Trove Tuesday - Burns Night

It appears that Mr Geniaus'' Great-Grandfather, William Purves Gowans,  was a proud Scot and member of the Sydney Scottish Borderers' Association later the Sydney Scottish Association. I turned to Trove this morning to explore that relationship.

The first post I found mentioning William was in 1898 when he supported the founding of the group.

1898 'SCOTTISH BORDERERS.', The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), 11 February, p. 3. , viewed 25 Jan 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228429483

At the April meeting of the group William was elected as Secretary.

1898 'SCOTTISH BORDERERS.', The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), 12 April, p. 2. , viewed 25 Jan 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228442542

In March 1901 William became vice-president of the Association.

1901 'SCOTTISH BORDERERS' ASSOCIATION.', The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), 4 March, p. 3. , viewed 25 Jan 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240130074

In 1902 William was elected as a trustee of the association. Although I have read through articles related to the association up to 1912 I can find no further mention of William.

Perhaps William's finest moment was on this day one hundred nd twenty one years ago when he sang Burns Birthday song at the associations Burns Night Celebration. 

1901 'BURNS' ANNIVERSARY.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 29 January, p. 8. , viewed 25 Jan 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14338852

2021 #AtoZChallenge O is for...Old Scottish clockmakers from 1453 to 1850

  I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

After discovering from Census Records that Mr GeniAus' ancestor, James Gowans, was a clockmaker in East Linton then Galashiels we wanted to confirm this from other sources. James the Clock (as he is known in the family) wasn't famous by any means, he was just a man plying his trade in rural towns in Scotland.

I can't remember where I found a reference to Old Scottish Clockmakers from 1453 to 1850, but once I heard of its existence I went in search of a copy. The Internet Archive pointed me to a copy in The California Digital Library Collection. I have downloaded a copy of this book and have firmly saved  and backed it up in my genealogy files.

Old Scottish Clockmakers  from 1453 to 1850

On page 169 I found a one line entry for James Gowans that confirmed that he was a Clockmaker in East Linton. I'd have loved more detail but I was more than satisfied with what I found.

Page 169 - Old Scottish Clockmakers

On a visit to Scotland in 2018 or 2019 we visited the John Gray Centre where we were able to see a physical copy of the book. I can't believe that didn't take a photo of Mr GeniAus holding the book!

Trade directories or books about occupations are very useful resources for tracking down ancestors. If only there were such resources for our Ag Labs. 

Number 10 - the New Arrival

Various Scottish directories and census records told us that Mr GeniAus' ancestors James Gowans and his son James Gowans were clockmakers. Another son, John Gowans,who emigrated to the US, was also a clock and watchmaker in New York. The youngest son, William Gowans, was apprenticed as a watchmaker but left that profession to become a doctor. 

James Gowans Senior worked in Linton and Galashiels whilst James Junior worked in Hawick. Just one of the clocks, Number 8, was made in Hawick. 

It was not until we met and visited a new cousin in England in 2006 that we sighted a "Gowans" longcase clock. Once Mr GeniAus knew that there was a possibility of owning such an heirloom the hunt was on. He contacted several clock specialists in England and subscribed to a number of auction sites. Over the past 13 years we have learnt of 10 clocks made by one of the two James. (The numbered list below gives links to details and blog posts about these ten clocks).

 Last month there was much excitement when Clock Number 10, made in Linton, was delivered to our door. This clock will eventually be going to live with our elder daughter. 

Art, a restorer from Virginia,USA, who had bought clock 10 at an estate sale emailed me in July: 

"Jill--I was searching for information on James Gowans after purchasing one of his clocks at a local estate sale recently.  It is very close in appearance to the one you posted some time ago.  It is mahogany and the painted dial is very similar to the one in your pictures.  Right now I am in the process of restoring the movement (I am a clock restoration person, so it is good hands.)"

I passed Art's message on to Mr GeniAus and they corresponded back and forth. Of course, Mr GeniAus had to have the clock! Art accepted his offer and began to work on the restoration. During this time and up until the days after delivery Art was an excellent and caring communicator who sent along many progress reports and photos. I was outside with my camera when the delivery truck appeared with its precious cargo. We must commend DHL for the efficient handling and delivery of our cargo.

The delivery chaps had never delivered a heavy coffin shaped parcel before

Mr GeniAus smiling like a Cheshire cat as he prepared for the grand opening

Phew - there wasn't a body n the box

Such a pretty face

A Family Heirloom - over 150 years old and standing proud 

 Ten Gowans Clocks

1. In Clocks Magazine http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/02/james-clock.html

2. Cousin's House now with us
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/02/james-clock.html
https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2016/11/view-from-my-desk.html

3. Museum Melbourne.
https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/405410 Visited November 2010
 https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-road-again.html
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/11/2000-km-to-see-clock-was-it-worth-it.html
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/11/two-men-and-clock.html

4. Our first Purchase  now with our younger son. http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/05/tick-tock-we-think-weve-found-gowans.html Arrived November 2010.

5. Elder son's Clock http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-4x-great-grandfather-clock.html
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2014/06/and-now-there-are-six.html

6. Drew in Omaha Nebraska bought his clock at an Estate Sale and restored it himself. Emailed August 2014
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2014/06/and-now-there-are-six.html

7. Mr GeniAus bid for a Gowans Regulator Clock at an online auction
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2015/03/and-now-there-are-seven.html

8. Georg in Germany found me via this blog and wrote about his clock. "My father bought it in 1975 in an antiquesstore in Nordhorn, in northern Germany."  Email February 2017

9. Cousin's new clock was purchased at auction in England around 2017.

10. Our new clock was bought by a restorer in Virginia, USA at an Estate Sale. The restorer contacted me by email after reading my blog.

A Day at the Microfilm Reader

I was delighted earlier this year when I  found an online index listing the daily contents of the Haddingtonshire Courier (now the East Lothian Courier) from October 1859 up to December 1902. The newspaper collection on microfilm  is housed in the Local History area of the John Gray Centre in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland.

Now it just so happens that Mr GeniAus has Gowans and Sibbald ancestors who were in the Haddington area during that period so I checked the index and found more than 30 reference to family members. I saved these on a spreadsheet. As we were planning a trip to the UK I added Haddington to our itinerary. Once I had a date I emailed the John Gray Centre and booked a microfilm reader for the day.

I was most impressed when Mr GeniAus dropped me off at the Centre and went to find a parking spot. When we visited a number of years ago the local studies collection was stored in an inadequate area in a loft. The new  John Gray Centre houses the local library and archives in a lovely light filled environment.

When I marched up to the reception I was given a right, royal welcome. Bill Wilson, Local History Officer,  and his staff settled me at a microfilm reader and organised  retrieval of the films I needed. Robert joined me and we bunkered down for a morning of research.

GeniAus at work

Local studies collection

 While I played with the microfilms and downloaded the newspaper articles onto a thumb drive  Mr GeniAus browsed the book collection looking for references to his ancestors.  Bill offered us a behind the scenes tour of the archives but I declined as I wanted to complete my task. Mr GeniAus accepted Bill's offer and found the tour very interesting.

Behind the scenes in the John Gray Centre 

An innovative display highlighting local identities

 When I announced on Facebook that I was headed to Edinburgh and Haddington my fellow geneablogger, John Laws, who lives in the neighbourhood suggested we meet up. Knowing that we would need a lunch break we made a date to meet John at a local cafe, The Loft. 

It was lovely to meet John in the flesh, through blogging and genealogy we had been online friends for several years.  John is kept busy with a surname study for the Laws (and variants) name. He blogs about it here at The Laws Family Register.

Meeting up with genimate, John Laws

 After our break we returned to the John Gray Centre so I could complete my task. My head was swimming after spending several hours at the microfilm reader so I was pleased to set off towards our next stop at Galashiels.

I was not so pleased when, that evening, I discovered that I had left my thumb drive containing all my saved images in the microfilm reader. Mr GeniAus displayed great restraint the next morning when we had to trace our steps to  collect my thumb drive.

I cannot thank enough Bill Wilson and the staff at John Gray Centre  who made us so welcome. I owe a debt of gratitude to the team of volunteers who have created such a valuable resource in the newspaper index.

Located in Scotland

Mr GeniAus' mother had a photo of a handsome Victorian stone house in her collection which she believed was the home of her Gowans Grandparents in Hawick in the Borders area of Scotland.

We knew from the censuses that the Gowans lived at 1 High Street, Hawick so in 2004, on our first visit to the town, we headed to High Street where we found, at number one, a shop and residence that bore no resemblance to the handsome home in our photo. We then surmised that the family may have lived away from the watch and clockmaking and confectionery businesses that they conducted at 1 High Street (even though the censuses recorded the family as living at the High Street premises).

1 High Street, Hawick - 2004

We left a copy of a photo of the handsome house with the folk in the local Heritage Centre in Hawick and they promised to ask around to see if any of the locals could identify it. A few weeks later we got a response that no-one recognised the house and that the locals felt that it was not a Hawick building.

Several years later Mr GeniAus realised that his ancestor James Gowans lived with family members in and around Glasgow in his old age. Mr GeniAus thought perhaps James' daughter's residence, Overwood House in Glasgow Road, Paisley may be the subject of the picture. He consulted Google Maps and after looking at properties in the vicinity thought this likely as buildings in the area were of a similar style and age.

The Handsome House

Notes on the back of the photo

High on Mr GeniAus' list for our forthcoming visit to Scotland was tracking down the house so last week he decided to delve a little further.  He contacted a Paisley Group where a lovely lady called Mags MacGee took an interest in the case. She posted our photo of the house on a Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/Paisleyscotlamd/  and several members chimed in with comments.

We learnt that Overwood House had been demolished. One smart chap did something we hadn't thought to do. He blew the photo up to look for clues and deduced that, on the gatepost, there was a number and a name starting with Cop. As our copy of the photo is of a higher resolution I then took a look and saw the number 279 and worked out that the house name was Copshaw which is a village near Hawick. Ah, I thought the house must be in the vicinity of Hawick.

Zoomed in on the Gatepos

I popped 279 and Copshaw into my Google search box and was rewarded with two hits that listed a house named Copshaw at 279 Nithsdale Road, Glasgow

The resident listed was William Fairley Smith whom I immediately recognised as the husband of another daughter of James, Isabella Purves Gowans. On the back of the photo is a reference to Kathleen's bedroom, William and Isabella had a daughter by that name! We now presume that Isabella had sent this postcard to her brother, Mr GeniAus' Great-Grandfather William Purves Gowans, who was living in Australia.

When we logged back onto Google Maps Streetview we were pleased to discover that 279 Nithsdale Road is still standing and from comparing the stonework and decorations on the building we know we have solved a 30 year old mystery.

We have sent a copy of our photo to the owners of the house alerting them that we will be driving up and down their road to look at their house when we visit in the next few months.

Found while planning the next adventure...

Our next holiday will be to the UK. Although our main focus is touristing, as we will be in ancestral territory, we will have to spend some time ancestor hunting.

Gowans Headstone

On a previous visit to Scotland in 2004 (was it that long ago?) we visited Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. The local history and genealogy collection was housed in a cramped little gallery area upstairs in a library. The staff were amazing and so helpful and gave us some very useful leads. We were so impressed that Mr GeniAus wrote to the local authority to compliment the staff and comment on the poor conditions in which they were working and the records were housed. 

While in Haddington we were able to add several leaves to the Gowans tree when we found several family members resting in St Mary's Church Graveyard. 

Today I was doing some planning for our next jaunt which includes a few days in Scotland after an organised tour from London to Scotland. I'll visit General Register House in Edinburgh, The Heritage Hub in Hawick and return to Haddington. 

I discovered that Haddington now has The John Gray Centre "The John Gray Centre brings together East Lothian Council’s Archaeology, Museum, Archive and Local History Services, alongside Haddington’s branch library." Wow! Did they listen to Mr GeniAus?

What was even better was that I was able to consult their online catalogue where I found numerous references to Mr GeniAus Gowans ancestors. The industrious folk at East Lothian have indexed newspapers and local archives and records. We'll be having a busy and fruitful day in Haddington when we visit the John Gray Centre to access all those references I found today.

View from my Desk

New view from my desk

I enjoy a beautiful view from my desk out through a window to the garden but now I also have a new view straight ahead of me through an internal door. Until last Wednesday I could only see a blank wall but due to Mr GeniAus' obsession I have a pretty sight to see.

On several occasions I have blogged about Mr GeniAus' clockmaking ancestor, James Gowans (1806-1886), and our mission to find clocks made by James. We affectionately call this old chap "James the Clock". I wrote in February 2010 about James' clocks and expressed a wish that one day we would own a clock made by James.

Over the years I have devoted several posts to the  "James the Clock" saga. If you have a spare few hours you can read them, otherwise just skip over the links.

http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/james-clock.html 
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/tick-tock-we-think-weve-found-gowans.html 
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/on-road-again.html 
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/2000-km-to-see-clock-was-it-worth-it.html 
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/two-men-and-clock.html 
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/a-4x-great-grandfather-clock.html 
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/and-now-there-are-six.html
http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/and-now-there-are-seven.html

If you have read all the posts you will know that the cousin we met through social media had a Gowans clock with provenance; his clock has been passed down through the Gowans family. On our last visit to England in June the cousin told us that it was time for us to take the clock home. He has no offspring and decided on one of our earlier visits that, as we have four offspring and a tribe of grandchildren, the clock had a better chance of staying in the family than if it remained with him. We were thrilled that he was ready to say goodbye to the clock, we had not wanted to rush him.  On arriving home in Australia we contacted shipping agents and with the assistance of the cousin organised for the clock to join us at home.

Another plus is that the clock is a completely different style from the one that is is our living room.

Although the clock arrived on the wharf in Sydney nearly two months ago it spent some time with customs and agents and was released to make the hour's journey to our home last week. Our cousin was relieved when we told him that it had finally been delivered but wasn't so excited when I said it was in our kitchen. I reminded him that it was a very nice kitchen.

I was out when the clock arrived but Mr GeniAus unpacked it and put it together and it was ticking away beautifully by the time I got home. It bongs loudly (one couldn't call it a chime) on the half hour and hour with the midday and midnight performances being quite long. I don't mind the noise because it is such a pretty piece and lovely to look at. Take a look for yourself.

A 4x Great Grandfather Clock

I wrote about my husband's ancestor James the Clock several years ago and told part of the story of our search for a grandfather clock made by this Scottish watch and clock maker who worked in Linton and Galashiels.

It took Mr GeniAus eight years from when he started searching for a Gowans clock for our home until we found one, had it transported to our home and set up in our living room. Mr GeniAus is a man who doesn't give up and has been hunting for more clocks ever since that first purchase around four years ago.

To date we have identified a few Gowans clocks:

• The first one we sighted was on a UK clocks website and appeared to be in a private home.
• The second was in a distant cousin's possession in the UK, we have visited and viewed the clock.
• The third one is in the collection of  Museum Victoria in Australia. We have also visited the Museum and viewed this clock.
• The fourth is standing in our living room.
• The fifth was auctioned online last month (and guess who bought it?).

Auctioneer's photo - Clock 5

Auctioneer's photo - Clock 5

It seems as though Mr GeniAus is on a mission to locate more clocks made by James the Clock and bring them into the family fold. To that end we have listed our interests with several clock dealers and have a few Google alerts set up.

As it happens one of our children was celebrating a significant birthday this week so I suggested that we give this latest clock to him as a birthday present. By the look on their faces when they read our present IOU I think he and his wife were quite pleased with the gift that was made by his 4x Great Grandfather.

What do you think?

The birthday boy reads about his gift

I wonder how long it will be before we find our next clock.

My Mate Marie

On my first trip to Salt Lake City for the inaugural Rootstech Conference in 2011 I palled up with another foreigner, a bonnie wee lassie from Scotland, Marie Dougan.

We were in the minority at this huge event that was overrun with North Americans and they thought we talked funny but we know that our accents were quite normal.

Marie Dougan, GeniAus and Joan Miller at Rootstech 2011

 I had great fun with Marie in 2011 so I was pleased when she announced that she would be returning to Rootstech in 2013. As I had been selected to host a panel session at the 2013 conference I invited Marie to join the panel, her contributions to the panel were fantastic.

GeniAus with panelists at Rootstech 2013, Marie Dougan, Heather Rojo and A C Ivory.

When Alan Phillips of Unlock the Past told me that he had secured Marie's services for his 5th Genealogy Cruise I was thrilled as I knew that Marie would be a great asset to the team of presenters on the cruise. Last night I had the pleasure of interviewing Marie for Unlock the Past in a Google Hangout on Air.

In case you missed the Hangout with the delightful Marie I am embedding it her for your viewing pleasure.

Scottish seminar in my town

I'm rather excited that a major Australian genealogy event is coming to my town on February 9, 2013..

Paul Milner

Unlock the Past have announced that they will be hosting a Scottish seminar at Hornsby RSL featuring Paul Milner a professional genealogist, lecturer and author, specialising in British Isles research for over 30 years. Paul was born and raised in northern England and settled in the US in 1975. He is an internationally recognised speaker on British Isles research and migration.a professional genealogist, lecturer and author, specialising in British Isles research for over 30 years. Paul was born and raised in northern England and settled in the US in 1975. He is an internationally recognised speaker on British Isles research and migration.

As I suggested Hornsby as a venue to the organisers I hope the event is a success. I hope to meet  many of my genimates at the event. 

Hornsby's railway station is only a couple of hundred metres walk from the Hornsby RSL and there is parking available at the Club and the Westfield shopping centre that is over the other side of the railway line. 

Being a rail hub Hornsby is convenient for people from all over Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter. Outside peak hour it is a pleasant drive from the Northern Beaches area and for those from Parramatta the CDC Metrobus runs regular services from Parramatta via Castle Hill to Hornsby (please check schedules). 

With a great international lecturer and such a convenient venue I expect that Hornsby RSL will be overrun on 9 February by hordes of genealogists. 

I'll see you there.

Full details and registration : http://www.unlockthepast.com.au/events/british-isles-genealogy-seminar-tour-paul-milner/sydney

St Andrew's Day - 30 November

Today, 30th November, is the feast day of St Andrew, patron Saint of Scotland, and a Bank Holiday in Scotland. I send greetings to all Scots especially those Scottish cousins we hope to identify some day.

Saint Andrew's Cross or the Saltire
The flag of Scotland

Mr Geniaus and I have a few Scots in our family tree so I thought I'd see if any of them were named after the Saintly Andrew. A perusal of  our combined trees  returns only one Scot named Andrew. Andrew Sibbald, my husband's 3rd cousin 3 times removed was born in Tranent, Haddingtonshire, Scotland in 1874.

The son of  James Sibbald and Elizabeth Cunningham, Andrew appears on three Scottish Censuses 1881, 1891 and 1901. At the age of 27 in 1901 he was a ploughman working at Overton House Cottage, Kirknewton and East Calder in Scotland.

Are there any Scottish Andrews in your tree?

Scottish Heritage Week 24th June- 4th July

The Scottish Australian Heritage Council is hosting a range of events for Scottish Heritage Week in Australia.

During this week I am thinking of our Scottish ancestors who settled in Australia : James Duncan from Aberdeen, Archibald Gillespie from Kilchoman, William Purves Gowans from Hawick and Margaret Munro from Paisley.

 Photo: William Purves Gowans

Clan Fraser

Do you have these names in your tree?

IS YOUR NAME:

Bisset	Brewster	Cowie
Fraser	Frazer	Frazier
Frizelle	Freer	Frew
Grewar	Gruar	MacGruar
Lovat	Lovett	MacKin
MacKimmie	MacImmie	Oliver
Sim	Sime	Sims
Syme	Simpson	Simson
Twaddle	Tweedale	Tweedie

Then The Australian Clan Fraser website is the site for you.

Here you can use the Genealogy Forum to share information ans ask questions about your Fraser links and genealogy generally. Additionally the site gives inforamtion about the Frasers.

Tombstone Tuesday

On a genealogy trip to Scotland we went to Haddington in search of my husband's Gowans ancestors. Although we scoured the graveyard at St. Mary's Kirk we were unable to find any trace of them. Whilst in the graveyard we were approached by a Scottish gentleman who was transcribing the site. He gave us his telephone number and said that he would check his records at home for transcriptions.

When we telephoned him the next day he gave us the location of a family grave that we were so close to on the previous day. We returned to the cemetery to find a headstone not just with details of my husband's ancestors' burial but with details of a number of other family members.

It is pleasing to see that the volunteer gentleman's transcriptions are now available on the Church website.

Tick, Tock. We think we've found a Gowans clock

In a blog post a few months ago I told the story of James the Clock, my husband's 3rd great-grandfather.

I indicated that we would love to own a clock made by James. Shortly after finding a Gowans clock in Australia at Museum Victoria we discovered that we had missed out on purchasing a Gowans clock on eBay. The clock was not sold on the eBay auction but had been sold by the time we got in contact with the vendor.

Although we have our interests listed with many clock vendors in the UK and the US we have not been able to locate a clock since we started looking six years ago.

Just last week a gentleman in Scotland contacted our English cousin saying that he has a Gowans clock for sale. Our cousin, who already owns a Gowans clock, immediately contacted us. The clock is a very pretty longcase clock made in the 1850s by James Gowans in Galashiels, Scotland. We are hoping to close the purchase and bring this Gowans clock from Scotland to its family in Australia.

I hope to record the clock's journey to Australia on this blog.

James the Clock

"James the Clock", as we affectionately know him, is James Gowans my husband's 3rd great-grandfather.

Born in 1806 in North Berwick James grew up to be a clockmaker in East Linton (1837-1850) and Galashiels, Scotland. Since we learnt of James' trade we have been anxious to find a clock made by him. Having an object crafted by James or his son James b. 1836 , my husband's 2nd great-grandfather, would add an extra dimension to our family history. James the clock's first son, John Gowans b 1832 who emigrated to the United States was also a watchmaker .


We started searching the internet for a Gowans clock around 2002 and discovered one on a British clocks website. We willingly paid the 99p subscription to view the site and download the photos of our first "Gowans" clock find. An email to the site did not elicit an answer so we were unable to find contact details for the owner. The clock's description states " There are four handpainted 'castles' one in each corner of the dial. It has Roman numerals. In the arch it has a picture of a farm-girl carrying two pails on a shoulder yoke with a cottage in the background." The photographs are by Mike Fuss.

We would have loved to see this clock "in the flesh" on a visit to the UK but had to content ourselves with photos. Just today I paid another 99p and went back to this website to check on James' entry that had been updated in 2009, I found an inaccurate and unsourced biographical entry. I was most disappointed and sent an email off to the site.


Not long before setting out on an excursion to the UK in early 2006 a Gowans ancestor contacted us through the Genes Reunited site. After a flurry of emails in which we discovered that he had inherited a Gowans clock from an elderly aunt we made arrangements to visit him to share family history and documents and have a viewing of the clock and James the Clock's family bible.

We had a wonderful visit with my husband's 3rd cousin (1 time removed) in his charming cottage in the English countryside. We have established a friendship with him and have subsequently stayed with him on another visit. As well as the clock and bible this cousin had a photo of an elderly James the Clock (above) as well as letters and documents from later generations. Oh, to have spinster aunts who live into their nineties and are bowerbirds to boot.

We have continued to scour the internet and have made contact with clock dealers on three continents in the hope of sourcing a Gowans clock. We regularly scour auction sites in the UK. Our English cousin has been on the lookout for us and helpfully placed an advertisement in an English clock magazine. We have yet to find a clock for sale.

Early this week I did another series of searches for Gowans clocks and got a new hit. This Gowans clock is in Australia at Museum Victoria; it is only 1,000 miles away. We immediately sent off an email to the Museum outlining our relationship to the clock's maker and asking if it would be possible to view it.

I was so excited to get a response from the Museum this morning thanking me for the biographical information supplied and indicating that we may be able to visit the clock at a time to be arranged. When I have photos of this new clock I will post them on my family history website and this blog. This news will make my husband's day.

I won't give up hope....one day our clock will come.

MooneeValleyFamilyLocalHistoryBlog: New Genealogy Book @ Sam Merrifield Library

A book for the reading list - especially for those of us with Scottish roots.

MooneeValleyFamilyLocalHistoryBlog: New Genealogy Book @ Sam Merrifield Library

Posted using ShareThis

New Resources on Scotland's People

Scotland's People latest newsletter indicates a number of new resources available on the site:

"New 1881 census indexes and images: this now completes the set of Scottish census records 1841-1901, uniquely available on ScotlandsPeople. Please note that this new version is in addition to the current LDS version of the 1881 census (which does contain images)
Old Parish Records (OPR) Deaths & Burials indexes and images have now also been added from 1538 to 1854
Coats of Arms 1672-1907 (free to search) have been added"

9th July 2004

This post is prepared for Genea Bloggers Weekly Genealogy Prompt Week #5: Talk about your genealogy adventures while on vacation. Doesn’t everyone plan a little genealogy visit during vacation? Take your readers along for the ride.

From my diary on 9th July 2004: "Big find of the afternoon was the death of Robert's 5xgrandmother Janet Sibbald."


We had paid a visit to East Lothian Local History Centre in the town of Haddington, Scotland "where the staff, who work in the most incredibly basic conditions, were hugely helpful." It was here that we found an obituary for the death of Janet Gowans nee Sibbald who died on 24 February 1814. We were thrilled to find that she was interred in a local church, St. Mary's, Haddington so we set off in search of the grave. The staff at the Local History Centre were very professional in their approach and tuned in to our needs; they went out of their way to make our visit the success that it was.


"We cannot find the Gowans grave, but meet a helpful old Scot, Ewan, who is indexing the historic cemetery. He gives us his 'phone number and promises to look in his records at home to see if he has any info for us." After returning from dinner to our hotel in Edinburgh that evening we gave Ewan a call. "We are given the news that we were very close to Janet's grave this afternoon and that there are five other persons in the grave including Robert's 5xgrandfather John Gowans." The next morning we returned to St. Mary's and took a number of photos of the grave and graveyard.


Ewan's act of kindness created one of the highlight's of our family history trip to Scotland. It is pleasing to see that the results of Ewan's work are published on the church website.


The information on the Gowans headstone gave us many leads for further research. We now need another trip to Scotland to follow them up!