Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 6, Tobermory, Isle of Mull

Day 6, 24 July 2014

The next morning we arrived at Tobermory, the capital of the Isle of Mull, which had been established as a fishing village about 1789. Again we had to stand-off shore and use the ship’s tenders to be transported into the town. An amazing little town snuggly tucked under the hill with the shops and houses brightly painted. It is not until you look carefully that you see there is more of the town high on the hill, behind the trees. The brightly coloured buildings seem to be a feature in the western highland ports, as we saw the same thing at Portree on the Isle of Skye, when we were on tour there a few weeks before.

The town was busy and there was an air of excitement, as the crowd grew on the town foreshore. We had arrived in time for the annual Highland Gathering, which was to take place on the plateau above the town.

The procession, led by the pipers assembled on the foreshore and marched up the hill to the sports ground. They were followed by both competitors and spectators in a brightly coloured mass, as they snaked their way up the winding road. We enjoyed the stirring music of the bagpipes, as we sat on the foreshore, and watched them out of sight over the brow of the hill.

We also made use of the free wifi offered in town to contact family at home and confirm arrangements to meet some Irish cousins in Dublin the following day.

Although we decided to remain in Tobermory for the morning, many other cruisers took a variety of interesting tours, including the seven hour round trip to Iona, where St Columba established a church in the 6^th Century. The island is steeped in history, including being the burial place of many of the early Scottish Kings.

We were to be all on board the Marco Polo by 4 pm, but then there was a delay with the tour to Iona, so the ship’s departure was an hour later than planned.

Unlockthepast had a full block of lectures from 3.30pm with the first hour’s time-slot allotted to Geraldene O’Reilly, with a ‘Portrait of a parish with focus on place names’, and Jackie Depelle’s workshop on ‘Family Historian’, a genealogical software program. Unfortunately Jackie was stuck on the Iona tour, so her talk was postponed to later on the cruise. I went to Geraldene’s presentation, as I’m a great believer that you can only understand your ancestors ‘by walking in their shoes’ one might say.  I delve deep into the local history, and place names can reveal much.

Geraldene O’Reilly, came from New Zealand, and although this was her only presentation, she has had a long association with family history groups, giving regular talks on a number of topics.

In the next set of lectures it was a choice between Sean O’Duill on ‘Country cures from Irish folklore’ and Lesley Silvester on ‘Quarter Session records’. Sean’s presentation was open to all passengers on the ship, while all other talks were only available to the Unlockthepast cruise participants.Again I was drawn to the Irish presentation which was very interesting.

After a few minutes break, more lectures to choose from. ‘Family History sources before 1837’, by Jackie Depelle and, ‘Timelines as a research tool’, by Helen Smith. I choose Family History Sources before 1837, as nearly all my research at present, is before that time, but I’m a great fan of time-lines and was disappointed to miss Helen’s talk. However, we were all very happy to take advantage of Helen’s offer to repeat her talk a couple of days later on the cruise. It was a great talk, and showed how ‘time-lines’ should be a basic tool, for all historians, especially family historians.

For the last set of lectures for the day, it was a choice between,’Highland Clearances’ with Mike Murray, or ‘Understanding the context and why social history is important in your research’, by Helen Smith. As we had heard so many references to the ‘Highland Clearances’ on all our earlier tours throughout Scotland, I decided it was time I found out more about them, and the part they played in Scottish immigration. Mike’s presentation was excellent and he was able to present the topic in a simple, but very effect way.

After dinner we had free time, and I decided to review all the notes I had made during lectures,and made a list of all the questions I wanted to discuss, along with the list of experts, whom I hoped could help me during the Research Help Zone. I also checked all the catalogue references and printouts I had made during my preparations, before I left home several weeks before, and brought along with me.

I had been holding off consulting these experts because I wanted to allow others to make the most of these wonderful opportunities, however we only had a few days left and time was running out. I needed to make appointments with my lists of experts, which I did.

I went to bed late in the evening, and as the weather had remained calm and warm, sleep came easily and quickly.

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Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 4, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

Day 4, 22 July 2014

The wonderful thing about this cruise was that we went to bed, and while we slept, the ship took us to the next port,.

We arrived in Kirkwall early in the morning. The weather was a little over-caste, but the town looked beautiful in the morning light, as we patiently waited for the port authorities to complete their work, so we could go ashore on our next adventure. By then the sun had come out and it was a glorious day.

The shore excursions offered at Kirkwell were very different to what had been offered at Invergordon the day before. Most were about 4 hours and offered an option to visit the sites either morning or afternoon.

One of the tours took you along the sea front overlooking the historic Scapa Flow where HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1939, with heavy causalities. Then there were the Churchill barriers built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II. They also built themselves a chapel constructed from Nissen huts, plasterboard and other available material at the time. The little Italian Chapel is an amazing building with delicate wrought tracery, and frescos. The  artist, Dominico Chibocchetti, returned in later years to restore his original work.

Just out of Kirkwall is the unique Highland Park Distillery , the most northern distillery in Scotland, and  founded in 1798. A nice tour for those who love whiskey.

However, most of the tours were of Orkney’s Neolithic World Heritage Site of the Standing Stones of Stenness, Ring of Brodgar, Ness of Brodgar and Skara Brae.

 

Then there was Skaill House, a manor house built by the powerful bishop, George Graham, on the site of an ancient graveyard, in 1620.

In its 400 year history, twelve generations of the same family have lived there. Wonderful family history if you happened to be connected to this Graham family.

We took a morning tour of these sites, and the lecture by Lesley Silvester, the day before, gave some a good background to really enjoy them.

We were back on-board for lunch, and I took the opportunity in the Research Help Zone to talk to Lesley Silvester about Irish records. I was hoping she might have come across sources, which I hadn’t. Although she couldn’t come up with any new ones, she did remind me I should go back and review many of the records, as the National Archives of Ireland, had introduced better cataloguing of their resources, and have placed them on-line. I made a list of resources she suggested, and will check them out when back home and have the time.

Everyone had to be back on-board by 5pm, so there was plenty of time to hear the Unlockthepast lectures before dinner. The only catch was we had to choose between, Lisa Cooke on “Evernote: and how the Genealogist can remember everything.”and Paul Blake on “British army records 1660-1913”. Evernote is a free ‘app’ and a great help to the dedicated family historian. As I use it to save much of my on- the- spot research, I went to Lisa’s talk and found it most interesting and helpful. I was sorry I missed Paul’s talk, as I have recently found one of my Irish ancestors was in the army. I made a note to ask Paul about this topic, when I made an appointment with him during the Research Help Zone.

Having these experts available at these extra periods of time is invaluable to the family historian. They are completely free and are part of the Unlockthepast conference package.

After a short break we had to make the choice of the Unlockthepast panel explaining many of the new features of several Genealogy computer software programs, or Sean O’Duill with a talk on the Irish Language. As I already use a Genealogy program,( which I am happy with), for recording my family history, I went to listen to Sean on the Irish language. As we have so many Irish ancestors, no doubt some would would have spoken ‘Irish’, perhaps all their lives. Although I had no plans to learn the language, I hoped that at least hearing a little of it, I might have gotten some clues to track down some useful material.

The time after dinner was rather special in that being so high in the earth’s latitudes, (59 degrees N) and up towards the Artic Circle, the twilight was so long. I  wondered how it affected the people of Orkney, to have such long warm summer days. Such a contrast to the long cold nights they endure for many months in the winter.

Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 2, At Sea

Day 2 Sunday, 20 July

 

It is normal for the second day of any cruise, for it to be ‘at sea’, without calling into any ports. To whether it is a medical requirement to make sure the passengers have not brought a sickness on board, as many infections show up within 24 to 36 hours of exposure, or it is just to allow passengers to get their sea-legs, I don’t know.

The sea was calm and the weather fine. 

To the Unlockthepast participants and lecturers it meant a great day of lectures and interaction.

However, we knew it also meant no internet. Throughout the cruise we relied on free wifi, when we visited the onshore towns. Some lecturers and Unlockthepast team members purchased pre-paid usb mobile services, which worked well when in most ports, but of course not at sea. In an emergency we could have used the ships satellite internet connection, but it was very expensive and definitely ‘out’ as far as using it for family history research. All online research would have to wait.

The ship’s Cruise Director and staff had an information morning on the up- coming shore excursions, which we attended in the Marco Polo Lounge.

I had booked our tours many weeks before, but I wanted to check them out, as this was the time I could change them if necessary.

Unfortunately this presentation clashed with the first of the Unlockthepast lectures. This was about “The mystery of the standing stones-Orkney, Lewis and Ireland”, by Lesley Silvester. To quote from her biography, “Lesley from Western Australia, is a Londoner who came to Australia with her family in 1961. Her expertise and knowledge of history is wide ranging and her topics of her lectures during the cruise reflect this from the Lesser known records of research in London to the mystery of the Standing Stones in Orkney and the Outer Hebrides.”

As I love archaeology, and all that it encompasses, I would have loved to have heard Lesley’s presentation, but I couldn’t be in two places at once.

After a short break Rosemary Kopittke presented on ‘Government and police gazettes’, which are an amazing resource for family history, followed by ‘TheGenealogist:what’s the difference’. This is a subscription site particularly strong in non-conformist records in Britain. She compared it with other subscription sites. I have had a subscription to this site for several years and have found some amazing leads for some of my families. A little information on Rosemary from her biography. “Rosemary Kopittke, from Queensland is part of the Unlockthepast team who regularly gives presentations not only on Unlockthepast Cruises, but many other events throughout Australia. She is also an author and editor for many of the new Unlockthepast publications.”

After a quick lunch in the Bistro we were ready for the afternoon lectures. First up was Eileen O’Duill with ‘Introduction to Irish genealogy:where do I start?’ Although I have been doing research in Ireland for many many years, I love to hear what other people have to say on the topic, not only to check my own research methods, but to see if new resources have been released. From her biography we learnt that “Eileen lives in Ireland and has been a professional genealogist for many years, specialising in legal and probate research. She has lectured at national and international conferences and on this cruise was speaking specifically on many aspects of research in Ireland, which many people find very challenging.” As we have about ninety percent of our ancestors coming from Ireland, researching there is challenging, but also very rewarding when you make that breakthrough.

Eileen was followed by Lisa Cooke on ‘How to create exciting interactive family history tours with Google Earth.’ Lisa was from the United States of America, and owns a genealogy and family history multi-media company. She was scheduled to give several talks on how to use the latest technologies in our family history quest. As I am a great fan of Google Earth, and have invested in much of the new technology, I found Lisa’s presentation very interesting and inspiring and bought her publications as e-books to supplement my notes.

There was a another short break before Paul Blake presented his talk on ‘British probate records:an introduction to sources.’ Paul who came from England is a full-time researcher, lecturer and writer. He was to present several lectures on records from manorial to army.

Although I have been working in British probate records for years, they are very complicated, especially trying to locate where and what has survived. I had been having difficulty locating some 17^th Century wills, so I was on the lookout for new strategies or resources to locate these.

Marie Dougan was next and she spoke on ‘Families moving between Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.’ “Marie is from Scotland and is a professional genealogist who also uses technology to deliver lectures worldwide by webinars. She is also a tutor in a range of genealogy and family history courses at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Her presentations on the cruise were on families migrating between areas throughout the British Isles, to resources at the National Archives of Scotland.”

After another break, where several of the lecture team were engaged in Research Help Zone, which was very busy, we had the last two lectures before a late dinner. The first was by Mike Murray on “Crofts and crofting-a unique way of life in the Highlands and Islands”.Mike is from Western Australia and works as a professional genealogist helping people trace their roots. One of his passions is Scottish peoples migration and immigration, which he presented on, as well as tips on-line researching.

The last lecture for the day was Sean O’Duill’s “Death and burial: peasant Ireland in the 19^th Century. Sean is the husband of Eileen and comes from County Mayo in Ireland. He is fluent in the Irish language and works as a researcher at The General Register Office in Dublin looking into Irish Folklore. On the cruise he presented on the Irish language and Irish Folklore concerning medical cures; marriage customs and burial customs.

As preparation for this cruise the Unlockthepast team had put on their cruise website the full program as well as biographical material on the presenters, some of which I have quoted here to give you some idea how ‘top notch’ this cruise conference was.

It was a formal night for dinner and the Captain’s ‘ Welcome’ cocktail party. Many of those on-board went, but we decided to have dinner in the Bristro and then retired to bed to read. I was getting quite a collection of books by this time, and welcomed the opportunity to delve into some of them.