Topic: Worship. My Great Grand Uncle John Johnston (1831-1909), born in Glasgow, was the 6th son of a shoemaker. His brothers followed various other occupations including tailor, carver and gilder, gas fitter and carpenter. Initially a warehouseman, John married Benjamina “Jessie” Leckie in Glasgow when he was 24, according to the forms of the United… Read more

Topic: Technology. My Paternal Grandfather Alex Johnston, writing under the pen name Spartacus Smith, was a journalist with the ‘Sydney Mail’, a weekly magazine in Sydney, Australia in the twenties. Here is what he wrote about ‘The Magic Disc’ on 24 February 1926: “Of all the inventions given a wondering world there is none more… Read more

Topic: Achievement My Paternal Great Grandfather Frederick Wentworth Wade (1838-1912) was the first of his family to settle in New Zealand, and the first and as far as is known only person in the family to profess Law. His father Robert Wentworth Wade (abt 1795-1870) was a schoolmaster in Dublin. As the fifth of nine… Read more

Topic: Language I have traced my father’s Johnston line back to the Scottish borders in the mid-1700s. I understand that they spoke not Gaelic but a form of broad Lowland Scots called Lallans. Apparently it was also spoken in the Northern Isles and in the north of Ireland. Both Robbie Burns and RL Stevenson wrote… Read more

Topic: Changing Names My GGGF’s birth is shrouded in mystery. Baptised in 1820 as Thomas Darchy, son of Thomas Darchy and Amey Maude Philipse. But was that the original spelling? No record can be found of the earlier Thomas or his marriage. Statements about his father and also the witness to the baptism appear false… Read more

Topic: Heirlooms. Not all heirlooms have monetary value, but can still be priceless, affording glimpses into a family life long gone. My GGGF Dr. Thomas Lyle (1791-1859) although a qualified Scottish surgeon, was far more interested in Bryozoa – mosses and lichen. He lived in the tiny Stirlingshire town of Airth on the River Forth… Read more