Minto Monumental Inscriptions

Minto Monumental Inscriptions is the 24th volume of Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions to be published by us.

The parish of Minto lies to the north of the River Teviot and to the east of Hawick, surrounded by the parishes of Lilliesleaf to the north, Ancrum to the east, Cavers to the south and Wilton to the west. Part of the old parish of Hassendean was transferred to Minto in the 17th century.

Monumental (gravestone) inscriptions are listed for the 249 of the 257 gravestones at the Parish Church, together with those in the old churchyard which were recorded by the Hawick Archaeological Society.

There are 257 gravestones listed in the volume with colour photographs of all.
Names of householders listed in the Hearth Tax of 1694 are included, together with the Militia Lists of 1813 and 1831, which show an interesting mix of occupations within the parish, reflecting the demands of a rural community and an estate.
There are lists of ministers of Hassendean and Minto, and photographs of Minto War Memorial together with the inscriptions.
Surnames, place names and occupations have been indexed and there are plans of both churchyards showing the location of the stones.

The surnames included are:
Ainslie, Aitchison, Aitken, Aitkin, Anderson, Armstrong, Bain, Ballantine, Barbour, Baring, Bayne, Beattie, Bell, Berry, Biggar, Black, Blackie, Blaikie, Blair, Blake, Blythe, Boa, Borthwick, Brack, Briggs, Brokie, Brown, Brunton, Brydon, Buchan, Budgen, Buglass, Bunyan, Burn, Burnet, Burton, Cairns, Campbell, Caskie, Clark, Cockburn, Cook, Cowe, Craig, Cranston, Crawford, Crichton, Dalgleish, Davidson, Davies, Dawson, Deans, Derham, Dickinson, Dickson, Dilnot, Dobson, Dods, Doherty, Donald, Donaldson, Douglas, Drawhill, Dryden, Duguid, Earle, Easton, Eliot, Elliot, Ewart, Fairbairn, Fergusson, Forsyth, Frame, Gage, Galbraith, Galloway, Gardner, Garnet, Gault, Gibson, Glen, Gotterson, Graham, Gray, Greive, Grey, Grieve, Hall, Halliday, Hanbury, Harvey, Heatlie, Helm, Henderson, Hendry, Herkes, Hill, Hislop, Hobbs, Hogg, Hope, Houd, Hughes, Hume, Hymers, Inglis, Irvine, Jackson, Jardine, Jeffrey, Jewell, Kennedy, Ker, Kerr, Kirkland, Korkis, Lambert, Lambie, Landell, Lang, Lariston, Larner, Lascalles, Lawrie, Lawson, Lillico, Livingstone, Logan, Lowrie, Luke, Macdonald, Mack, Mackie, Mackintosh, Mader, Magson, Matthe, Mauchlen, Maxwell, Mcculloch, Mckenzie, Mckerrow, Mclean, Mcvittie, Melrose, Merchant, Middlemiss, Miller, Minto, Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Montgomery, Murray, Naismith, Newington, Nichol, Norman, Notman, Oliver, Olszowka, Pages, Paterson, Patterson, Peden, Plenderleith, Pollock, Purdie, Ramage, Rennie, Renwick, Rich, Ritchie, Ritson, Robertson, Robson, Romanes, Ross, Routledge, Rutherford, Sanderson, Scott, Selby, Shakespeare, Shanks, Sharp, Shiel, Simson, Skeugh, Smail, Smaill, Smith, Somerville, Spiers, Spindie, Sprott, Steel, Steele, Stenhouse, Stewart, Stirling, Stopford, Strachan, Tait, Taylor, Telfer, Temple, Thomson, Troops, Trotter, Turnbul, Turnbull, Tweedie, Waddell, Wale, Wallis, Ward, Watson, Whitaker, White, Whitelaw, Williamson, Wilson, Witherington, Wood, Wyllie, Young.

Search for surnames in which you're interested in our Gravestones Index Search.

The CD is priced at £7 (plus postage). To buy a copy, please contact Mary Thomson on the Contacts page using the contact type 'Order for Publications'.

Our thanks to all Society members, and friends who assisted in the recording and transcribing.

October 2011 Issue of Borders Family History Society Magazine

The latest issue of our 44 page magazine was despatched to members on 21st October.
I understand that due to the labour dispute at Canada Post, there is a backlog of mail, so Canadian members may experience additional delays before receiving their October 2011 magazine.

This issue contains articles about

• the successful tracing of the family of a relative of an American lady's late husband, a John Robert Grant who had been born in Galashiels in 1885, and transferring personal papers and photographs to the family
• the Stewarts of Kelso
• a family bible reunited with the family of the original owner, who wrote in it in 1812
• the cholera epidemic of 1849
• rules of intestate succession
• the first part of the talk 'Granny’s Bawbees' about Scottish coinage that I gave on 29th May (including 4 colour illustrations of Scottish and British coins)
• reviews of 4 books
• this summer's work on transcribing gravestones

The cover shows part of the old ruined church and graveyard at Stow.

Looking at Local Families

Our next talk is on Sunday 30th October at 2.30pm at Foulden Village Hall, in Foulden, Berwickshire, TD15 1UH. Map.

The speaker is Gregory Lauder-Frost, one of our trustees and a very experienced genealogist. He will examine two families in particular, Renton of Billie and Lamberton and the Jaffrey/Jeffrey family in Foulden and Mordington.

The former are lairds, whilst the latter ordinary folk, blacksmiths and smallholders. He will show how the details on these families were and can be publicly sourced, the sort of information revealed in those sources, and, importantly, links with other families.

The doors will be open at 2pm, with the talk starting at 2.30pm.

We warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.
There is no admission charge.
We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy.
If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.

Gregory is also the author of the Genealogies of Scottish Families CD. This contains details of over 36,000 people in the genealogical standard GEDCOM format. It includes ancestors and descendants who immigrated to Scotland, and emigrants from Scotland. However remotely, everyone on the CD is related to at least one other person on the CD.

The main families included have the surnames Hay, Forbes, Lauder, Scott, Hamilton, Rutherford, Pringle, Douglas, Hepburn, Home but there are many others.

The CD costs £45 (plus postage). To buy a copy, please contact Mary Thomson on the Contacts page using the contact type 'Order for Publications'.

Have You a Piece of the Jigsaw ?

On Friday 4th November at 7 pm, the Friends of Berwick and District Museum and Archives are holding an open meeting in Berwick Parish Centre, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1DF, England. Map.

Following the success of their August meeting, 'A History of Berwick in 10 Objects', when Anne Moore, the Museum’s Curator, and Linda Bankier, the Archivist, highlighted particular aspects of the Berwick and North Northumberland district’s history from objects in both collections, members of the public are being invited to bring items of interest to the Parish Centre on the 4th November, to add pieces to the jigsaw of the history of the district.

This is not an 'Antiques Roadshow', and valuations will not be given.

What the Friends are looking for are items which add to their knowledge of life and work experienced by previous generations – it could be an old wage packet showing how much was earned for a particular job before the last war, a household item no longer used, a timetable for a rail or steamer service which no longer exists, or something unearthed while digging the garden.

Among items already offered are:

• a kiln tile from the brewery
• clay pipes from Tweedmouth
• a notebook containing an inventory of furnishings at Middleton Hall
• an old sampler from Belford

If you think you have something which could add to their knowledge, please ring Linda Bankier, on 01289 301865 by 31st October, and bring the item to the Parish Centre by 6.30 pm on 4th November, to allow time for them all to be set out and the experts to examine them before the meeting starts at 7 pm.

Even if you don't have an item to take, it's worth going along and seeing what turns up.

All are welcome and refreshments will be provided.

David Smith Cairns, a Famous Theologian

The Hawick Heritage Hub has an interesting blog about David Smith Cairns, who grew up in Stichill and went to Ednam school from 1873 to 1876, when he was almost 14 years old.
He became Master of Christ’s College, Aberdeen and Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology.
He and his brother, William, were the sons of David Cairns, the minister of Stichill United Presbyterian Church.
Christ’s College, Aberdeen was a college founded by the Free Church of Scotland but is now part of the University of Aberdeen's School of Divinity.

Fact, Fiction and Fairy Stories in the Borders

If you can get to Manchester, you might like to know that Fred Kennington is giving a talk with the title 'Fact, Fiction and Fairy Stories in the Borders' at the Anglo-Scottish Family History Society's meeting on 19th November.

Fred was our previous membership secretary, he's written several books, and given very good talks to Borders Family History Society, so if you can get to Manchester, I recommend that you go to the meeting and hear him.

More about Anglo-Scottish Family History Society meetings.

Free Copy of Family History Monthly Magazine

Parish Chest is an online family history shopping centre that sells publications from many family history societies including us. The latest issue of their newsletter contains an offer of a free copy of Family History Monthly magazine.

Family History Workshop at The Heritage Hub, Hawick

Are you watching “Who Do You think You Are ?” on TV ? Are you interested in tracing your family history . . . but don't know where to start? Then go along to a Family History Workshop at the Heritage Hub, Hawick on Tuesday 25 October from 7pm-9pm.

They will show you how the resources at the Heritage Hub can help you in your search. As well as the standard census returns, old parish records, and monumental inscriptions, you will have the opportunity to view a range of records including, business records, council records, family papers, militia lists, school, police and poor law records.

The setting is friendly and informal and you will go away with hints, tips and handouts.

Rachel Hosker, Archive Manager says “Family history is much more than being a collection of names and dates. We hold fascinating and unique evidence covering the whole of the Scottish Borders to help people gain a picture on how their ancestors lived and worked and so build up the story of their own family.”

Places are limited - so do please book early to avoid disappointment – the charge of £5 will include handouts and a family history chart. For more information, telephone 01450 360699.

Survey of Scottish Witchcraft

Following up on the talk about the witch trials of the Borders by Mary Craig, I’ve learned that the University of Edinburgh have a Survey of Scottish Witchcraft database that can be searched for all persons known to be connected to witchcraft between 1563 and 1736, not just those convicted or tried, but also for witnesses and prosecutors. The information is taken from an impressive list of both civil and church records, but is probably not exhaustive.

The database is searchable both by name and place. It doesn’t mention my grandmother's ancestor, the White Witch of Inverness, but if granny was right, she was born about 1790 and thus won’t be in the survey. For those with Microsoft Access on their computers, the database and the accompanying database structure description can be downloaded for further study.

For example, I’ve found that there were almost 300 people resident in the Borders accused of witchcraft of whom 80% were female. 42% were from Berwickshire, 31% from Peeblesshire, 20% from Roxburghshire, and the rest (7%) from Selkirkshire.