(Adapted from post in the Society for One-Place Studies April A-Z 2020) Gamekeeper was a very uncommon occupation in North Walls and Brims, my one-place study area. The role there would have been very different from the Highland estates for at least two major reasons: there are no deer and no salmon rivers in Orkney. | more…
Helen McCaulay Ritch. That name stands out among my ancestors; it has a nice ring to it. Helen was a great-great-grandmother on my father’s side, wife of Ralph Nicolson. She was born in Rackwick, Hoy, Orkney on 10 March 1815, the second known daughter of Thomas Ritch and Ann Mckay. I came across Helen fairly | more…
Hugh Ross. I only needed to mention that name and my father would say something along the lines of: “He was colour blind so he never passed out higher than bosun.” Hugh (1849-1927) was his great uncle, an older brother of his grandfather, John, both children of Upper Seatter, North Walls, Orkney. Documentary evidence With | more…
