I am very happy to be included as a new member of this forum. I am excited and intrigued by the possibilities for building knowledge of my family history and of the island that was home to my father, my paternal grandmother and her forebears. Personally, I was born and raised in Possilpark, Glasgow and after a working life in which I’ve lived overseas for many years, I’m now based in Dunfermline, Fife. As I child, I holidayed several times in Bowmore with my father, in the years before my grandmother died. I became familiar with the town (from a child/teenager’s point of view), but never got to know my many cousins on the island. My father indicated that this was because my grandmother had a knack for disagreements with her family, and every time I visited we were forbidden from visiting a wide range of aunts, uncles and cousins. My father would sneak off and visit them anyway, but I was left home, to avoid the word getting back to his mother! I was last on the island over 30 years ago, but will be making a long-overdue visit, early in the New Year. I hope that I may be able to contact one or two of my Islay-based relatives through this forum - I would like to meet some of those that I was barred from visiting, way back when!! I have an extensive record (on Ancestry.com) of my family, past and present, through research using 'Scotland’s People’ and visits to the the National Library in Edinburgh, but there are a number of gaps which someone out there may be able to help me fill. And as I mentioned, I hope to make contact with cousins who are living on the island. Here are are some of my family details, and let’s see if the names are familiar to anyone out there My father - John (Iain) McNair Brown (still haven’t worked out where the McNair comes from!) - born in Bowmore in 1935 My grandmother - Catherine McDougall Gray - born in Port Dundas, Glasgow in 1913. She married Alexander Brown in 1932 and had two sons - my father and his brother, Colin Maxwell Brown. She divorced my grandfather and returned to Bowmore, where she married Archie Caldwell and lived on Main Street until she died in 1977. Archie lived on in Bowmore until he died in 1984. My great grandparents on my gramdmother’s side were John Gray (from Glasgow) and Flora McEachern from Ardbeg and it is this McEachern line and its offshoots that I’ve managed to trace back into the early 1700s. My current relatives on the island (as far as I’ve managed to trace them so far) are the offspring on my grandmother’s sister, Rachel Gray, who returned to Bowmore from Glasgow and married John McInnes McKerrell. I believe that the most recent generations are a collection of McKerrells, Rountrees and Johnstons. Apologies for such a long-winded introduction, but maybe someone out there will recognise some of these names and help fill in some details. And I’d be very happy to share any of my family history research with folks on the forum. Best regards, Iain

Welcome to the group. I don’t have family on the island now, we think they all left in the late 1800's. My Murdoch's were in Bowmore from late 1700's. You can check out the tree on my web site www.hawkinsfamilyresearch.com Regards Candy Hawkins -----Original Message----- From: sct-islay-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:sct-islay-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Iain Brown via Sent: Saturday, 24 October 2015 3:01 AM To: SCT-ISLAY@rootsweb.com Subject: [SCT-ISLAY] Introduction - new member - Iain Brown (with roots in the McEacherns of Islay) I am very happy to be included as a new member of this forum. I am excited and intrigued by the possibilities for building knowledge of my family history and of the island that was home to my father, my paternal grandmother and her forebears. Personally, I was born and raised in Possilpark, Glasgow and after a working life in which I’ve lived overseas for many years, I’m now based in Dunfermline, Fife. As I child, I holidayed several times in Bowmore with my father, in the years before my grandmother died. I became familiar with the town (from a child/teenager’s point of view), but never got to know my many cousins on the island. My father indicated that this was because my grandmother had a knack for disagreements with her family, and every time I visited we were forbidden from visiting a wide range of aunts, uncles and cousins. My father would sneak off and visit them anyway, but I was left home, to avoid the word getting back to his mother! I was last on the island over 30 years ago, but will be making a long-overdue visit, early in the New Year. I hope that I may be able to contact one or two of my Islay-based relatives through this forum - I would like to meet some of those that I was barred from visiting, way back when!! I have an extensive record (on Ancestry.com) of my family, past and present, through research using 'Scotland’s People’ and visits to the the National Library in Edinburgh, but there are a number of gaps which someone out there may be able to help me fill. And as I mentioned, I hope to make contact with cousins who are living on the island. Here are are some of my family details, and let’s see if the names are familiar to anyone out there My father - John (Iain) McNair Brown (still haven’t worked out where the McNair comes from!) - born in Bowmore in 1935 My grandmother - Catherine McDougall Gray - born in Port Dundas, Glasgow in 1913. She married Alexander Brown in 1932 and had two sons - my father and his brother, Colin Maxwell Brown. She divorced my grandfather and returned to Bowmore, where she married Archie Caldwell and lived on Main Street until she died in 1977. Archie lived on in Bowmore until he died in 1984. My great grandparents on my gramdmother’s side were John Gray (from Glasgow) and Flora McEachern from Ardbeg and it is this McEachern line and its offshoots that I’ve managed to trace back into the early 1700s. My current relatives on the island (as far as I’ve managed to trace them so far) are the offspring on my grandmother’s sister, Rachel Gray, who returned to Bowmore from Glasgow and married John McInnes McKerrell. I believe that the most recent generations are a collection of McKerrells, Rountrees and Johnstons. Apologies for such a long-winded introduction, but maybe someone out there will recognise some of these names and help fill in some details. And I’d be very happy to share any of my family history research with folks on the forum. Best regards, Iain ------------------------------- Quoting the entire text of a previous message in a reply is poor netiquette. Please don't do it. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCT-ISLAY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message