Just been updating my wee list of master mariners from North Walls and Brims. You may know this occupation better by the term sea captain. They were in charge of ships in the commercial fleet rather than the Royal Navy, some sailing around the world, others in coastal waters only. You can find the Walls | more…
Blog category: Orkney, page 27
Alexander Moncrieff, schoolmaster, and the Houton estate
Moncrieff is one of the more unusual surnames in my family tree. Unusual for Orkney that is. The name links to Houton, formerly a small estate in the parish of Orphir, Orkney. Map (name spelled Houston) Moncrieff origins I’d never investigated where the Moncrieffs came from but last year I had a client whose ancestry | more…
Rescue of the Ben Barvas, 3 January 1964
On 3 January 1964 the Longhope Lifeboat went to the rescue of the Aberdeen trawler, Ben Barvas. The trawler had gone ashore on Little Skerry, Pentland Skerries, in heavy seas. It was impossible for the lifeboat to go alongside so nine crewmen were rescued by surf or breeches buoy. The trawler Ben Screel rescued the | more…
