Mappy Monday - Maps that I love...

I love using maps in my research, and although the National Library of Scotland is usually my first port of call for most Scottish maps, there are also some fantastic finds from other archives.

One of my favourite sets of maps is the 1769 estate plans of the Breadalbane estate on Loch Tay side.  These are superbly detailed and have useful accompanying information in the form of a survey book published by the Scottish History Society ["Survey of Lochtayside 1769" (Scottish History Society, 3rd series, vol. 27)].

Even if your ancestors did not hail from this area, the maps are lovely things to look at in and of themselves, and they are freely available to view online.  Click the links to view images of The North Side of the loch and The South Side of the loch at the Scotland's Places website.

Enjoy!

Sympathy Saturday - Victims of the Scottish snow

As anyone who checks in on my blog now and then will know, I am a big fan of using newspapers for genealogy research.  Although it is more often the more well-to-do individuals who would place notices in the newspapers commemorating their life events, the early newspapers can be a real treasure trove of information about individuals from every walk of life.

This week's extracts come from two Scottish newspapers and have a sad seasonal theme - both detail the tragic cases of individuals caught outside in extreme weather in the Scottish winter.  Their stories are so sad, especially perhaps this extract telling the fate of Mr John Piggy and his son:

Caledonian Mercury, Thursday, January 16, 1800

From further north, we also have the sad case of William Mason from Glenbervie:

The Aberdeen Journal, Monday, January 13, 1800

As well as these named individuals, these extracts refer to a number of unknown souls whose lives were lost to the extreme weather.  We may never know who these people were, but in the era before statutory registration of deaths, the newspapers can sometimes give us a vital clue as to what happened to some of our ancestors.

Births, Marriages and Deaths - Today in the Glasgow Herald of 1851

Today's blog post is simply a list of the births, marriages and deaths recorded in the online archive of the Glasgow Herald newspaper, this day in 1851.

It is worth remembering that newspapers are a valuable source for genealogy and many are now available online - either freely over the internet (like this edition of the Herald) or via some subscription services (some local libraries and historical societies may subscribe - so do check before you take out a subscription yourself).

Glasgow Herald, 7 Feb 1851, pg.5

Births:

A daughter to Mrs Robert Robin

A son to the wife of C T Dunlop, esq.

A son to Mrs William R Findlay

A daughter to Mrs R Drummond

A son to Mrs James Hood

A daughter to Mrs George F Coulson

A daughter to Mrs William Wright

A son to Mrs R Forsyth

A daughter to Mrs James Allan

Marriages:

Mr A Forrester, merchant, Leith, to Mary Paton, daughter of John Paton esq., of Kilncraigs

Mr William Henry Alexander, Glasgow, to Jane Bryce, daughter of John Bryce esq., portioner, Calton

Alan Ker, esq., Greenock, to Julia Emily Easton, daughter of John Easton esq., MD, of Courance Hill, Dumfriesshire

Deaths:

Mr William Nicolson

Alexa McCallum

Catherine Loutet or Maclean

Elizabeth Howie

Jane Auchterlonie

George Gordon Semple, esq.

Mr James McGhie, sen.

Mr John Barrie

Captain Robert Kerr