North Walls and Brims are in the island of Hoy, Orkney, with Scapa Flow on the east and the Pentland Firth to the south and west. Follow this link for a map.

They are part of the parish of Walls and Flotta, which also includes South Walls, linked to North Walls and Brims by the Ayre, and four other islands.  People sometimes refer to North and South Walls as Longhope though it is really the large bay which separates the two.

You may have heard of: Lyness, a key naval base in two World Wars; Melsetter House, formerly the home of the local laird; the Longhope Lifeboat whose crew were tragically lost on a rescue in 1969.

People and places

I’ve written a few blogs about people and places in North Walls and Brims. You’ll find them all here. A closer look at who lived in North Walls and Brims in the 1861 census

Why this site?

It all started with a project I did as part of my postgraduate genealogy course at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Knowing our ancestors’ dates is one thing, finding out about their lives and the communities in which they lived puts flesh on those bones and puts them in their context. At the start I wanted to know how typical my ancestors were of the people in their area. My late father came from Crockness, North Walls and he had a deep love for and knowledge of the place so it’s also a tribute to him. It’s an ongoing project, like most of genealogy, so do bookmark this page.  If you are interested in South Walls particularly, some of the information here will be relevant or I can do research for you.

Check my links to other sites relevant to families from Walls and Brims.