The Scottish Borders are often portrayed as an area of ancient traditions and people strongly wedded to their local communities. And while this is essentially still true, it belies the fact that in Victorian times , the migration of people into the mill towns of Hawick, Galashiels and Selkirk was every bit as dramatic as […]
Andrew’s Blog
Transcending the mundane
Family history is something which I find fascinating but with the best will in the world can’t be said normally to be of life changing importance to others. Sometimes though, the result of your genealogical activities transcend the mundane and take on an altogether higher order of importance when families are brought together for the […]
Who Do You Want in Your Past ?
Have you ever watched an episode of the phenomenally successful BBC show Who Do You Think You Are ? and wonder why these celebrities appear to have such interesting origins ? Perhaps you’ve thought to yourself if only my own ancestral background was half as interesting ? Who Do You Think You Are ? has […]
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Top Ten Kelso Surnames of 1780
For anyone interested in the history of Kelso and its people we are very fortunate to have a unique set of records dating from the later 18th century. The Kelso Dispensary was set up in 1777 by local landowner, the Honourable Mrs Baillie of Jerviswood as a charitable hospital and surgery for everyone in Kelso […]
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The joy of researching the Border reiver families
What are the chances of being able to research ordinary Scottish ancestors from the 16th century ? Normally, the answer has to be next to none. If you weren’t nobility or titled then almost certainly no records will survive to even hint at your existence. Its too early for almost all surviving church records , […]
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Bondagers in Berwickshire and Roxburghshire
One of the fascinating things about looking at old censuses is the glimpse that you get into a world which has entirely disappeared. Return to around 1860 and large numbers of rural women and girls were working as bondagers in a system peculiar to the Eastern Borders and Northumberland. A married ploughman (known as a […]
Dr Guthrie’s Schools, Edinburgh
One of the great joys of researching family history on behalf of others is when you encounter archives previously unknown to you in the pursuit of your quest. I’ve discovered via health board records that my client’s grandmother was resident in a Dr Guthrie’s school in the 1930’s. I previously had not encountered this name […]