A Month of Gravestones - Stephen Mitchell

Today's post features the gravestone of Stephen Mitchell. Stephen was born near Linlithgow and is buried in St Michael's Kirkyard, next to Linlithgow Palace.

Following a four year apprenticeship with merchants in Leith, Stephen joined his father's tobacco business, Stephen Mitchell & Son. This comprised both snuff mill and a tobacconist shop. Following the death of his father, Mitchell took over the family business and watched it prosper despite changes in trade regulations. 

Mitchell retired to Moffat where he also suffered the accident that caused his death. He was out for a walk and seems to have lost his footing and fell. His fall appears to have caused a fractured skull and it was several hours before he was found. By that time, he was deceased. His body was returned to Linlithgow to be buried alongside his parents. 

Mitchell had no children and so left his vast fortune to various staff and charities. He left almost £67,000 for the establishment of a public library. Many genealogists will be familiar with this part of his legacy, The Mitchell Library in Glasgow. 

The Research Begins!

The Glasgow Research Group had their first day at the Glasgow City Archives today. What a treat! Many were amazed at the information that they were able to gather on their Glasgow ancestors and lots of unknowns were answered today. As always, the Poor Relief records provided a wealth of information.

Poor Law records, Kirk Session records, Burial records, School records, and Merchant records were all consulted today. Being able to handle, read and understand the genealogy gems within the original documents made the participants feel like they were experiencing their own Who Do You Think You Are episode!

Family History Month - Mitchell Library

The Mitchell houses a Genealogy Centre which is a hub for the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh. Here you can access the same databases as you can in Edinburgh. The same daily research fees of £15 apply.

The Mitchell also houses the Glasgow City Archives and its extensive collection relating to the history of Glasgow including:

Maps

Poor relief records - these are perhaps the richest source of genealogical information across any archival collection. The poor relief was not for the unemployed, but for the unemployable. Lunatics, infirm, disabled, or the elderly were eligible to apply for poor relief. Able bodied adults who were capable of work were not eligible. The exception were women whose husband had deserted them, widowed women or women with one or more children who were illegitimate.

The information in the applications are often rich with details on the lives of the people who made the application.

Source for Irish Family History because of the influx of the Irish into Glasgow at various times, the Glasgow City Archives has become an important source for Irish Family History. Many of the Irish were in positions to have to apply for poor relief and through these records, you can gain a wonderful sense of their lives. Often you can find their counties, cities and townlands through these applications as well.

Archival materials pertaining to Glasgow businesses. While these rarely include personnel information, they do include minute books which may name your ancestor. As well, they have the financial records for the business, some photographs and correspondence from the businesses.

Schools - beginning in 1870, head teachers were required to keep a log book. This contains more social history than detailed information on the individual students. It may talk about attendance being low for planting or harvest or due to any illnesses. More important for family historians are the school admission records. These may include names, previous schools attended, reason for leaving the school, notes on siblings in the school.

Churches - ScotlandsPeople has the records for the established church of Scotland. The Glasgow archives has records for all of the other denominations. Records include tithe records, sick calls, kirk session records (an absolute wealth of information), baptisms, marriages and burials or mort cloth rentals.

Prison Records (Barlinnie)

Asylum Records (Glasgow Lunatic Asylum, renamed Glasgow Royal Lunatic Asylum and now known as Gartnavel Royal Hospital)

Burial and lair records - these can tell you who purchased the lair, the fee paid, the address of the purchaser, who is buried within the lair and sometimes their relationship to the lair owner. Note that between 6 and 12 people can be buried within one lair. Other records held by the Glasgow Archives includes obituaries and undertaker records.

NHS Archives. The NHS did not start in Scotland until 1948.

The Glasgow Archives also have the estate recordsfor the island of Islay as well as the private papers for a number of landed families. The information in these records can include rental books, leases or tack agreements, correspondence, diaries and much more.

The family history resources available through the Mitchell can be explored at: www.glasgowfamilyhistory.org.uk

The Mitchell has an extensive collection of photographs, documents and eye-witness accounts regarding the Blitz on the Clydeside when the area was heavily bombed during WWII, with factories and shipyards being the main target for destruction.

The Mitchell has a virtual volumeswebsite where you can view maps, photos and document the changes in Glasgow's streets over time: http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/index.php?a=aboutushttp://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/index.php?a=aboutus

The Mitchell also has a number of Scottish newspapers available on microfilm. 

Day Four - Mitchell Library

For our first day of research, we headed into Glasgow for a day at the Mitchell Library. The Mitchell is reportedly the largest library in Europe. It is housed in a grand old building, with newer buildings annexed on.

The Glasgow Archives are on the second floor and have a number of very useful items. The Archivist is most helpful. On the third floor, there is an area where you can gain access to the internet on a timed basis and you are free to use resources such as Scotland's People. Discount credits can be purchased for use either on your own laptop or on the library's computers. The third floor also houses the Family History Centre where you can have unlimited access to Scotland's People for a day use fee. Unfortunately there are only five computers that are not reserved and so you take your chances in going without pre-booking. The other unfortunate thing is that if someone has pre-booked and doesn't show, the computer sits empty all day, as we witnessed. The staff were neither friendly nor helpful and if you want to access SP for a day of unlimited use, it is worth making the trip into Edinburgh instead.

The libraries in Scotland are under review and are facing budget constraints, staffing cuts and, in some instances, closure. The result of this is the impact it has had on both the staff morale and ultimately the services. Some of the staff were helpful and friendly while others were just short of rude. The building requires major maintenance with the toilets being in a terrible state of disrepair.

One of the things I found quite interesting was that at the free museums we have visited, there are donation kettles with a suggested fee of £2. At the Mitchell, there is also a donation kettle with a suggested donation of £3. The kettles at the museums had quite a bit of money including several fivers. The kettle at the Mitchell was nearly empty with only a few pennies in it. People obviously are happy to pay for an experience that is meaningful to them and the service at the Mitchell is perhaps best reflected in the empty donation kettle.

It is unfortunate that governments don't see libraries as a viable and necessary resource. Reading is one of the basics of literacy and should be supported on that basis. Libraries can be viable if staff are not worried on a daily basis about the future of their employment. Perhaps it is time for libraries to be privatized, for real dollars to be infused to make them user friendly and sustainable. As the saying goes, "if we build it, they will come"

The Itinerary for the Spring Tour is Now Confirmed.

We will be staying in Edinburgh. The hotel is the Residence Inn by Marriott in Edinburgh. This is located less than a mile from Scotland’s People Centre, the National Library and the Scottish Genealogy Society. Since our days at each of these places are long, the closeness of the hotel makes it easier for people to take a break and return to the hotel if they wish.

The Residence Inn is an “apart-hotel” which means that it has a full kitchen as well as a sleeping area. Given that we are away for 10 days, this will make it feel less like we are living out of a suitcase for the time we are away. The rooms are studio rooms with a bed, kitchen area (fridge, dishwasher and microwave) and an area where you can set up to do your research or have a “mini office” without having to have things all over the floor, dresser or bed. The rooms have wireless internet. There is a laundry room on the main floor of the hotel.  

A full hot/cold breakfast is available every morning. There are a number of eateries within a few blocks of the hotel. Two within a couple of blocks are the Witchery and the Tower. Both highly recommended. Some of the restaurants will deliver to the hotel residents free of charge. The hotel also offers a free grocery delivery service so that you can cook your own small meals or snacks should you prefer.

May 6^th: this is a day of travel for you to get to Scotland (travel arrangements made on your own)

May 7^th: The tour begins today. You will be met at the airport in Glasgow and will be taken to the hotel in Edinburgh. Please ensure I have your flight arrival details.

May 7^th is a bank holiday. Banks, post offices and other government buildings will be closed. The afternoon will be free time to enjoy the city, take a city tour, or to rest after the long flight and 5 hour time change. The evening will be spent at the Taste Of Scotland Dinner show.

May 8^th: Following breakfast, we will be taken over to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. There are a number of computer terminals at the Mitchell and there is high speed Wi-Fi in some areas of the library should you choose to take your laptop. There is a café onsite for lunch and dinner. The café is open until 7:15 pm. We will be at the Mitchell until 8pm when it closes.

May 9^th: 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 a workshop on Scottish Research as well. Coffee and tea will be provided during this event, which will run the entire morning. Your research days are paid for as part of your tour fees. However, you will be on your own to pay for any copies you make or for saving images to your USB stick (the USB stick will be provided to you). Photocopies at Scotland's People Centre are £.50 and saves to the USB stick are £.30.  We will be at Scotland’s People Centre until 4:30 when we will return to the hotel. There is a café onsite for a light lunch. We return to Scotland’s People Centre at 6:30 for an evening of research. The café is not open at night.

May 10^th: Following breakfast, we will return to the Mitchell in Glasgow for a full day of research.

May 11^th: Following breakfast, we will return to Scotland’s People Centre for a full day of research. We will return to the hotel at 4:30. Anyone wishing to be away for the weekend to visit the place where their ancestors lived may get a head start on the Friday night if they wish.

The weekend is open for anyone wishing to travel or sightsee. There are a number of organized day tours leaving from Edinburgh for anyone wishing to join them. They can be booked once we are in Edinburgh (the tourist information is directly across the street from Scotland’s People Centre). Tours to the highlands are popular, as are trips to Stirling Castle, St Andrews or Roslin Chapel and the Scottish Borders. Most of the tours run about £30 – £40 for the day. Well worth the money.

http://www.visitscotland.com/

For those choosing to stay in Edinburgh, I highly recommend the Edinburgh City Tours. They are on an open top, double decker bus. The best way to make use of the tour is to stay on for the full circuit (about an hour). Then, stay on the bus and travel to the attractions of interest. The tours are hop-on/hop-off so once you are finished at one attraction, you simply board the next bus and head to the next area of interest. Edinburgh Castle is a must see. However, it involves a lot of walking and the esplanade is cobblestone, which makes the walk a bit more difficult. The Royal Mile from the Castle to Holyrood House (the Queen’s residence when she is in Scotland) is amass with small shoppes, museums and closes (small, dark crowded streets) that offer a great day of history and discovery.

Edinburgh has a number of free museums. http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/

On the main street in Edinburgh, Princes Street, there are the famed Gardens, shopping and the Scott monument. The Edinburgh City Tour tickets are £12 and are good for 24 hours, so you don’t need to rush to see everything on the first day.

Monday May 14^th: Following breakfast, we will head to the Scottish Genealogy Society. The fees for your day are covered in your tour fees. The SGS has a subscription to both Ancestry.co.uk and FindMyPast. You will be able to access these subscriptions during our visit. The SGS also has records pre-1855 which will assist you in getting further back in your family tree. Here is a list of what is available to you: http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/Resources.aspx
We will be at the Scottish Genealogy Society from 10:30 – 5:30. We will return to the hotel and then get ready for dinner at Dalhousie Castle on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Dinner is in the Dungeon restaurant and will begin at 7 pm. http://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/fine_dining.asp?Page=the_dungeon_restaurant

May 15^th: Following breakfast, we will be taken to the National Library. Here we will have an overview of what resources are available followed by a tour of the public areas of the library. You will require a temporary library card in order to research here. You can do this ahead of time, if you wish at: http://www.nls.uk/using-the-library/library-cards
Many of the items are off site but can be made available to you if the Library is aware in advance that you will require them. Here is the link to see what is available: http://www.nls.uk/family-history

We will be at the Library from 9:30 – 8:30. There is a café onsite for lunch and dinner. If you are interested in historic maps, they are in a separate building, joined by a walkway, which closes at 5pm. Again, you can contact the library ahead of time to make sure the items you are looking for will be available to you.

May 16^th: Following breakfast, we will check out of the hotel and transfer back to Glasgow airport.

I am looking forward to our time in Scotland. Happy Researching!!

Family History at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow

Click on the link to watch the video
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Census and Evening Times Honour Roll at the Mitchell