1920s or 1930s when  |  more…

Father and three sons lost at sea?

My father grew up next door to his paternal grandfather John Ross; consequently he knew a good deal about his grand-uncles and grand-aunts, siblings of that grandfather. My father would recount how the oldest brother, Walter, and his three sons were all lost at sea. Apart from Walter himself the details were rather sparse and,  |  more…

Mapping birthplaces

I’ve been experimenting with the MapChart website to produce maps showing the birth county of people in North Walls and Brims in two censuses, 1861 and 1921. What do you think? And here’s 1921, a much smaller population, 401 rather than 597, but a wider spread of birthplaces partly due to the Naval base at  |  more…

Two weddings and two births – part 2

To recap, I’ve been searching my database for people who were born, married or died on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day in North Walls and Brims, my one-place study. Since I wrote part 1 I’ve discovered another birth on 1 January, not for the wedding couple this time, hence the change of title. You  |  more…

Two weddings and a birth – part 1

I’ve been searching my database for people who were born, married or died on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day in North Walls and Brims, my one-place study, with some success. A double hit even, for John Wilson appeared twice in my search, born on New Year’s Day and married on Christmas Day, more than  |  more…