Free DNA Tests for Men Named Riddell

A lady in New Zealand named Gail Riddell and an apparently unrelated Jim Riddell in America are joint administrators for the Riddell/Riddle/Ridley/Ruddell DNA project with an American based firm called FamilyTree DNA. .

Gail's family were mostly from the Roxburghshire area but were also in Berwickshire and Lanarkshire (not to mention all through the Lothian area), depending on the lands they purchased/versus where their money was "made". Jim's forebears were from Lanarkshire in the late 16th Century and are thought to have left at the time of the Covenanters.

Gail wrote "I have many men from New Zealand, Australia, USA, one from South Africa and a few from UK who have been excited by what they have learned as a result of testing their Y-Chromosome.  They have worked hard in order to raise sufficient funds for me to be able to offer totally free, a number of  Y-37 tests for any man living in Northumberland, the Scottish Borders, Yorkshire or lowland Scotland who has this surname and who has a family tree of his paternal ancestry back to around 1800 or earlier.

The bottom line is to extend and "prove" our genealogy in a way that paper trails have been unable.  By that, I mean if we go back into history, especially the 1600s (as an example) and look at the deaths, followed by pestilence, followed by famines and we soon begin to realise that not everyone who bears a particular surname is actually of that stock.  I say this because many young women with wee ones to feed were made widows and frequently joined up with a "protector" who thus gave his name to those
wee ones.

For those who are anxious about DNA testing - the medical genes are not considered in the test that I am offering as a "freebie".  The test itself needs just two separate cheek swabs.  "

If you're a Riddle (whatever the spelling), and you've got a family tree on the paternal side back to 1800, and you would be willing to take the test, please contact Gail at the email address below.

If you would like to know more about DNA, see www.familytreedna.com. 

If you want help building your family tree come to our archive at 52 Overhaugh St, Galashiels, TD1 1DP. We're open every Monday from 6pm to 8pm, and every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10am to 4pm.

Problems with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal Ancestors ? Try Easter Family History Surgeries at Berwick-upon-Tweed

This weekend is the start of the Berwick 900 Festival that celebrates 900 years of Berwick’s history. The theme of the Easter weekend, 3rd to 6th April is “Our Christian Story” that celebrates Christian institutions, religious life and a few of the great Christian leaders in the town.

At St Andrews Church, Wallace Green, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1ED as well as the “Moments in Time” Flower Festival, inspired by the church’s history, there will be display panels about Robert Balmer, an inspirational minister at Golden Square, Dr John Cairns and Berwick’s well known physician, Philip MacLagan, a church elder.

Although all these men were born in Scotland and at times lived elsewhere, they all had strong links with Berwick.

Like them, John Hamilton Hall, a freeman, was born in Coldstream, moved to Berwick as a child where his father was a doctor, left the town to fight in India, returned when he retired from the army, aged 40, got married and then moved to Edinburgh.

Did your family move into or out of Berwick ?
Why did they do that ?
If your family is associated with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal, the Berwick 900 Our Families Project would love to hear your family stories. 

Tweet them @Berwick900 or contact Linda Bankier at berwickarchives@woodhorn.org.uk .

Normally you need to visit Berwick Record Office to consult the transcripts of church registers of baptisms, marriages and burials for Berwick and Tweedmouth. However, over the Easter weekend, you can look at some of the registers in the churches where the events took place – Berwick Parish, St Andrews and Berwick Roman Catholic churches and Tweedmouth Parish Church.

Look on the Berwick 900 website for opening times.

Are you wondering how to start your family history ?
Perhaps you’ve started researching your family but have hit a brick wall.
If you need some help, go along to the Family History surgeries in St Andrews Church from 12 to 2pm each day from Good Friday to Easter Monday and speak to experienced genealogists.

Discover The Hume and Robertson Families of Gunsgreen

Our next talk is this Sunday, 26 October and the speaker is Derek Janes. It takes place at the Masonic Hall, 41 Newtown St, Duns, TD11 3AS. Map.

Gunsgreen House in Eyemouth, Berwickshire, was built in the 1750s by a smuggler, John Nisbet. In 1787 he was made bankrupt by the well established merchants, Robert Robertson and Son. After a two year struggle, Gunsgreen House was sold and purchased by Robert’s son Alexander. Thus began a 90 year association with the Robertsons and their close relations, the Homes. Derek’s talk will cover the story of the two families, including Alexander’s daughter Mary, the grandmother of Field Marshal Douglas Haig; her brother, Robert junior, who had an affair with the famous French writer, Madame de Stael; his son Robert, a university friend of Tennyson; and Margaret Hay Home who, although described as “a little dotty”, was a friend of General Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, who once stayed at the House.

Derek will also demonstrate how the resources of family history research can aid the academic historian in his/her work.

I think you'll find this a very interesting talk whether you're interested in Eyemouth, family history, the Humes, Homes, Robertsons or smuggling.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not. Doors open at 2pm; the talk begins at 2.30pm.

We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk.

If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.

Be in the Audience for Digging Up Your Roots on 29th July

As announced in the blog in March, there will be a special programme of Radio Scotland's Digging Up Your Roots to look at the Scottish Diaspora.

The family history programme will be recorded at BBC at the Quay in Glasgow on 29th July from 12 noon to 1pm.  Presenter Bill Whiteford will be joined by a panel of special guests including expert genealogist, Professor Bruce Durie and Professor Marjory Harper.

You can be in the audience with free tickets but their website says
registration for tickets closes on Monday 16 June at 4pm.

Good luck !

Berwick-upon-Tweed’s Fascinating Food History

If you had lived in the Scottish Borders in the 1840s and had a modest income as most people did, your diet would have been mostly oatmeal and potatoes with the addition of milk (and in a few parishes cheese) and garden vegetables. Bread was occasionally used, but butcher-meat very rarely. In the Borders, the most common meat was pork (or bacon or ham), the labouring classes rarely saw beef or mutton, except for dead or diseased sheep, though I suspect many may have eaten fish or rabbit.

Our next meeting is this Sunday, 27th April, at 2.30pm in Coldingham Village Hall, Coldingham, TD14 5NL, when Derek Sharman will talk about Berwick-upon-Tweed’s fascinating food history. 

The Victorian period was a period of change and innovation in farming, fishing and the producing, processing and selling of food and drink.  It was also the heyday for Berwick’s trade in barley, herring and salmon. The town is full of reminders of its food-producing heritage - old salmon fishing shiels, ice-houses, herring yards, smokehouses, breweries, granaries and maltings. This talk offers fascinating glimpses into that time through a selection of extracts from local newspapers and photographs from the Berwick Record Office collection. 

I think you'll find this a very interesting talk whether you're interested in family history, local or social history.
I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.

Doors open at 2pm; the meeting begins at 2.30pm. It’s free to come in.

We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk.
If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.

Digging Up Your Roots - Special Programme to Look at Scottish Diaspora

The producer of BBC Radio Scotland's family history programme 'Digging Up Your Roots', Rhona Brudenell, has announced a one-off hour long programme looking at the Scottish diaspora which will be aired during the Commonwealth Games.
She wants to feature stories of people who have researched their family history and uncovered interesting tales of Scots who left their homeland to seek new lives elsewhere (in particular, to countries which are now part of the British Commonwealth) or people who live overseas whose family history research brought them back here to Scotland?   Either way, she would love to hear from you!

Her direct contact details are:
Phone 01224 384881
or email her at rhona.brudenell AT  bbc.co.uk, replacing the spaces and AT with the @ sign.

New Family History Site for Glasgow

The latest VisitScotland newsletter, as well as containing a Homecoming 2014 video with great landscapes and weird music but doesn't mention the Scottish Borders, also has a link to a family history site for Glasgow that I've not seen before.

It turns out to be the  new Mitchell Library family history centre.

It has a blog and a wide variety of family history and social history guides.

Halloween Again

Halloween (correctly Hallowe'en) is important in Scotland and probably occurs in everyone's family history but it doesn't begin to be celebrated as much as in USA where (in my view), they really go over the top with decorated houses and parties where people have spent fortunes on costumes.

And .....

there are also Halloween cards.

Enjoy this set of Halloween postcards on Flickr from New York Public Library.

1920 Valuation Rolls Online at ScotlandsPeople

ScotlandsPeople have put the 1920 Valuation Rolls online.

These are lists of properties, the rent or annual value, their owners, and occupiers and sometimes their occupation produced for the purposes of taxation.

They include the first council houses in Scotland; the Logie Estate in Dundee and the first housing estate in Europe to have a communal heating system. The tenants included an architect, artists, clerks, a grain merchant, a jeweller, a journalist, managers, a surveyor, a telegraphist, a telephone engineer as well as many manual workers.

Inheritance tax rose sharply in 1918, income tax also rose after 1918, as did the rates to help pay for local government and services, and these rolls show the new owners of properties sold by the landed gentry including the Duke of Sutherland to help meet the bills.

More about the 1920 valuation rolls. Search the 1920 Valuation Rolls.

If you didn't manage to ask your question on the ScotlandsPeople stall at our Family History Fair in Galashiels in May, there's another opportunity.

ScotlandsPeople are offering free family history surgeries at Adam House, 3 Chambers Street, Edinburgh from 2pm to 4:30pm on Tuesday, 19th to Friday, 22nd November and 10am to 4pm on Saturday, 23rd November. No booking needed, just turn up.

The Foul Death of the English - Sunday, 27 October, at 2.30pm in Stow Town Hall

 Our next public meeting is this Sunday, 27 October, at 2.30pm in Stow Town Hall, Earlston Road, Stow, TD1 2QS (see map) when Mary Craig will give a talk titled 'The Foul Death of the English'.

No doubt you've heard of the Black Death.
The plague that swept across the Scottish Borders in the 14th century killed between a quarter and a third of the population.
More than that the 'foul death of the English' devastated the Borders economy and left a pattern of settlement that can still be seen today in the villages and towns of the Scottish Borders.
Mary Craig, the well-known author and expert on the witchcraft trials of the Scottish Borders, gave us a dramatic and entertaining talk on witchcraft, two years ago. Don't miss this one !

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.

Doors open at 2pm; the meeting begins at 2.30pm.

There is no admission charge.



We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments available after the talk (donation expected).

If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.

Speakers at meetings occasionally need to be changed at the last minute, due to circumstances beyond our control.

Use Everybody Writes Day (21st October) for Your Family History

Everybody Writes Day was a four-year writing project partnership between Booktrust and the National Literacy Trust, originally funded by the Department for Education, whose funding ended in 2011.

It was aimed at stimulating pupils in primary and secondary schools to become more interested in writing not just across the curriculum but outside the classroom too. There are a lot of resources for schools.

Many of those pupils will now have left school.

The word 'everybody' includes pre-school and adults too, so quite why the Booktrust, Scottish Book Trust and the National Literacy Trust haven't sought to be more inclusive mystifies me.

Perhaps they would say that because it's not being funded they can't afford to be more inclusive.

They should be encouraging everybody to write for Everybody Writes Day on 21st October.

Therefore, let's hijack Everybody Writes Day from those unimaginative organisations and declare that it's for everyone !

Perhaps you've got a family history story that you would like to share or a brick wall or a puzzle that's preventing you getting further.

To celebrate Everybody Writes Day, we're offering you the opportunity to put it on the blog - don't worry if you can't think of a title, we'll add that if necessary and sort out the labels. Either reply to this in the comments or send a message on our Contacts page using the contact type Contact the Webmaster.

Memories and Memory - how good are yours ?

The first meeting of our new programme is this Sunday, 29th September, at 2.30pm in the Corn Exchange & Ormiston Institute, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 0PN (see map) when Anne Reid of SpeakingLives will give a talk titled 'Memories and Memory - how good are yours ?'

Anne is an oral historian who has travelled all over the UK helping folk record their family histories and life stories. She will share anecdotes and tips about how to find the missing pieces and record the stories behind your family tree.

Often we rely on written detail and photographs while the memories of those around us may be the real key to unlocking the tree for future generations. Come to the meeting and gain a fascinating insight into the process for recording the stories behind your family tree.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.

Doors open at 2pm; the meeting begins at 2.30pm.
There is no admission charge.



We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments available after the talk (donation expected).

If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.


Speakers at meetings occasionally need to be changed at the last minute, due to circumstances beyond our control.

East Lothian Family History Day - Saturday, 31st August

Saturday, 31st August: Come and see us at East Lothian Family History Day in Haddington.

Free Workshop - Introduction to Tracing Your Family History

The Hawick Heritage Hub are providing an introduction to tracing your family history on 20th August at 2.30 pm at Galashiels library.

It’s free but booking is essential. You can phone the library on 01896 752512.

Someone to Watch Over Me: Kirk and Community - Sunday 26 May

Our next meeting is on Sunday 26th May at 2.30pm in the Corn Exchange, Market Square, Melrose, TD6 9PN, when we have Margaret Fox, whose talk is titled 'Someone to Watch Over Me: Kirk and Community’.
See this map for directions.

I think her talk will give a fascinating insight into the influence of the Kirk in Scottish society over the centuries. It will examine the Kirk’s wide-ranging influence over people's everyday lives including how the poor were helped and how people perceived as sinners, were punished.  She will also reveal how the Kirk looked out to the wider world at the same time as focusing on local issues.

For genealogists, the talk will demonstrate how Kirk records are easily one of the best resources for fleshing out the lives of our Scottish ancestors.

You might remember that Margaret Fox and Catherine Maxwell Stuart delivered a very interesting talk with nice slides to us, last October at Innerleithen, about their book 'A Family Life Revealed: The Stuarts at Traquair 1491 – 1875'.

The talk is preceded by our AGM at which I’ll be reviewing our year.

I warmly invite you to attend the talk and the AGM whether you are a member or not, though you cannot vote if you’re not a member.

The doors will be open at 2pm; the talk begins after the AGM, which usually takes about 25 minutes. Admission is 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 or you need advice about any aspect of your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of our volunteers.

Come and Visit Us at Bygone Borderlands This Weekend (18 & 19 May)

This weekend, 18 and 19 May, there’s a local and family history weekend organised by Berwick Record Office celebrating the heritage of the Scottish and English Borders and commemorating the battle of Flodden in 1513. 

The weekend event is called Bygone Borderlands and takes place in the Guildhall, Berwick on Tweed, England. 

On Saturday it runs from 10am to 4pm and on Sunday from 11am to 4pm. 

This is a very popular event with displays about the history of North Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, talks and exhibitors. 

Saturday’s talks are: 

• 10.15    An Introduction to the Battle of Flodden     Chris Burgess
• 11.00    Rebuilding Berwick’s Town Hall – recent discoveries    Jim Herbert 
• 12.00    A Glimpse into the Archives at Paxton House     Martha Andrews and Chris Pawson
• 1.00    Wilson’s Tales of the Borders : Berwick’s Forgotten Heritage. The Tales; The Man and their historic context    Andrew Ayre
• 2.00    James IV – who was he?     Matthew Rooke 
• 3.00    Family History Resources in the Berwick Record Office and the Heritage Hub at Hawick    Linda Bankier and Paul Brough

Sunday’s talks are: 

• 11.15    An Introduction to the Battle of Flodden     Chris Burgess
• 12.00    Women and the Battle of Flodden    Clive Hallam Baker
• 1.00      Berwick’s  Medieval Walls    Jim Herbert
• 2.00      Mauchlineware and Flodden    Jane Bowen
• 3.00      The Alnwick Muster Roll, February 1514    Chris Hunwick, Archivist to the Duke of Northumberland

There'll be an archaeological tour of the jail area of the Town Hall, led by Jim Herbert at 12 noon on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

 Exhibitors include:

• Borders Family History Society
• Glendale Local History Society 
• Lowick Heritage Group 
• Northumberland and Durham Family History Society 
• Norham and Ladykirk Local History Society 
• Old Parish of Bamburgh

Entry is free and tasty refreshments will be available.

Bygone Borderlands 2013

The weekend after we host the 24th Annual SAFHS Conference and Family History and Local History Fair on
11 May 2013 in Galashiels, Scotland; Berwick Record Office  are holding their annual event, Bygone Borderlands, on 18 and 19 May 2013 in the Guildhall, Berwick on Tweed, England.

This is a very popular event with displays about the history of North Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, talks and exhibitors.

The talks include

• Introduction to the Battle of Flodden
• Women and the Battle of Flodden
• Berwick’s Medieval Walls
• History of the Guildhall

Exhibitors include

• Borders Family History Society
• Glendale Local History Society
• Lowick Heritage Group
• Norham and Ladykirk Local History Society
• Old Parish of Bamburgh

Entry is free and tasty refreshments will be available.

Opening hours are Saturday, 10am to 4pm and Sunday. 11am to 4pm.

More information from Linda Bankier on 01289 301865.

Remember, this is the weekend after our conference.

Online booking for our conference has closed.

Migrants in American Newspapers

With our Migration-themed conference and family history and local history fair in Galashiels, Scotland on 11th May, just over a month away, we're finding more ways to find information on migrants.

Marjorie Gavin found free online access to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1841 to 1955 useful.

The parent website, Fulton History, has almost 22 million pages from newspapers published in New York state, USA between 1795 and 2007, and I've found over 50 articles about my (until now, mysterious) great-uncle Arthur who emigrated to New York in the 1890s.

Online booking for our conference has closed.

My Talk, Useful Free Websites for Family History Research, Today, Will Take Place

My talk, today, about Useful Free Websites for Family History Research will be taking place as planned in the Volunteer Hall, St John Street, Galashiels, TD1 3JX.

There will also be an exhibition of photographs that will help you date your own photographs. This exhibition is based on a collection of 19th century photos donated to the society by Douglas Bain and collated and researched by Ian and Morag Carter and laminated by Davina Smart. 

Unlike many people in Cumbria, Dumfriesshire, and other parts of Scotland, the Borders seems to have escaped most of the snow.
The Met Office website says that no severe weather warnings have been issued for soth-west Scotland, Lothian or the Borders.
Main roads to Galashiels are free of snow, though there may be the remnants of snow on roadsides.
The traffic cameras at Soutra, Earlston, Hawick, Terrona, Houndwood, Carter Bar and Mosspaul all show snow-free roads.

There's no snow at St Boswells though the Eildon Hills look very pretty with their scattering of snow from last week,

It is still cold and the strong winds have eased a bit.

So I hope to see you at today's talk but I quite understand if you don't feel like travelling to Galashiels.

Please don't travel if the conditions are worse where you are and please don't take risks.

Survey for Wha's Like Us ?

Stirling Council's Libraries, Information and Archives are in the planning stages of Wha's Like Us? - a family history event in 2014. They are planning a fun interactive event that will give attendees a chance to meet other people interested in family history research and will include a lively selection of talks and workshops by local and national experts, aimed at unearthing the stories and experiences of this kind of research.

Answering the Wha's Like Us? survey commits you to nothing but offers you the opportunity to get details of the event via email.

This year, come to our Migration themed Conference on 11th May 2013 in Galashiels, Scotland.