MARION MCLEOD wrote: > Hill Head in Holm - could this be Hillhead in St Ola on the Holm Road on the > outskirts of Kirkwall? > > Marion Marion, As you say, that Hillhead is presumably in St Ola parish rather than Holm. I don't know where the Holm one is, but I did come across this reference to it in a Rootsweb Archive message written by Norma Thain: "Hi Janine, Came across this member of your Petrie family when I was completing my index of the 1873 Petrie marriages in Scotland........ Marriage Certificate Transcription Ref: 1873 HOLM, Orkney Page 4 Entry 7 (source: General Records Office) On 13 November 1873 at Hillhead, Holm, Orkney (after banns of Church of Scotland) GEORGE RENDALL Ploughman Bachelor age 22 of Nethertown, Holm Parents: JOHN RENDALL - Weaver SEATOR (sic) RENDALL ms RENDALL JANE PETRIE House Maid Spinster age 23 of Nethertown, Holm Parents: JAMES PETRIE - Fisherman - deceased ELISABETH PETRIE ms SUTHERLAND Witnesses: JAMES GARRIOCH PETER PETRIE ______________ Cheerio Norma" Source here: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/PETRIE-SCOTLAND/2002-05/1022433522 I think, therefore, that there must be another Hillhead in Holm, but I can't see it on the map. I can see a Braehead, though. I don't suppose that could be an alternative name for the same place, could it? Incidentally, I can't find Nethertown, Holm on the 1:50000 Ordnance Survey map either. Regards, Norman Tulloch

Hi Norman I have come across reference to Hill Head in Holm too but it was actually the Hill Head in St Ola. Could the St Ola and Holm boundary have changed over the years? Marion Web pages at www.btinternet.com/~marion.mcleod http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/c/l/Marion-A-Mcleod www.photobox.co.uk/[email protected]

MARION MCLEOD wrote: > Hi Norman > > I have come across reference to Hill Head in Holm too but it was actually > the Hill Head in St Ola. Could the St Ola and Holm boundary have changed > over the years? > > Marion Well yes, Marion, I guess the boundary certainly could have changed, but I don't know whether it did. The Hillhead that you're referring to is about two miles north of the present St Ola/Holm parish boundary. However, I suppose it's possible that St Ola parish might have been extended southwards at some point to take account of the expansion of Kirkwall. A bit of extra research is called for, I think. :-) Norman Tulloch