I considered quite a few of my Arran ancestors before deciding on great, great grandfather William. William's dad Donald/Daniel, his daughter-in-law's father Alexander Hunter (both 3xGt grandpa) were but two of the many on the short list. I decided on balance that William was the best bet, as he would have had some knowledge of all these lines. Then came the question of at what age - too early and some events would not have happened - too late and the memories might be fading. So I think I would have invited him to dinner when he was about 65 i.e. a few years after his youngest son Ephraim Stewart Cook's wedding to Jane Hunter (1879). The meal needs to be a slow and leisurely one with plenty of time to chat and allow for digestion - last thing needed is for subject to take an early after dinner nap! Where to start the questions ? Well, first and foremost I would like to know where William was at the time of the 1841 census (6-7 June 1841) - he and his first wife Susanna Findlay (Not my 2xGt Grandma) gave their names for proclamation in Dundonald, Ayrshire on 15th June 1841 - to date I haven't found where he was 8 days earlier - not in Dundonald RD, nor in Saltcoats/Ardrossan RD :-( Once the reminiscences start, the flow-on questions begin - e.g. tactful digging to find out what happened to his first wife (we currently believe she died in child birth), where he met his second wife, etc. When did William leave Arran, was that on his own, or did his parents and/or siblings move to the mainland as well? This would lead into requests for his grandparents names - the earliest information we have is that William's parent's were married in the parish of Kilmory on 13 March 1794. Father Donald of Clauchog, has three possible sets of parents, while mother Mary (nee Stewart) has five or six possible sets. I would also like to find out when and where they ended their time - whether on Arran or elsewhere. If on Arran it was pre 1855, as they don't appear in McKirdy's Death Index. If/when the reminiscences from these questions slowed - e.g. what happened to his siblings, aunts/ uncles etc, etc ... ... I would then delve into his knowledge of the Hunter & Hamilton lines (his son's wife - Gt Grandma Jane Hunter's parentage) - what exactly was the link here? William was a Master Joiner as was Jane's father Alexander Hunter; did they work together in Ayrshire in the early 1840's, and was that how their children met and subsequently married? We know that Alexander Hunter left Arran before 1831 when he married an Arran lass Margaret Hamilton in Saltcoats, Ayrshire; before returning with four children to Inverclay nr Brodick, Arran in 1846 - fleeing the sickness that pervaded the cramped accommodation available in Saltcoats at that time - Jane was the last born of their Arran children. Did William & Alexander keep in contact or was the meeting of Stewart and Jane purely co-incidence? If Gt Gt Grandpa William isn't ready to call it a night, then I expect we could dredge up a few more questions, however I suspect all this might be interwoven with us giving details of how his descendants had made their way in life. That's my dinner guest - who is yours ? Peter

I am researching the following family: They left the Isle Of Arran in 1829 on the Caledonia and settled in Inverness Quebec. Many of the children left Quebec for Ontario and The U.S. Any info would be appreciated. Heather ggg grandfather 2. Neil Macmillan (Mcmillan). Born 1785 in Glen Sannox, Isle of Arran, Scotland. Christen February 18, 1785 in Glen Sannox, Isle of Arran, Scotland. Died April 16, 1861 in Inverness, Quebec. ggg grandmother He married Catherine Kerr, June 2, 1816 in Kilmory Parish (Arran) Scotland. They had the following children: 3 i. Ann Macmillan 4 ii. Duncan Macmillan iii. Catherine Macmillan 5 iv. John Macmillan 6 v. Mary Margaret Annis Macmillan vi. Margaret Macmillan; 7 vii. Janet (Janis) Macmillan 8 viii. Donald Macmillan

Thanks Peter! I would like to say hello to all the HALLIDAY family out there on Bute. I think my "43rd HALLIDAY cousins", I found, living in Oz, are nodding off. Are they bored? My DAVIE family also had a lot to do with Bute and Argyll. As did the TAYLOR family ...... BARR, MENZIES and "many more". Janelle Canberra, Australia Researching: Davie, Halliday, Menzies, Taylor, Barr in Scotland. ----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Cook To: ButeshireGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 3:27 PM Subject: [BUT] Sunday morning musings #238 Welcome to Wayne McKirdy who has joined this week, and welcome back to Yvonne Bean. Further to Yvonne's post earlier this week, please note that the direct link to obtain details of the "McKirdy Death Index for Bute 1855 - 1875" on microfiche, now available from NZSG, is http://www.genealogy.org.nz/sales/fiche-new.html again like Yvonne, I am just a satisfied user. ****** ****** ****** Happy Birthday to those who only get to celebrate on the day once every 4 years - waiting 84 years for the key to the door must be a bit rough <G>. Saw a letter in the paper the other day commenting on people angry about loosing access to a facility for one day earlier this month, the writer suggested "they shouldn't complain - as it is a leap year, they've got an extra day anyway" ! ****** ****** ****** Thanks to Joanne for the "Still" story, and to Stewart for the "Smuggling in Kilmory" extract - interesting tales to round off this month's topic. Regarding the unknown date of the 'Smuggling' cutting, it is indeed probable that one or more years may be identified, where the UK defence budget was £800 million. Those with local knowledge or contacts may be able to inform us of the years when Janet threw the paper to Sheena as the bus trundled on its way, which would provide a useful cross reference. One other avenue would be to follow up on the author/contributor ' Thomas E Appleton'. To throw in what is probably a total red-herring here, there was just one Thomas E. Appleton in the 1881 Census - born in Stepney, Middlesex in 1868/9 ( but there were another 207 Thomas Appleton's) . "Pre 1855 Gravestone Inscriptions in Bute & Arran" edited by Alison Mitchell, SGS 1987, shows that Mr Appleton took poetic licence in his concluding remarks "... three stones in the Kilmory Churchyard recall the passions ...", as the MI for the two McKinnon's is on but one stone :- Kilmory #66 "Wm McKinnon in Torrylinn d 25.3.1817 57, s Donald aged 22y, they were cut off the same day by a party of Sir John Reid's cutter headed by John Jeffery mate" There is no mention of Isabel Nicol in Alison Mitchell's remaining transcriptions for Kilmory, admittedly "made in 1967 in bad weather". ****** ****** ****** Thanks also to those who contributed topic suggestions off list - more suggestions would be welcomed. ****** ****** ****** Feel free to join in and present your own items. Peter Cook cookfmly@bigpond.com List maintainer and Co-host with Barbara < babrown12@optonline.net > of the ButeshireGenWeb mailing list. ==== ButeshireGenWeb Mailing List ==== *********************************************************************** For individuals Buteshire Reasearch Interests go to http://www.member.shaw.ca/Buteshire/ -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by CyberOne E-Mail Spam and Virus Protection Service, and is believed to be clean from viruses. CyberOne accepts no responsibility for the content of messages in transit through our servers. -- Suspected unsolicited commercial bulk messages (SPAM) have been marked with {Spam?} tag in the subject line enabling you to filter them out by using your mail software's filtering capabilities. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.596 / Virus Database: 379 - Release Date: 26-Feb-04

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeC.2ACI/560 Message Board Post: My grandmother's sister died in Rothesay in July 1953. She was Mary Hastings. I am searching for anyone who might have known her. There are so many stories we don't know about her life. Thanks, Angela

Welcome to Wayne McKirdy who has joined this week, and welcome back to Yvonne Bean. Further to Yvonne's post earlier this week, please note that the direct link to obtain details of the "McKirdy Death Index for Bute 1855 - 1875" on microfiche, now available from NZSG, is http://www.genealogy.org.nz/sales/fiche-new.html again like Yvonne, I am just a satisfied user. ****** ****** ****** Happy Birthday to those who only get to celebrate on the day once every 4 years - waiting 84 years for the key to the door must be a bit rough <G>. Saw a letter in the paper the other day commenting on people angry about loosing access to a facility for one day earlier this month, the writer suggested "they shouldn't complain - as it is a leap year, they've got an extra day anyway" ! ****** ****** ****** Thanks to Joanne for the "Still" story, and to Stewart for the "Smuggling in Kilmory" extract - interesting tales to round off this month's topic. Regarding the unknown date of the 'Smuggling' cutting, it is indeed probable that one or more years may be identified, where the UK defence budget was £800 million. Those with local knowledge or contacts may be able to inform us of the years when Janet threw the paper to Sheena as the bus trundled on its way, which would provide a useful cross reference. One other avenue would be to follow up on the author/contributor ' Thomas E Appleton'. To throw in what is probably a total red-herring here, there was just one Thomas E. Appleton in the 1881 Census - born in Stepney, Middlesex in 1868/9 ( but there were another 207 Thomas Appleton's) . "Pre 1855 Gravestone Inscriptions in Bute & Arran" edited by Alison Mitchell, SGS 1987, shows that Mr Appleton took poetic licence in his concluding remarks "... three stones in the Kilmory Churchyard recall the passions ...", as the MI for the two McKinnon's is on but one stone :- Kilmory #66 "Wm McKinnon in Torrylinn d 25.3.1817 57, s Donald aged 22y, they were cut off the same day by a party of Sir John Reid's cutter headed by John Jeffery mate" There is no mention of Isabel Nicol in Alison Mitchell's remaining transcriptions for Kilmory, admittedly "made in 1967 in bad weather". ****** ****** ****** Thanks also to those who contributed topic suggestions off list - more suggestions would be welcomed. ****** ****** ****** Feel free to join in and present your own items. Peter Cook cookfmly@bigpond.com List maintainer and Co-host with Barbara < babrown12@optonline.net > of the ButeshireGenWeb mailing list.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeC.2ACI/559.1 Message Board Post: Corrections to the above posted message: Isabella Welsh was born abt 1848 Isabella Welsh and Haddow Hastings' son James was born abt 1885 sorry. Susan

Newspaper and date unknown but on the back of the cutting . This might give a clue/ if we had a state of affairs where a score of atom bombs could dislocate the whole economy and social and military life of the country, the whole 800,000,000 pounds for defence was a colossal expenditure and a fraud on the British taxpaper. SMUGGLING IN KILMORY The parish of Kilmory comprises the greator part of the south and west coasts of Arran extending from Largiebeg to Lochranza; quite astep even in these days when buses swing round the winding hilly road in second gear and morning papers are delivered to the front garden by a well-aimed throw from Janet to Sheena as their bus rolls by. Kilmory church, lying inland from the present coast road, is hardly discernible from the bus. It lies on the old road which joins the modern route half a mile before the bus dips down to cross Kilmory Water at the picturesque old Inn of Lagg. The kirk is typical of many a Highland parish, and togethe! r with glebe and manse the oldest now inhabited in Scotland forms a pleasantly wooded group against a background of gien and moor. The Honourable Still: There're many generations of Kilmory folk lying in the old churchyard where the headstones tell the story of croft and sea, and common is the inscription, "Farmer of this parish."Others of the stones have a different tale to tell; of days when farm and hill and the lawful occasions of the sea were not the only occupations of the good people of Kilmory . The Rev.Angus MacMillan, "Minister of this parish." who lies in the corner next the glebe, writing of his charge about 1840 in a vein of love and respect for his people, feels compelled to mention that "...... illicit distillation prevailed to a very recent period, but its demoralizing effects were not developed here so prominently as in other places, from the circumstance of its not being considered a disreputable pursuit, and there being few if any, in the parish who at some time in their lives were not engaged in some department of smuggling." Far from being a burden on the public conscience, smuggling, the minister continues, "...was considered rather an honourable occupation as exhibiting an intrepidity and art that acquired for these persons a distinction in the eyes of their companions." The activities to which the Rev. Angus referred were rather different from the traditional "free-trading" of the English Channel and West Country, where the illegal importation of French cognac and laces, and escapades of such desperate professional smugglers as the Hawkes gang, gave rise to a state of affairs bordering on local civil war with great cruelties practiced by both sides. In Kilmory the problem was rather one of export; whisky made in the hills was shipped to the mainland for sale, and as the Rev. Angus points out, " It was on the darkest night, when no cruiser would stand the gale, that in his little skiff the smuggler transported his cargo to the opposite shores of Ayrshire." Perhaps he too had a sneaking admir! ation for the nocturnal adventures of his young men. It would appear that the Revenue forces and the Arran smugglers ran a fairly gentlemanly war on the whole, and that certain unwritten but clearly defined rules were tacitly observed by both parties. Thus the gauge, whose cottage still stands just up the road from the Lagg Hotel, would make an occasional seizure in the hills, and the Preventive Water Guard who manned the cutters were expected to seize what contraband they could capture on the high seas. There was at least one occasion when the zeal of both sides outran the rules. ARMED SHORE PARTY: On March 25, 1817 H.M. xxxxxx Prince Edward (Captain Sir John Reid,BT.) lay becalmed about three miles west of Pladda and some two miles offshore. In the late afternoon a skiff was observed pushing off from the shore laden with casks. Whether the occupants were simply ignoring the cutter, or whether they had not recognized her, is not clear. At any rate the sight was too much for the noble captain, who promptly dispatched the cutter's boat and 12 seamen under the command of the mate John Jeffrey, to head them off. The smugglers turned back and made for the hills complete with casks, no doubt having kept the horses handy just in case. Jeffrey appears to have been a determined officer for he quickly beached his boat, and leaving a couple of hands in her as keepers marched the rest of his men inland to search for contraband. In his own words " three of the party had muskets and bayonets, and two or three muskets without bayonets; the rest of the party were ar! med with pistols and cutlasses." After a stiffish climb they found four casks of spirits in the "muir ground" of Shannochie. While the Revenue men were breaking out the casks five strangers appeared: Jeffrey, noticing that their lover garments were wet, challenged them with being from the skiff. There was apparently some argument, but no arrests were made, and the Customs men started carrying the four casks beachwards. While this was going on the five suspected men had been joined by onlookers from miles around--Jeffrey finally estimated them to number 200 people. There was plenty of shouting and taunting and bitter was the complaint that the cutter had never previously made seizure so far inland. The mate plodded steadily on in the wake of his party, and no doubt beads of perspiration rolled down under his leather hat and broadcloth coat. BLOWS TO BULLETS The crowd now threatened that none of the party would reach the boat alive, and Jeffrey, after warning the people of ! his uniform and authority..."having drawn his sword, repeatedly pressed the mob back with the flat of it." After some distance they had to negotiate a dyke, and having got his men safely past this danger point the officer must have been relieved to see the crowd hang back till he was in advance about 200 yards. His relief was short lived; in a burst of cheering the islanders made a charge and with ammunition both plentiful and handy in the dyke they pelted the Customs party from a range of ten yards with telling effect. In the scrap that followed the mate and two seamen were thrown down and overpowered. The situation was by now distinctly ugly, and rightly or wrongly Jeffrey gulped out the order to fire. The Kilmory people retired in face of this volley taking with them the muskets of the sailors knocked down. Unfortunately three of the islanders, two men and woman, were left dead on the field. DUTY DEFENCE Jeffrey was later charged with the murder of William McKinnon, Dani! el McKinnon and Isabel Nicol in that he "having conceived a causeless malice or ill-will towards the said persons, did fire a pistol loaded with ball...." His defence was brief and to the point, the killing being claimed as justifiable "inasmuch as the same was done in execution of his duty as a Revenue officer and in self defence." There were 35 witnesses for the Cown and 64 for the defence. The fact that these included officers and men from no fewer than five Revenue cutters and a ship of war gives some idea of the forces deemed necessary to combat smuggling on the West Coast of Scotland. Jeffrey appears to have been acquitted, but three of the stones in Kimory churchyard recall the passions that raged in hot blood so many years ago. by Thomas E. Appleton.

www.scan.org.uk/digitalarchive/viewarchive.asp?arc_id=1 well worth a visit........ edward Limpsfield, Surrey Using Norton SystemWorks

Hi all, For all those Scottish researchers, this is just to let you know that Wayne McKirdy has just released the 1857 Death Index for Lanark. The McKirdy Scottish Death Index is an index of death certificates between the years 1855-1875 & because Lanark is so large, it is being indexed 1 year at a time. So far he has released on fiche: Bute 1855-1875 Clackmannan 1855-1875 Kinross 1855-1875 Sutherland 1855-1875 Lanark 1855, 1856, 1857 In case you have not used these indexes before - the index contains all the info on a death certificate EXCEPT 1. Day & month & time of death 2. Address of deceased 3. Cause of Death 4. Date & name of Registrar Extras - number & registration district of the certificate & LDS film number where the certificate can be found. This & the other already published indexes can be obtained from http://www.genealogy.org.nz/ Looking at the site, they have not as yet added the above item, but it can be ordered. The different McKirdy indexes for Scotland can only be bought here. Look in the "What's New" column on the left. I do not have any connection to Wayne McKirdy or this product; I'm just an avid user. Yvonne [Bonnie] Bean  

Hello everyone, The book Old Bute, by Graham Twaddle, includes a picture (page 28) of staff of The Buteman in the newspaper's print room. It identifies the editor, Charles STEVENSON, but no one else. The Buteman printed the picture in its Bygone Bute section on August 24, 2001, and puts names to the faces, as well as dating it as 1914. The people in the photo are A MACKIE, W MACKAY, W HEATON, J CURRIE, D MACFIE, J WHITELAW, J MACKENZIE, J McGILVRAY, D MACFARLANE, J LYLE, CHAS M STEVENSON, .... EWING, W PERSTON, Miss M ALLEN, R BAINBRIDGE, R FULTON, G TAGGART, Miss Ina McALLISTER. J Currie is John Currie, a cousin of my grandfather Archibald HILL. John, born 1872, was a compositor for The Buteman. His sisters Jane and Lizzie ran the post office at Port Bannatyne. Jane retired as postmistress in 1954. Their father, also John Currie, was a builder/stonemason. If anyone would like more details of the picture, please get in touch. Does anyone remember the Currie family? Regards Madeleine Wales

I'm sorry, Graeme, but I would guess it's probably something much more mundane. Taxman is probably a variant spelling of tacksman, meaning "tenant" or "leaseholder", and "off" in the context in which it appears probably simply means "offshore". Regards, Jack ----- Original Message ----- From: "Graeme Fitzpatrick" <graemefitz@dodo.com.au> To: <ButeshireGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 3:01 AM Subject: [BUT] Monthly topics > G'day everyone > > My interesting snippet isn't a newspaper article, it's an MI that raises > several questions: > > "son James (FINNIE) taxman, Little Cumbrae, lost off the castle there > 23.3.1827, (aged) 37". > > Your imagination can run wild when you've only got that much info to go > on.We know that the FINNIEs lived at Kirkton on Cumbrae, from at least the > early 1700s till the early 1900s. Instead of working the family farm, was > James a revenue officer killed in a running fight with smugglers? Did he > fall to his death from the castle on Little Cumbrae? What was he doing up > there? Was it a look-out post of some sort? As someone has previously > suggested, was this a misspelling of "tacksman" (sailor), which makes it a > simple drowning, probably in a fall from a boat - incidentally, I would > assume that the water up there in March is somewhat chilly :-)? > > Unfortunately, the questions will probably remain unanswered. > > As for who you would invite to dinner, I thought that would be obvious - you > would invite your particular brick wall to ask them what happened to the > rest of the family, &/or where did they appear from :-)? > > In my case, it would be William GILLIES. He was born 15 Oct 1826, but all > the Rothesay OPR's say then is "see June 1848". The 1848 OPR's then show him > baptised on 3 June, "the son of Thomas GILLIES, Cooper, Rothesay & Isabella > BLACK". When he married in 1853 he was a writer (solicitor), & by 1858 he > was "clerk to the Town Clerk of Rothesay". Once again, there's lot's of > questions to ask him. > > Why wasn't he baptised until the age of 21? In the 1840's, what was > required to become a writer - did you need to go to University to become > qualified? Did he need to be baptised to enter Uni? What happened to Thomas > & Isabella - I can't find any record of them being born, married or dying in > Rothesay? If not Rothesay, where did Thomas come from? William is the only > child of this couple listed in the OPR's - was he an only child (fairly > unusual back then, I would have thought)? What is the connection between my > William, and William GILLIES, who was the Town Clerk of Rothesay - were they > cousins, or just a co-incidence of names? How did the son of a Cooper (who > had died prior to 1853) become a writer? > > I think it would all make for a fairly lengthy dinner! > > Graeme Fitzpatrick > Gold Coast > Queensland > Australia > (sweltering, with yesterday setting an all time record of 40.5ºC plus 80% > humidity - ohhh, for some of that chilly water!!!!) > > > ==== ButeshireGenWeb Mailing List ==== > *********************************************************************** > The Buteshire GenWeb page is at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~sctbutes/ >

Hello List, As I have been thinking of the monthly topic and pondering my long lost relatives on dear Rothesay, I found no one who I would say I want a dinner date for info. As my gram has filled me in on a lot of their lives so I feel I know them all. But my mind has always pondered who that man was who had built the big above ground laying tomb ( on right side walking into graveyard from High Street). I would ask him about his life and why he designed his tomb as he did and share with him all the thoughts I have had of him all these years. I just ordered MI's from Rothesay and he will be the first one I look up as I have forgotten his name. Michelle Craig Houston Texas (Mackenzie, Nelson, McEwan, Ford, Urie, Finlay) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard - Read only the mail you want. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools

I don't know about general distribution of the 'Buteman' but when I was a child living in the north of Argyll in the 1940s and 50s my father used to receive his weekly 'Buteman' in the post. Jean in Hampshire England ----- Original Message ----- From: <ButeshireGenWeb-D-request@rootsweb.com> To: <ButeshireGenWeb-D@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 4:00 PM Subject: ButeshireGenWeb-D Digest V04 #26

Hi Graeme, It would appear that one did not require a university education to become a writer in the mid 1800s, nor were humble origins nesessarily an obstacle. The details following comes from a biography of John Gillies of Bute (b1802-1871) He was the son of crofters,Thomas and Janet Gillies and was at the age of 18, articled under Alexander Irvine (town Clerk, Sheriff's Clerk, Clerk of the Petty Sessions for Buteshire, Comptroller of Customs) After completing his articles, he furthered his business experience in Greenock before returning to Rothesay to set up practice and to take up the post of town clerk 1833-1852. His son, Thomas was similarly trained under him - extremely reluctantly although apparently sucessfully - as he later became a justice of the Supreme Court in New Zealand. Neither had a university education. As John Gillies and his family emigrated to NZ in 1852, it would be interesting to know what happened to his legal firm and whether there was a connection between this family and your Williams other than a coincidence of surnames, occupations and professions. Cheers, Bill

Does anyone know if the 1851 Census Index fiche from Southern Thistle Press, Maroubra, NSW are available for sale, and if so how much? Wayne McKirdy

>It would appear that one did not require a university education to become a writer in the >mid 1800s, nor were humble origins nesessarily an obstacle. Not strictly correct .In fact one could become a writer /solicitor in Scotland up until at least the 1960s without attending a university . One became an articled apprentice to a solicitor and sat exams set by the Scottish Law Society . Many country solicitors qualified by this route up until comparitively recently Col

found a new genealogy-page for hamburg, germany! http://www.genealogus.net/welcome.html have a nice day chistopher j. becker -- GMX ProMail (250 MB Mailbox, 50 FreeSMS, Virenschutz, 2,99 EUR/Monat...) jetzt 3 Monate GRATIS + 3x DER SPIEGEL +++ http://www.gmx.net/derspiegel +++

G'day everyone My interesting snippet isn't a newspaper article, it's an MI that raises several questions: "son James (FINNIE) taxman, Little Cumbrae, lost off the castle there 23.3.1827, (aged) 37". Your imagination can run wild when you've only got that much info to go on.We know that the FINNIEs lived at Kirkton on Cumbrae, from at least the early 1700s till the early 1900s. Instead of working the family farm, was James a revenue officer killed in a running fight with smugglers? Did he fall to his death from the castle on Little Cumbrae? What was he doing up there? Was it a look-out post of some sort? As someone has previously suggested, was this a misspelling of "tacksman" (sailor), which makes it a simple drowning, probably in a fall from a boat - incidentally, I would assume that the water up there in March is somewhat chilly :-)? Unfortunately, the questions will probably remain unanswered. As for who you would invite to dinner, I thought that would be obvious - you would invite your particular brick wall to ask them what happened to the rest of the family, &/or where did they appear from :-)? In my case, it would be William GILLIES. He was born 15 Oct 1826, but all the Rothesay OPR's say then is "see June 1848". The 1848 OPR's then show him baptised on 3 June, "the son of Thomas GILLIES, Cooper, Rothesay & Isabella BLACK". When he married in 1853 he was a writer (solicitor), & by 1858 he was "clerk to the Town Clerk of Rothesay". Once again, there's lot's of questions to ask him. Why wasn't he baptised until the age of 21? In the 1840's, what was required to become a writer - did you need to go to University to become qualified? Did he need to be baptised to enter Uni? What happened to Thomas & Isabella - I can't find any record of them being born, married or dying in Rothesay? If not Rothesay, where did Thomas come from? William is the only child of this couple listed in the OPR's - was he an only child (fairly unusual back then, I would have thought)? What is the connection between my William, and William GILLIES, who was the Town Clerk of Rothesay - were they cousins, or just a co-incidence of names? How did the son of a Cooper (who had died prior to 1853) become a writer? I think it would all make for a fairly lengthy dinner! Graeme Fitzpatrick Gold Coast Queensland Australia (sweltering, with yesterday setting an all time record of 40.5ºC plus 80% humidity - ohhh, for some of that chilly water!!!!)

When my Grandfather died several years ago I found and old copy of 'The Buteman and West Coast Chronicle' from Friday 18 March 1927 in its 73rd year and issue number 3757. A STILL IN A STORE Rothesay Italian Fined £50 The gallery of Rothesay Sheriff Court was filled with interested spectators on Wednesday during the four hours' hearing of the chase in which George William Knott officer of Customs and Excise, Greenock, charged Pietro Bonaccorsi, 17 Montague Street, Rothesay, and his brother, Umberto Bonaccorsi, 83 Montague Street, Rothesay, with having (1) in a store at 12 Store Lane, occupied by Umberto, had a still for distilling spirits, contrary to the Spirits Act, 1880, whereby they were liable to a fine of £500; (2) time and place aforesaid, with keeping a still without taking out a licence as required by the Still Licensing Act of 1846, whereby they were liable to a penalty of £50. The charges were taken separately, Mr Hepburn defending Pietro, and Mr Maclagan appearing for Umberto. Pietro pleaded not guilty. A Perfect Still Mr Knott, the first witness, said he was in charge of No. 2 District, including Bute, and was thoroughly acquainted with the construction and use of stills. Mr McAuslan told witness he suspected illicit distillation in Rothesay, so a search warrent was obtained, and a search made on 10th January. The premises visited were Pietro's house at 17 Montague Street, the two shops in Watergate, and the store in Store Lane occupied by Umberto; a shop at 4 Bridge Street, also occupied by Umberto; and two shops at 12 and 14 Gallowgate. The only illegal thing they found was the still, what was in the place at Store Lane. There was some delay in getting the key. The store was divided into three compartments. In one of the rear places Mr McAuslan handed witness the body and worm of a still. Umberto, who was present, said this belonged to his brother Pietro, as did also some restaurant utensils which had been lying in the store for years. Witness showed the court how the still was! operated, and said it was the most perfect still he had found. Its capacity would be about one gallon, and the quantity of spirits that could be turned out at one time would be half a pint the still had evidently been used because it contained a brownish sediment which was found even in lawful distillation. Mr Hepburn - Could this still be used for distilling water? No, it is too dirty. Continuing his evidence Mr Knott said the stills he found in other cases had capacities from 11/2 to 3 gallons. He did not thinkg the still in this case would be a paying commercial proposition. "See Mr Hepburn" Mr W.A. McAuslan, the Rothesay Customs and Excise Officer, said he overheard a remark by Mr J.W. Campbell about Italians talking about whiskey. He followed Pietro and some other Italians into Mr Harvey's public house one day, and listened to their conversation. It was in Italian, but the words "whisky" and "wash" were mentioned. A search was arranged, and witness, on going with Mr Knott and policemen to the store, found the still on a shelf, which he reached by standing on a barrel. Witness was told Pietro Bonaccorsi got the still from Pat Shields, pier porter. This man, when asked if the allegation was true, said, "Oh, I'll have to see Mr Hepburn." Next day, however, Shields send a letter denying any knowledge of the still. Mr J.W.Campbell, spirit merchant, 30 Bishop Street, corroborated about his remark to Mr McAuslan. Sergt. Gunn and Constable Hyndman gave evidence of the search. Mr Harvey, spirit merchant, Bute Mansions, spoke of the Italians conversing in his shop about "whisky" and "wash." Pietro Bonaccorsi made an accusation against Angelo Barbi about giving away information. Barbi in evidence corroborated Mr Harvey. Mr Andrew Clark, of the Burgh Chamberlain's Office, said Umberto Bonaccorsi was the tenant of the store at 12 Store Lane. Mrs Keith, 8 Montague Street, said Umberto was also tenant of the shop at 23 Watergate. Deputy Chief Constable David gave evidence that he bought a tin that morning in the Buttercup Dairy shop for 2d. This was exactly similar to the tin which was used as the body of the still. Colestino Bonaccorsi denied any knowledge of the use of the "tins" (the still). He was going to throw them out when Pietro said they belonged to Pat Shields. Umberto Bonaccorsi said he saw the still in the store, about three months ago, but he did not know who put it there or that it was illegal. The still was never used. Chased out of House Pietro, in the box, said that Pat Shields had asked him to store the tins as Mrs Shields had "chased him out of the house" with them. Witness did not know till after "the great raid" that the appliance was illegal, and had he known it could make whisky he would have tried it, for the sake of making money. (Laughter). As regards speaking in public houses, witness said he opened his mouth too wide when he "got a half". He never made whisky, but he drank plenty. (Laughter.) Accused said he was "just a putty joiner," but as good as any in Rothesay. Sheriff Ballingall found Pietro guilty, and Mr Grant, the Fiscal, dropped the charge against Umberto. Mr Hepburn, while speaking for Pietro, remarked that it was 100 years ago since there was a still case in Rothesay. Sheriff Ballingall said one object of the prosecution was to act as a warning to others. This was a serious charge - £50 or 60 days imprisonment. One month allowed to pay. This story was of interest to me as my Great Grandfather was Pat Shields the pier porter and growing up I had heard a story about him having an illicit still and selling it to the Bonaccorsi's shortly before customs and excise came to the island as his wife didnt like him having it. Which version is true we may never know. Joanne Cowie

Peter writes: > >invited Isabella Colquhoun (nee Buchanan), but it was her daughter >Christina Wilson (nee Colquhoun) who went to the US to live with her >married daughter Isabella Buchanan Racette (nee Wilson), then returned >to live out her days with her spinster sister Agnes Colquhoun. > You have reminded me to send out my annual plea: In May of 1945, the will of Jane Craig Hunter was registered. There were a number of beneficiaries, none of whom are known to me. Anyone recognize these ladies? The names mentioned are: Mrs. Elizabeth Urquhart 57 Coventry Drive Dennistoun, Glasgow Mrs. Ellen McLean, 16 Windsor Place, Rothsay Miss Margaret Colquhoun 43 Drumby Gardens, Clarkston, Renfrewshire Miss Elizabeth Boyd 295 Netherton Road, Netherlee, Glasgow Miss Annie Sommerville, 32 Lawn Avenue Mt Vernon, OH, USA Mrs. Alice Watson, 53 Van Reipen Ave Jersey City, NJ, USA Jane C. Hunter was the daughter of Neil Craig Hunter and Eliza Crawford. > >