Aberlour Orphanage

[runner]

Hello Ed

Enjoyed your stories but why is it Scots stories are often sad. Is it something in our nature ?

Nice to hear fom an ex-Habbie - even if you were only a temporary one like me. I only moved into Kilbarchan after the Great January Storm in 1968. so I'm still a total incomer to the true Habbies.

Not a lot has changed since you left except the by-pass road at the bottom end of the village and the new road they put in to avoid the chaos of Ewing street which led up past the Steeple. Narrow, and with a blind crest at the top.

I was a good bit out o' the short troosers by then and worked in the RAI hospital in the fracture clinic and Casualty.    Sorry  -it has to be Accident and Emergency these days.
I now work over in Quarriers village but give that up in August.
I enjoy the chat on Roots and enjoy the leavening that a few older heads and memories give too.
I use talkingscot as an alternative and it can be quite funny too, in a very Scottish way. Its gone a bit po' faced recently but it just takes one good post to spark off some good stories.
Nice to hear from you. Keeps the young uns on their toes

Russell

[orraloon]

You know Russell, I hadn't heard anybody mention Kilbarchan for years until I came across your goodself at RootsChat the other night then, lo and behold, I'm checking out my groceries at Tesco this morning (Waltham Abbey, Essex) and the checkout lady tells me she's from there too!  Her family's name's Whyte, btw, with a "y."

1968 eh?  I ken what you mean though, takes a while (maybe a generation or two) in some places to get established.  I don't remember much about it because I worked at Grants (of Standfast & Glenfiddich fame) in Paisley and worked/drank long hours in the Blends dept. there.  Had a friend/workmate who stayed in Johnstone so we drank there mostly, besides I remember one of the Kilbarchan pubs had minging beer -Ushers, if memory serves.  A next door neighbour worked in the car factory at Linwood and all I can remember of him is his legs forever sticking out from under the new Hillman Imp he bought with a staff discount!

While drying out a few years back at Bexley in Kent, one of the group was a bloke in his early fifties who was brought up in the Bridge of Weir Homes.  We kept in touch and I went to his (second) wedding a few months later.  He stayed dry for a couple of years and through the Sally Army traced his brothers and sisters in Scotland that he hadn't seen since they were bairns.  It all fell apart (predictably) when he went to visit them individually around Hogmany one year.  He never managed to hack it after that and I went to his funeral at Tunbridge Wells just a couple of months ago.  I know some of the older lassies from Aberlour Orphanage went to Quarriers village to work back in the fifties, but the home at Aberlour closed in the late sixties and the residents were scattered far and wide, ending a lot of close friendships, they having no base to return to.

Aye, I think we Scots are by nature a dour lot.  A drink counsellor told me it was down to religion, specifically Calvanism, but I never studied the subject.  Maybe we just like a wee greet, which seems fair enough to me.  Oh aye, she also said that the Celtic races are particularly prone to alcohol addiction.  I'm sure she had something good to say about us too but I wasn't sober enough to grasp it at the time.  I did write one or two humorous tales too, but I'm sure you're right overall.

I'm kept busy on the domestic front these days but when I get some free time I'll pop back and maybe also have a look at TalkingScot which I've bookmarked.  Thanks for the blether which I've enjoyed.

All the best.

Ed

PS.  I know someone who's maiden name was Raeside. 

[Michelle72]

With access to the 1891 Census via Ancestry.com I've just found out that my great grandmother Maria Bramwell, aged 11, is a Ward, living in an Orphanage in Aberlour, Banffshire along with her sister Alice Bramwell aged 8.  This was because their father died and their mother had to go back into service.  Her mother was Clara Bramwell and on the 1891 Census she is aged 32, a domestic servant at Harlaw School in Canonbie, Dumfrieshire.  Son George Bramwell aged 3 also living with her.  Her eldest son John Walker Bramwell b. 1880 is not listed however.  Clara remarried Alexander Robb in 1892.

[orraloon]

Thank you Michelle for the feedback. I will check out the Census website ASAP.

Best wishes,

Eddie.

[Michelle72]

I thought I would give you some feedback as I contacted the Aberlour Orphanage trust and they sent me some information on my great Grandmother.  It did appear that their younger John Walker Bramwell was also at the Orphanage but not listed on the Census.  Apparently one of them only had one leg so now I have to do my detective work to find out which one of the three was this and how.  It gets very interesting this.

[orraloon]

Hello again Michelle,

Thanks for coming back to give me an update, I was just watching 'Who Do You Think You Are?' on the telly where actress Sheila Hancock was tracing her ancestry. It's quite fascinating what you can discover about your forebears as you have proved from the information you have gleaned so far.

Although I've been idle on that front lately I do intend to have another try in the New Year and will certainly contact the Aberlour Orphanage Trust as you did.

In fact my father worked at the orphanage for about ten years from 1944 and our family lived in a tied house belonging to the home (they say about half the houses the village were owned by the orphanage at one time). All my friends were orphanage children as I attended their school.

St Margarets Episcopal Church (still holding services I believe) was a pivotal part of the home, in fact my brother Jimmy, who died in a sledging accident, was buried there. Like almost all kids at the home my brother and I were baptised and confirmed at the church and records were kept as far as I know. Since those records go back a long way perhaps you could get some information from

National Register of Archives for Scotland
HM General Register House
Edinburgh
EH1 3YY
Scotland

Church Information at - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O92883

Happy hunting!

Eddie.