Family Background Research

I flew to Edinburgh, Scotland on Aug. 6th - and stayed through August 27th. And although my primary purpose was to conduct family background research, the Edinburgh and Fringe festivals were in full swing, so I did attend quite a few music, dance, and comedy events while I was there. As a matter of fact I was drawn into Fred MacCauley's comedy act from the balconey in Queen's Hall during my visit, where I became known as the "Montana Lady." It was high tourist season even though the weather (during my whole trip across the pond I might add) was "soft" and cool. Temperatures hovered around 59 or 60 degrees, and I saw at most (during nearly six weeks of travel) four days of sunshine. However, what the weather lacked, the research made up for...

During my first week I transcribed letters, scanned photographs and other family documents, and visited places important to the family history. Most noteable among my travels was a short bus trip to the "borders" area of Scotland, in particular a place called Jedburgh, where Sophia's (the subject of my study) mother's family resided. I stayed with my friend's sister, whose husband is the farm manager on the Mellerstain estate. Jedburgh was a quaint little town, and I was able to discover (and photograph) the house where the family lived according to the 1861 census. There are also references in the letters to shopping for suits at the tailor shop there.
Among the places where I conducted research during my second week were: the General Register House, the National Archives, the National Library (including the Map Division), the City Library, and the Grange Cemetery (with telephone help from the Mortonhall Crematorium).

Scotland has the most amazing archival and civil records! Most of the librarians, curators, and civil servants were friendly, helpful, and accommodating. I was lucky enough to document most of the family background history, including locating and printing the will of Sophia's grandfather (circa 1883), which verified a reference to an inheritance in the letters. The most surprising discovery was that Sophia's family lived in Ireland for over twenty years, instead of the two or three years that I had earlier surmised - so that led to a brief return trip to Ireland when I left Scotland. (See next post.)

There are still a few questions left unanswered, but I'm hoping that future research among the places in my work plan will lead me to the answers. Worst case scenario - I may have to fly to London to research the archives there. :-)