Many of my direct ancestors had hard lives with deaths at sea, loss of children at a young age, poverty and hardship, but their stories and their lives are known. Is the greatest misfortune perhaps to be unremembered? My father knew the names of all his grandfather’s brothers and sisters, married names, where they lived, | 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…
This week’s topic for the 52 ancestors challenge is strong woman. There’s quite a lot of choice among my ancestors but I’ve picked Auntie Violet, actually my grand aunt, sister of my grandmother Jessie. Unlike all the ancestors I’ve written about so far, I knew her and this blog includes my recollections as well as | more…
