President Obama's Irish Ancestry

I’ve often wondered whether it's an essential requirement for an American president to have Irish ancestry.

This week, President Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama and her two daughters, Malia Ann and Sasha were told about his Irish ancestry.

Eneclann have researched it back to Obama’s 7th great-grandfather, Joseph Kearney, born around 1698. He lived to the age of 93 and was buried 20 January 1791 in Shinrone, Co. Offaly, Ireland. 

It was his great grandson, Joseph, born around 1794 that emigrated  to America. More information with links to the Kearney family tree and the Benn family tree.

They've even talked to Barack's 3rd cousin 3 times removed, Tom Donovan, and 5th cousin once removed, Dick Benn.

I wonder whether other members of the family worked in or migrated to the Scottish Borders.

A Very Interesting Talk at Innerleithen

A very interesting talk with nice slides today at Innerleithen on their book 'A Family Life Revealed: The Stuarts at Traquair 1491 – 1875' by Catherine Maxwell Stuart and Margaret Fox, including information about the additions to Traquair House at various times. 

See my September review of their book: 'A Family Life Revealed'.

They didn't mention dragon's blood and I forgot to ask, but they did bring along another recent book, 'A Tour to the Preston Guild 1802' - the images of Lord Linton's entertaining report of his visit to Preston in 1802 - including who he met and the places he visited with a transcription of the report and brief notes on some of the many people he dissed.
The Preston Guild, which relates to Preston, Lancashire (not Preston, Berwickshire), dates back to 1179 and since 1542 met every 20 years for guild members to renew their membership. 

More about The Preston Guild.

They also mentioned that they're intending to do research on Lady Christina Stuart who eloped and married Cyrus Griffin, the last President of the Continental Congress (America) and I'm sure that will be very interesting though I expect that is several years' work.

The talk was packed and the only downer was that several lights did not work so we didn't sell any copies of our Innerleithen Monumental Inscriptions CD or indeed, many other publications.

Book Review: 'A Family Life Revealed' about the Stuarts at Traquair from 1491 to 1875

This book by Catherine Maxwell Stuart and Margaret Fox not only tells the story of the Stuarts and the major political upheavals, their support for Catholicism, the problems they faced in the community because of that support and strained relations in the family; the family’s debts and fines and general Scottish history but also lots of interesting snippets of local interest.

There are accounts of purchases made for clothing, wine and pans.  Illnesses and medicines (including dragon’s blood !) are mentioned, there are letters home from the children of the 4th Earl of Traquair, who were being educated in Paris between 1714 and 1718; their support for the Jacobite cause, changes to the house and estate, correspondence about matters in America leading up to the Revolution and its aftermath, a mining enterprise in Spain and Portugal, Catholic emancipation in the 19th century, and the later Victorian developments.

If there’s one drawback, it’s minor: on a few of the early documents, the caption doesn’t state the year. I found that very confusing and unhelpful; in some cases, I guessed the year by reading a few pages back but in other cases it was unclear. Although the documents themselves may not be dated, the authors evidently knew the year and it would have been so much easier to put the year in brackets in the caption.

There are lots of illustrations - views, people, accounts and letters, buildings; nearly every page is illustrated and some pages have more than one picture. There’s an abbreviated family tree (with 13 of the 17 children born between 1695 and 1711 to Lady Mary Maxwell, wife of the 4th Earl) inside the front cover and a timeline of the principal events including accessions of monarchs inside the back cover. Its writing style makes it easy to read even for children.
You can just read straight through, however the format is such that you can dip in and out.
The authors have really made the documents in the archive come alive and tell the stories of the Stuart family at Traquair.

Overall, it is an extraordinarily fascinating book and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
The book has 108 pages, the paperback version costs £11.99 and the hardback costs £14.99 and can be obtained from Traquair House or online at the Traquair House Shop.

The authors will also be coming to talk to us at our meeting on Sunday 28th October in Innerleithen Parish Church Hall at 2.30pm and no doubt they’ll be bringing along copies of their book to sell and sign.

Sir Walter Scott, a cowboy of the Wild West ?

The headline in Scotland on Sunday, yesterday, was actually Sir Walter Scott, king of the wild frontier?
The article says that Scott now has a new claim to fame, and that a conference 'Walter Scott: Sheriff And Outlaw, organised by the University of Wyoming'   taking place 5th to 9th July in Laramie, Wyoming, USA, will discuss Scott's role as one of the pivotal influences on America's western frontier.

Jeni Calder, who will present a lecture on Scott's frontier legacy, says that Scott's influence on the wild west cannot be over-estimated and examines the comparisons between the wild frontier land of America and that of the Scottish Borders of the late 18th century - where Scott was Sheriff of Selkirkshire from 1799 until 1832.