Looked what family name popped up on our recent vacation

We were walking down some side streets in London with my brother and he showed us this one :)

"Walking" in the footsteps of a POW

I've enjoyed reading my grandfather's POW story in a bit more depth and am looking forward to putting his whole story together. I hope I can find out more about the places he stayed and the people he knew.

Here's a brief timeline of events.
Sunday, December 30th 1917
early morning taken prisoner near La Vacquerie (Cambrai)
taken from the front line to the reserve line then to the collecting stations (cages)
About mid-day escorted by military
5.00 p.m. stopped to eat (first meal as prisoners)
9.00 p.m. arrived at Caudry - had dinner
Continued on to Le Cateau.

January 3rd. 1918
left by train for Le Quesnoy -  a disinfecting and distributing station.

January 6th 1918
left in cattle trucks for Dulmen, Westphalia (passed through Belgium)

January 9th 1918
walked two miles from the train station to Dulmen Lager POW camp.

February 11th 1918
Left Dulmen for Kommando 40 in Lunen
Remained here till after the armistice and "worked"in the coal mine.

Saturday November 23rd. 1918
Marched to Munster Camp from Lunen

Monday November 25th 1918
walked to wayside station then took train to Enchede

Friday November 29th 1918
train from Enschede to Rotterdam via Utrecht. Marched to the docks.

Saturday November 30th 1918
boarded SS Londonderry and sailed down river. Anchored overnight.

Sunday December 1st 1918
Crossed the North Sea and anchored off the Cromer Light.

Monday December 2nd. 1918
Sailed up the Humber to Hull, (received a huge welcome home greeting), ate and left by train for Ripon.

Wednesday 4th December 1918
train from Ripon to Glasgow and home.
(some of the regular soldiers had not seen home for 10 years.)

10 US military were amongst the POW's taken with my grandfather to Le Cateau. He mentions their photograph being taken, probably for German propaganda purposes.

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

Greetings from Bonnie Scotland

I was planning on doing some genealogy research and visit New Register House while here in Scotland. Well I've been doing some research but not quite in the way I was planning.
I transcribed my grandfather's WWI Prisoner-of-War memoir and had my brother scan a number of photographs, drawings and other items for me. Now I have the basis for some research that I can hopefully put together into a short book to give back to my family and the historical society in the town my grandfather grew up in.
We had the opportunity to go to Edinburgh yesterday and we chose to go to the castle, amongst some other places. The military exhibitions scattered round the castle are quite fascinating and in some instances, quite overwhelming. We started out at the Scottish Military History area, which I highly recommend. It appears to be one of the 'quieter' areas of the castle but definately prepares visitors well for the rest of the tour.

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

Something to think about - cemetery/burial records

A lot of people get aggravated trying to locate cemetery/burial records for their ancestors. If you fall into that category - that would be me - take a wider look at what epidemics, plagues, severe illnesses were going on at the time your "missing" ancestor was buried.
Many plague victims were deposited, sometimes in large groups, in special areas away from the main burial sites.
If you are lucky there might be some kind of record in existence even though there might not be a tomb stone.

The Year Was -1828

Sturrock Arthur - I love that name and it shows up in various forms amongst his descendants. He was born in 1828 near Tealing in Forfarshire. He was known as "Stroke" and as far as we can tell only two of his children lived into adulthood. His daughter Mary married William Lindsay and her brother Thomas married Wilhelmina Gunn. Thomas descendants live on this side of the "big puddle" just a few states away from me and are actively researching "their" side of the Arthur family :)
There were 5 other siblings, 4 of whom definitely died as babies (Charlotte, Arthur, James and Robert). William is still unaccounted for and I'm thinking I'll put him on my list of family to research on my trip to Scotland.
"Stroke" was my great-great-grandfather. He and his family moved around the Dundee area and show up in a different home on each census record. He was a Calenderer by profession, which means he operated machinery (calender) that used two large rollers or plates, to press and finish fabric. Later in life he was a Cloth Packer.
He died in 1907 just a few months short of his 80th birthday from "Senile Degeneration" i.e. old age. He outlived his slightly younger wife by 16 years.

So what was going on in the world in 1828?
1828 was a Leap Year
Bubonic Plague
Duke of Wellington becomes Prime Minister of Britain
New Corn Law in Britain
"Websters Dictionary" published
"Birds In America" vol 1 by J.J. Audoban published
Lord William Cavendish Bentinck becomes Governor-General of India
Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder
Rene Caillie is first non-Muslim to enter Tombouctou (Timbukto)
Russia declares war on Turkey
Zoological Gardens open at Regent's Park, London
Circuit Courts (Scotland) Act
Kaspar Hauser found wandering in Nuremberg
St. Catherine's dock opens in London
Andrew Jackson elected 7th president of USA
6.8 earthquake strikes Japan
"The Fair Maid of Perth" and "Tales of a Grandfather" by Sir Walter Scott published
J.B. Neilson invents the hot-blast furnace
Maitland Club founded
Burke & Hare murders in Edinburgh
"Dedham Vale" by John Constable
Glasgow Asylum for the Blind built

Some famous births
Jules Verne
William Randal Cremer - politician & pacifist
Margaret Oliphant - writer
Jean Henri Dunant - founder of Red Cross
Dante Gabriel Rossetti - painter
Nikolai Chernyshevsky - Russian philosopher
Giovanni Rossi - composer
Leo Tolstoy - writer
Henrik Ibsen -
Josephine Butler
Joseph Wilson Swan - physicist and inventor of incandescent light bulb
John Rhind - sculptor

Some famous deaths
Francisco Goya - artist
Shaka - founder of Zulu Kingdom
Dugald Stewart - Scottish philosopher
Rachel Jackson - wife of 7th US PresidentAndrew Jackson
Sophie Maria of Russia (wife of Tsar Paul I)
Carl Peter Thunberg- Swedish naturalist
Hongi Hika - New Zealand Maori chief
Gilbert Charles Stuart - portraitist
Franz Schubert - composer
William Thornton - designer of US State Capitol

I mentioned earlier in this post that the "other" Arthur's have been working on their genealogy. Thomas and his family originally settled in Omaha, Nebraska and there is a nice index site available for marriages
http://omahamarriages.wordpress.com/
There's also an index site for obituaries http://omahaobits.wordpress.com/
I found some information at both sites :)

The History of Scottish Fire Brigades

As far as I know I never had any ancestors that served in the Fire Brigade (modern day cousins, yes). If you have ancestors, then here's an interesting site, if you don't it's still interesting :)
http://www.btinternet.com/~graeme.kirkwood/

Since I am currently trolling around the general area of Dundee in my family research, I thought I'd look up what the site had to say.
Here's a wee bit of it.

Firemasters

1835 to 1837	Superintendent T. Matthew
1837 to 1845	Superintendent J. Coutts
1845 to 1870	Superintendent James Fyffe
1870 to 1873	Superintendent John W Fyffe
1873 to 1898	Captain Robert Ramsay
1898 to 1903	Captain John Ramsay
1903 to 1937	Captain James S Weir MIFireE
1937 to 1941	Firemaster William MacKay

Equipment

1904
2	Steam Engines,350 gallons capacity
1	Manual Engine (obsolute, not used)
1	70' Horsed Fire Escape
1	Horsed Hose Tender
1	General Service Waggon
1	Hand Hose Reel
4	Hand Pumps
14	Stand Pipes
23	Branch Pipes
6	Scaling Ladders
2	15'Pompier Ladders and Belts
4	Horses belonging to the Department
8,300 yds	Canvas Hose 2 1/2"

1905
Received an additional Horse Hose Tender.

Calls to fires

1904 - 146

1905 - 137

1913 - 235

There's also information about where the fire brigade was located, some salaries, staff (some locations list the names).

Some other districts also have breakdowns on the kinds of fire trucks.

 AD43 - the Romans invaded Britain and the first fire fighters were organized - basically buckets of water.

1666 - Great Fire of London. As a result Nicholas Barbon introduces fire insurance then sets up his own fire brigade. Insurances companies set up their own fire brigades but only attended those buildings insured by their clients.

1672 - fire hose invented by Jan Van der Heiden

1725 - fire engine developed by Richard Newsham

1810 - Napoleon Bonaparte creates the "Sapeurs-Pompiers"

1824 - First public fire brigade in Britain is established in Edinburgh by James Braidwood. He later took charge of the London Fire Engine Establishment which had been created in 1832. He developed the strategy of entering buildings to fight fires.

http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst925.html

1938 - Fire Services Act

1947 - Fire Services Act 1947 returns fire brigades to local authority control

It would be difficult for me to sum up the operations of fire brigades (in Britain) in a few sentences because of all the changes that have occurred over the years.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Fire_Brigades_of_the_United_Kingdom

The Scottish Fire Heritage Group http://www.ayeready.org/ has got a lot of resources in their LINKS section.

A wee hint - if you had male ancestors living in Edinburgh, in the early to mid 1800's, who were tradesmen e.g. slaters, carpenters, masons and plumbers, or sailors, they might have been volunteer firemen.

When I'm in London in a few weeks time I'll try and pay a visit to the Firefighters Memorial near St. Paul's Cathedral. Last time I was there it was pouring rain so I did not take time to stop. http://www.firefightersmemorial.co.uk/

http://www.fireservice.co.uk/history

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

Another WWI casualty

I'm old enough to have grown up around a lot of people that were impacted by WWI. Last night I was doing some research on one of my great grandparents when up pops an e-mail.

Stewart Greig
son of Lyall and Jessie Stewart Greig of Dundee
Lance Corporal Royal Marine Light Infantry (CH/15295)
Killed, age 34, after HMS Hogue was sunk by U9 off the Dutch coast. 22/09/14
Commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial.
Source: CWGC Casualty Details Data Base.

That's all it said.

Stewart's mother was sister to my gggrandfather John Kirkwood Stewart. At the moment they are the only two of the 9 siblings that I have done any research on. They had an older brother and the remaining 6 were younger. My dad grew up near his Stewart cousins.

So I took a wee detour, checked out the information and added a lot to it :) Here's some of it.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ has some information.

Greig, Stewart
register # 11266
division Royal Marine Light Infantry, Plymouth Division
when enlisted: 02 December 1901
date: 19 April 1881
catalogue ref: ADM 159/79
depart: Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marine, Coastguard, and related bodies
series: Admiralty: Royal Marines: Registers of Service
piece: 10916-11464
image ref. 351/332

War was declared 4 August 1914
Stewart died 22 September 1914 in what I learned was a really famous incident (from the German perspective) at the time involving a German U9 boat and 3 ships, Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy.
Alan Coles wrote a book specifically about the incident "Three Before Breakfast"(1979).

There's a very sobering list of WWI Royal Navy and Dominion Navies casualties here http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1914-09Sept.htm (This is the September page.)

A concise write up on the event can be found at http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2005/sept/22_cruiser_force_c.htm

After reading about the ships, nicknamed "The Live Bait Squadron" and the circumstances surrounding the incident "it was an accident waiting to happen", it's a sobering thought that it only took HMS Hogue 10-15 minutes to sink and that if zig-zag protocol had been stuck too maybe many of the deaths (abt. 1400) might have been avoided. Hogue was attempting to rescue survivors from Aboukir.

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/hms_terrible.html (scroll down to the Cressy Class)

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/cressy.htm
As usual it annoys me that memorials like Chatham Naval Memorial get vandalized. We need to be more respectful of those that fought to give us freedom http://www.cwgc.org/ Many were scared, young men with inadequate training, trying to do the best they could in horrible circumstances. (IMHO)

Lance Corporal Stewart S. Greig was added to the CNM Find a Grave Memorial on May 23 2006 (#14372098). A copy of the Memorial Register is kept in the Naval Chapel of Brompton Garrison Church, other copies are kept at Chatham Library.

"In honour of the Navy and to the abiding memory of these ranks and ratings of this port who laid down their lives in the defence of the Empire and have no other grave than the sea."

Gate photo courtesy of http://nobeatenpath.com/
It's somewhat ironic that for about 2 years (in the mid 1980's) I lived 40 miles NW of Chatham and at the time never knew anything about the memorial.