Isaac Robertson - born Kilrenny or Whitehaven

[surfingpiglet]

Many thanks once again.  I assume there will be a clearer copy of the photo at the Fisheries Museum.  I may manage to pop in to see the research lady sometime soon.  I would be interested to see if there is any resemblance to the my Grandfather Robertson's sons.  My Dad and his brother Jim bore a striking resemblance to their father, my Grandfather. (James Dick Robertson. b.1889 ) The Dick is still carried on through that generation as a middle name.  Re: sisters marrying 2 cousins. That is similar to my husband's family ( his mother from a farming family in very rural Co Kerry ) There I found two sisters marrying 2 brothers and over three generations everyone seemed to marry within about four surnames.  Brothers, sisters, cousins, etc..  That's what I suppose happened when people stayed in small communities. 

Incidentally can you clarify if Cellardyke is part of Kilrenny or is Kilrenny is part of Cellardyke?  My thought at the moment is that Cellardyke was part of Kilrenny even though Kilrenny is smaller.  Am I right?  Then if a certificate reads Cellardyke then could it be Kilrenny, but if it says Kilrenny it could be either

[hdw]

Incidentally can you clarify if Cellardyke is part of Kilrenny or is Kilrenny is part of Cellardyke?  My thought at the moment is that Cellardyke was part of Kilrenny even though Kilrenny is smaller.  Am I right?  Then if a certificate reads Cellardyke then could it be Kilrenny, but if it says Kilrenny it could be either

Yes, it's confusing all right. The problem is that there's a small hamlet called Kilrenny, inland from Cellardyke, but both villages - Kilrenny and Cellardyke - belonged to the parish and burgh of Kilrenny. So the name Kilrenny was ambiguous, it was the larger entity of the parish and the burgh but also the smaller entity of the landward village which has the parish church and churchyard. If you're using the Scotlandspeople website to trace your ancestors, you have to look for Kilrenny, not Cellardyke. Cellardyke was always an unofficial name, although it held the majority of the population of "Kilrenny".
The burgh was also Kilrenny, as I said, so strictly speaking the town council was Kilrenny town council, although just about all the councillors would have lived in Cellardyke and most would be fishermen.
Occasionally, in the records, you find the inland village of Kilrenny called Upper Kilrenny, and the fishing village of Cellardyke called Lower or Nether Kilrenny.
Harry

[surfingpiglet]

That's a bot clearer/  My Dad always said his Grandparents hailed from Ainster Easter.  Was that therefore Cellardyke too.  I did ask a few Anstruther locals but most had no idea.  One reckoned it might be the name of the main part of Anstruther where the harbour is up to the burn where the Dreel Hall is ? Is that correct ?  Others said t was just Cellardyke.

[hdw]

I've sometimes envied people who were simply from Crail, Pittenweem or St. Monans! So much easier.

The present town of Anstruther comprises Anstruther Wester, Anstruther Easter, Kilrenny and Cellardyke. Until the Local Government (Scotland) Act of 1929(??), Anstruther Wester, Anstruther Easter and Kilrenny (including Cellardyke), were three separate burghs, each with its own town council and provost (i.e. mayor). Each burgh was also a separate ecclesiastical parish, each with its own parish church. After 1929 they were all thrown together as one town, and of course they are all physically joined up. To make matters even more complicated, Anstruther Easter was part of Kilrenny parish until the 1600s. Anstruther Easter is the area from Burnside Terrace (west side) on the east to the bridge over the Dreel Burn, where Anstruther Wester starts. Most of what people understand as Anstruther nowadays - Shore Street and the harbour area - is Anstruther Easter.

Do a bit of Googling if you want more info. about these places.

Harry

[surfingpiglet]

Just got a Booklet today in the post which I bought on E-Bay which explains much of that.  Called' The East Neuk of Fife' by the East Neuk Preservation Society ( 1968 )  Also just a few days ago obtained 'The Pageant of the Forth' (1910) which has the story of David Wilson and of other fishermen/sailors of Cellardyke.  It must have been a fearsome time to live in these parts.
I'll try not to bother you again for a while.  Meanwhile many thanks.

Anne.

[hdw]

No bother at all, I'm happy to see a thread about Cellardyke here. The "bible" of Cellardyke studies is George Gourlay's "Fisher Life; or, Memorials of Cellardyke and the Fife Coast", first published in 1879 but re-issued some years ago by the Fife Family History Society. That's where the story of David Wilson comes from.

Harry

[surfingpiglet]

Yes - I have bought Fisher Life last year.  My problem is that I live mainly in the South of England and am only in Fife one week a month.  However I am coming up next Thursday so will get more reading done & perhaps find time for  visit to the FIsheries Museum on Monday if I can.  I have found, from the Crematorium's records, where Isaac's grave is, so that will be getting a visit too.

I am hoping to find that it may also contain my Dad's siblings who died in infancy.  We have never found them ( John Robertson & Annie Robertson - born in Kirkcaldy somewhere between 1910 and 1920 ).  There seems to be no record of either of them anywhere at all. I need to try Street Indexes as I know the address.  Dad just knew that there had been a John & Annie born before him as it was while his parents were trying to replace Annie that he & his older brother David were conceived.  She never was and that's possibly why I was called Anne. When she got dementia she was convinced that I was her Annie.