John Haddon's Trip Around the World in 1882

I found yesterday's talk after the AGM very interesting.

The speaker, Andrew Haddon, told us a bit about the family tree. John was descended from Andrew Haddon (born 1690) a flesher or butcher in Selkirk.

John's father was another Andrew Haddon (1818-1894), his mother was Anne White (1821-1878) and John had 10 siblings.

Andrew showed us two books written by John, 'A Doctor's Discovery and the Elixir of Life' and 'Diary of a Trip Around the World in 1882'. The latter book was reprinted from the Hawick News.

John became a well-to-do doctor with a thriving practice in Manchester, but after an illness, he decided to go around the world to recover.

Initially, he crossed the Atlantic in the SS Parisian (it didn't look like a luxury ship). He visited various places in Canada and in the USA including Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco; he was very impressed by the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and said it would one day be the best hospital in the world. He also visited the Sandwich Islands (now called Hawaii), Samoa, New Zealand and Australia. He met fellow Scots, including Kentucky senator James Burnie Beck.

There was a lot more but unfortunately my pen dried up about halfway through the talk,

MI recording at Peebles today

Just had a busy day at Peebles, recording the Monumental Inscriptions.  It was still a bit drizzly early on but by 10am, it had turned into a dry day.  Still not very warm, though.  Gloves should have been added to the kit.

We made a good start on one of the older sections, close to St Andrew’s Tower.  There are some very interesting symbolic stones, still standing after more than 200 years, and even though some of the inscriptions may no longer be legible, the quality and detail of the carving are quite remarkable.   

The stone on the attached photograph is one of the later ones, erected in memory of Agnes Cushny in 1809.  Photographs of some of the most interesting stones can be seen at http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk. 

Now all I need to do is try to decipher my handwriting and type up the MI’s  - and a few warmer sunnier days during the summer would be nice as well.  

Births, Marriages and Deaths in British India

The Families In British India Society, is building a database of intimations in the Times of India newspapers. The database currently contains births, marriages and deaths from 25th July 1859 to 1909.
It took me a long time to spot the surname search for this database, so I've ringed it in red on the picture. It would be nice to be able to search it for a place or a first name as well as a surname but that's not possible, so for a common name you may have to look through a lot of entries. Search the Times of India births, marriages and deaths for yourself.

I looked for my great grandfather, Luke Golding, but he’s not listed so that suggests that although he lived there as a young boy, he wasn’t born in India.


Our latest volume, Coldingham Monumental Inscriptions is now available.

Read our Kith & Kin column every week in the Border Telegraph and Peeblesshire News newspapers.

Dr John Haddon of Hawick's World Trip in 1882 and Annual General Meeting

Our next talk is on Sunday, 27th May at 2.30pm, in the Corn Exchange, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 9PN, when Andrew Haddon will be talking to us about his ancestor, Dr John Haddon of Hawick, Roxburghshire, who took a break from his career at the age of 37, after a bout of illness, and embarked on a 'round the world trip' in 1882 that saw him travel across the Atlantic through America and Canada and across the Pacific. This journey was serialised at the time in the Hawick Express.

His descendant, Andrew Haddon will give a talk, with pictures, retracing his steps and touching upon the social insight it provided into the world of that time and recounting tales of the Borderers he met on his journey.

The talk is preceded by our annual general meeting. In addition to the usual reports we'll be discussing the proposed change to our constitution.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.
The doors will be open at 2pm; the talk begins at after the annual general meeting.
It’s free, so we hope to see lots of you there.
We'll have a range of family history and other publications to buy.

As usual there’ll be tea, coffee, and biscuits available after the talk.
We’ll also be making the monthly 50-50 draw at the meeting.
If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.

If you're not familiar with Melrose, here's a map.


Our latest volume, Coldingham Monumental Inscriptions is available.

Read our Kith & Kin column every week in the Border Telegraph and Peeblesshire News newspapers.

Gravestone Recording at Peebles St Andrews Cemetery

This Saturday (19th May), we’ll be at St Andrews Cemetery, Peebles, Peeblesshire  from 10am to 4pm to record gravestone inscriptions and take photos.

If you have not been to a previous transcribing session - don't worry, you will be made very welcome and full training will be given.
Bring along a notebook and pen/pencil, a kneeling pad, a light brush and some chalk (optional).
Most people coming for the whole day bring along a picnic, and a bottle of water; deciphering faded and weathered inscriptions can be thirsty work.
If preferred, the Neidpath Inn is a few minutes walk back towards the town and does bar lunches. Beyond the inn, Forsyth the baker's has a shop; there's a Coop store just beyond that and beyond that is Rambler's cafe, part of the Castle Warehouse store. If you are looking for something special - just round the corner from Ramblers is Cocoa Black on the bridge - award winning chocolatier with cakes and sandwiches as well.

It's wonderful if you can manage the whole day, but if that's too long for you, no problems at all - all assistance on the day is very welcome.
Although you can just turn up, it can be helpful if you could let Ronald know, in advance, via our Contacts page using the contact type Gravestone Recording.

We’re looking forward to catching up with you and meeting some new faces.

Getting there: Go out of Peebles on the Glasgow Road (also known as Old Town Road/Neidpath Road/A72) and the cemetery is on the right hand side opposite the entrance to the Park/medical centre. It is about a 5 minute walk from the end of the High Street. Map.