Have you a Wicked Criminal in Your Family ?

Our next talk is on Sunday, 26th April when Margaret Fox will talk about "Crimes of an Heinous Nature - Looking at some High Court Trials" and it's being held at the Corn Exchange & Ormiston Institute in Market Square, Melrose. Map.

Margaret will be looking into the darker side of life across the Scottish Borders during the 18th and 19th centuries, examining not only crimes which have long passed into oblivion but also those which are still making the headlines today. Drawing on her extensive research in the High Court of Justiciary case papers in the National Records of Scotland, her talk will range from the political to the domestic, and from the violent to the less so, showing how these records serve to illustrate changes in society and illuminate the past in a unique way.
She will also dip into Lord Cockburn’s ‘Circuit Journeys’ which gives a truly fascinating insight into 19th century crime and criminals from the perspective of a judge who was not afraid to speak his mind !

Her previous talks about the Kirk and its records, and about Traquair House were well attended so come early to get a decent seat.

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 with one of our volunteers.

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.

Traquair Exhibition and Book Launch at Heritage Hub

Following on from Peter's post and book review I've received this invitation from the staff at the Heritage Hub which is open to all members of the Borders FHS:

We'd love to welcome you to an exhibition and book launch we're hosting on 19th September at 6pm.  Catherine Maxwell Stuart and Margaret Fox have written a brilliant book on Traquair and  the launch will celebrate this and provide an opportunity for the Border community to see some treasured items from the Traquair collections in the Exhibition Space at the Heritage Hub, Hawick. 

If you intend to come to this event please reply to Traquair House by email to: <enquiries@traquair.co.uk> or by phoning - 01 896 830 323 .

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.