The year was - 1898

Since I am doing some research about my grandfather, John Wilson Hall, I thought I would take a look at the year of his birth - 1898. My grandfather was the second of six siblings, all of whom were born at the Schoolhouse, Drymen, Stirlingshire. His father John, was the schoolmaster and local registrar.

This photograph from my grandfather's WWI personal book shows his 4 sisters. Surprisingly there was no photograph of his parents or his brother. (Maybe they got separated since the pages are loose.)

Other family births in 1898 were few i.e. James McGeachie McEwan (brother-in-law of JWH) and Frances S. Hall (1st. cousin to JWH) and so far I have no deaths.

World Events
Royal Army Medical Corps formed within the British Army
Henry Lindfield - first fatality in a car accident on a public motorway.
Spanish-American War
First official game reserve established - Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa
First Italian Football League games played
Joshua Slocum completes a 3 year solo circumnavigation of the world
Pepsi-Cola given it's name
Marie & Pierre Curie announce discovery of radium
meat slicer invented by Wilhelm van Berkel
Will Kellog invents corn flakes
Klondike Gold Rush
Neon, Krypton and Xenon discovered

Some famous births
Alvar Aalto - Finnish architect
Dorothy Gish - actress
Golda Meir - PM of Israel
Norman Vincent Peale - minister
Henry Moore - sculptor
Peggy Guggenheim - art collector
George Gershwin - composer

Some famous deaths
Lewis Carroll - British writer
Charles Pelham Villiers - longest serving MP in British House of Commons
Aubrey Beardlesy - artist
Gustave Moreau - artist
William Gladstone - British PM
Otto von Bismarck - German statesman
Wilford Woodruff - 4th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I have almost finished the first proof of grandpa's WWI POW memories. There's a few areas I would love to know more about but info "out there" is somewhat slim. My grandfather also wrote about a memorial visit the British Legion made to Europe so maybe I might find some information in there on my next trip to Scotland. (We did not have time to scan/copy all of that story.)

The Year Was -1837

Janet Anton - great granddaughter of Frances Pierre/Pirie (mentioned in my The Year Was - 1745 posting),  was born in the first year of the lengthy reign of Queen Victoria. The Anton family were members of the United Association Congregation of Lochee. For a while her parents were "keepers of orphans" though by profession her father's was a stone quarrier. Janet was known as Jessie and grew up in Backmuir of Liff, near Dundee. After she married William Colville, she spent most of her life living at 1 Fords Lane just off Perth Road in Dundee.
Dundee is famous for it's jute industry which became a major employer of workers from the 1830's. None of "my" Antons were employed in this industry and only one spouse of Jessie's siblings was. Dundee's population exploded from 4,135 in 1831 to 55,338 in 1841. My Anton parents/siblings/spouses were Quarriers, Guardian of children, Lodging House Keeper, Farmer, Baker, Master Draper/Tailor, Factory Overseer, Confectioner, Grocer & Spirit Dealer (William Colville), and Gardener.
Jessie had 4 older siblings - William, Margaret, Isabella and Susan and 1 younger sibling, Agnes. Her father was originally from Perthshire and after marrying her mother in Blairgowrie in 1828, they lived in Auchterhouse till about 1835. Backmuir of Liff is just a few miles south of Auchterhouse.

Watercolor painting of Queen Victoria by Alfred Edward Chalon.

Events
Sir Robert Peele installed as Lord Rector of Glasgow University
Buckingham Palace becomes the official royal residence
Pigot & Co's "National Commercial Directory for the Whole of Scotland and the Isle of Man" is published.
Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths begins in England and Wales.
Construction starts on Marischol College, Aberdeen University
Duncombe's Uprising - Ontario
Patriots Rebellion - Lower Canada
The Panic of 1837 - America
Samuel Morse patents the telegraph
William Crompton patents the silk power loom
Galilee earthquake
SmallPox epidemic - Great Plains
Flu epidemic

Some famous births
William Allan - Scottish Engineer and poet
John Thomson - Photographer
James Augustus Henry Murray - creator of the Oxford Dictionary
Mrs. Amanda Smith - missionary
William Harkness - astronomer
Ivan Kramskoy - artist
Robert Henry Elliot - farmer and originator of organic gardening

Some famous deaths
William IV - King of Britain
John Constable - artist
David Prentice - Founder of the Glasgow Chronicle
Francois Fabre - French artist/printmaker
Samuel Wesley - musician
John Field - musician
Robert Nicoll - poet

The Year Was - 1745

Scotland was in a wee bit of an upheaval in 1745. Bonnie Prince Charlie had arrived to lay claim to the throne and the Jacobite Rising started. My ancestor Frances Pierre (or Pirie) arrived into the world during all of this tumult through Scotland and much of England.  I wonder if the Pirie family were pro or anti Charles?
The family lived in Newtyle Parish, a few miles north of Dundee, and had done so for many a year. Dundee itself, was heavily garrisoned by the Jacobites in late October of 1745.
Eventually the Pirie family moved to Dundee by way of Lundie, Auchterhouse, Backmuir and Liff .
This is one of my families that spelled their surname in a variety of ways, even amongst the siblings e.g. Pourie, Pierry, Pierre, Pyrie, Piery, Perry, and Pirie. The surname, seemingly, is of early medieval English origin and means "someone who owned or lived near a pear tree." Somewhere I also have information that the name originated in France.

I wish I could say I know lots about Frances, but I don't and I only know little bits about the straight line family I am descended from until it gets to my great great grandparents generation :)

Some other events
"God Save The King" sung for the first time in public.
Jacobite Rising which led to the Disarming Act of 1746 that prohibited the wearing of the kilt and the playing of bagpipes (till 1782).
Court of Session Act, Scotland
Highland Peasant Uprising
Jacques Duval performs first cataract surgery, France
Cattle plague - Gloucestershire
Battle of Prestonpans
First recorded ladies cricket match takes place near Guilford, Surrey
Skirmish of Clifton Moor (last land battle on English soil)
Treaty of Dresden
1st Carillon Bells in America shipped to Boston from England
Yoshimune Tokugausa - shogun of Japan resigns
Battle of Fontenoy
Schonbrunn Palace chapel is concecrated


Some famous births
Henry James Pye - poet
Johan Peter Frank - Entomologist and physician

Some famous deaths
Robert Walpole - first PM of Britain
Tomass Antonio Vitali - violinist and composer
Jonathan Swift - writer

We are about half way through our trip to Scotland. Even with the funky weather we have managed to get about a bit and enjoyed seeing lots of historical sites. Tomorrow we are planning on going back to Glasgow to visit Kelvinside. Hopefully this time round we won't get caught in any type of weather that cancelled all trains last week (we got 'home' on a bus).
So it appears that Scottish regional libraries are none too happy that they are not being given copies of the new 1911 census records. It has the potential to make it somewhat inconvenient for those people visiting, or living in, very specific areas if they do not have access on-line to ScotlandsPeople or physically to Edinburgh. I for one, did a huge amount of research at Stirling Cental Library the last few times I visited.

The Year Was - 1687

I have one uncle and occasionaly I do research on his family. One of his lines is the Gatherum family from Fife, which has a goodly number of people researching them. Janet Morgan married John Gatherum. Her grandfather was John Auchterlonie who was born 29 January 1687 in Ceres, Fife.

Auchterlonie is an unusual surname, and Othirlonay in Forfar is credited with being the geographical origin of the name. A variation of the name was first recorded in the early 13th century - 1226 John de Othirlony - "Land Charters of Forfar." Lonie is the more common modern version of the surname.

Census records
1841 - 22
1851 - 86
1861 - 104
1871 - 135
1881 - 189
1891 - 272
1901 - 304
1911 - 261

Births 1855-2009 = 907
marriages 1855-2009 = 317
deaths 1855-2009 = 823
OPR's births & christening 1538-1854 = 207
OPR's banns & marriages 1538-1854 = 139
OPR's death & burials 1538-1854 = 83
Catholic births & baptisms 1703-1992 = 2
wills & testaments 1513-1901 = 30

The village of Ceres is not far from where I was born and is currently home to The Fife Folk Museum. The men of the village were involved in the Battle of Bannockburn (1314). The village itself was built some time in the 12th century and was built round a village green (which was a rarity in Scotland).

Some world events
The Sedan Chair is introduced as public "for hire"in Edinburgh.
Scottish Declaration of Toleration (The Declaration of Liberty of Conscience)  - Moderate Presbyterians allowed to worship in private homes, Quakers allowed to worship anywhere and Catholics allowed to hold public office.
The St. Andrew Jewel made for James VII and II. It was completed in 1688.
Isaac Newton publishes "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica"
First South African vineyards established
The Parthenon in Athens is severely damaged by mortar attack. Gunpowder was being stored in the building.

Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is founded "wha daur meddle wi me'"
Guillame Amontons invents a hygrometer
Tulleys Almanac first publication

Famous births
Robert Simson - Scottish mathematician
William Stukeley - one of the founders of modern archaeology

Famous deaths
Jean-Baptiste Lully - composer
George Villiers - 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry More - English philosopher
Geminiano Montanari - astronomer
Nell Gwynn - mistress to Charles II
William Petty - scientist
Constantijn Huygens

The Year Was -1770

Way back when ............ David Lyon was born. Not exactly a direct ancestor. He was grandfather to my g-g- aunt's husband. Like many people of his time he was a weaver (often an "at home" occupation.)
David was born at Kirkton of Panbride, a parish near Dundee. The village of Panbride was not formed until about 1800. The parish, historically, has a connection with St. Bridget of Ireland. At the north end of the parish stood Panmure House (now demolished) nicknamed "the big hoose" by the locals.

Geographically the area is situated near the the mouth of the Firth, and way back in time was completely submerged.
At some point David and his family moved to Dundee. Any census records show him at Todsburn Entry, Wellgate with his wife, Ann (who hailed from Aberdeenshire). All of their children were born in Dundee.
It appears that a number of the inhabitants in the area of Todsburn were a mighty feisty bunch, probably because of their business usage of the burn - the miller and the brewer, in particular, had issue with each other.
During the time that David and his family lived in Dundee there was a number of Cholera and Typhus outbreaks due to sanitation, or lack thereof, issues.

1770 some world events
Marie Antoinette marries Louise-Auguste (Louis XVI)
James Cook discovers New Holland (Australia)
Boston Massacre
Townsend Acts repealed
Battle of Cesme
The toothbrush was invented in the 1770's :)
first Orange Lodges created
St. Andrew Square Garden (Edinburgh) created
Scottish explorer James Bruce finds the Tissisat Falls and the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia
Bubonic Plague starts in Russia
Falkland Crisis
Lexell's Comet passes by
British Linen Company switches to banking
The first eraser, made from rubber, is created
Famine in Bengal - about 10 million died

Some famous births
William Wordsworth - poet
Frederick William III of Prussia
Ludwig von Beethoven - composer
George Canning - British PM
Johann Friedrich Schubert

Some famous deaths
James Stirling - Scottish mathematician
George Grenville - PM of Britain

The Year Was -1805

My main paternal line stops at 1805 and I'm hoping if I research some other events it might spark other avenues to explore.

Twas the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought. Lord Horatio Nelson died. Napoleon was crowned king of Italy.

If you want to find out if one of your ancestors fought in the Napoleonic Wars try searching at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors/ I found a John McKellar from Bute, now I just have to work out if he is one of mine.

Did you know that -
Dayton, Ohio was incorporated (I had to put that one in since my husband grew up near there.)
Tangerines appeared in Europe from China.
The modern matchstick was invented by K. Chanel
Jane Austen's father moved his family to Bath.
"The Beauties of Scotland" 5 vols. by Robert Forsyth was published.
The Beaufort Wind Scale was devised.
Sir Walter Scott wrote "The Talisman".
George Greenough did a geological tour of Scotland

Famous births

Hans Christian Andersen - writer
Horatio Greenough - sculptor
Samuel Palmer - painter
Franz Xavier Winterhalter - artist and engraver
William Harrison Ainsworth - writer
Joseph Smith jr. - founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


Famous deaths
Jean-Baptiste Greuze - artist
Friedrich von Schiller - dramatist and poet
Alexander Carlyle - Scottish church leader

The year was - 1849

I have a fondness for my g-g-aunt Ann Kay nee McKellar. I don't know a whole lot about her and have not been able to track down any descendants yet. I do know that she was a very talented stitcher because I have one of her samplers in my possession. She was a shopkeeper by profession and had 5 children, that I know of. Ann was born, raised, and died on the Isle of Bute. She did make some visits to the mainland to visit her sister who was living in Glasgow.
So I decided to use her birth year - 1849- as the first of my "The year was ...." mini series. I'm in a mood to explore Scottish history and put my relatives into some social context.
Our relatives may, or may not, have been impacted by greater events and it definitely is useful to know what was going on during their lifetime.

It's somewhat ironic that my little delve into Scottish history would find Peter Hume Brown who also was born in 1849. He is credited with being the first professor of Scottish history at Edinburgh University and slanted his classes toward placing Scotland in a European context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hume_Brown

The "Highland Clearances" were at the tale end of that sorry episode. The bareness, and barrenness, of the Highlands led to some wonderful art and writings, so I suppose some good came out of it.

There was an epidemic of Cholera, including Glasgow (where 3,777 died.) Ick :(
Thomas Carlyle visited Ireland in July and wrote about the effects of the famine.
Edinburgh and Bathgate railway opened, as it did in a number of other towns round Scotland.
600 people left the Isle of Tiree bound for Canada.
Multiple Sclerosis was first diagnosed.
California Gold Rush.
Inverurie Catholic Church was consecrated.
Rosslea Hall, Helensburgh, built for Daniel Walkinshaw.
Ness Bridge (Inverness) destroyed by a flood.
1.5% of Scotland's population was from England - 39,000.
David Livingstone was traveling from Mabotsa trying to find a waterway across the African continent.
Auchen Castle built
Tileworks opened at Kilchattan Bay, Isle of Bute.
Corn Laws abolished.
Battle of Novara
Britain annexes Punjab
Ardnamurchan Lighthouse built.
Alexander Duff, first Duke of Fife, was born
First edition of "Who's Who" published

Family births in 1849
William Robertson Lindsay (great grandfather, Angus)
William Colville (cousin, Perthshire)
Margaret Audus (cousin, Orkney)
Elisabeth Bissett (cousin, Fife)
Kay Brownson (cousin, England)
David Gardner (cousin, Stirlingshire)
David Howie (cousin, Ayrshire)
Mary Robertson (cousin, Orkney)
Ann Smith (cousin, Forfar)
William Thorburn (cousin, Bute)
Mary Ann Wilson (cousin, England)
Janet McArkley Wighton (cousin, Forfar)
Robert Charles Williamson (cousin, Midlothian)
Janet Weir (cousin, Fife)
George Watson (cousin, Scotland)
Mary Ann Watson (cousin, Fife)

map of Scotland  1849 drawn and engraved by J. Rapkin