You're making great progress. You've added new ancestors to your family tree. But everything grinds to a halt. You can't find that elusive connection. Scotland's People comes back with no results, no matter how many different ways you spell names or widen dates. The Ancestry website is no better. Hints there are only hints, not…
Robert Ballantyne, (1837-1902), is my 3x great grandfather. He eventually settled in Ayrshire having been born in Ross-shire, Scotland. Like his father, he was a shepherd. He married, and had a family. His brother Andrew's story is quite different! Family history research relies heavily on census information or birth, marriage and death certificates. There is…
There were several people who were willing to testify against Andrew. They all declared that he had stolen the little brown mare. This mare belonged to the Mcrae family from Bottacks of Auchterneed. The Mcraes were a crofting family. The 1841 census shows that Margaret was much older than Andrew. He was nineteen at the…
Andrew was eventually relocated from Millbank to the new prison of Pentonville, opened in 1840. Prisoners were initially kept in isolation in cells measuring 4m x 2m wide. Each cell had a water closet, but these were often blocked. Prisoners used the pipes connecting their cells to communicate with each other. It cost 15/- a…
Do you have a hobby that makes people laugh? Like many people who research their ancestors, I enjoy wandering around graveyards. That always gets a giggle from people. I love reading old gravestones with partially obscured lettering. There's always more to find than names and dates. Many stones tell their own stories of children lost…
People have often left Scotland for economic and political reasons. They have sailed to destinations across the globe. Many Scots sailed to the coast of Australia, with the hope of a better life. Scots had been making the long and dangerous voyage to Australia from 1787. Eleven convict ships known as the First Fleet arrived at…
Scottish agricultural changed dramatically in the second half of the nineteenth century. There was a move away from the runrig system with land being enclosed. Farming techniques were improved as the demand for produce increased from urban towns and cities. Many cottars and farmers in the lowlands of Scotland were displaced during this period. People…
What if you could travel back in time to meet a person from the past? Who would you choose? Robert Burns? Marie Antoinette? Florence Nightingale? There is so much written and recorded about these people. It is fairly easy to learn about their lives. What if you wanted to meet one of the millions of…
Discovering My Family 