Hello Willsg, Sandra, Ian and all...I'm pleased to see that, after several years of dormancy, the subjects of Dunnottar House and the Ritchie family, have been revived.
Since my last contributions, I have married (in November 2010) the lady that I previously referred to as the great granddaughter of Capt. William Ritchie; and, therefore, the great niece of Henry Oliphant Ritchie...who's brother, Charles Edward Ritchie was my wife's grandfather. As her descendence was through the male line, she retained the Ritchie family name until her first marriage.
I developed an interest in researching my family history many years ago, and that has lead me into extending this to my wife's family.
I have compiled a very extensive computerised family tree/date base, with many photographs and notes relating to events in the lives of those recorded. Although I have a large number of photos of my family members, it appears that the Ritchie's tended to avoid being photographed, and I have virtually none - indeed, the one Ian provided, of a group of folk at the front of Dunnottar House (I feel that they are likely be the Ritchie family), is the only one I have....and that's perhaps debatable.
The notes that I record and attach to the individuals' entries, are, in many cases, quite simple in essence....but they provide clues as to the nature and interests of those people....I have saved the comments made by Willsg regarding the rifle that belonged to Henry Oliphant Ritchie, and attached them to his entry in my "tree"....I would love to have a photograph of the rifle, Willsg.... that would be a rather poignant link with....I believe he was known as "Harry". I used to do a lot of shooting and fishing - 12 bore rather than rifle; and there are very personal and emotional associations between the outdoors, the seasons of the year, the guns and respect for the wildlife involved.
During my research, I was in touch with the Archivist to the Royal Collection Trust in Windsor....I was in the process of arranging to buy copies of portraits of some of the recipients of the Order of Merit, that were painted by Charles Edward Ritchie (my wife's grandfather - I thought!). Although Charles was a noted artist, there was an Australian contemporary, with exactly the same name and producing his paintings during the same period of time. It transpired that the Tasmanian Charles Edward Ritchie was responsible for the Order of Merit portraits.
