Military is the theme for #52ancestors challenge this week. As I’ve already written about my mother’s uncle Victor who died in World War 1, I’m turning my attention to my father’s uncle this time. Wilson Nicholson (1896-1986) He was born on 26 October 1896, at Afrigate, Brims, in the island of Hoy, Orkney. As the | more…
Storms are a fairly common occurrence in Orkney where the majority of my known ancestors lived their lives. I have a newspaper cutting from the mid 1960s with the headline “Five weeks of gales without let up”. Storm is not used so much: “gey windy”, “blowan a gale” or “right coorse” would be more common | more…
Ralph Nicholson (c1816-1898), my great great grandfather, had a narrow escape from drowning in 1860. Here’s the story. Brims is an area in the parish of Walls, Orkney, part of the island of Hoy. This map shows Brims and the North Bay. The loss of a boat load of peats, fuel for the winter, would | more…
