As a teenager, I was mildly interested to discover in our family Bible that my great-great-great grandfather, Robert Whitehead, was born in 1740. I went on to find that he was a farmer from Ladyland, Kirkbean. Later, I realised that he must have known John Paul Jones, who was born nearby in the same year. Later still, visiting the fascinating little museum in Kirkcudbright, near Kirkbean, I came upon a brass snuff box which had belonged to this great hero, and part-time scoundrel, founder of the American Navy. He had left it to a member of my family, and some years ago, it had been donated to this local museum.

What began as a mild interest became a hobby which evolved into an obsession. I am now, however, like so many around the world, a family history addict.

Names alone do not satisfy our craving..... We need to know exactly when our forebears lived and where, their homes, their jobs, their appearance (if dusty photographs still exist), and above all we seek out what life was like for people who lived in those places at those times.

Genealogy is all about links - geographical, historical, social.

It is never-ending, but this is a start. I offer stories, not lists.

• Ettrick - the land of James Hogg
  (Surnames: Boa, Cranstoun, Dickson, Herbertson, Little, Mills, Milroy, Stavert, Templeton, Whitehead.)

• Life on a Canadian Farm in 1849

• Moffat - 18th Century Spa Town

• Yarrow - Shrine of Sir Walter Scott's Ancestors

• Crawford - Life as a Shepherd in 1841
  (Surnames: Grieve, Johnston, Little, Marjoribanks.)

• Kilmarnock Hunters
  (Surnames: Baird, Beverage, Byers, Forrest, Hamilton, Hunter, Kelly, Laidlaw, Lambie, McWilliam, Smith, Wallace.)

• Families from Carrick
  (Surnames: Campbell, McWilliam, Paterson, Wason.)

• Education in Late 19th Century Ballantrae

• The Sharp Family
  (Surnames: Caldwell, Campbell, Forrest, Miller, Rankin, Scrimgeour, Sharp, Young.)

• Paisley Weavers
  (Surnames: Adam, Aird, Brown, Campbell, Cochrane, Gray, McCrone, McHoul.)

• Shawl Weaving in Paisley

• The Brown Line
  (Surnames: Allan, Brown, Campbell, Cox, Dunlop, Forrest, Howieson, Parker.)

• Forebears from Central Scotland
  (Surnames: Duncan, Howieson, Hunter, Killin, Lorimer, McBride, McLachlan, McLaren, Millar, Rennie, Thomson.)

[NOTE: You may like to get a better look at some of the the photographs by clicking on the small pictures.The file size of the bigger pictures is shown.]

Please mail me with any suggestions