I was looking at the “likes” on a
link I had posted to Facebook today and saw that the two people concerned were
related although they probably didn’t realise it! It got me to thinking about my genealogy
efforts and the family tree.
I started the research about ten
years ago. I’m not sure what prompted me
to even think of it – maybe it was the realisation that the years were catching
up with me and I needed to know more about
my past? It certainly had a little to do with me wanting my
grandchildren to know about their background (at least on my side of the
family). I’m not really sure, but most of the people I’ve come into contact
with throughout those years since I started have been in and around my age
bracket so maybe it is a case of realising that we aren’t immortal after all.
I surfed the internet, picking up
hints on “how to” and then my local library ran a short course on the subject
and I was off……
I bought my first version of
“Family Tree Maker” (I’m 3 versions in now!) and duly entered my name. I put
all the family that I knew of in, back to my grandparents and started searching
the genealogy websites. I uploaded the
information I had to a couple of more well known sites and within no time I
started getting emails from people who thought they might be related or who had
information that might be useful. Two of
my earliest contacts were from the Lawrie/Laurie side of the family and came
from Northumberland and, of all places,
New Zealand.
Further delving into the past revealed
that my great grandfather’s elder brother had emigrated to New Zealand with his
two children back in the 1840s (something no one seems to have known about) and
we now seem to be related to half the population of the South Island! (I believe there wasn’t much to do there in
those days once it got dark!). He moved
on to Australia and died in Victoria in the 1890s. He married again in Australia and there are
now more Aussie relatives! So much for Mum and I being the first family members
to come to Australia!
I was contacted by my cousin,
John on my Father’s side of the family (a family I hadn’t seen since I was
about 7 years old!) and he sent me a wonderful old photo of his mother and our
aunt with my father when he was about to go off to WWl (he was 16 but lied
about his age).
Going back earlier than my
Grandmother on that side has been very difficult. There have been several dead ends and wrong
leads and we’ve never found anything about his father (my grandfather). Seems Grandmother came from Devon but Lord
knows what sent her to Birmingham! I’m
sure I’d rather have Devon!
I made contact with relatives
on the Good side of the family (Good-Cobban-Lawrie) in USA England and
Australia (Jo, Janet and Margaret on Facebook) and was delighted when my second
cousin, Sharon, got in touch with me.
Her father, Alan, was the cousin that I grew up with – well until we
came to Australia.
All in all though, we seemed to
be a fairly mundane family. No real
skeletons but more than a sprinkling of shot gun weddings (tut tut in Victorian
times too!!!). That is until GREAT GREAT
GREAT GRANNIE URQUHART!
Let me set the picture here. I’ve lived in Australia most of my life, I’m
an Aussie citizen and owe no other allegiance.
One of THE best things (historically) is if you can find a convict in
the closet (preferably BEFORE transportation ended rather than today!) It’s almost Colonial Royalty! Imagine my delight when I stumbled over the
information that Great Great Great Grannie, Euphemia Urquhart (nee Yule) had
been a naughty lady and transported for a term of 7 years from Edinburgh to Van
Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). I paid a
researcher to go through the National Archives in Scotland and she sent me over
70 pages of court transcripts, evidence statements and even the list of jurors
at her trial. I got more convict records
from Tasmania, including her description upon arrival and the date of her
eventual freedom. She married again to a
fellow convict – I might add, while she was still married to Great Great Great
Grandfather, George, and never went back to Scotland. She died in Hobart in
1877. So even Peter Lawrie wasn’t the first ancestor to come here. Mum and I were getting further back in the
queue! It’s of interest to note here that
my surviving aunt who is now 92, doesn’t believe a word of this! She reckons I’m just digging up dirt on the
family and I haven’t had a Christmas card since she was told!!!! When I was in Scotland for The Gathering in
2009 I took a full copy of the information from the National Archives with me
and it is now in the Clan Urquhart Archives with the Clan Chief in USA. In the Clan Parade up the Royal Mile I chose
to walk with Clan Urquhart because the old girl had provided me with the most
interesting piece of history ever!
The visit to Scotland also gave
me the opportunity to visit the village of Chirnside in the Borders where the
Lawries all came from and Perthshire
where the Gows originated. I found the
grave of my great great grandparents and great grandparents in the Chirnside churchyard
and I must admit I stood there and shed a quiet tear. I know it sounds corny but I felt I’d come
home. It was so much a part of what I’d
been doing all the research for. I stood
outside the house that my mother was born in and passed the church that my grandparents
were married in.
Weathered and difficult to read unless you're actiually there.
Peter Lawrie & Alison Lidgate.
James Lawrie & Agnes Blackbell.
plus another son and daughter of James & Agnes.
I’ve managed to go back to about
the mid 1700s and we have family scattered all over. From Scotland they’ve spread to Canada, USA, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa, England and now Spain thanks to Sharon and Simon. I
just hope that another family member will keep this research going for the
future generations. Not everyone is
going to be interested but every now and again
there will be ONE who wants to know who they are and where they came
from.
