Yikes, Willie!

Hello, I'm a Linkletter with ancestry in the Orkney Islands. I know my direct ancestor is Cristo ae Lingklatr (Linkletter or Linklater evolved) and he lived in 1400's Orkney. Through my research, I found stories that Cristo was a descendant of Thorfinn the Mighty, Jarl of the Orkneys circa 1020. My question is; does anyone know which of Thorfinn's sons, Paul or Erlend, was connected with the Sinclair lineage of which the Linkletters descend???? I know there's many of us descended from this family, so would anyone happen to know the answer? Thanks! Sharon Linkletter-Price sharipsi@yahoo.com

On 20 Oct 2008, at 08:01, orkney-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > 1. Re: Orkney Gravestones (m.rosie@shaw.ca) and > From: "Joy Moloney" <jmo22829@bigpond.net.au> >> SouthRonaldsay.net? >> >> From: "William Sinclair" <sensiblegrandad@googlemail.com> >>>> Lisa I'm sure I'd find items of interest, too. My Halcrow's seem to be from Orkney a fair time ago. I've got them sorted back long way. This is with a lot of help from Shetland's Archivist. In particular the monument to Ursula Irvine(various spellings) in Orkney from about 1490. The archivist is of the view that from this date there may be continuous Halcrows. On my site : http://www.levonfamilyhistory.talktalk.net/lfh/wc02/wc02_058.htm > from Mike Levon > ::: ::: H O L Y G R O U N D R E C O R D S > ::: ::: http://www.holyground.co.uk > ::: ::: England's first independent record label

Does anyone know the parents of Cecilia Jane Annal Sabiston born 1912 South Ronaldsay. Willie Sinclair

I agree too. Maryann ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joy Moloney" <jmo22829@bigpond.net.au> To: <orkney@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2008 2:15 PM Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Orkney Gravestones >I agree with Willie - where would our research be if not for > SouthRonaldsay.net? > > Joy > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "William Sinclair" <sensiblegrandad@googlemail.com> > To: <orkney@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 12:51 AM > Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Orkney Gravestones > > >> Hi Lisa >> >> You may thank the Internet >> but I thank SouthRonaldsay.net >> >> Willie >> >> 2008/10/18 Lisa Conrad <nisus00@earthlink.net>: >>> -- I second Willie's comment about James Irvine's writings. :-) >>> >>> -- Dave Annal also portrays several headstones on his great site, as do >>> many other family researchers. >>> >>> -- No, Willie, you did not speak out of turn! For my site, I wish to >>> show headstones that are 19th-c. or earlier. (I do have a lot on my >>> plate, but importantly, working with you is part of that! Your photos >>> are first in line as I will try to turn some attention to those >>> headstone images you sent to me for my site. I am so immersed in the >>> birth registers, it is hard to set those aside. Willie, your patience is >>> exceptional! I think I need to fly you to my city so we can tackle some >>> genealogy side-by-side - heh! But thank goodness for the internet. Where >>> would we be without it.) >>> >>> >>> >>> Lisa >>>> >>> ------------------ >>> List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing >>> and UnSubscribing can be found at: >>> >>> http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >> ------------------ >> List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing >> and UnSubscribing can be found at: >> >> http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message >> > > ------------------ > List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing > and UnSubscribing can be found at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message

Hello David Thank you for the info - I will follow that lead. Regards Susan New Zealand -----Original Message----- From: orkney-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:orkney-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of David Armstrong Sent: Sunday, 19 October 2008 1:20 p.m. To: orkney@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Leaving Orkney G'day Susan, The attestation papers etc for soldiers during the period 1760-1872 have been microfilmed and are available through the LDS library network. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?dis play=titledetails&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=161618&disp=Soldiers+documents++ The records are grouped by Cavalry, Dragoon Guards (Dragoons are originally mounted infantry), Foot Guards, Infantry etc. David Armstrong Maylands, Western Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Simmons To: orkney@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 4:02 AM Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Leaving Orkney One member joined the army - the Scots Fusilier Guards. Does anyone else have family who joined up around the 1840s. I loose track of William Banks WRIGHT in Orkney after 1841, but find him again in the Second Battle of Inkerman 5th November 1854 where he was wounded. Listed there is also Thomas WRIGHT who also goes missing after 1841 in Orkney, but I have no proof that this Thomas is William Banks Wright's brother. What I would like to know is when and where would William Banks Wright been recruited for the Scots Fusilier Guards. Can anyone help me with this? Regards Susan Simmons ------------------ List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing and UnSubscribing can be found at: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Betsy, Lisa and List As Longhope, Walls, has been mentioned I would like to list my names there. My 4x great grandfather was Andrew STOUT b c 1760 married Katherine MILLAR. I have no idea who Andrew's parents were. Katherine' parents were James MILLAR and Jacobina BARNESTSON(E) married 1742. Jacobina's parents were Joh. (John? the younger)) BARNETSON and Betsy CROMERTIE married 1719. Andrew STOUT's daughter was Elizabeth b 1786 in Longhope, married Robert Sutherland in 1811 in Latheron, Caithness. Their son Robert, born 1829, married Catherine Manson and returned to the Orkneys to manage a farm in Huip, Stonsay before emigrating to New Zealand in 1863. I would love to contact anyone with these names. Helen Christchurch New Zealand

Most of my Wright family members left Orkney for work, leaving only the parents and a daughter in Walls - she was needed to care for her parents in old age. One member joined the army - the Scots Fusilier Guards. Does anyone else have family who joined up around the 1840s. I loose track of William Banks WRIGHT in Orkney after 1841, but find him again in the Second Battle of Inkerman 5th November 1854 where he was wounded. Listed there is also Thomas WRIGHT who also goes missing after 1841 in Orkney, but I have no proof that this Thomas is William Banks Wright's brother. What I would like to know is when and where would William Banks Wright been recruited for the Scots Fusilier Guards. Can anyone help me with this? Regards Susan Simmons

G'day Susan, The attestation papers etc for soldiers during the period 1760-1872 have been microfilmed and are available through the LDS library network. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=161618&disp=Soldiers+documents++ The records are grouped by Cavalry, Dragoon Guards (Dragoons are originally mounted infantry), Foot Guards, Infantry etc. David Armstrong Maylands, Western Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Simmons To: orkney@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 4:02 AM Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Leaving Orkney One member joined the army - the Scots Fusilier Guards. Does anyone else have family who joined up around the 1840s. I loose track of William Banks WRIGHT in Orkney after 1841, but find him again in the Second Battle of Inkerman 5th November 1854 where he was wounded. Listed there is also Thomas WRIGHT who also goes missing after 1841 in Orkney, but I have no proof that this Thomas is William Banks Wright's brother. What I would like to know is when and where would William Banks Wright been recruited for the Scots Fusilier Guards. Can anyone help me with this? Regards Susan Simmons

I agree with Willie - where would our research be if not for SouthRonaldsay.net? Joy ----- Original Message ----- From: "William Sinclair" <sensiblegrandad@googlemail.com> To: <orkney@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 12:51 AM Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Orkney Gravestones > Hi Lisa > > You may thank the Internet > but I thank SouthRonaldsay.net > > Willie > > 2008/10/18 Lisa Conrad <nisus00@earthlink.net>: >> -- I second Willie's comment about James Irvine's writings. :-) >> >> -- Dave Annal also portrays several headstones on his great site, as do >> many other family researchers. >> >> -- No, Willie, you did not speak out of turn! For my site, I wish to >> show headstones that are 19th-c. or earlier. (I do have a lot on my >> plate, but importantly, working with you is part of that! Your photos >> are first in line as I will try to turn some attention to those >> headstone images you sent to me for my site. I am so immersed in the >> birth registers, it is hard to set those aside. Willie, your patience is >> exceptional! I think I need to fly you to my city so we can tackle some >> genealogy side-by-side - heh! But thank goodness for the internet. Where >> would we be without it.) >> >> >> >> Lisa >>> >> ------------------ >> List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing >> and UnSubscribing can be found at: >> >> http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > ------------------ > List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing > and UnSubscribing can be found at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >

ahhhhhhh what memories of time spent in the old graveyard of St. Peter's - relatives buried there - spending time visiting with my cousins - and we opened and closed the old Kirk morning and night. Marion Luckily the Council had started > this process in 1990, and in the old graveyard of St.Peter's, Sandwick > their > team transcribed the inscription on my great-great aunt's stone. When > Dave > and I came to check this work and start transcribing the stones in the > West > graveyard there in 2001 I found her stone bare, defaced by frost. And by > 2002 the Council had removed the stone completely! > > James Irvine.

In regards to those Orcadians who left to go to England I have the following: These Sinclair's were all born in Kirkwall this is the 1851 Census Name: Barbara Sinclair Age: 35 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1816 Relation: Daughter Mother's Name: Margaret Gender: Female Where born: Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Liscard Ecclesiastical parish: St John County/Island: Cheshire Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Wirral Street Indexed Sub registration district: Woodchurch ED, institution, or vessel: 2b Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 268 Household Members: Name Age Barbara Sinclair 35 Dauglas Sinclair 28 Isabella Sinclair 30 Margaret Sinclair 73 Margaret Sinclair 18 ---------------------------------------- 1861 Census Name: David Sinclair Age: 46 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1815 Relation: Master Gender: Male Where born: Westray, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Vessels Town: Off Whitby County/Island: Misc Ships At Sea or Abroad Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: View Image Registration district: Misc Ships Sub registration district: Misc Ships ED, institution, or vessel: Marsh Mallow Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 1 Household Members: Name Age John Angus 30 James Fowle 20 Robert Goodchild 22 William James Harris 19 John Kerr 45 James King 30 George Newman 40 Francis Quinn 28 David Sinclair 46 James Sinclair 14 Born Leith William Willis 25 View Original Record View original image ---------------------------- Name: Isabella Sinclair Age: 28 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833 Relation: Servant Gender: Female Where born: Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Islington St Mary Ecclesiastical parish: St Paul Town: Islington County/Island: Middlesex Country: England Registration district: Islington Sub registration district: Islington East ED, institution, or vessel: 8 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 159 --------------------------------------------------- Everyone on board this ship was from Kirkwall. Name: William Sinclair Age: 48 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1813 Relation: Marner Master (Master) Gender: Male Where born: Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Vessels Town: Wear River County/Island: Durham Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: View Image Registration district: Anglesey Sub registration district: Holyhead ED, institution, or vessel: Senator Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 1 Household Members: Name Age William Corrigal 62 David Hatcheson 23 Robert Sherer 42 William Sinclair 48 William Sinclair 18 Charles Spence 18 Edwert Swaney 33 Andrew Walls 23 ----------------------------- 1871 Census Name: Anne Sinclair Age: 24 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1847 Relation: Servant Gender: Female Where born: Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: St Mary Magdalene County/Island: Sussex Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Hastings Sub registration district: St Mary in the Castle ED, institution, or vessel: 15 ---------------------------------------------- Margaret, Annie, Charles, all from Kirkwall Name: Annie Sinclair Age: 22 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1849 Relation: Sister-in-law Gender: Female Where born: Virrkwall, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Ryde County/Island: Hampshire Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Isle Of Wight Sub registration district: Ryde ED, institution, or vessel: 11 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 127 Household Members: Name Age Edward S Cooper 36 Margaret Cooper 31 Annie Sinclair 22 Charles E Sinclair 13 ------------------------------------- Name: Barbara Sinclair Age: 17 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854 Relation: Servant Gender: Female Where born: Stronsay, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Paddington Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints County/Island: London Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Kensington Sub registration district: St John Paddington ED, institution, or vessel: 15 ------------------------------------------ Name: Margaret Sinclair Age: 29 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1842 Relation: Servant Gender: Female Where born: Stronsay, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Paddington Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints County/Island: London Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Kensington Sub registration district: St John Paddington ED, institution, or vessel: 15 ---------------------------------------------- I think Margarets' maiden name was Sinclair Name: Margaret Cooper Age: 31 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1840 Relation: Wife Spouse's Name: Edward S Gender: Female Where born: Virrkwall, Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Ryde County/Island: Hampshire Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Isle Of Wight Sub registration district: Ryde ED, institution, or vessel: 11 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 127 Household Members: Name Age Edward S Cooper 36 Margaret Cooper 31 Annie Sinclair 22 (Margarets'sister) born Kirkwall Charles E Sinclair 13 (Margaret's brother) born Kirkwall -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Christiana Sinclair Age: 43 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1828 Relation: Head Gender: Female Where born: Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Stepney Ecclesiastical parish: St Thomas Town: London County/Island: London Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: Stepney Sub registration district: Ratcliff ED, institution, or vessel: 1 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 358 Household Members: Name Age Margaret Manson 31 (born Orkney) Robert Morrison 19 David Renton 21 (born Orkney) Gavin Rich 25 (born Orkney) George Scott 12 (born Orkney) Catherine J Sinclair 6 (Christina's daughter born in Middlesex) Christiana Sinclair 43 (born Orkney) Jessie Sinclair 14 (Christina's daughter born in Orkney) Joanna Sinclair 16 (Christina's daughter born in Orkney) John Tulloch 22 (born Orkney) -------------------------------------------------- Name: James Sinclair Age: 40 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1831 Relation: Head Spouse's Name: Jane Gender: Male Where born: Orkney, Scotland Civil Parish: Everton Ecclesiastical parish: St George Town: Liverpool County/Island: Lancashire Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View Image Registration district: West Derby Sub registration district: Toxteth Park ED, institution, or vessel: 49 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 152 Household Members: Name Age Frances Grant 46 (James wife was born in Kirkcubright) Mary Lockerbie 20 (servant born in Kirkcudbright) James Sinclair 40 (born Orkney) Jane Sinclair 29 (Sister-in-law of James born in Kirkcubright) Thomas Sinclair 2 (Their son was born in Liverpool) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have others if anyone is interested, I can also obtain the census through Ancestry. Willie Sinclair 2008/10/18 Lisa Conrad <nisus00@earthlink.net>: > I know what you mean, Charlie. Sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever > experience that sense of the unknown, the risk, excitement, hope, of > traveling to somewhere you know nothing about, as our ancestors did (I > slightly embellish that, as I know they did have letters and > newspapers). With the internet, before traveling, one can at least > google the unknowns away. If one chooses to do so. > > > ------------------ > List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing and UnSubscribing can be found at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Lisa, I am searching for the names Heddle, Sutherland, Wilson, Thomspon from Longhope, Walls and Logie, Bews, Mowat, Flett and Paplay from other parts of Orkney.

Hi Lisa You may thank the Internet but I thank SouthRonaldsay.net Willie 2008/10/18 Lisa Conrad <nisus00@earthlink.net>: > -- I second Willie's comment about James Irvine's writings. :-) > > -- Dave Annal also portrays several headstones on his great site, as do > many other family researchers. > > -- No, Willie, you did not speak out of turn! For my site, I wish to > show headstones that are 19th-c. or earlier. (I do have a lot on my > plate, but importantly, working with you is part of that! Your photos > are first in line as I will try to turn some attention to those > headstone images you sent to me for my site. I am so immersed in the > birth registers, it is hard to set those aside. Willie, your patience is > exceptional! I think I need to fly you to my city so we can tackle some > genealogy side-by-side - heh! But thank goodness for the internet. Where > would we be without it.) > > > > Lisa >> > ------------------ > List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing and UnSubscribing can be found at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

I posted many images of monuments from the Flotta kirkyard on www.Flickr.com site this year. Just go there and search for Flotta Kirkyard. I agree many are no longer legible. A website is only as permanent as the person who hosts it. I wonder if Orkney Family History Society would welcome copies of the headstone images burnt to CD for them? David Palmquist Message: 2 Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:46:50 +0100 From: "William Sinclair" <sensiblegrandad@googlemail.com> Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Orkney Gravestones To: orkney@rootsweb.com In relation to headstones I could not agree more with James Irvine (by the way your book is excellent). As you are aware I have been working on a database of Sinclair's and related families starting off in South Ronaldsay and then throughout Orkney, and when I was up in Orkney I photographed all the stones in St Peters graveyard with Sinclair on them. These will be going onto the site and linked to the individual and families, so that if you select a particular person and there is a headstone you will be shown this. A number of them are very difficult to read right now. Both myself and Lisa Conrad would welcome photographs of headstones as Lisa has a section dedicated to showing these. In Lisa's case they are all South Ronaldsay, in mine as long as they are Orkney related and I have that person or family in the database we would be pleased to receive them. This would help ensure that we will still be able to see the headstones and so would future generations as well as read the transcriptions. I hope I have not spoken out of turn for Lisa on this and if I have she will let me know :-), as she has a lot on her plate at the moment. Willie Sinclair ========== ============ ============= Check out http://ellingtonweb.ca ========== ============ ============= from www.BuyOrkney.com The three Statistical Accounts of Scotland, in which ministers described their parishes, can make entertaining reading. In 1842, Rev Adam White of North Ronaldsay made the following observations. "There was then [twelve years ago] but one cart in the island, which was never used, as the horse showed some disinclination to go into it." "There is no merchant, no baker, no shoemaker, no innkeeper; and the consolation of being without the last, is almost enough to reconcile one to the inconvenience arising from the absence of the rest." "In general habits, the people are, now at least, remarkably decent and sober." ============= ========== ============ ============= Be kinder than necessary,for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. ========== ============ ============= ========== It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others. ========== ============ ============= ========

My great-grandfather Charles Hay probably left for the adventure of going to North America. He signed on with Hudson Bay Co, as did many Orcadians in 1862 or 1863, but I suspect he was restless. He left HBC before his 5 year term was up, settled in Portage la Prairie as a real estate broker, then went to Vancouver, moved to south-central BC where he was one of the founders of Upper Grand Forks, homesteaded a ranch in Alberta, and returned to Vancouver where he ended his years. I suspect there is a Scandinavian yearning to see the world in many Orcadians. One of Charles' brothers went to South America, and appears to have earned a good living with the railways before returning to Flotta with his family. My great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Johnston, born at "Dressee, near Kirkwall" also came to North America with HBC as a domestic, in 1848 or 1849. Unlike her future son-in-law, when she married a soldier, they homesteaded in the Portage la Prairie area. No wanderlust there, I guess. David Palmquist Delta BC Message: 3 Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:25:06 -0400 From: "Betsy VanAuker" <mvanauker@hughes.net> Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] help needed To: <orkney@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <B325F127B90145FDB4F4004B3CF42E66@betsyg3see4icx> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I am willing to take Norman's suggestion to get back to Orkney, but would like to continue off list on Edinburgh cemeteries where former Longhope, Walls, Orkney residents might be buried. If anyone would like to continue this thread away from the Orkney group, please contact me at mvanauker@hughes.net. (However, I will be away on business Sunday-Tuesday). I have another question: Was there anything happening in the Orkneys - economic, political, etc. - that might have made several generations of a family decide to leave the Orkneys for Edinburgh? Margaret VanAuker ========== ============ ============= Check out http://ellingtonweb.ca ========== ============ ============= from www.BuyOrkney.com The three Statistical Accounts of Scotland, in which ministers described their parishes, can make entertaining reading. In 1842, Rev Adam White of North Ronaldsay made the following observations. "There was then [twelve years ago] but one cart in the island, which was never used, as the horse showed some disinclination to go into it." "There is no merchant, no baker, no shoemaker, no innkeeper; and the consolation of being without the last, is almost enough to reconcile one to the inconvenience arising from the absence of the rest." "In general habits, the people are, now at least, remarkably decent and sober." ============= ========== ============ ============= Be kinder than necessary,for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. ========== ============ ============= ========== It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others. ========== ============ ============= ========

Betsy VanAuker wrote: > > I have another question: Was there anything happening in the Orkneys - > economic, political, etc. - that might have made several generations of a > family decide to leave the Orkneys for Edinburgh? > > Margaret VanAuker Basically people left Orkney and went to various locations in the UK and also around the world (the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, mainly) in order to try to make a better life for themselves — to earn a living or to seek education. The same situation (a brain-drain, if you like) has applied for centuries to the rural parts of Scotland and still persists to this day. Orkney wasn't a rich part of the country and offered limited opportunities. Both of my parents were born in Orkney. My father left when he was nineteen after his father died, and his two brothers left at around the same age. My mother left Orkney when she was seven with her mother(though her father stayed there), supposedly to find better educational opportunities for her older sister. None of my mother's siblings remained in Orkney much after they left school. In the 19th century there was an agricultural revolution that displaced many people from the land, but many Orkney people who had no involvement with agriculture also left, as they had done for generations and as they still do. A little off Orkney, but I remember reading the passenger list for a ship that was taking emigrants to America from south-west Scotland in the early 19th century. The reason given for travel was frequently, "Could not earn bread in the sweat of his brow to support himself and his family". Norman Tulloch

Hi , Yes, I second that Cath Hi Lisa You may thank the Internet but I thank SouthRonaldsay.net Willie

In relation to headstones I could not agree more with James Irvine (by the way your book is excellent). As you are aware I have been working on a database of Sinclair's and reelated families starting off in South Ronaldsay and then throughout Orkney, and when I was up in Orkney I photographed all the stones in St Peters graveyard with Sinclair on them. These will be going onto the site and linked to the individual and families, so that if you select a particular person and there is a headstone you will be shown this. A number of them are very difficult to read right now. Both myself and Lisa Conrad would welcome photographs of headstones as Lisa has a section dedicated to showing these. In Lisa's case they are all South Ronaldsay, in mine as long as they are Orkney related and I have that person or family in the database we would be pleased to receive them. This would help ensure that we will still be able to see the headstones and so would future generations as well as read the transcriptions. I hope I have not spoken out of turn for Lisa on this and if I have she will let me know :-), as she has a lot on her plate at the moment. Willie Sinclair 2008/10/18 James Irvine <james.irvine@ukonline.co.uk>: > Taking up Stuart's Robertson's suggestion, we should all be aware that > gravestones are rarely a permanent memorial. Besides vandalism (fortunately > still rare in Orkney), sandstone headstones suffer from frost damage. Today > the OFHS, led by Dave Higgins, is making an excellent effort to record all > of Orkney's old gravestones still legible. Luckily the Council had started > this process in 1990, and in the old graveyard of St.Peter's, Sandwick their > team transcribed the inscription on my great-great aunt's stone. When Dave > and I came to check this work and start transcribing the stones in the West > graveyard there in 2001 I found her stone bare, defaced by frost. And by > 2002 the Council had removed the stone completely! Visiting St.Peter's in > S.Ronaldsay in 2006 I saw several beautiful 17th century stones with > heraldic carvings crumbling from frost damage, almost as I watched. > > I'm not sure what the answer is, except don't put off visiting and > photographing your ancestors' graves any longer than you have to! Don't > wait for the beneficial effects of global warming!! > > James Irvine. > > > ------------------ > List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing and UnSubscribing can be found at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Located signature of Hugh PETRIE of Quindry, So Ronaldsay, when he was approx. 68 years old. (I offer this info because sometimes it is hard to find signatures of your ancestors when they were older. It can be interesting to compare the handwriting of your ancestors as they age.) Because the place name was Quindry, I believe this was the Hugh Petrie who married Barbara GRAY; he was a son of Peter PETRIE and Clementina ALLAN. (Someone can let me know if I am wrong?) His signature is on the birth register for his grandson, John Cormack PETRIE--> So Ronaldsay Births, year 1870, Page 13, entry #39. _ Lisa