Searching for fishing boat owner

[stewrat83]

There is a belief in my wife's family that they once owned a fishing boat in the east neuk.

It was almost certainly based in Cellardyke, almost certainly owned by a Reid, and probably not earlier than late 19th Century.

I've tracked down a lot of the Reids, but is there somewhere I can search for a boat owned by any of them without knowing which one?

Thanks

[hdw]

I've done a lot of research on Cellardyke families and I also have a lot of notes on boat ownership from the Anstruther Fishery Office records. Can you give me a clue as to which Reid(s) you are interested in?

Here are some examples. I'll put the wife's maiden name in brackets as they did in the East Neuk to distinguish men with the same name -

On Dec. 7th 1874 Henry Reid(Reid) registered the "Alexander Gardner". He also had a boat called "Cedric the Saxon" (a character in Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe").
On March 12th David Reid (unmarried) and William Simpson registered the "Jessie Lindsay Meldrum". There was a girl of that name in Crail.
On December 18th 1876 Adam Reid(Clark) registered the "Planter".
On February 21st 1877 Adam Reid and John Stewart registered the "Flower of the Forest".

A few more at random -

Thomas Reid(Young) had the "Mon Ami".
Adam Reid(Wood), skipper of the "Venus", was drowned in 1855 when she went down with all hands. I think his son Adam Reid(Jack) was a skipper too, and I know that HIS son Adam Reid was "King of the Fishers" in Cellardyke with the "Reliance" and the "Guerdon".

That's a few of them anyway, and I'm only talking about 19th-century sailing Fifies, not 20th century steam drifters (except for the "Guerdon").

I'm descended from two different families of Reids in Cellardyke. You may not be surprised to learn that it was one of the commonest surnames there for hundreds of years!

Harry

[stewrat83]

Hello Harry

Thanks for those notes - and for your book which I am reading while doing this research!

While I am at the relatively early stages of this journey, I am well aware of the number of Reids, and will not be surprised to see the various strands intertwine at different points as we fill in the blanks.


The Reids I am interested in, working backwards are:

David Reid (Dougal) B 1861 - he owned a house in Dove Street (a key location for our Reids) which may have been the subject of confused mythology about "property" in the family.He had a brother Henry (B c1866).

Henry Reid (Wood) B. c1833

David Reid (Tough) B. 1799

David Reid (Boyter) B. 1764.

That's the main line, there are of course siblings along the way (sometimes many) who could have owned boats - or married into them.


Couple of Reids who owned boats but aren't relatives:

The David Reid, D. 1831, also with a son David (who died young), owner of the "Margaret and Elizabeth"  - named for his daughters - is not (yet!) a relative.

Henry Reid who owned the "Lord Melbourne" - and died on it with 2 brothers in 1842, is part of a Reid family that joined ours 2 generations later in 1897 when his brother Adam's grandson Robert Alexander Reid married Sarah Julia Webster Reid.

Interested to see if you know any of these. I havent seen any crossover in our trees, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen sometime.

Thanks

Stewart

[hdw]

Hi. Yes indeed, most of the names you mention are familiar. I hope you enjoy my book! The Adam Reid pictured on the cover was a cousin of my great-grandmother Margaret Watson. You'll see my Reid ancestors in the WATSON family-tree at the back of the book. My great-great-grandmother Margaret Reid (Mrs. William Watson) was the daughter of Adam Reid and Isabella Scott, ancestors, I think,  of all or most of the later Adam Reids. Not only is Reid one of the oldest recorded names in Cellardyke (often spelt, and pronounced, Red) but even in modern times they seem mainly to have lived in the oldest part of Cellardyke, near the harbour in Shore Street and Dove Street.

I see you are back as far as David Reid(Boyter). He was a brother of the above Adam Reid(Scott), their parents being Henry Reid (b.1715) and Katherine Fowler (m.1746), and their grandparents Henry Reid and Grizal Fowler.

In that family the names Henry and Adam have been carried on in every generation up to the present. There's another family of Reids in Cellardyke which have had lots of sons called John, and I'm descended from them too.

An awful lot of Reids were lost at sea, including 4 sons of David Reid and Margaret Boyter, also 2 sons of Adam Reid and Isabella Scott.

Are you based in the East Neuk yourself, or are you part of the Cellardyke "diaspora" overseas?

Harry

[stewrat83]

Fascinating stuff - looks like it wont be long before our trees overlap.

We live in Glenrothes, so we're fortunate that we can physically place of a lot of what we are discovering, and can go and nosey around like we did last week to see the houses in Dove Street etc and make some sense of the multi-tenancy. You're right - there are a small number of addresses over 2 or 3 streets that crop up repeatedly over many generations.

The book is providing great background and context for our search - and highlights my shameful lack of knowledge about the big events in Scottish history that affected the lives of our ancestors.

Are the Registry Books in Kirkcaldy you mention in Appendix 3 publicly accessible?

These Reids are my wife's paternal grandmothers family and its been a great introduction to genealogy as they haven't roamed far. We've also made a start on her paternal grandfathers family, East Neuk Fowlers, mainly agricultural labourers so more mobile, but only up and down the coastal hinterland following the work - Cornceres, Pitkerie, etc. Her maternal side seems to include another East Neuk clan - the Marrs - but we've not started on that.

... all much easier than my maternal grandfather who was an illegitimate, adopted and then orphaned Wilson born n Glasgow!

Stewart

 

[hdw]

I knew Glenrothes best in my teenage years when my married sister lived in the Rimbleton area.

The Registry Books in Kirkcaldy were accessible by appointment only, from what I remember. I spent a lot more time in West Register House in Edinburgh reading the later fishery office records from about 1869 onwards.

Fowler and Marr are surnames found both in the fishing community of Cellardyke and among the farming population of Kilrenny and its hinterland. The fishing Marrs of Cellardyke go back to Charles Marr(Simpson) who was a farmer in Kilrenny. Another branch of the family settled in Edinburgh.

I also have lots of information about the Fowlers, both fishermen and farmers.

Maybe we should continue this correspondence by personal message, as it may not be of interest to other Rootschatters.

Harry

[bealy]

Hi all this is amazing info, I'm related to the reids my great granddad was William Reid born 1869 and his father was Adam Reid 1837  ive only stated this research yesterday 13 feb 2018 so I'm gratefull of any info anyone can give me, thanks

[bealy]

My nannas born 1901 name was Elspeth Watson Reid so I'm very interested if anyone can help with the Watson link (her father William Reid and Elspeth???) thanks

[hdw]

Hi. I had forgotten all about this correspondence back in 2012. I hope Stewart is still checking this site so he can join in the discussion.

I'm pleased to be able to tell you that a photo of your great-great-grandfather Adam Reid of 19 Shore Street, Cellardyke, graces the front cover of my book "Kilrenny and Cellardyke: 800 Years of History", published in 1986 by John Donald Ltd. You can get it cheaply from Amazon, and it's also available in lots of libraries to borrow, even here in Edinburgh. Adam Reid was a cousin of my great-grandmother Margaret Watson (née Watson). Adam's father and brother went down with the "Venus" in 1855 as you can read in my book. Adam's wife was Cecilia Jack.

Your great-grandfather William Reid married Elspeth Salter Watson in Edinburgh in 1892. A lot of Cellardyke couples were married there around that time by a Rev. Webster who had been an assistant minister in Cellardyke. Elspeth was the daughter of Thomas Watson and Georgina Jack of 20 West Forth Street. Thomas was a cousin of my great-grandfather James Murray Watson.

I'll leave it there for now. Once you have posted at least three times on this forum you will be able to use the Personal Message facility and we can correspond privately. I'm not allowed by the rules of the forum to give you my email address openly here, but we will correspond in future, I'm sure!

Regards,

Harry D. Watson