Jane - can you supply any dates to zero in on this family ? The 1881 Census shows a BROWN family in Kirkwall on Victoria Street that had been from Holm. Catherine BROWN, widow, 38, born Holm, she was a Lodginghouse Keeper with a son, James, 11 also born Holm & another son, Alexander aged 8, born Holm. I checked the IGI for the birth of a James BROWN born about 1870 and did find a James BROWN, son of James and Catherine BROWN born 14 March, 1870 in Holm. This Catherine's maiden name was MANSON. The IGI shows they wed 27 Aug, 1868 which means my local Family History Center has a microfilm containing the original handwritten registration. This would tell you the parents of both bride and groom, with their ages at the marriage plus when and where they married. The marriage document might specifically list Hill Head. The 1871 Census for Holm would probably have it on the enumeration page. I'd suggest beginning with the online IGI : http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp It goes up to 1875, later dates are Patron Submissions, not from original data sources. All Holm Births, Marriages and Deaths can be searched in Batches [old parish books]: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyOrkney.htm#H Before anyone goes further to find something on your family, can you assist with some dates, maybe your GGrandmother's name or some information to get a plausible birth or marriage to begin to trace them ? There is a lot of data available on Orkney, please post what you have that would point to a year to search. Thanks and Welcome ! Meg Greenwood / Oklahoma USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi all, I'm new to Orkney research and Rootsweb lists have always been helpful to me when I've started researching in a new place. My cousin recently sent me a copy of a letter written by my greatgrandmother in 1939. In part it reads:My father [James Brown] came from the Orkney Islands that is at the far north of Scotland and my grand father still lived there when I was 15 years old at a place called the Hill Head of Holm pronounced Ham some 300 years ago his ancestors came from Sweden. The name was spelled Breun that is all I know about him only I think my father was the only one of the family that came here unless there were some sisters of his that came here [I mean came to Scotland[Aberdeen]] it seems to me I hame some faint recollections of them. What resources are available destinctive to Orkney/Holm? I have been unable to find a "Hill Head" of Holm. Do I need to go through the GRO for Scotland for births/marriages/deaths? All suggestions appreciated. Jane

Hi all again, My Great-Grandmother was Isabella Ross Brown, daughter of Alexander or James Brown [I got the paperwork from ScotlandsPeople: birth, marriage records say Alexander but her letter says James, unless she meant her grandfather was James.] She was born 23 March 1861 in Aberdeen, so when she was 15 and she knew her Grandfather was still alive, the date would have been 1876. Her father died 8 Jan 1862 and her mother remarried. Thank you for your prompt help!! Jane --- Greenwood <[email protected]> wrote: > Jane - can you supply any dates to zero in on this > family ? The 1881 > Census shows a BROWN family in Kirkwall on Victoria > Street that had been > from Holm. Catherine BROWN, widow, 38, born Holm, > she was a > Lodginghouse Keeper with a son, James, 11 also born > Holm & another son, > Alexander aged 8, born Holm. > > I checked the IGI for the birth of a James BROWN > born about 1870 and did > find a James BROWN, son of James and Catherine BROWN > born 14 March, 1870 > in Holm. This Catherine's maiden name was MANSON. > The IGI shows they wed > 27 Aug, 1868 which means my local Family History > Center has a microfilm > containing the original handwritten registration. > This would tell you > the parents of both bride and groom, with their ages > at the marriage > plus when and where they married. The marriage > document might > specifically list Hill Head. The 1871 Census for > Holm would probably > have it on the enumeration page. > > I'd suggest beginning with the online IGI : > http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp > It goes up to 1875, later dates are Patron > Submissions, not from > original data sources. > > All Holm Births, Marriages and Deaths can be > searched in Batches [old > parish books]: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyOrkney.htm#H > > Before anyone goes further to find something on your > family, can you > assist with some dates, maybe your GGrandmother's > name or some > information to get a plausible birth or marriage to > begin to trace them > ? There is a lot of data available on Orkney, > please post what you have > that would point to a year to search. Thanks and > Welcome ! Meg > Greenwood / Oklahoma USA > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Hi all, > I'm new to Orkney research and Rootsweb lists have > always been helpful to me when I've started > researching in a new place. My cousin recently sent > me > a copy of a letter written by my greatgrandmother in > 1939. In part it reads:My father [James Brown] came > from the Orkney Islands that is at the far north of > Scotland and my > grand father still lived there when I was 15 years > old at a place called the Hill Head of Holm > pronounced > Ham some 300 years ago his ancestors came from > Sweden. > The name was spelled Breun that is all I know about > him only I think my father was the only one of the > family > that came here unless there were some sisters of > his > that came here [I mean came to Scotland[Aberdeen]] > it > seems to me I hame some faint recollections of > them. > > What resources are available destinctive to > Orkney/Holm? I have been unable to find a "Hill > Head" > of Holm. Do I need to go through the GRO for > Scotland > for births/marriages/deaths? > All suggestions appreciated. > Jane > > > > > > ==== ORKNEY Mailing List ==== > >>>>TIP: To search the archives of this list go to > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=ORKNEY > on the next page enter your search word(s) and > select the year click the submit query button<<<< > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and > search for your ancestors at the same time. Share > your tree with family and friends. Learn more: > http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 > > __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com