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…
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…
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…
