Innerleithen Wins Competition for Fastest Broadband

Earlier this year, Innerleithen was one of six winners in a BT competition to find communities where there was highest demand for super-fast broadband. All the other winners are in England.

According to the BBC "BT has announced that Innerleithen is to become the first place in the country to benefit from fibre to premises superfast broadband".

More about the BBC News item 'Innerleithen to get fastest broadband speed in Scotland'.

That's good for our chairman, David Rudram, because he lives in Innerleithen but it's good for the town as well, because business will be attracted by the availability of super-fast broadband.

It's also good for another of our trustees, Gwen Stein, who provides family history research at The Wells, Innerleithen from March till October and maintains a photographic archive of people and events after World War II for Innerleithen, Traquair, and Walkerburn and can help with your research in those localities.

Innerleithen was in the news last July, too, when we announced the completion of our Innerleithen Monumental Inscriptions (gravestone inscriptions) volume.

R SMAIL & SONS: Family History

Do you have an interest in Smail family history? If so this may interest you:

R SMAIL & SONS: Family History

The Family History page summarises information gleaned from the archive at Robert Smail's Printing Works. The printing Works may have been in Innerleithen but relatives of Robert Smail ended up in New Zealand, South Africa and the USA.

Parishes Ancient & Modern

As you may have seen we’ve now got pages on our web-site for the Counties of Berwick, Peebles and Selkirk. Those for Roxburgh should make an appearance soon. Some of these pages include more detail than others so if you can contribute to one of the pages get in touch with us either via this blog or through the contact form on the web-site (you’ll need to scroll down the page to find it). Please let us know about any mistakes or if you find a broken link.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the local minister who wondered why Innerleithen and Traquair merited a page each whilst Walkerburn didn’t. For most part the parishes listed are the historic parishes not the current ones. Whilst there's nothing quite as formal as a cut-off date in practice it's those parishes that existed in 1855 the point at which Civil Registration was introduced to Scotland and the cut-off date for the Old Parochial Records held by the General Registrar's Office for Scotland (and available on the Scotland's People web site). Not that we’re totally consistent as Kirkhope and Caddonfoot do have their own page despite being 19^th century creations which have now been absorbed by neighbouring parishes. However I did borrow the Church of Scotland Yearbook from the local minister and in time the parish pages will indicate what has happened to the ancient parishes – and where I can find one a link to the church web-site.

New Monumental Inscriptions volume for Innerleithen, Peeblesshire

We’re pleased to report that we have just published another new Monumental Inscriptions volume on CD, this time for Innerleithen in Peeblesshire; the compiling of which has been a mammoth task.

The first record of a parish church in the parish of Innerleithen was during the mid 12th century when Malcolm IV gave the church to the monks of Kelso. He later granted the right of refuge to the church after the body of his young son, drowned in the River Tweed, was carried there and lay in the church overnight.

In the early 1700s, Innerleithen was a village of a few thatched cottages close to the church, all built in the narrow haugh between Pirn Craig and Lee Pen.
The discovery of the mineral water springs on Lee Pen, together with a visit from Robert Burns in 1787, made Innerleithen a popular destination. Alexander Brodie, a native of Traquair, and a blacksmith to trade, had been successful in the iron industry in Shropshire and was acquainted with the Dumfriesshire born engineer, Thomas Telford. He used his wealth to build a mill in Innerleithen in 1791. The population of the parish was under 600 at the time and provided a pool of workers for his mill, while the farmers in the district, provided the wool. It was the ample supply of clean water from the Leithen and the Tweed that allowed the growth of the textile industry and the subsequent growth in population in the village of Innerleithen and the building of the new village at the Walker Burn.

By 1881, the population in the parish had grown to over 3,600 with more than 1,000 living in the village of Walkerburn.
The building of churches, within the town, mirrored the growth in the population. The parish church at Kirklands was built in 1791. Between 1844 and 1879, St John's Free Church in Horsburgh St, the United Free Presbyterian Church in Princes Street, the Second Free Presbyterian Church in Pirn Road, the Congregational Church and the St James Roman Catholic Church in the High Street, and the new parish church were erected.

This volume on CD comprises a plan of Innerleithen in 1849, historical notes on Innerleithen parish, transcription of the Poll Tax of 1694 which lists 264 people including many couples, a list of the ministers of Innerleithen and Walkerburn churches, plans of Kirklands in Leithen Road and Traquair Road cemetery, interments in the Old Kirkyard, inscriptions on over 1200 gravestones in Kirklands and Traquair Road cemetery, photographs of all the gravestones, Innerleithen War Memorial, Walkerburn War Memorial, rolls of honour and other memorials, an obituary of Nannie Kirk, the Pipers Grave, list of Standard Bearers, as well as indexes of the surnames in the Poll Tax and the gravestone inscriptions.

There are almost 800 different surnames included in the inscriptions on the gravestones, and they are: Aaronson, Adam, Adams, Adamson, Aiken, Ainslie, Aird, Aitchison, Aithie, Aitken, Alexander, Allan, Amos, Anderson, Angus, Archibald, Armstrong, Arthur, Atkinson, Austin, Baigrie, Baillie, Bain, Ballantyne, Banks, Bannatyne, Baptie, Barber, Barbour, Barnett, Barr, Barrett, Barrie, Bastianelli, Baxter, Bean, Beattie, Beck, Becker, Bell, Bennett, Berridge, Berry, Bertram, Beveridge, Bewsey, Biggar, Binnie, Birch, Birnie, Bishop, Bisset, Bissett, Blackie, Blacklaw, Blair, Blake, Blakie, Bly, Blyth, Blythe, Booth, Borthwick, Bowie, Boyd, Bradford, Braidwood, Branston, Brett, Bridgeford, Broadfoot, Broadley, Brockie, Brodie, Brown, Brownlee, Bruce, Brunton, Bryce, Brydone, Buchan, Buchanan, Bulloch, Burnett, Burns, Bursby, Burton, Butters, Cadenhead, Cairncross, Cairns, Calder, Caldwell, Cambridge, Cameron, Campbell, Carr, Carrie, Cattanach, Chalmers, Chapman, Cherry, Cheyne, Chisholm, Chisholme, Christie, Christison, Cieszynski, Clapperton, Clark, Clarke, Cleghorn, Clifford, Clive, Cluggie, Clyde, Cochrane, Cockburn, Coia, Collier, Collins, Colquhoun, Condie, Connelly, Constable, Conway, Cook, Cooksey, Cornish, Cornwall, Corsie, Cossar, Cotter, Coulthard, Couper, Cowan, Cowe, Cowen, Cox, Coyle, Craig, Crainiey, Cranston, Crawford, Crichton, Crombie, Crosbie, Crozier, Cuerden, Cumming, Cummings, Cunningham, Currie, Dalgleish, Dalgliesh, Dalling, Darling, Davidson, Davies, Dawidziak, Dawson, Deans, Dempster, Denver, Devine, Dewar, Dewhurst, Dick, Dickison, Dickson, Dobie, Dobson, Docherty, Dodd, Doherty, Doig, Donald, Donaldson, Douglas, Dryden, Drysdale, Duffy, Dunn, Dyer, Easson, Easton, Eaton, Eckford, Eddy, Elder, Elliot, Elliott, Ellis, Erskine, Euman, Evans, Fairbairn, Fairfull, Fairgrieve, Fairley, Falconer, Farnie, Farrant, Faulds, Fayrer, Featherston, Ferguson, Finlayson, Finnie, Finugane, Fionda, Fishburn, Fisher, Fleming, Flett, Flynn, Foot, Ford, Forrest, Forrester, Forsyth, Foster, Frame, Fraser, French, Frizzel, Fullarton, Fulton, Galbraith, Gallocher, Galloway, Gardner, Garrett, Gasson, Gdula, Geddes, Gerrard, Gerry, Gibb, Gibson, Giegerich, Gilchrist, Gill, Gillespie, Gillon, Gilroy, Glass, Glendinning, Goldie, Goodfellow, Gordon, Goskirk, Goudie, Gow, Gowans, Graham, Granger, Grant, Gray, Green, Greenwood, Gregor, Greig, Grierson, Grieve, Hackett, Haig, Hailstone, Halapup, Halkett, Hall, Hamilton, Hammell, Hannah, Hannestad, Harbottle, Hardie, Hare, Harkes, Harkess, Harris, Harrold, Harrower, Hart, Harvey, Haston, Hawley, Hay, Heaney, Heath, Heatlie, Hegarty, Henderson, Hendry, Henry, Henshaw, Herbertson, Heuch, Hewitson, Highland, Hill, Hinshelwood, Hislop, Hobson, Hodge, Hogg, Hojda, Holt, Honeyman, Hook, Hooper, Hope, Horsburgh, Howie, Howieson, Howitt, Hume, Hunnam, Hunter, Husband, Hutcheson, Hutchison, Hutton, Hymers, Hyslop, Imrie, Inch, Ingles, Inglis, Ingram, Inman, Innes, Irvine, Irving, Jack, Jackson, Jamieson, Jardine, Jarvis, Jeffrey, Jenkinson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jones, Kane, Kasperczyk, Keddie, Keith, Kelly, Kennedy, Kerr, Ketchen, Ketchin, Keyden, Kidd, King, Kinnear, Kinnon, Kinross, Kippie, Kirk, Knox, Kolodziej, Kruger, Kurowski, Kurys, Kydd, Kyle, Laidlaw, Laing, Lamb, Lambert, Landers, Lauder, Laurie, Lawson, Lawton, Learmond, Learmonth, Leask, Lees, Leithead, Lennie, Leonard, Leslie, Lessel, Lewis, Liddle, Lindsay, Linton, Little, Livingston, Lloyd, Lockhart, Lockie, Logan, Lorimar, Lorimer, Lothian, Lowrie, Lumsden, Lunn, Lyle, Lynn, Maben, Macadam, Macalister, Macartney, Macdiarmid, Macdonald, Macdougall, Macfarlane, Macgregor, Mack, Mackay, Mackenzie, Mackinnon, Mackintosh, Maclellan, Macleod, Macnaught, Macnaughton, Macqueen, Maguire, Maher, Main, Mair, Makin, Malcolm, Manson, Marjoriebanks, Marr, Marshall, Martin, Mastalerz, Mathie, Mathieson, Mathison, Matthews, Maul, Maule, Mcadam, Mcbeath, Mccaig, Mccall, Mccallum, Mcclune, Mcclure, Mccormack, Mccormick, Mccowan, Mccrorie, Mccutcheon, Mcdonald, Mcdougall, Mcdowell, Mcewan, Mcfadzean, Mcgill, Mcginley, Mcginn, Mcglashan, Mcglasson, Mcgovern, Mcgowan, Mcgregor, Mcintosh, Mcintyre, Mckay, Mckean, Mckellar, Mckelvie, Mckenna, Mckie, Mckimmie, Mcknight, Mclaren, Mclauchlan, Mclean, Mclellan, Mcleman, Mclennan, Mcleod, Mcmichael, Mcmillan, Mcmorran, Mcmurchie, Mcmurdo, Mcnab, Mcnairn, Mcnaught, Mcnaughton, Mcnee, Mcnie, Mcpake, Mcphail, Mcpherson, Mcskimming, Mcteir, Mcwhirter, Meail, Meikle, Mellross, Melrose, Melville, Menzies, Mercer, Michie, Middlemas, Middlemist, Millar, Miller, Miller-thomas, Mills, Milne, Milns, Mirtle, Mitchelhill, Mitchell, Moffat, Molus, Montgomery, Moon, Moore, Morison, Moritz, Morrice, Morris, Morrise, Morrison, Mortan, Morton, Motion, Mowat, Mowatt, Muir, Muirhead, Mungai, Munro, Murray, Myers, Myles, Nairn, Naylor, Naysmith, Neil, Neilson, Nelson, Newall, Newlands, Nichol, Nicholson, Nicol, Nimmo, Nisbet, Nisbett, Noble, Norman, Norris, Norval, Notman, Oliphant, Oliver, Ormiston, Ostrowski, Overend, Owen, Page, Paisley, Pajak, Palmer, Panter, Park, Parker, Parson, Paterson, Paton, Patterson, Paxton, Payne, Pearce, Peat, Peden, Pederson, Pendrich, Pennel, Pentland, Percy, Phaup, Philip, Phillips, Philp, Pickles, Plastow, Poll, Porteous, Potts, Pow, Pownall, Preston, Pretsell, Pringle, Prosser, Proudfoot, Purslow, Purves, Purvis, Pyrzyk, Rae, Raeburn, Ralston, Ramage, Ramsay, Ramsey, Rangecroft, Rathie, Rawbon, Readman, Redpath, Reid, Rendle, Rennie, Renton, Renwick, Richardson, Rickettes, Riddell, Riddle, Ridgway, Ritchie, Roberts, Robertson, Robson, Rodger, Rosie, Ross, Rowntree, Roxburgh, Roy, Ruickbie, Russell, Rutherford, Rydak, Salton, Samuel, Sandeman, Sanderson, Sandiland, Sands, Schofield, Scot, Scott, Scougal, Scougall, Scullion, Sewart, Seymour, Shand, Shanks, Sharland, Sharpe, Shaw, Shearer, Shearme, Shiel, Shiell, Shortreed, Sibbald, Silk, Simmons, Simpson, Sinclair, Sivewright, Sked, Slide, Slingsby, Smail, Small, Smart, Smeeth, Smelt, Smibert, Smith, Sneddon, Snowdon, Somers, Somerville, Sommerville, Soroka, Spence, Stalker, Stalkers, Stark, Stavert, Stebie, Stein, Stenhouse, Stephenson, Sterricks, Steuart, Stevenson, Stewart, Stirling, Stobie, Stoddart, Storie, Storrie, Strachan, Strasser, Strathie, Stroyan, Struthers, Strutthers, Stuart, Sudden, Sutherland, Swan, Swanston, Sword, Sykes, Taggart, Tait, Tarbet, Taylor, Telfer, Tempelton, Temple, Temporal, Tennant, Thatcher, Thomas, Thompson, Thomson, Thorburn, Tod, Todd, Todrick, Toulman, Townend, Trevor, Tucker, Tulloch, Tully, Turnbull, Turner, Turyk, Twining, Umpherston, Urquhart, Vallance, Varrie, Veitch, Vernon, Virtue, Waddell, Wagstaff, Waldie, Walker, Walkingshaw, Wallace, Wallis, Ward, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waugh, Weatherston, Weir, Weir, Weston, Wheeler, White, Whiteford, Whitehead, Whiteley, Whitson, Wight, Wilkin, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Willett, Williams, Williamson, Willison, Wilson, Winks, Winter, Winton, Wintrope, Wood, Wright, Wyper, Yeatts, Yorke, Young, Yuill-walker, Yule, Ziegler.

The CD costs £12 plus 51p for 2nd class UK postage.

In Innerleithen, you can get a copy at Smail’s Printing Works, alternatively, please contact Mary Thomson on our Contacts page using the contact type Order for Publications.

To comment on this article, please click the 'comments' link below. 

An Innerleithen Diaspora

The project to catalogue and index the records at Robert Smail & Sons in Innerleithen, Peeblesshire, reached a significant milestone today.  Robert Smail & Sons were jobbing printers in Innerleithen High Street.  It was a family business which lasted for 120 years and provided for three generations of Smails.  Smail & Sons were both hoarders and arch exponents of the adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and this is what distinguished them from hundreds of similar small businesses.   As a consequence when the business closed the property including all the equipment and records was acquired by the National Trust for Scotland.  Robert Smail and Sons is open to the public and still operates as a jobbing printer.

With the property came over 100 years of business records.  The most significant of these are the Guard Books – giant scrapbooks into which a copy everything printed was stuck - an amazing record of the work that the firm did.  In addition to business records there is some private correspondence and a collection of photographs taken in and around Innerleithen at the beginning of the 20th century.  As a sideline Robert C Smail was an agent for a number of shipping lines selling tickets (including Allan and State Lines, the American Line, Anchor Line, Dominion Line, Donaldson Line, Union-Castle Steamship Co, White Star Line) to local people who wanted to travel.  This agency ran for over thirty years from the late 1890s to the 1930s.  The ticket books, ledgers and correspondence formed a quite distinct sub-set of the archive.  There is a lot of interesting and valuable information in the documents which just might enable you to explain the disappearance of a relative or confirm where one of your ancestors came from. 

We’ve now got to the stage where this material has been indexed and today it became available on the Web.  Go to Smail’s Archive and you can search the archive for yourself – better still there’s no charge.  Typically you should be able to find out when some one sailed, their point of departure and arrival, the name of the ship they sailed on.  There may other information about fares and onward travel as well.  The results of the search can be printed out as a facsimile of a ticket.  Whilst not to everyone’s taste the ticket includes some of the standard terms and conditions for travel.  Including an interesting insight into the sort of food steerage class passengers would receive.  Anyone for tripe or Irish stew at breakfast time ?



Text by David Rudram.

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