Jun 26th, 2009
How is a village made?
I’ve been homing in on a village in Lanarkshire where four generations of my Somerville ancestors lived.
As it was a small village (around 500 people in the 1850s and possibly less than that in earlier centuries), it’s possible to get a fair overall view of who lived there and how the village families were inter-related. I did a blanket search for Somerville BMDs 1538-1854 in the Old Parish Records on scotlandspeople and came to the conclusion that this family (or families) must have made up a majority of the population for nigh on two centuries. The records, by the way, date back to a little before the Scottish Reformation and end as national registration takes over from the parish records.
As for women marrying (more…)
May 19th, 2009
4 generations with 1 name
This photograph (professionally taken) is in the back garden of Retta Cottage at 2 Edward Street, Hamiton. Note the props: a rug has been flung over the fence to make a backdrop and there are potted aspidistras either side of the men. I think it was taken in or around 1933. The photo’s purpose was to show four generations of a family all named Robert Benson. I’m currently researching where and when this picture appeared and if a story was written to accompany it.
Edit: Thanks to some fantastic help from Angela at the Reference Library in Hamilton, I now know that this picture, captioned ‘The Four Robert Bensons‘, appeared in the Hamilton Advertiser for 13 May 1933. There wasn’t a story as such, just details of who the men in the photo were. Someday I’ll go and look at the original page in the newspaper.
The eldest Robert – he of the luxuriant mouser – was 82 here and had outlived two wives, Euphemia Baxter and Agnes Craig. He and Euphemia had 7 children, all boys. This accounts for the masses (and I do mean masses!) of Bensons who followed. Had it not already been a common name in the west of Scotland, Robert’s contribution (more…)
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