Borders Family History Society

Church of Ireland Gazette Archive 1856 - 1923

2018-01-04T21:06:00.001+00:00

The Protestant Church of Ireland’s newspaper, the Church of Ireland Gazette started life as a monthly magazine, named The Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, became a weekly in 1880 and changed its name to The Church of Ireland Gazette in 1900 and is still in publication.

The Church of Ireland's record repository, the Representative Church Body Library has the only complete hard-copy run of this newspaper and has digitised all editions for the 70-year period between 1856 and the end of 1923 and it’s available in their archive.

You don’t need to have Church of Ireland ancestors or even Irish ancestors to find the Gazette useful as the paper carried pieces about major national and international issues as well as appointments, retirements and general articles.

Search the archive.

An Eyemouth Maritime Family Story

2017-05-10T20:34:00.000+01:00

The last meeting of our 2016-17 season is on Sunday 28th May at the Corn Exchange, Melrose, 2.30pm when the talk will be preceded by the Society AGM.

Please come along to find out what we have been doing and also about our plans.

Will Collin will present an illustrated talk on "William Collin and the ‘Christina Craig’ - An Eyemouth Maritime Family Story from the Great War".

2018 marks the 100^th anniversary of the loss of the Christina Craig, one of many Eyemouth fishing boats and crews which were signed up by the Admiralty to serve in the World War I Auxiliary patrol. Many photographs remain in the Collin family and are included in the talk.

Welcome to 2017 – the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology

2017-01-06T19:38:00.001+00:00

At Borders FHS, we are looking forward to 2017 - to help with your family history, to build up your family tree and add to the Births, Marriages, Deaths & Census information you already have.

The Monumental Inscriptions team are busy photographing and recording throughout the Borders. Final checks of the transcriptions are being done at Chirnside while several other burial places have been photographed and transcribed and the MI’s available for use in our Research Room will be increasing throughout the year.

Indexing of both the Poor Law and the Police & Criminal records continue using the digitised images of the records held by the Scottish Borders Archive.

We have over 15,000 individual arrest records already and have completed the indexing of the recruitment records for Policemen in the Borders Counties. Our home-based volunteers are working away on Roxburghshire, Hawick and Berwickshire arrest records and these are providing fascinating insights into local and social history such as the building of the Borders railway in the 1860’s, the movement of seasonal workers from Ireland and the regiments stationed at Stobs Camp before WWI.

Research for the Stobs Project, looking at the camp during the years of WWI, is both interesting and challenging. Our Stobs research team are researching both the POW’s and the soldiers stationed there. Find more news about the project at http://www.stobscamp.org/

Over the last year, our library has been improved by many donations of books - biographies, family histories, local & social histories.

And we are looking forward to a bigger, brighter research room. We will be opening on Tues 10^th Jan after our New Year break and will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of February. In March, we will be open on Fridays again. Please come along and meet our research team

And we have some fascinating talks lined up – all of the talks are in the Corn Exchange in Melrose and start at 2.30pm

Feb 26 – From Abbey St Bathans to Otago – the story of a forgotten Borderer

Mar 26 - Transcribing ScotlandsPlaces

Apr 30 - Farm Servants of South-East Scotland, 1750-1914

May 28 - The Deid’s Letterwills and Legacies - Lifting the Veil on Past Lives

Look out for news about the 2017 Borders Heritage Festival (They’re on facebook and Twitter @BHeritageFest and are planning their own website as well). Over the last few years, the festival has spread over the whole of the Borders and this year will have much more to see and do. And you can follow us on facebook and twitter too.

New Publication - Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland

2016-11-27T13:26:00.000+00:00

Oxford University Press have published the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, the culmination of a recent research project (Family Names of the United Kingdom) into 45,600 surnames in Britain and Ireland.

The team researched records from sources dating from the 11th to the 19th century to identify new and sometimes detailed explanations for surnames, even those held by as few as 100 people.

The 4 volume set is published at £400 but some public libraries may get it as part of their online Oxford University Press Reference subscription.

Until the end of November, you can use it online for free, using

Username: fanbi

Password: onlineaccess

Search the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council have awarded the team a grant to continue the project so that another 15,000 surnames with as few as 20 current bearers can be researched.

Time-Travel in Peebles, Tomorrow (3 September)

2016-09-02T13:15:00.001+01:00

This Saturday, Tweeddale University of the Third Age are organising a history event ‘Travel in Time in Tweeddale’ which will be held at the Leckie Memorial Bakehouse (behind the Leckie Memorial Church - see map at foot of page), Eastgate, Peebles from 10.30 am to 4 pm.

Their day starts off with a walk round Peebles with Gerard Bakker, looking at some of the interesting houses built as a result of the coming of the railway. At the event there will be displays on travel themes, three talks about the railway, drovers and the impact of transport changes in Victorian Peebles, two film shows, and a walk along the drove road out of Peebles. They’ll have a colouring corner for children, too.

The event is free and I’m looking forward eagerly to the day.

Borders Family History Society will be there with a range of mainly Peeblesshire publications including Innerleithen Shops, Innerleithen Monumental (Gravestone) Inscriptions, Snippets & Photos About Old Innerleithen. Come and meet Davina, John and Peter and ask us for help with your family history.

Programme:
9.30am-11am Walk: A stroll round Peebles with Gerard Bakker, looking at some of the interesting houses built as a result of the coming of the railway

10.30am Exhibition opens with displays and objects on the theme of:

Horse and carriage
Highways and byways
Impact of the Railway
Borders Family History Society
Children’s colouring corner and “memory lane”

11am – noon Talk   Ron Glendinning shares his memories – and great photographs of being bought up on Peebles railway, in conversation with Ronald Ireland.

Noon – 1pm Walk   Discover with Stuart Akers where visitors to Peebles by rail and road recovered from their journeys.

Noon – 1pm   Films   A series of short films about transport in Tweeddale, by Brian Whitnell, featuring local people, and exploring working horses and the people who look after them - then and now.

1.15pm – 2pm Talk   Mud, mayhem and merriment: Three Victorian Peebles’ residents talk about the changes brought about by the momentous developments in transport in 1864– not all of them desirable!

2.15pm – 3.15pm Talk    Who were Scotland’s own “cowboys”? Drovers passed through Peebles on the long journey south across the hills. Was it the ‘wild west’ out there? Where can you find their paths? Ronnie Watt tells their amazing story.

3.15pm – 5pm Walk    Take to the hills with Francis Mordaunt and Ronnie Watt - in the footsteps of the Drovers.

3.15pm – 4pm    Films   A series of short films about transport in Tweeddale, by Brian Whitnell, featuring local people, and exploring working horses and the people who look after them - then and now.

4pm    Exhibition closes

Outside the hall

See horseshoes made and Ross Philips, a farrier, at work
Get up close to a Vintage Tractor
Go back in time with the Tweeddale Travel Timeline

Was there a Red Cross Volunteer in Your Family ?

2016-05-12T23:24:00.001+01:00

The Red Cross have now made their World War I collection of records partly available with an index of World War I volunteers.

At the outbreak of war in 1914, the Red Cross formed a Joint War Committee with the Order of St John, raised funds, organised volunteers and paid staff to provide equipment and services in the UK and the theatres of war. Everyone was trained in first aid, some trained in nursing, cookery, hygiene and sanitation.

Most of the women became nurses, initially in hospitals in Britain, but as the casualties mounted, more were sent overseas to casualty stations on or near the battlefield or to hospitals. Many people offered their houses as convalescent homes for the wounded or as auxiliary hospitals; some town halls and primary schools were used too.

There were over 3,000 auxiliary hospitals across the UK. They were staffed by a commandant, a quartermaster, a matron, a cook and nurses. Local GPs often volunteered for work in the hospitals in addition to their ordinary work. The nurses were all volunteers, often they were too young or old or had family commitments to serve full-time. Male volunteers usually drove or accompanied the ill or wounded to and from hospitals, many acted as stretcher-bearers, a lot were sent to France as ambulance drivers, some being wounded in enemy action.

Volunteers also collected clothing and books for soldiers in hospitals, raised funds, made bandages and splints, acted as cooks, store-keepers, worked in the offices and just as importantly, provided food and cigarettes to soldiers arriving by ambulance train. One of my great-aunts married a soldier she met on such duty.

A lot of people were displaced by the war, in 1915, volunteers started visiting hospitals looking for people who had been recorded as missing; work that the Red Cross is still involved in. By the end of the war in 1918, 90,000 volunteers had worked in the UK or abroad. There were lots of famous volunteers including Agatha Christie and Vera Brittain, perhaps some of your family were volunteers.

To find out, use the index of World War I Red Cross volunteers..

You can search by forename, surname, location or hospital or role. The initial search takes you to a search results page that shows name, county, date of engagement, age when engaged. Clicking on the name takes you to a detailed page about that person.

The information provided comes from record cards and may include name, address, age, character, service dates, hospital, rank, pay, duties, commission, honours awarded. Pictures of the cards are also included. Annoyingly, first names weren’t always recorded, some just gave initials.

Free DNA Tests for Men Named Riddell

2016-03-17T13:03:00.001+00:00

A lady in New Zealand named Gail Riddell and an apparently unrelated Jim Riddell in America are joint administrators for the Riddell/Riddle/Ridley/Ruddell DNA project with an American based firm called FamilyTree DNA. .

Gail's family were mostly from the Roxburghshire area but were also in Berwickshire and Lanarkshire (not to mention all through the Lothian area), depending on the lands they purchased/versus where their money was "made". Jim's forebears were from Lanarkshire in the late 16th Century and are thought to have left at the time of the Covenanters.

Gail wrote "I have many men from New Zealand, Australia, USA, one from South Africa and a few from UK who have been excited by what they have learned as a result of testing their Y-Chromosome. They have worked hard in order to raise sufficient funds for me to be able to offer totally free, a number of Y-37 tests for any man living in Northumberland, the Scottish Borders, Yorkshire or lowland Scotland who has this surname and who has a family tree of his paternal ancestry back to around 1800 or earlier.

The bottom line is to extend and "prove" our genealogy in a way that paper trails have been unable. By that, I mean if we go back into history, especially the 1600s (as an example) and look at the deaths, followed by pestilence, followed by famines and we soon begin to realise that not everyone who bears a particular surname is actually of that stock. I say this because many young women with wee ones to feed were made widows and frequently joined up with a "protector" who thus gave his name to those
wee ones.

For those who are anxious about DNA testing - the medical genes are not considered in the test that I am offering as a "freebie". The test itself needs just two separate cheek swabs. "

If you're a Riddle (whatever the spelling), and you've got a family tree on the paternal side back to 1800, and you would be willing to take the test, please contact Gail at the email address below.

If you would like to know more about DNA, see www.familytreedna.com.

If you want help building your family tree come to our archive at 52 Overhaugh St, Galashiels, TD1 1DP. We're open every Monday from 6pm to 8pm, and every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10am to 4pm.

Berwick Journal and General Advertiser on British Newspaper Archive

2015-12-17T10:56:00.001+00:00

The British Newspaper Archive has just announced a new newspaper in their archive.

It's the Illustrated Berwick Journal also known as the Berwick Journal and General Advertiser.

The first issue was published in 1855. The archive's first issue seems to be Saturday 16 June 1855 and their most recent, Friday 29 December 1871.

There are plenty of stories about the Scottish Borders in the Berwick Journal, even though Berwick is in England.

There's also a special offer:
"For a great Christmas gift idea, we're still offering 20% off our 12 month gift subscription. Just click and use the code VIXEN. Make sure the "It's a gift" box is ticked. Hurry - offer expires on 24th December.", however the newspaper's also available on FindMyPast.

Search the World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force Database

2015-12-10T22:34:00.000+00:00

Do you have family members who went to Canada before World War I ?

Library and Archives Canada have created a new database of records of the World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Initially, Canada offered 25,000 soldiers for service overseas but that grew during the war to 619,636, of whom, 424,589 served in Europe.

Volunteers were questioned at the place of enlistment to complete the two-sided Attestation papers which included the recruit's name and address, next-of-kin, date and place of birth, occupation, previous military service, and distinguishing physical characteristics, and their signature.

Conscripted men completed a far simpler one-sided form which included their name, date of recruitment, and compliance with requirements for registration. Officers completed a one-sided form called the Officers' Declaration Paper.

Search the World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force database.

Hawick’s German Prisoners - Stobs Internment Camp in Global Context, 1914-1919

2015-12-10T21:41:00.001+00:00

During World War I, Stobs military training ground near Hawick was used as a mass internment camp for 4,500 prisoners; German civilian ‘enemy aliens’ who had settled in Britain before 1914 and were considered potential spies, civilian passengers and sailors from captured enemy ships, and military prisoners-of-war captured in Europe or at sea.

Although the majority of internees were German, there were some Austrians and some Turks.

There’s a free conference next summer about the Stobs camp, an opportunity to hear experts who have researched Stobs as well as camps in England, the Isle of Man, Ireland and others around the world, to see camp artefacts and perhaps to identify them, and visit the site with the Council’s archaeology officer, Dr Christopher Bowles.

If you have family members that worked at Stobs, or you’re descended from someone who was interned in one of the camps, I think you’ll find this conference especially interesting. Dr Bowles would also like to hear from anyone that has memorabilia relating to the camp.

Provisional programme.

The conference is on 18th and 19th June 2016 at Hawick. If you would like to attend, I suggest you register now at archives@scotborders.gov.uk

How to use Berlin Directories before 1925

2015-11-01T12:25:00.001+00:00

There's a very interesting article on the Worldwide Genealogy blog about Berlin directories.

I've failed to find people in the directory but now I realise I wasn't looking in the right place !

You need to read the whole article about Berlin directories but here's an excerpt:

"the Berlin directory sorts by surname and then occupation and then first name .... (mostly abbreviated),.... then by men, women ....
and Fräuleins."

What's worse is that the directories like almost everything I've seen before World War II is printed in the Gothic German font making it difficult for foreigners to read and also a very small type face.

Talk at Melrose on 25 October - 'The pre-1855 Parish Registers of the Roman Catholic Church' cancelled

2015-10-24T10:46:00.001+01:00

Unfortunately, tomorrows speaker Donna Maguire will not be able to present her talk on The pre-1855 Parish Registers of the Roman Catholic Church'. We will still be there, at the Corn Exchange and Ormiston Institute, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 9PN from 2.30pm with other talks, still to be confirmed and to help with your family history queries.

Find us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/BordersFHS
Follow us on twitter @BordersFHS

Next Talk at Melrose on 25 October - 'The pre-1855 Parish Registers of the Roman Catholic Church'

2015-10-18T23:58:00.002+01:00

Our next talk is this Sunday, 25 October when Donna Maguire, archivist and records manager to the Bishops Conference of Scotland, is coming to speak to us.

The title of her talk is ‘The pre-1855 Parish Registers of the Roman Catholic Church'. The talk takes place at the Corn Exchange and Ormiston Institute, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 9PN. Map.

I’m eagerly looking forward to this talk. Donna is going to tell us about the Catholic registers for parishes that were founded before 1855, the six Scottish dioceses and the records of the Bishops Conference of Scotland and its agencies.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.

Doors open at 2pm; the talk begins at 2.30pm.

Knowing how to find Catholic records is vital in family history, even if you think you have no Catholics in your family, you may be wrong, as I was.

I suggest you come early to get a good seat.
We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk.
If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it with one of our volunteers.

A Hume family in South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay

2015-05-22T11:18:00.000+01:00

The British Library's Endangered Archives Blog has an article about a new online collection.

This Hume family arrived in Argentina in the late 19th century and founded the engineering firm ‘Hume Brothers’ in 1880; their main work building roads, quarries, bridges, railways, stations, factories not just in Argentina but in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, too.

Disappointingly, the blog doesn't mention the founders names, dates of birth or birthplace.

Some Humes are mentioned in the folders, including Albert Stewart Hume, 1873- c1965, Mariana Hume, 1928-, Diana Hume, 1930-, Anne Elizabeth Hume, 1925-.

66 Squadron's sad account of Sidney Stewart Hume, born in Buenos Aires on 1 September 1885, mentions that his father was Alexander Hume, who was a partner in Hume Brothers.

See the Index to the Hume Family Collection.

Berwick Films to be Shown at Bygone Borderlands

2015-04-30T23:37:00.001+01:00

The Berwick films being shown on 2 and 3 May (see the Bygone Borderlands talks programme) are:

Berwick Horse Procession and May Fair, 1911.
Berwick Infirmary Cup and May Fair 1929
Visit of the Coldstream Guards to Berwick on their Tercentenary, 1950
Fred Stott’s amateur cine taken in the 1950s (including the Queens Visit in 1956)

Jail Your Kids and Uncover Berwick's Horrible History at Bygone Borderlands, Berwick-upon-Tweed, This Weekend

2015-04-30T01:50:00.001+01:00

Naughty kids ?
Take them to Berwick Jail this weekend and

Uncover the mystery of the Scottish spies.
Make a puppet of a historic Berwick character.
Find out about Tudor (1485 to 1603) Berwick.

All this and more (mainly for children) upstairs in Berwick Jail (accessed from Berwick Guildhall).

It's part of the popular annual Bygone Borderlands event at Berwick Guildhall and it's this weekend; from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 2 May and Sunday, 3 May.

Would you have liked to have been a medieval knight ?
If you dare, boys (and girls), try on the replica armour at Berwick Museum and Art Gallery at the Barracks.
See more of Berwick's Horrible History in the exhibition.
It's open from 11am to 4pm on Saturday 2 May; Sunday 3 May and Monday 4 May.

Find Your Family History at Bygone Borderlands, Berwick-upon-Tweed, This Weekend

2015-04-29T22:30:00.002+01:00

It's almost here, the event that we've all been waiting for.

The popular annual Bygone Borderlands event at Berwick Guildhall is this weekend; from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 2 May and Sunday, 3 May.

Pose your family history question to us or Northumberland and Durham Family History Society.

Discuss those local history puzzles with Ayton Local History Society; Belford Museum Group; Border Archaeological Society; Bowsden History Group; Chirnside History Group; Coldstream History Society; Eyemouth Museum; Flodden 1513; Friends of Berwick & District Museum and Archives; Glendale Local History Society; Lowick Heritage Group; Northumberland and Durham Family History Group; Old Parish of Bamburgh Group ; Till Valley Archaeological Society (Tillvas).

There's a downloadable programme of talks - 4 each day, starting at noon.
Saturday, 2 May

Sunday, 3 May

Have you a Wicked Criminal in Your Family ?

2015-04-20T00:34:00.002+01:00

Our next talk is on Sunday, 26th April when Margaret Fox will talk about "Crimes of an Heinous Nature - Looking at some High Court Trials" and it's being held at the Corn Exchange & Ormiston Institute in Market Square, Melrose. Map.

Margaret will be looking into the darker side of life across the Scottish Borders during the 18th and 19th centuries, examining not only crimes which have long passed into oblivion but also those which are still making the headlines today. Drawing on her extensive research in the High Court of Justiciary case papers in the National Records of Scotland, her talk will range from the political to the domestic, and from the violent to the less so, showing how these records serve to illustrate changes in society and illuminate the past in a unique way.
She will also dip into Lord Cockburn’s ‘Circuit Journeys’ which gives a truly fascinating insight into 19th century crime and criminals from the perspective of a judge who was not afraid to speak his mind !

Her previous talks about the Kirk and its records, and about Traquair House were well attended so come early to get a decent seat.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not. Doors open at 2pm; the talk begins at 2.30pm.
We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk.
If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it with one of our volunteers.

Robert Balmer - One of Berwick's Most Esteemed Ministers

2015-04-07T11:30:00.001+01:00

Family Search lists Robert Balmer's birth on 22nd November 1787 and christening, 8 days later, at Eckford, Roxburghshire, Scotland.

According to his Academical lectures and pulpit discourses which includes a memoir of his life, his father was Thomas Balmer and his mother, Margaret Biggar and they lived at Ormiston Mains.

Thomas was probably a farmer; he had been offered a farm by the Duke of Buccleuch but he preferred to be a land-steward, first at Ormiston and later at Crailinghall. He was a member of the congregation at Morebattle, connected with the General Associate (Antiburgher) Synod.

Margaret was a granddaughter of the James Biggar mentioned in the autobiography of the venerable Boston of Ettrick. She adhered to the congregation at Jedburgh, connected with the Associate (Burgher) Synod. Family Search lists Thomas Balmer and Margaret Biggar's marriage on 6th January 1786.

They had 2 other sons, Walter (probably born 30 January 1790; later emigrated to USA) and James (probably born 14th March 1794) and a daughter, Helen, (probably born 22nd April 1796). The memoir doesn’t mention Stephen (christened 19th October 1788 in the same place as the others) or Nelly (christened 5th August 1792 at Hobkirk).

At the age of 9, Robert went to a school at Crailing Mill, taught by Richard Scott, later one of the elders of Golden Square congregation, Berwick. Thomas died about a year later and Mrs Balmer opened a shop at Eckford-moss. Robert moved to Eckford parish school and attended Morebattle parish school to learn Latin.

At age 14, he went to Kelso Grammar School, stating during the week with his aunt at Maxwellheugh.
He went to Edinburgh University at the beginning of the session 1802-3.
In the autumn of the year 1806, after undergoing an examination by the Associate Presbytery of Selkirk, he was admitted to the study of Divinity under the Rev. Dr George Lawson, supporting himself by teaching.

He was licensed to preach the Gospel on 4th August 1812. He was offered posts by congregations in Lochwinnoch, Leslie, Ecclefechan, and Berwick, and in autumn 1813 picked Berwick (perhaps because his mother and his brother, James, lived in Berwick).

He said in a letter to a friend “My ordination took place on Wednesday, the 23rd of last month (March 1814). The person who preached first, and who ordained (presided at the ordination), was Mr Lee of Horndean, a most intimate acquaintance, and one of the best men, I believe, in the Burgher Synod. A friend and relation not less dear, Mr Paterson of Alnwick, preached after him. Mr Peddie from Edinburgh was present, and introduced me on the following Sabbath.”
He was clearly prized by his Berwick congregation; the Caledonian Mercury reported:
“on 13th July 1819, an elegant silver cup and ….. a beautiful set of table plate, value 50 guineas (£52.50) were presented by the principal members of the Burgher Associate Congregation of Berwick, ….. at the Red Lion Inn, as a token of the high esteem they entertain for him.”

On 18th July 1826, Robert married Jane Scott, daughter of Alexander Scott of Aberdeen. One of Jane’s sisters was a landlady in Slateford, Edinburgh, her brother, John wrote ‘Visits to Paris’.
No children are mentioned in the memoir.

In 1833, he was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology to the United Secession Church.

Robert’s mother, Margaret Biggar, died in 1839.

In 1840, the University of St Andrews conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor in Divinity. He preached in many places including London, Glasgow and Edinburgh and was an active participant in the controversy that, ultimately, led to the disruption of the churches.

He died on the morning of Monday, July 1, 1844 after several weeks with a severe and painful illness and was buried on 9th July. His death was reported in many newspapers in England and Scotland. Apart from a volume of sermons in 1819, he published little during his lifetime, except in newspapers.

There's a photograph of an imposing column and its inscription in Holy Trinity churchyard, Berwick, on the Find A Grave website.

Are you related to one of Robert Balmer's brothers or sisters ?

Problems with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal Ancestors ? Try Easter Family History Surgeries at Berwick-upon-Tweed

2015-04-02T20:04:00.000+01:00

This weekend is the start of the Berwick 900 Festival that celebrates 900 years of Berwick’s history. The theme of the Easter weekend, 3rd to 6th April is “Our Christian Story” that celebrates Christian institutions, religious life and a few of the great Christian leaders in the town.

At St Andrews Church, Wallace Green, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1ED as well as the “Moments in Time” Flower Festival, inspired by the church’s history, there will be display panels about Robert Balmer, an inspirational minister at Golden Square, Dr John Cairns and Berwick’s well known physician, Philip MacLagan, a church elder.

Although all these men were born in Scotland and at times lived elsewhere, they all had strong links with Berwick.

Like them, John Hamilton Hall, a freeman, was born in Coldstream, moved to Berwick as a child where his father was a doctor, left the town to fight in India, returned when he retired from the army, aged 40, got married and then moved to Edinburgh.

Did your family move into or out of Berwick ?
Why did they do that ?
If your family is associated with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal, the Berwick 900 Our Families Project would love to hear your family stories.

Tweet them @Berwick900 or contact Linda Bankier at berwickarchives@woodhorn.org.uk .

Normally you need to visit Berwick Record Office to consult the transcripts of church registers of baptisms, marriages and burials for Berwick and Tweedmouth. However, over the Easter weekend, you can look at some of the registers in the churches where the events took place – Berwick Parish, St Andrews and Berwick Roman Catholic churches and Tweedmouth Parish Church.

Look on the Berwick 900 website for opening times.

Are you wondering how to start your family history ?
Perhaps you’ve started researching your family but have hit a brick wall.
If you need some help, go along to the Family History surgeries in St Andrews Church from 12 to 2pm each day from Good Friday to Easter Monday and speak to experienced genealogists.

Come to a talk about John Hamilton Hall (1799-1865) at Kelso on 29 March

2015-03-22T19:32:00.001+00:00

Part of the research I did for Berwick 900 last year was about a Coldstream lad, John Hamilton Hall, born in 1799, whose father was not only a general physician but also a Freeman of the Berwick-upon-Tweed Guild.

Seeing his name and occupation in the Guild records led me on an interesting and puzzling hunt for information about his family, his career as an officer in the East India Company’s Bombay Infantry.

On Sunday, 29^th March, at the Abbey Row Community Centre, The Knowes, Kelso, TD5 7BJ, I’ll be talking about his life and career, however, just as importantly, I’ll be discussing how I researched him, some of the problems I found and the difficulties in reading and understanding the records. Map.

The talk has been widely advertised, including in Berwick, due to local Berwick interest, so come early to get a good seat.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not. Doors open at 2pm; the talk begins at 2.30pm.

We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk. If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it with one of our volunteers.

What's Buried in the Garden at Coldingham Priory ?

2015-03-16T19:45:00.001+00:00

Duncan Hale of Durham University will be talking about findings from a recent geophysical survey in the Glebe field (the ground around Coldingham Priory), Coldingham, at Coldingham Village Hall, on Friday, 20th March at 7.30pm. The event is free and tea/coffee will be available.

Beggars, Thieves and Whores - Talk on Sunday 22 February at Melrose

2015-02-16T23:08:00.001+00:00

She has told us about witches and the Black Death in the Borders.

Now she’s talking about beggars, thieves and whores.

Mary Craig’s style is very lively and entertaining and Mary is going to talk about the lives and deaths of these, the ultimate medieval outsiders in the rural Scottish Borders of the 13th and 14th century.

How did they survive in a highly class-structured and religious society ?

What happened to them when living conditions worsened ?

That talk is this Sunday, 22 February at the Corn Exchange and Ormiston Institute, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 9PN. Map.

I’m expecting this to be a very interesting talk and very popular; so come early to get a good seat. I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.

Doors open at 2pm; the talk begins at 2.30pm.

We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk.

If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it with one of our volunteers.

Speakers at meetings occasionally need to be changed at the last minute, due to circumstances beyond our control.

A Quite Remarkable Man - the Life of Patrick Brydone and His Family (1736-1818)

2015-02-05T22:28:00.004+00:00

This is a review of A Quite Remarkable Man - the Life of Patrick Brydone and His Family (1736-1818)’ by John Evans. Hardback. 384 pp. Published by Amberley Publishing, Gloucestershire, England at £20 (now £18). ISBN 978 1 4456 3890 4.

Patrick Brydone was born at Coldingham on 5 January 1736 to Rev Robert Brydone and Elizabeth Dysart, married Mary Robertson on 4 April 1785 and died 19 June 1818.

Sir Walter Scott described him as our pilgrim and as "My venerable friend".

He experimented with electric shock therapy on willing patients; as an army officer, he saw action in France, Portugal and Spain during the Seven Years' War; a tutor in Europe to William Beckford, owner of a large Jamaican sugar estate; author of A Tour through Sicily and Malta - 6,750 copies sold in under 4 years; visited France, Switzerland, Bavaria, Prussia and several other German territories, Austria, Italy, Malta, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Russia and became comptroller-general of the London Stamp Office.

He was obviously a scientist, explorer and a diplomat, so he clearly was a remarkable man.

There's lots of interesting detail about Italy and Russia but rather less about other countries. Everywhere he seems to have met important people, however there are also anecdotes about peasants and more mundane events. I was interested to learn that miners at a copper and silver mine in Spania Dolina (now in Slovakia) in April 1776 received 12 kreuzers (about 2½p) for an 8 hour day.

His daughter, Mary, married the Hon. Gilbert Elliot, eldest son of the first Baron Minto, the other 2 daughters married an admiral and a minister. There's some bits about life in the Scottish Borders and other parts of Scotland. The notes to the book have more detail, there's a bibliography, and an index, mainly of people.

It took me a long time to read this book because, at 384 pages, it is a very long book and rather an academic book. Unlike most academic tomes, it is thoroughly interesting, lots of anecdotes about the celebrities of the day, pastiches about life in all the countries he visited, and helped me to understand events in Britain and Europe during the 17th century. There are lots of illustrations, too.

Today, we're quite used to people going off on holiday all over the world but that wasn't common except for the wealthy in the 18th century. Patrick Brydone not only visited more than 15 countries by travelling thousands of miles in horse-drawn carriages but found time to shape government policy and write about some of his travels.

As I hope the above shows, this book is well worth reading and if I had to find a criticism, it is that I would have liked a sort of "dramatis personae" so that I be reminded at a glance who somebody was when I encountered the name later on in the book. Not only was this book very interesting but it's inspired me to read Brydone's book 'A Tour through Sicily and Malta' which I've discovered is free on the web.

Last Freight Train to Kelso - Information Wanted

2015-01-28T23:17:00.000+00:00

Some years ago, I gave a talk to Borders Family History Society about the Waverley Route.

My interest in Border railways hasn't diminished and I've watched original photographs of locations sell for jaw-dropping prices on an internet auction site. Sadly, these historic shots seem to disappear into a black hole never to appear again.

Recently, there was a negative of Kelso station. The description said it was part of a collection; I suspected that in the normal course of events the usual bidders would win and the collection disappear.

I contacted the vendor and after some to-ing and fro-ing of emails, agreed on a price and I went to pick up the collection. After blethering for a while, he told me to take away a sports bag containing not just the negatives but some 25 reels of ciné film. For all the world, the 'collection' has the hallmarks of a house clearance.

It was, and still is, my intention to make sure that the railway negatives will be available to view once they are scanned and locations identified properly; some 70 of them are easily identified as taken around Kelso station.

I have no facility to watch 8mm ciné, however a friend produced a viewer which was hand-powered. One of the films was, intriguingly, labelled, 'St Boswells – Kelso – Tweedmouth' - a prime candidate for watching. Part of the way through the film were shots of the last freight train to Kelso in 1968. I had had permission to travel on it, and there, on the flickering ciné was a glimpse of me!

Although it was almost 50 years ago, I can recall quite clearly a gent waiting the arrival of the last freight. He had a couple of cameras and I think, perhaps, he was wearing a brown warehousecoat. On speaking to him, he said that he worked at the foundry.

From the locations, many taken between Kelso and Sprouston, and from the subjects of the negatives, I would hazard a guess that he lived and probably worked not far from the station.

However, not only is there 8mm ciné but also 9.5mm ciné. I have only looked at the white lead-in for clues; there are obviously several reels of Kelso and one of a foundry. I would guess a date around late 1960s. I'm hesitant at watching the other reels as I could damage the ciné.

One of the reel containers has “D W K C C” on it could this be DWK and Ciné Club ?

Can you suggest a name for a pretty prolific ciné enthusiast from Kelso and who possibly worked at the foundry? I'd like to make contact with any family members.

By Bruce McCartney

Just to clarify matters, the picture shown above was taken by Bruce and appears here with his permission.

Responses below, please, or via our Contacts page (choosing Contact the Chairman).