Convict blood - thanks to a horsewhipping

I've just been playing with the online offerings of FindmyPast Australasia (www.findmypast.com.au) as part of my world subscription on FindmyPast.com, and was surprised to make an unusual discovery about the husband of one of my family members. David Bell was the husband of Helen Paton, the sister of my three times great grandfather William Paton, the couple having married in the Scottish city of Perth in 1836. In 1849 both David and Helen emigrated to Queensland on board the Chaseley with their family, and to this day at the city's Kangaroo Point there exists two streets named after them, Paton Street and Bell Street. Two years ago I actually managed to walk down both streets, as I recalled some time ago on this blog at http://walkingineternity.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/paton-street-flag-on-moon.html

David Bell initially worked for a Captain Robert Towns for several years after his arrival, his obituary many years later stating that he did this in the 'early fifties', where he managed punts between Brisbane and Ipswich, before building his own hardware store in Stanley Street in 1863. In 1868, when the Duke of Edinburgh visited Brisbane, David was one of the fully costumed Brisbane Highlanders to personally greet him at Queen’s Park. A newspaper article from May 1871 showed that as part of his Highland outfit, David had commissioned a local Brisbane craftsman to make him an expensive ornamented dirk, to promote the talents of the settlement’s skilled silversmiths. David clearly had some standing in the community - which makes the following story all the more remarkable!

The FindmyPast.com site has surprisingly revealed that David was briefly imprisoned on December 5th 1856, the entry confirming that it was the correct person by noting his arrival on the Chaseley in 1849 (Brisbane Gaol. Register of prisoners admitted & discharged 1856 -1859, PRI 1/25, Column Or Folio:267). The record notes him to have been a storekeeper at this point also, though he was clearly still working for someone else, as identified from the following newspaper article from the Moreton Bay Courier of Saturday December 6th 1856, which explained what happened:

POLICE COURT: Yesterday, David Bell and James Bryon were charged by Mr. Souter, of South Brisbane, with assaulting him on the 28th of last month. It appears, though the facts did not come out at the Police Court, that Mr. Souter had had some differences with a gentleman, also resident in South Brisbane, and had taken the liberty of chastising him with a horsewhip, which he borrowed for the purpose from one of the defendants, but without informing him as to the use to which it was to be applied. Both defendants are in the employment of the party alluded to; and the one who lent the whip to Mr. Souter, feeling exasperated at being made the innocent instrument in the chastisement of his employer, took the first opportunity of making an attack on Mr. Souter, in which he was assisted by his fellow employee. Mr. Little appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Ocock for the defendants. The assault being proved, both defendants were sentenced to two months' imprisonment.

Either David or James had lent a horsewhip to Souter, who immediately began to assault their employer with it! In retaliation they struck Souter - and they were the pair convicted of assault! There's justice for you...

It's not many who can claim a badge of honour by stating that they have family that gained convict blood after it reached Oz. But all credit to David and James - I think I would probably have done the same!

NB: for newspaper coverage in Australia, visit the excellent Trove website at http://trove.nla.gov.au

Chris

Pawn shop ledgers in Carrick-on-Suir

Last week I spent a few days with my wife and kids in Ireland, mainly to go camping in Connemara, Waterford and Down, but we also managed to spend a couple of days in Piltown, County Kilkenny, with my mother-in-law. Just up the road from Piltown is a town called Carrick-on-Suir, just over the county border in Tipperary, and the birthplace of my now deceased father-in-law Paddy Giles.

Carrick-on-Suir Heritage Centre

Every time I go to Carrick I try to get in some research, either with visits to the local graveyards in Carrickbeg, or at the local Heritage Centre, based within an old converted Presbyterian church building in the centre of the town. The centre has many interesting displays on all sorts of aspects of history, including the War of Independence, and the raising of the red flag over the town's creamery in 1922 just prior to the civil war in the 1920s. Within several glass cases there are also many rare gems - a physician's prescription book, letters from many former residents, and more. Each time I have visited in the past I have asked if it was possible to be able to see some of these rare gems, and have previously always been denied. On this occasion, however, my luck was in!

In one of the cabinets I noticed a pile of books with a small label stating that they were pawn shop ledgers. Intrigued, I asked if I could perhaps have a look at them, explaining that I worked as a genealogist but was in this case interested for personal reasons. The attendant unbelievably agreed! It took a few minutes to work out how to unlock the case, but once done I lifted down the books and began to browse.

Anyone who regularly researches will know that in many cases the records available for genealogical excavation tend to be better for those slightly further up the social scale, with property records, newspaper coverage, and more. In Ireland, much of the population was at the other end of the social scale, often destitute and barely able to make ends meet. One of the big surprises for me personally in the last few weeks has been to discover just how polarised the population of Carrick was in the War of Independence. I had always believed the town to be pro-independence, but in fact, hundreds of men had been recruited in the town to the British Army in previous years, and the wages sent back to wives and mothers was a much prized resource. Far from being supportive of Irish independence, many were in fact openly hostile to it, fearful for the loss of wages that would ensue. The lack of income for many of the population was a serious issue.

A key problem with Irish research is the lack of censuses prior to 1901 for most of Ireland. Carrick-on-Suir is a remarkable town in that it has a major exception, in the form of a census that was taken in 1799, now held by the British Library in London, and which acted in many ways as a forerunner to the later British decennial censuses. The census lists names, ages, occupations and addresses, and more. (A truncated transcript is online at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/WATERFORD/2008-09). The population in 1799 is therefore well recorded, as it is again in 1901. The problem lies in the middle. Griffiths Valuation is one of a few census substitutes which lists the heads of household for the middle of the century, but any new resource is always welcome.

So having placed the pawn shop ledgers on the table, I had a look to see what I could find. The records cover the period from 1864 to 1868, and are absolutely packed with details of those who took trinkets to the local pawn shop on the Main Street, often on a monthly basis. So detailed were they that in four hours I was only able to get through the records for July1864 to October 1865, and the few records available for 1868. Having previously built up a picture of the Giles, Donovan and Colleton families from the town from other sources such as parish and statutory records, I was now able to learn a great deal more.

Carrick-on-Suir circa 1925

For one thing, a new family member was revealed - a Rose Giles who like the rest of the family lived on the Ballyrichard Road and later at the town's Fair Green. Rose was noted as pawning a brown vest for 2s 1d on Tuesday October 25th 1864, and a pair of grey trousers and a vest just four days later for 4s 7d. In the period of a year she was in fact recorded a total of thirteen times, with other items pawned including a black cap, a handkerchief, an old calico shirt, with many of the same items apparently pawned on several occasions. Quite how Rose ties in I have yet to establish, but without these records, I would never have heard of her. Elsewhere, my sons' three times great grandmother, noted as 'Mrs Donovan' from Ballyrichard (and later Oven Lane), is also noted as pawning a pair of shoes and a dark frock coat on a couple of occasions, with her daughter, the boys two times great gran also noted as pawning boots from Oven Lane just four years prior to her marriage. On the Colleton side, a well established family of bakers in the town, there are also many other entries showing that a visit to the pawn shop was a way of life for many within the town.

Whilst Carrick-on-Suir is a huge town, it has no historical society, and so records such as these are lying around in display cabinets gathering dust, when they in fact contain a gold mine of information. When somebody next tells you that there are no records in Ireland - they were all destroyed, and all the rest - ignore them. Put your coat on, head for the area of interest and start to dig - you never know what you might uncover!

Chris

Maybe they could be buried first?

Am I the only one that finds it a little outrageous when mainstream genealogical records vendors start using the deaths of celebrities as a means to immediately peddle their wares - just hours after the celebrities' deaths have been announced?

To give a couple of examples - on July 8th, veteran Hollywood film actor Ernest Borgnine passed away. On the following day, an American based vendor's blog had a post detailing the story of the actor - not by his achievements, but by the long list of records found on its site. Could it perhaps be an American thing? Sadly no. Today, with the announcement of the death of British news reader Alastair Burnett, a British vendor noted within hours that it was sad to hear of his loss on a social networking site, the comment accompanied by a full blown image of his birth index entry. 

An obituary is a wonderful way to commemorate the loss of a talent, to remind people why such a loss is indeed a loss. A cheap advert exploiting a tragedy just hours after the announcement of such a loss doesn't really impress quite so much... 

Chris

Going ape in Aberfoyle

It was Father's Day yesterday, so my son Calum and I did the Go Ape course at Aberfoyle in the Trossachs (http://goape.co.uk/days-out/aberfoyle).  My arms are now killing me, but it was well worth it - nothing beats doing a zip slide over a valley and singing the James Bond theme as you go! I should add, it also reminded me that I was approaching 42 and not 22...! :)

As a professional genealogist, my only work related thought after a day's tree climbing, zipsliding, tunnel crawling and midge dodging was the following - thank goodness we evolved beyond the monkey stage! :)

Here, for your delectable pleasure, is a ten tonne genie hurling himself across the void...

Now - back to work!

Chris

Church of England disestablishment

I am fascinated by the news headlines in tomorrow's Times newspaper - Gay marriage law could divorce State from Church (also the BBC at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18405318). Apparently the issue which has festered within the Anglican communion could lead to a religious armageddon - the article states that "senior church sources warned that if the legislation goes ahead as proposed, the only way forward will be to cut an important tie between Church and State. Divorcing the Church from its role as religious registrar for the State would not amount to total disestablishment, but it would be a significant step in that direction..."

The idea of the monarch being the head of the state church, which still exists in England, is one that baffles me. To me, the monarch is not in that position because of any divine appointment, but instead because one of his or her ancestors, Henry VIII, simply decided he was going to get a divorce and the Pope didn't agree with him! The absurdity of it to me is up there with the absurdity of maintaining a monarchy in the first place. Of course, here in Scotland it is not an issue, as the monarch is no longer the head of the state church, and has not been for centuries. As a non-Anglican with a Scottish and Ulster based Presbyterian background, I don't understand the logic behind maintaining the link. Other branches of my family though were, and still are, Anglican, and one member in particular is certainly an authority I am happy to draw inspiration from on the matter!

My second cousin once removed is the Venerable Michael Paton, former archdeacon of Sheffield Cathedral, and a man with whom I have in the past had the great honour to speak with and to receive correspondence from. Way back in 1958, Michael's brother David, later to become a chaplain of the present Queen, pulled together a publication (as editor of SCM Press) entitled Essays in Anglican Self-Criticism. Michael made a magnificent contribution entitled Can we Ignore the Establishment? in which he was highly critical of the link between state and church. He pointed out the arguments of critics - for example, "there is no constitutional reason why the Prime Minister should be a member of the Church of England, or indeed a Christian at all; yet even if he were a bitter enemy of the Church of God, he would still have virtually the final say in the choice of bishops for that Church". Against this he also outlined arguments in support - sure the PM would consult the Archbishop of Canterbury first, and disestablishment would lead to the Anglican Church merely becoming a sect. After comparing such arguments and many more on each side, Michael's opinion was that in fact most arguments work against the idea of Establishment, "for the hard fact is that in practice it works badly".

Amongst the many reasons he then discusses about why the Church was happy to establish the status quo was that concerning one of its greatest fears - the fear of splits: "this is the deepest of our fears, and the least acknowledged". He then stated that if the church did disestablish, it was assumed by many that all hell would break loose - "it seems to be assumed that the parties in the Church would instantly burst asunder: the Anglo-Catholics presumably to Rome, the opposite wing perhaps to one of the Free Churches, whilst the centre would be left, a pathetic remnant, to bear the sectarian name of Anglican".

Michael's final take on disestablishment was nevertheless very much in favour of it: "no doubt there would be some losses, at either end, of extremists: but what gains!" and "What new life it would give to our Church to recognise... the hypocrisy and falseness of our present position! We could then set about composing our differences under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (including common sense), instead of relying on the artificial constriction of an Establishment fashioned for quite different needs".

I am no Anglican - I am not even religious - but it strikes me that much of what Michael was writing about seems almost prophetic. His father William Paton was in fact a Presbyterian minister before him, and I do wonder if some of his father's impressions may have influenced his own opinions! Whatever the reason, what I read in Michael's writings from over half a century ago make as much sense to me now as it seemed to him back then - and far be it for me to argue with any member of my family described as 'venerable'...!

Chris

An old photo album & the Comrie family

I received an extraordinary email a couple of years back from Susan Barnett in Dundee. I had picked up on a post that she had written on the Perthshire Rootsweb list concerning a photo album that she had discovered whilst clearing out the attic of the house in which she was residing. The album was not hers, but one that had lain forgotten in the attic from some previous owner. There were few details other than the fact that it involved a family by the name of COMRIE.

My five times great grandmother was a Janet McEWAN (1781 - bef 1851) from the Perthshire parish of Madderty, and she had a brother called Andrew McEWAN, who married Ann REID. One of their daughters, Annie McEWAN (1821-1873) married an Alexander COMRIE in 1843. As such, on a whim I contacted Susan and asked if she might send some more details. She kindly emailed me a few names mentioned inside, and several seemed familiar. I asked if it might be possible to see a scan or two of the images - instead, she offered to send me the album!

A few days later the album arrived, but as I worked my way through the pages I nearly jumped out of my seat - I had seen one of the images before! The Scottish Cultural Resources Network (www.scran.ac.uk), better known as SCRAN, has a series of images on its site from later generations of the COMRIE family at Drummie Farm in Fowlis Wester, as held by the National Museums of Scotland. Most of the images were from the early 20th century, with some that were from the late 19th Century, depicting both family gatherings and work based images from around the farm.

The following is a quick screengrab of some of the thumbnails:

One photo in particular, however, would confirm the link between the album and my family. It depicted the family of Alexander COMRIE and Mary PATERSON, from Perth, Scotland, alongside their children, Annie McCowan COMRIE, David Paterson COMRIE, Jessie Paterson Copeland COMRIE, Peter William  COMRIE, Helen Hardy COMRIE and Alexander COMRIE. Alexander COMRIE (snr) 1847-1913 was Janet McEWAN's great nephew. An almost exact copy of the same image appears on the SCRAN website, although was clearly taken as a separate photograph a minute or two before or after the other, as the hand positions and expressions are just slightly different, but the family is arranged in the exact same pose.

The family of Alexander Comrie and Mary Paterson

As I worked through the album several other images began to click into place - the family of John KINLOCH and his wife Annie COMRIE, the Reverend William COMRIE who emigrated to New Zealand and more. The images are truly superb, but some of them still remain unidentifiable. As such, I have now scanned them all and placed them onto a Flickr gallery at www.flickr.com/photos/63594072@N03/sets/72157630018329392/with/7322276172/, with as much information as I have been able to glean from them.

If you have a connection to the family, feel free to use the images for your own research - and of course, if you are connected to my McEWAN line and its descendants, including the COMRIE line, do drop me a note! The information I have on the family so far can be viewed at http://chrispatonscotland.tripod.com/id28.html

The Reverend William Comrie and his wife in Auckland, New Zealand

Chris

Jubilee - and winds of change

This weekend is the present British Queen's jubilee, where she celebrates 60 years of queening, a feat only previously matched by Queen Victoria. At a time when Britain is in its worst financial state for decades the national media - even lots of the Scottish media - is stuffed to the brim with coverage on how wonderful the institution of monarchy is, with extravagant and expensive celebrations in London and more to commemorate the event.

Yet all is not quite as it seems. In England and Wales some 6500 applications for street parties were made to local authorities to close streets off to have parties for the jubilee weekend - in Scotland, however, there were just a paltry 97 applications received. Of the 33 applications received in Edinburgh, only twenty were agreed, and in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, just seven were agreed. In North Ayrshire, where I live, there is not a single official street party, a situation matched by 13 other local authorities across the country - Aberdeen, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Moray, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and the Western Isles. (Scottish Television has the story at http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/102921-one-third-of-diamond-jubilee-street-party-applications-are-from-edinburgh/) (UPDATE: BBC Scotland news tonight claimed 9500 street parties in England, less than a hundred in Scotland - "Figures suggest the Scots haven't embraced the Diamond Jubilee as much as the south")

The Scottish independence campaign kicked off last week, but independence will not see a change to the status quo with regards to the monarchy. In this regard I actually disagree with the campaign, as I have always perceived the institution to be undemocratic. Yes campaign supporter Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Green Party has argued for the institution of monarchy to be consigned to history north of the border, and in this I am with him one hundred per cent. It's ironic that Alex Salmond and the SNP make the case that maintaining the Queen as the head of state in an independent Scotland would help to cement a social union with England, when the evidence of this weekend would seem to suggest that the majority of people living in Scotland just can't be bothered to actually celebrate what is certainly a historic occasion for the institution  itself. As with many other issues, on this there would appear to be an equal wind of change north of the border.

There are many ties that will forever unite us with England, even if and when we go our separate ways, not least of which the fact we share a small island together. But a democracy with an imposed head of state is not a true democracy. I certainly have nothing against the Queen on a personal level - as Billy Connolly once said "if anyone is going to save the Queen, God's the very chap!" - but if I cannot vote for her, I personally cannot view her as my head of state, despite the state imposing that on me. She is only my queen because I am told she is - it would appear to be a view shared by many across Scotland.

UPDATE: Looks like the First Minister is trying to apologise on behalf of Scotland with some interesting excuses! I suspect it will take a bit more than a few Lion Rampants, Alex, to get us to bite at the royal pie - but at least the chimps in Edinburgh are having fun! See www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18325702.

For a republican perspective on the jubilee, here's an interesting post also - www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mat-morrisroe/jubilee-spare-a-thought-for-republicans_b_1559025.html?ref=tw.

And see http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/06/05/watch-jon-stewart-rips-queens-jubilee-coverage/ for how America views it all...

Chris