Fewer Tours Going Forward

2020 is PACKED with tours. As a result I will be significantly reducing the number of trips in 2021. 

There will be NO Edinburgh tour in 2021. If you are interested in researching in Edinburgh, there are two spaces left for the Sept 2020 tour. Once they are gone, that will be it for the forseeable future. 

For more information or register: https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/home.html

Second Edinburgh Tour Added for 2020

In response to requests, I have added a second research tour in Edinburgh in 2020. This will be a smaller sized group than the May group, but will allow the same research opportunities. The tour is scheduled for Sept 13 - 19, 2020, just ahead of the Scottish Borders Tour. 

For more information or to secure your spot on the tour: 
https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/edinburgh-sept-2020.html

JOIN US FOR A GENEALOGY RESEARCH TOUR TO THE SCOTTISH BORDERS

The tour is scheduled for September 20-27, 2020. Arrival will be on the Sunday and check out on the following Sunday. This will give you a free day to just enjoy the area.

This research trip is specific to the Borders region – the counties of: Berwickshire, Peebleshire, Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire. It does NOT include Dumfries and Galloway or the Solway Coast.

The hotel is in historic Melrose. The Abbey is next door and Sir Walter Scott is buried there. Melrose Abbey is the burial place of Robert the Bruce's heart. Abbotsford House was the home of Sir Walter Scott. Trimontium Museum tells the story and history of Roman Scotland. They host guided walking tours of medieval Melrose for a nominal fee.

The tour fees are $2945 canadian. This includes: 

• 7 nights hotel
• 7 breakfasts
• 3 days of research at Hawick Heritage Hub
• 1 day of research at the Borders Family History Society
• Transport to and from the research facilities
• Pre-tour preparation and support
• A day trip to some historic sites in the Scottish Borders 

To register: https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/orkney-2020.html

** non-researching companions are most welcome to join us on this tour. A discount will be applied if sharing a room with a researcher.

Sutherland

Having been immersed in Jacobite history for the few days previous, the Highland History and Research Tour changed tracks just slightly on Sunday and headed over to Sutherland.

We arrived at Dornoch where we took in Easter Sunday Service at the historic Cathedral. The minister is Reverend Susan Brown, Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland, and the same minister that married Guy Ritchie and Madonna and who baptised their son Rocco. We were able to witness the baptism of a local baby girl and welcome her into the Family of God. 

Following service, we walked over to the Castle Hotel for Easter Lunch. The Castle was once the original Bishop's Palace and, later, home to Bishop Robert Stewart, brother to the Earl of Sutherland. 

From the Castle, we drove to see some of the historic sights in Dornoch, including the inn that once housed cleared highlanders and the stone marking the spot of the execution of last woman in Scotland to be tried for witchcraft. 

Then it was on to Dunrobin Castle for a look at castle and grounds. From the Castle, we went on to see the areas affected by the Highland Clearances in Sutherland, some of the most brutal in history, thanks to the ruthlessness of Factor Patrick Sellar. 

We stopped at Rogart to see the memorial cairn to the grandparents of Sir John A. Macdonald. Sir John's paternal grandparents were victims of the Clearances. 

We stopped in Helmsdale to see The Emigrant statue, which honours those who left the Sutherland Estate for further shores.

 And then we headed inland, up the Strath of Kildonan to Kildonan Parish Kirk where we were able to see the plaque honouring the great grandparents of John G Diefenbaker. Sir John's maternal great grandparents were Bannermans and were cleared from Kildonan. They ended up on the Red River Settlement, which is the present day Winnipeg. 

All along the way we were humbled and moved by the tangible evidence of the impact of the Highland Clearances

From Kildonan, we took the "overland route" back to Dornoch and were treated to this amazing sight on the way. 

Highland Research and History Tour Itinerary Confirmed!

The final itinerary for the Highland Research and History Tour  April 2017 is now confirmed:

Friday Apr 14 - Day of arrival in Inverness - participants must make their own way to Inverness

Saturday Apr 15 - Commemorative Service at Culloden Battlefield to mark the 271st anniversary of the battle. Tour of the Battlefield, Visitor Centre and then visit to Clava Cairns (Pre-historic chambered cairns)

Sunday Apr 16 - Easter Sunday Service in historic Dornoch Cathedral followed by a bus tour of the Highland Clearances in Sutherland. Easter Dinner together as a group

Monday Apr 17 - Travel by coach to Armadale Castle in Skye for a guided tour and research opportunities. Return via Eilean Donan Castle

Tuesday Apr 18 & Wednesday Apr 19 - Two full days of research at the Highland Archives Centre in Inverness. After finishing research on Wednesday, we will travel down the Great Glen to Fort William

Thursday Apr 20 - Full day of research at the Lochaber Archives in Fort William

Friday Apr 21 - Travel to Glenfinnan Monument, then on to Glasgow, stopping at Loch Lomond

Saturday Apr 22 - Travel to Fife for the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies

Sunday Apr 23 - Check out or optional day with Glasgow Tour Group to enjoy guided tour of the Glasgow Necropolis and the Jewish Archives

This unique tour will give you a definite sense of the reasons why Scots Highlanders left their homeland to travel to a new country. You will gain a better understanding of the Jacobite cause as well as the later Highland Clearances. 

The tour is being restricted to 11 participants. There are only 5 spaces left. 

To book your spot on this unique Highland Research and History tour: 

http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/highland-research----history-tour.html

Nightmare Averted

Everything was in neat little piles, ready to be packed in suitcases. Money had been exchanged (thanks to today being a bank holiday). Itineraries, lists and confirmation were printed. The excitement was building. Just 24 hours until my flight to Scotland. 

Up popped a notification from the WestJet app letting me know my flight was just 24 hours away. I could now "check-in" I clicked on the invite to see a notice that the flight had been cancelled! 

Surely not. Opened the laptop, onto the WestJet website. It was true. The flight HAD been cancelled. 

As a seasoned traveler I generally go with the flow when things go wrong, and chalk the experience up as being part of the adventure. Not this time. This time I completely unraveled. 

After a frantic hour on the phone, I was rebooked onto an earlier flight. A longer stop over and a bit of chaos but I will still make it to London on time to catch my connecting flight, be on time to pick up the car I have reserved and can still make it to the hotel that had been booked and paid for. 

Needless to say my night was almost non-existent with making sure everything that still needed to get done actually got done. 

Arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare. First on the agenda, a long, cold pint of craft ale! 

Vote on the Future of Inverness Castle!

©Dave Conner, Inverness, Scotland [CC BY 2.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

There has been some buzz on social media for the past couple of months regarding the future of Inverness Castle. The Council is now seeking the public's input regarding the potential uses for the Castle.

The  four main options are:

• A Family History Room, Registrar's Office, Wedding venue and self-catering accommodations. 
• A Museum and Gallery
• A "Capital of the Highlands" Visitor Information Centre, Outlook Tower and self catering accommodations
• A "Themed" visitor attraction and self catering accommodations

Also being considered is a library. 

You can vote for your top three choices by dragging and dropping into the second column in order of importance to you. Here is the link: 

https://www.highlifehighland.com/castle-hill/options-for-castle-hill/

My personal favourite is the Family History Room (which will include a hub for the ScotlandsPeople Centre and provide access to the same databases available in Edinburgh) and Registrar's office in the same location. This could attract large numbers of the diaspora returning to the area to research their Scottish roots. It looks as though accommodation is included in each option, so you can stay onsite where you research! Wouldn't it also be wonderful to have a library in the same building!

Please take the time to vote!

Planning A Genealogy Research Trip to Scotland? Prepare a Research Plan

If you are at the point where you think a trip to Scotland might be the best way to further your Scottish genealogy research, it is important to create both a research plan and an itinerary in order to have a successful trip.  

Traveling to the home of your ancestors takes planning. It is not enough to show up in the village where  your ancestors lived, head to the local pub and start asking questions. You need to do some research ahead of time. Learn about what repositories are available, what archival materials they hold, who can access them and what identification is required to access the repositories. Remember many archival records are held offsite, so plan for retrieval times as well.  

Here is an example of a genealogy research plan for use in preparing for your genealogy research trip to Scotland:

Remember, the more preparation you do at home before you go, the greater your chances of successful research in Scotland

Thank You Toronto!

What a great day yesterday! I was fortunate enough to be part of the Toronto Branch (OGS) Workshop "Scotland & Its People"

The day was very well organized and lots of information was offered and shared.

Dr Kevin James from the University of Guelph's Scottish Studies Program gave a condensed history of Scotland, helping to put our genealogy research into perspective. His second talk was a brilliant overview of reasons for Scots emigrating.

Sheena Tait made her maiden voyage to Canada to speak on Scottish History and it's impact on Genealogy Research (parish records, poor law records, estate records etc). Her second talk gave an overview of the Scottish agricultural labourer and provided some of the social history aspects for our farmer ancestors. And Sheena's final talk provided resources that would allow us to gain a better sense of being able to visualize what our ancestors' lives were like.

James FS Thomson from the Toronto branch gave two workshops. The first was on the website ScotlandsPlaces, the sister site to ScotlandsPeople, where documents other than statutory records are available - tax records, gazeteers, ordnance maps and so much more. His second talk was on conducting Scottish research from the GTA and the resources that are available locally.

Linda Reid, also from the Toronto Branch, gave a wonderful and fascinating talk on using Lair records to break through genealogical brick walls.

Krista Barclay gave us a fascinating look at Scots who had initially settled in Ontario and who subsequently migrated to North Dakota as a response to the Homesteaders Act.

Marian Press gave a very informative talk on resources for local history and social history to assist us in gaining a better understanding of our Scottish ancestors.

And I gave a talk to a very enthusiastic group on preparing for a genealogy research trip to Scotland.

It was a full day. Full of learning. Lots of chances to network and some great craic. Many of us  missed out on lunch because we didn't want to have to miss out on any of the talks to go out and grab a sandwich.

Thank You Toronto!

Two Added Tours Are Filling Up Quickly!

Although this year's tour is still six weeks away, the two additional tours which have been added are filling up quickly.

The first tour takes place December 1 - 10 2014 and the second runs from April 19-28, 2015. This second tour includes the Scottish Association of Family History Societies Conference in Stirling.

Don't miss out on the chance to visit your ancestral homeland, to gain access to records not available online and to walk in the footsteps of your ancestors.

Book NOW at: https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

Ancestral Tourism and Homecoming 2014

Scotland has deemed 2014 to be Homecoming II. It is a year full of activities and events that will inspire the return of thousands of the descendants of the Scots Diaspora to return to their ancestral homeland. In addition, there is a big impetus from Tourism Intelligence to create a more meaningful trip for the Diaspora by working with local businesses to assist them in meeting the needs of the Diaspora as they return to search their roots. While these businesses are not necessarily genealogy based, they have been versed in assisting you to know where you can go for assistance.   

If you are going to Scotland on an ancestral visit, make sure you take the opportunity to also learn the social history of your ancestors. There is so much more to understanding the lives of your ancestors than simply knowing the dates of the vital events in their lives. Take time to really understand the times in which they lived. How they lived. What they did for entertainment, where they worked, what the laws and social norms were. You can do this by:

•Visiting Museums

•Visiting Historic Sites
•Talking to Locals
•Take CityTours
•Reading, reading, reading
•Talk to the locals

Discover Your Own Scottish Heritage

One of the realities for the descendants of the Scots Diaspora who return to Scotland to research their roots is that they are neither visiting nor touring. They are returning HOME. So many of Scots heritage will tell you that the moment they set foot on Scottish soil, they had a sense of "coming home" Indulge yourself in your heritage. Take pride. Drink it in. Absorb it. Here's how:

•Visit Pubs

•Attend Festivals

•Take part in Highland Games, Clan Gatherings, Celebrations, Re-enactments

Planning ahead will help you to make the best use of your time in Scotland. And ultimately that will make your quest to discover your ancestors and your own Scottish heritage more fulfilling. 

If you wish to join an organized tour, please be aware that less than a handful of the Scottish-based Ancestral tour companies are run by genealogists. They are in fact travel companies, and while their tours may be a great way to see Scotland, you will not get the assistance you need in furthering your genealogy research. While you may get to the village or town where your ancestors lived, very few will take you to see your ancestral haunts (churches, schools, places of work, churches, graveyards). None of these companies include time in archival repositories. 

At Genealogy Tours of Scotland, http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca our tours provide protected time at the ScotlandsPeople Centre, the Scottish Genealogy Centre and the National Library of Scotland. These are all based in Edinburgh and while on the tour, you will receive personal assistance from the archivists in each location.

In addition to the repository visits, time is available to travel to the area of Scotland where your ancestors lived. I provide connections to ancestral tour companies, run by genealogists in Scotland, who will give you a personalised tour of your ancestors home area including graveyards, churches, streets, business and anything else you may wish to see that is still standing.  

If a visit to Scotland is on your bucket list, I guarantee as soon as you arrive, you will get the sense of "being home". If genealogy research is on  your to-do list while in Scotland, give me a shout and I can assist you to make the most of your ancestral visit. (genealogytoursofscotland@gmail.com) Either way, you won't be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

Before You Go....Create a Research Plan

If you are planning a trip to Scotland for Homecoming 2014 and hope to carry out some genealogy research, you will find better results if you create a research plan before you go.

• Decide which repositories you want/need to visit. Visit their websites. Learn what hours and days they are open then plan accordingly. 
• Consider travel and time constraints. What else will you be doing while in Scotland? How many days or hours do you have to dedicate to your genealogy research? Are the repositories open on the days you have free? Be realistic about time. It may take time for the records to be retrieved and brought to you. Keep that in mind when you are planning your time.  
• Create an Itinerary. Where else do you want to visit? Do you want to see the village, town or city your ancestor lived in? How will you get there? How long will that take? 
• Create a Travel Plan. Prioritize what you want to see, what records you want to get. If time is limited then decide to work at only the top three. If time allows, you can get to the next items on your list.  
• You may want to consult a professional genealogist before you go. This will help you to better plan your time and keep you focussed on exactly what it is that you hope to achieve during your quest to learn more about your ancestors.

Planning ahead will help you to make the best use of your time in Scotland. And ultimately that will make your quest to discover your ancestors and your own Scottish heritage more fulfilling.

If  you are going planning to go to Scotland to do family history research and you would like to do so in an organized way, sign up for a group genealogy holiday through Genealogy Tours of Scotland:
https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

 

Getting Ready for a Genealogy Research Trip to Scotland?

This year has been deemed Homecoming 2014. It is a year full of activities and events that will inspire the return of thousands of the descendants of the Scots Diaspora to return to their ancestral homeland.

Walking in the footsteps of your ancestors is awe-inspiring, humbling and deeply fulfilling. But traveling to the home of your ancestors takes planning. It is not enough to show up in the village, head to the local pub and start asking questions. You need to do some research ahead of time. Learn about what repositories are available, what archival materials they hold, who can access them and what identification is required to access the repositories. Here's a checklist of sorts to help you be better prepared:

Ø      Make sure that your Family Tree is up to date. Make it portable. Have it on a laptop, iPad, or tablet so that you can access the information in Scotland. If you want, you can print off Family Group Sheets or create a spreadsheet and write down what you are missing and hope to find when you are in Scotland. 

Ø      Make a list of all of the documents you already have copies or originals of. This will prevent you wasting time searching for information you already have. Remember, you will be able to see births newer than 100 years, marriage records newer than 75 years and death records newer than 50 years, so you will want to make a list of the more recent records you want to have a look at while you are in Edinburgh. 

Ø      Know what each repository has in its collections to assist you further with your research. 

Ø      Write out your brick walls and think about what you want to find out to help break those down. Do you need to look at parish records, voters rolls, apprentice records, maps, directories, newspapers? This will help to focus and guide your research time. 

Ø      Make sure that your passport is valid and up to date. If you are traveling from Canada, the US, or Australia, you do NOT require a visa. Your passport is all that you will need and it must not expire before you return to your country of origin.

Ø      Pack extra batteries, camera cards and other accessories that you might need for those pictures of old homesteads, churches, schools, village signs or headstones. 

Ø      Purchase adapters for the change in electrical currency in Scotland.  

Ø      Pack power cords, USB sticks and other accessories you might need for your computer while you are in Scotland. Laptops can be taken into the repositories.  

Ø      Pack pencils. Pens are not allowed in the repositories.

 

 

 

GENEALOGY TOURS OF SCOTLAND TOUR ITINERARY NOW CONFIRMED

Day 1: Today is a day of arrival. It is a bank holiday. Banks, post offices and other government buildings will be closed. Tourist attractions and museums are open. We will meet in the hotel meeting room in the evening. Ian Walker of Borders Journeys will join us for those who wish to finalize their trip details with him.   

Day 2: Following breakfast, we will be taken to Scotland’s People Centre. Here we will enjoy a Family History Event, which is not only an introduction to the facility but also a workshop on Scottish Research as well. Coffee and tea will be provided during this event. You are free to research for the remainder of the day. 

Day 3: For the next two days, the group will be split into two. One half of the group will return to ScotlandsPeople Centre for a full day of research. The other half of the group will make our way over to the Scottish Genealogy Society. Here, we will take part in a Family History event to learn about the resources available at the Society and to assist in moving forward in our Scottish research. The SGS has MIs, burial records, census indices and directories. 

Day 4:  Today will be a reverse of yesterday. The group that went to the Scottish Genealogy Society yesterday will enjoy a full day of research at ScotlandsPeople Centre. The other half of the group will make our way over to the Scottish Genealogy Society for a Family History Event and tour of the Society.

Tonight we will meet as a group for a Ghosts and Graveyards Tour through City of the Dead Tours. This tour explores the rich history of the old town, and includes a tour of the underground vaults as well as a late night tour of Greyfriars Graveyard. The Graveyard part of the tour takes us within the confines of the covenanters prison. This area of the graveyard is normally locked. This tour is optional. For those wishing to join us, the fees will be covered.

Day 5:  Following breakfast, we will walk over to the National Library. Here we will be shown a presentation on what the Library has to offer then given a quick tour. You will require a temporary library card in order to research here. The card is free.

The weekend is open for anyone wishing to travel to their ancestral part of Scotland, or simply just to  sightsee.  

Day 8: Arrangements can be made for you to attend the genealogy society in the area where your ancestors lived to provide you with the social history details you won't necessarily get elsewhere. If this is at a distance, you might want to also spend the weekend in the area to gain a better sense of who your ancestors were and then attend the local genealogy society on the Monday, prior to your return to Edinburgh. If you choose to stay locally, you can return to ScotlandsPeople Centre, the National Records of Scotland or the Scottish Genealogy Society. Or you can head to Glasgow to the Mitchell Library and the Glasgow Archives.

Day 9:  Following breakfast, we will return to ScotlandsPeople Centre for a full day of research. The evening will be spent at the Taste of Scotland Show

Day 10: Following breakfast, we will check out of the hotel so you can transfer back to Glasgow airport or move on to your next stop in Scotland.

 

Tombstone Tuesday - Symbolism

During my visit last year to the Glasgow Necropolis, I was taken by the symbolism in the monuments. Of course there were the standard ones (Celtic):

But others were less obvious in their meaning. Like these ones, for example:

While these two appear to have been vandalized, they were, in fact, planned this way. The symbolism here is that the person for whom the monument was erected was "cut down in the prime of his life" One being only 37 at the time of his death!

Upcoming Talks

March is a busy month with a number of talks on Scottish Genealogy still to come. Here's the listing for this month:

 

Researching in Scotland

Monday March 11

7:00 pm

Oxford Branch OGS

http://www.ogs.on.ca/oxford/eventspg.html 

This presentation will focus on the annual trips to Scotland led by Genealogy Tours of Scotland. Come and learn about how we spend our time in Edinburgh, what archives we visit and what records we are able to access that we can't access online.  

Researching in Scotland

Wednesday March 20

6:00 pm

Hamilton Branch WISE Meeting 

This presentation will focus on the annual trips to Scotland led by Genealogy Tours of Scotland. Come and learn about how we spend our time in Edinburgh, what archives we visit and what records we are able to access that we can't access online.  

Scottish Genealogy Research:

Search Your Roots; Discover Your Heritage

Saturday March 23

1:00 pm

Cambridge Libraries and Galleries

http://www.cambridgelibraries.ca/libraryevent/scottish-genealogy-workshop?date=2013-03-23 

Do you have Scottish ancestry but don’t know where to begin your genealogy research? Join us to learn where to start, what to consider and where to look what online to help you find your Scottish Ancestors

To book a talk, workshop or seminar contact me at: genealogytoursofscotland@gmail.com

 

Book Review

Susan Davis, Communications Director of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa(BIFHSGO) has graciously prepared a review of my new book:

Woodcock, Christine. In Search of Your Scottish Ancestors: Search Your Roots; Discover Your Heritage, Ontario. 2012. 56 pp. ISBN 978-0-9917500-0-9 Paperbound.
When Christine Woodcock told me she was publishing a book on researching in Scotland, I immediately wanted a copy. Still feeling a bit timid about crossing the pond to look for my Angus, Glendinning and Bell ancestors in Scotland, this how-to book is a welcome addition to my bookshelf. 

Packed with useful information, it is organized into a series of chapters that takes you from starting your search to providing advice on ancestral tourism. Written in an informative but friendly manner, the book is based on Christine’s first-hand experience as a researcher and educator. Each year, Scottish-born Christine, leads a group of family history researchers on Genealogy Tours of Scotland. 

In her chapter, Important Things to Remember, Christine reminds us to Beware the Ear of the “Hearer” and shares her challenge of getting past the heavy Scottish brogue to find her gggrandfather Henry Fowler. After years of research and a new strategy, she finds him listed as Henry Fuller. “Once I saw the name, it made perfect sense. I could literally see him standing at the door and the census taker asking, “Surname?” and my great-great-grandpa answering “Fooluhr.”” 

Christine gets you thinking about cluster genealogy research and your ancestors’ social circles in her chapter Who are the People in the Neighbourhood? One of the research examples she shares is her

ancestors and their neighbours who were miners working for the same coal company and living in company housing. Deep family connections were made when three of 10 Crawford children married three of 11 Fowler children. She also devotes a chapter to the Selkirk settlers. 

Very familiar with the various Scottish records, Christine provides insight into how to access the various records online with an extensive list of lesser known online databases and a handy list of the local resources provide by Scottish family history societies. She provides a primer on using ScotlandsPeople.
 

Printed in a booklet format, In Search of Your Scottish Ancestors is easy—to read, understand and put to use. It is also a convenient size to carry about. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to do some research on Mary Ann Angus, my gggrandmother who left Aberdeen as a teenager in the 1860s to settle in Canada with her family.
 

For more information about Christine, her book and her tours, visit her website: http:www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca