Caroline Your Andrew Smellie Tait was almost certainly named after the brother of my gggfather. Andrew Smellie (the son of Rev. James Smellie of St. Andrews parish, Orkney) was born at St. Andrews in 1820. He was ordained as the first Free Church minister of Deerness Parish in 1847, and died there in 1851. There is a large memorial to him in the Skaill church burial yard in Deerness. I can provide more details, if you are interested. I also know that there are Taits still very active in the church in Deerness. Ken Harrison Vancouver, Canada mcharrison@compuserve.com Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 13:40:53 PDT From: "Caroline Tait" <charliegh@hotmail.com> To: ORKNEY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ORKNEY-L] Tait Family Robert Tait (born about 1810)wed Margaret Wick (they lived in "Deerness" in the Orkney Islands). They had 7 kids that I know of: William Tait (born 5 May 1833) Jane Tait (born 1836) Robert Tait (born 21 Jan 1838) James Tait (born 6 Dec 1841) John Hamilton Tait (born 29 Jan 1843) David Tait (born 1845) Andrew Smellie Tait (14 Jan or Feb 1847) - MY Great Great Grandfather Married Kate Ellis 24 Jan 1883 I would appreciate any further details on this family, in particular Robert Tait snr and Andrew Smellie Tait. thanks again Caroline Tait