Annie Smith – the Matron

May 1, 2023April 4, 2023jahunteruk Leave a comment

Dear blog reader

This blog post is about a dear family friend, still very missed 30 plus years after her death, who I subsequently discovered was actually a cousin.

When we as a family moved up from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire to Portessie, Banffshire in December 1973 my Mum was rather lonely and my paternal great-grandmother set about looking for people in her circle who would be friends for Mum.

(I always think Mum’s situation was an almost exact reverse of my paternal grandmother’s situation during World War 2 when she moved from Buckpool, Banffshire down to Glasgow to do munitions work and hated that contrast).

My great-grandmother found 2 suitable friendly people in Portessie: Helen Flett ms Reid, a cousin of my great-grandfather, who lived in Stuart Street, 2 streets along from us, and the then retired Matron of Seafield Hospital, Buckpool, Annie Smith, who lived opposite us in George Street.

Our house in George Street, in the photo are me, my Mum, my maternal auntie and my maternal grandparents.

When my maternal grandfather came up to visit us it turned out we had a third connection with Annie Smith, who recognised my grandfather instantly. She had been a nurse in a factory he had worked in. Annie Smith had given my grandfather his first ever ballpoint pen with the warning that, if he got it’s ink on his shirt, it would be very difficult to remove.

Annie Smith moved to Aberdeen after we moved down to Fife and every Summer Mum and I would travel up to Aberdeen to see my her. I remember vividly our last visit when she was in hospital as she was reaching the end of her life.

Annie Smith with me, my Mum and my brother.

As is my family history blogging style, the rest of this blog post will cover Annie Smith’s life events and then the several newspaper articles describing her.

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Annie Smith was born on 21st December 1908 at 29 High Shore, Macduff, Banffshire to John Smith, a fisherman, and Annie Lawrence.

In the 1911 census Annie was 3 and still living at 29 High Shore with her parents, her brother John and a servant, Isabella. I’m currently unable to locate the family in the 1921 census.

I shall now explore the newspaper articles about Annie’s career:

THE PRESS AND JOURNAL, MONDAY NOVEMBER 18 1968

MATRON AT BUCKIE IS RETIRING

Miss Annie Smith, matron of Seafield Hospital, Buckie, for the past 14 years, will retire next month after 40 years in the nursing profession.

Miss Smith, who belongs to Macduff, began her career as a nurse in 1929 at Dundee Royal Infirmary, where she obtained her qualifications in nursing and midwifery.

She was appointed a ward sister at Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen, in 1936, and was there until 1952, apart from five years’ service during World War 2 as an Army nursing sister in Cairo and Malta.

MODERN HOSPITAL

From 1952 to 1954 she was the assistant matron of the maternity hospital at Foresterhill, and she then took over her present post.

During her service at Seafield Hospital the building has been extended and completely reconstructed into a large modern hospital. She was responsible for starting the training school for state enrolled nurses at the hospital 40 years ago.

Miss Smith will spend her retirement in Aberdeen.

Her successor is Miss Alexina MacKinnon, a former hospital matron who is at present serving as a district nursing sister at Staffin, near Portree. Skye.

THE PRESS AND JOURNAL, THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21 1968

NEW MATRON FOR BUCKIE HOSPITAL

A Skye woman has been chosen as the new matron of Seafield Hospital, Buckie.

Miss Alexina MacKinnon, at present serving as a district nursing sister at Staffin, near Portree, is a sister of Mr Alexander R MacKinnon, a probation officer at Buckie.

Miss MacKinnon began her training as a nurse in Glasgow in 1940. She served for some years as a sister in Glasgow hospitals and after short spells as second assistant matron at Kettering General Hospital, Northants, and as matron at Royston and District Hospital, Herts., she returned to Foresterhall Hospital, Glasgow as first assistant matron in 1960.

HONOURED

She gave up this post at the end of 1961 to return to Skye for family reasons. In 1963 Miss MacKinnon took up her presen position as a district nursing sister with Inverness County Council.

The present matron at Seafield, Miss Annie Smith, who is retiring at the end of next month, was honoured by Buckie Red Cross detachment last night for her services as their nursing superintendent. At a ceremony in the hospital, she was presented with a nest of coffee tables.

PRESS AND JOURNAL, TUESDAY JULY 9 1991

SMITH

Peacefully, on Saturday, July 6, 1991, at Jasmine Park, City Hospital, Annie Smith (retired matron, Seafield Hospital, Buckie), formerly of 16 Charlie Devine Court, Aberdeen, a dearly beloved sister, aunt and friend. Service at St Andrew’s Cathedral, King Street, Aberdeen, on Wednesday, July 10, at 11am, to which all friends are respectfully invited. Cremation thereafter, private. Resting at St Machar Funeral Directors Rest Rooms, 2 Mealmarket Street, Aberdeen.

PRESS AND JOURNAL, TUESDAY JULY 9 1991

FORMER MATRON IN BUCKIE DIES, AGED 82

A former matron of Buckie’s Seafield Hospital, Miss Annie Smith, has died in hospital in Aberdeen. She was 82.

Born in Macduff, Miss Smith was in the nursing profession for 40 years and had many friends in the Banff and Buckie areas.

After moving to Aberdeen with her parents at an early age, Miss Smith carried out her nursing training in Dundee before taking up a post as a ward sister at Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen in 1936.

She was there until 1952, apart from five years’ service during World War 2 as an Army nursing sister in Cairo and Malta.

From 1952 to 1954, she was assistant matron of the maternity hospital at Foresterhill, before taking up the post at Buckie.

During her 14 years’ service at Seafield Hospital, she was responsible for starting the training school for state enrolled nurses.

A well-known and much respected member of the nursing profession, Miss Smith retired in 1969 and spent her retirement in Aberdeen.

She had been in hospital since December and is survived by an 80-year-old brother in Glasgow, nephew Mr Lawrence Young, Bridge of Don, and other nephews and nieces.

Sources: birth certificate and census entry from the Scotland’s People website, photos in personal possession of Jacqueline Hunter and newspaper articles from the British Newspaper Archive website.

A Kidney Pill Recommendation

April 1, 2023April 2, 2023jahunteruk 4 Comments

Dear blog reader.

My paternal 3 x great uncle not only left behind my all-time favourite door lintel (see below) but I was also intrigued when I spotted a recommendation by him for a particular kidney pill in the Banffshire Advertiser newspaper (commonly known as the Buckie Squeak) in 1910.

Below, in my usual family history style, I’ll outline William Murray’s life events then I’ll look at his tablet recommendation.

Jacqueline

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William was born on 23 December 1842 in Rathven parish, Banffshire, Scotland to my 3 x great grandparents, James Murray Farmer and Ann Mair Shavie.

I’ll explain the ‘Farmer’ and ‘Shavie’ here as the ‘Farmer’ will get another mention below (in connection with my favourite door lintel). In the fishing communities of Scotland there are few different surnames and so tee-names or by-names are used as suffices to the surname in order to differentiate between families. My Farmer ancestors originate from the Rathven area and spread out from Buckie, Banffshire to Lossiemouth, Moray and my Shavie ancestors originate from the village of Portknockie near Rathven.

In the 1851 census William was aged 8 and living in Buckie in the ‘Lane North West of the Market’ with his mother and his siblings Helen, Margaret and James (his father was a fisherman so was perhaps away at sea on the day of the census). In the 1861 census William was a 17 year old white fisher and living at 42 Top of the Brae, Buckie with his parents (his father was listed as a white fisher) and his siblings Helen, Margaret, James, George, Ann, Jane and Jessie.

On the 17th of January 1868, William married Ann McKenzie at High Street, Buckie.

In the 1871 census William (a 27 year old fisherman) and Ann were living at 10 Brae Top, Buckie with their sons James and John. In the 1881 census William (a 33 year old fisherman therefore claiming to have only aged 6 years in the 10 years since the last census) and Ann were living at Braeheads, Buckie with 5 of their children, James, John, Ann, William and Lydia Ellen.

In the 1891 census William (now a 48 year old fisherman) was living at 9 Seaview Road, Buckpool, Banffshire with Ann and 8 of their children, James, John, Ann, William, Lydia, Jessie, Nellie and George Alexander. The lintel that William had installed at 9 Seaview Road still exists and ensures that the Murray Farmer tee-name will never be forgotten locally:

I suspect the year perhaps indicates what William and Ann thought was the year of their marriage.

In the 1901 census William (a 58 year self-employed fisherman) and Ann were living at 9 Seaview Road with 4 of their children, Lydia, Jessie, Nellie and George Alexander. In the 1911 census William (a 68 year old self employed fisherman) and Ann were still at 9 Seaview Road with only their son George Alexander still living with them.

(There will be a separate blog post about George Alexander in the future as his death was extremely tragic. In 1943 the Red Cross ship, Australian Hospital Ship Centaur, of which George was Captain, was sank off the Queensland coast in Australia by a Japanese torpedo. Of the 332 people onboard 268, including George, died).

In the 1921 census William was living at 9 Seaview Road by himself (Ann had died earlier that year) as a 79 year old retired fisherman.

On the 16th of April 1925 William died at his daughter Ann’s house at Netherfield, St Peter’s Road, Buckpool from bronchitis.

William and Ann and several of their extended family are buried in Buckpool New Cemetery:

We shall now look at William’s kidney tablet recommendation. I shall simply reproduce the newspaper advert word-for-word as it is very detailed.

The Banffshire Advertiser, Thursday, August 18, 1910

Buckie Result.

What is the result here in Buckie? We have heard the good news from neighbouring towns, but somehow nothing has just the same weight with us as the result in our home town. A Buckie result like the following, however, must impress us all.

Mr W Murray, of 9 Seaview Road, Buckie, says:- ‘For no less than twenty years I have been subject to lumbago – a trying pain in the small of the back, just over the kidneys. At times it was very bad, and it was all I could do to get to work. Now and again I was laid up for a week – I often had to walk about bent.’

‘But I am pleased to say that I have found a genuine remedy in Doan’s Backache Kidney Tablets. They have never failed to give me the ease I needed, and to free me from the pain. They surely go to the source of the trouble, and I can heartily recommend them. (Signed) William Murray.’

Do you have rheumatic pains? Backache? Pains in the loins and sides? Dizzy spells? Is the urine high-coloured, painful in passing, scanty or gravelly? Are your eyes puffy? Your ankles swollen? Are you irritable and depressed? Do you soon get tired? If you have to answer ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, you have kidney trouble, and should begin at once with Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills,of which your neighbour speaks so highly. But if you neglect kidney trouble it may end fatally.

Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills are two shillings and ninepence per box, or six boxes for for thirteen shillings and ninepence. Of all chemists and stores, or post free direct from the Foster-McClellan Co., 8 Wells Street, Oxford Street, London, W. Be sure you get the same tablets Mr Murray had.

Sources: birth, marriage and death details and census entries from the Scotland’s People website, newspaper article from the British Newspaper Archive website and photographs taken by Jacqueline Hunter.

A Photo Surprise

December 1, 2022November 17, 2022jahunteruk Leave a comment

Hi blog readers.

This blog post is about an amazing surprise during a British Newspaper Archive webinar a few years ago when I suddenly spotted a family photo that I’d seen bits of before but never the whole photo.

This is the photo and story that appeared in ‘The Sketch’ (an illustrated weekly journal) on 28th September 1898:

‘Here is an interesting family of five generations.

The patriarch of the five generations is John Murray, who lives at Jamestown, Buckie, N.B. [North Britain]. He was the first fisherman to discover the use of herring bait for catching white-fish, and, though now in his ninetieth year, continue to enjoy excellent health.

His son, William Murray, is sixty-nine; he follows the vocation of his father at Lossiemouth. Mr John Murray’s granddaughter, Margaret Murray, or Cowie, thirty-eight years of age, resides at Buckie; she, again, has a daughter, Margaret, in her nineteenth year, whose infant son, aged six months, constitutes the fifth generation of this unique family of fisher-folk.’

I will now describe the lives of the five people in the picture above.

John Murray is my paternal 4 x great uncle:

John Murray’s baptism record doesn’t appear in the records of any Church though he clearly believed that he was born in 1808, hence the family photo to celebrate his 90th birthday. John Murray and Margaret Geddes, both of Rathven parish, were married on 13th July 1834 in Rathven parish.

In the 1841 census I suspect John was away fishing as there’s an 1841 census entry in Nether Buckie, now known as Buckpool, for Margaret, 24, and their 3 eldest children, Helen, 6, William (in the main photo above), 4 and Peter, 2. In the 1851 census John, 40 and a fisherman, and Margaret, 38, are living in the lane north west of the market in Buckie with their children, Helen, 16, William, 14, Peter, 13, James, 10, Janet, 7, and Margaret, 2.

In the 1861 census, the family are working away from home at Wilkhaven Shore, Tarbat, Ross and Cromarty and we have, together, John, 48, Margaret, 46, Peter, 22, James, 16, Janet, 14, Margaret, 12, Isabella, 10, John, 6, and George, 3, along with 2 domestic servants Betsy Higgerty and James Geddes. John and Peter were working as fishermen. and John (junior) was at school. In the 1871 census, John, 58, was living at Kinneddar Street, Lossiemouth with his wife Margaret, 57, and their children Margaret, 18, Isabella, 16, John, 13, and George, 11. In 1871 John was a fisherman and John, junior, and George were at school.

In the 1881 census John, 69, and Margaret, 68, were still living at Kinneddar Street and John was still a fisherman. In the 1891 census John, 79, and Margaret, 78, were living at 19 Kinneddar Street and John was now a retired fisherman.

In 1900 John died at 9 Blantyre Place, Ianstown, Buckie, aged 91 years, with a cause of death of decay of old age.

The next oldest person in the photo is John’s son, William:

Similar to his father, there’s no record of William’s baptism in any Church records. We’ve already seen William in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. William married for the first time, on 28th December 1856, to Isabella Smith, a 20 year old from Portessie. Isabella was a domestic servant, William a fisherman and banns were according to the forms of the Established Church of Scotland. In 1861 William and Isabella were clearly near William’s parents: at Wilkhaven Shore, Tarbat, Ross and Cromarty there’s a household comprising of William, 26, Isabella, 26, their 2 daughters, Margaret, 5 (in the main photo above), Ann, 1, and Isabella Sutherland, a domestic servant. Tragically Isabella died of phthisis pulmonalis (ie tuberculosis) on 8th June 1865 at Buckie.

On 28th September 1866, William re-married to Catherine Thomson (who’s actually also related to me on a different ancestral line) at Branderburgh (now part of Lossiemouth) after banns according to the forms of the Roman Catholic Church. In the 1871 census William and Catherine are living at Kinneddar Street, Lossiemouth with 3 children, one from William’s first marriage. William’s household in 1871 consists of William, 37, Catherine, 37, Margaret, 9, John, 3, and Peter, 1. William was a fisherman and Margaret was at school. In the 1881 census William and Catherine are living at 21 Kinneddar Street, Lossiemouth with 4 of their children: the household was William, 44, Catherine, 42, John, 13, Peter, 11, Mary, 6, and Helen, 4. William was a fisherman, John was recorded as both at school and a fisherman and Peter and Mary were at school.

In the 1891 census William and Catherine were living at 42 Kinneddar Street, Lossiemouth with 2 of their daughters as a household of William, 53, Catherine, 53, Mary, 15, and Helen, 14. William was a fisherman and Mary and Helen were both domestic servants. In the 1901 census William and Catherine were still living at 42 Kinneddar Street with a servant, the household comprising William, 63, Catherine, 63, and Agnes Dowie. In 1911 William was a 75 year old retired fisherman and a widower, living at 42 Kinneddar Street, Lossiemouth with his daughter Helen, 34, his son-in-law Alexander Cambell, 37, and his grandchildren, Jessie, 9, James George, 7, Catherine, 5, and Alex, 5 months. Alexander was a fisherman and Jessie, James and Catherine were at school. William died at 42 Kinneddar Street on 10th March 1913 from apoplexy (probably a stroke).

The next oldest person in the photo is John Murray’s grand-daughter Margaret:

Margaret was born on 8 May 1859 in Buckie to William Murray and his first wife Isabella. We’ve already seen Margaret in the 1861 and 1871 censuses. On 27th September 1878 19 year old Margaret married a 20 year old fisherman, Alexander Stewart, at Kinneddar Street, Lossiemouth after banns according to the forms of the Church of Scotland. In the 1881 census Margaret and Alexander were living at 15 James Street, Lossiemouth with this as the household: Alexander, 23, fisherman, Margaret, 21, and Margaret, 6 months (in the main photo above). Tragically Alexander died at sea, off Aberdeen, on the 7th of August 1885. In the 1891 census Margaret was living at 57 Queen Street, Lossiemouth with this household: Margaret, 31, with her daughters Margaret, 10, Isabella, 8, and Alexandrina, 5. Margaret was a grocer and all 3 of her daughters were at school. Margaret re-married on 15th December 1893 at Queen Street, Lossiemouth, after banns according to the forms of the Baptist Church, to a 47 year-old fisherman from Portessie, George Cowie. Margaret was quite the entrepreneur – I guess perhaps she had to be in order to keep her family especially when widowed -when she re-married in 1893 she was a grocery merchant.

In the 1901 census Margaret and George had moved from Lossiemouth and were living at 65 West Church Street, Buckie, with 3 generations as this household: George, 55, Margaret, 41, Margaret (Stewart), 20, Alexandrina (Stewart), 18, Alexander, 6, James (in the main photo above) (Stewart), 3, and Catherine, 6 months. James was Margaret’s grandson and Margaret and Alexandrina were Margaret’s children by her first husband. In the 1911 census Margaret, George and 2 of their children had moved to the west coast to Mallaig (of course another Scottish fishing port) with this as a household: George Cowie, 65, Margaret, 57, Alexander, 16, Catherine, 10, and Amelia Flett, a domestic servant. George and Alexander were fishermen and Catherine was at school.

Margaret died on 24th March 1922 at 35 Ritchie Street, West Kilbride, Ayrshire from apoplexy (a stroke, the same as Margaret’s father William) and hemiplegia ie paralysis (presumably from the stroke).

The next oldest in the photo is John Murray’s great grand-daughter Margaret:

Margaret Stewart was born 27th September 1880 in Lossiemouth. We’ve already seen Margaret in the 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses. On the 22nd of February 1907 at 67 Oswald Street, Glasgow, 24 year old Margaret married a 20 year old journeyman slater, William Martindale, who was living at Osborn House, Largs. Margaret was living at 222 Elliott Street, Glasgow. This marriage was away from any Church and took place by warrant of the sheriff-substitute of Lanarkshire in front of witnesses Alexandrina Stewart and Mary Elliott. Thus 67 Oswald Street was probably a solicitor’s office. Such a form of marriage usually was due to wanting a quick wedding (often in wartimes there were such marriages via a sherriff’s warrant) or a quiet wedding. We already know that Alexandrina was Margaret’s sister.

In the 1911 census William and Margaret were living at 34 Gateside Street, West Kilbride, the household being: William, 25, Margaret, 29 and their two daughters, Alexandrina, 3, and Margaret, 2. William was a slater and an employer. Margaret died on 20th February 1955 at Silverae, Orchard Street, West Kilbride from a cerebral thrombosis (ie a stroke, similar to the previous 2 generations).

Now to the youngest in the photo, John Murray’s great, great grandson, the baby James:

James Stewart was born on 22nd February 1898 at 65 Church Street, Buckie. James was illegitimate, ie his parents were not married, and his birth certificate has no father’s name. We’ve already seen James in the 1901 census with his mother and grandparents. In the 1911 census James is not with his grandparents or his mother. From then on unfortunately James is a mystery to me. If anyone has James in their family tree please get in touch!

Sources: The photo and article from the British Newspaper Archive website, 1841 to 1901 census entries from the Ancestry website and birth, marriage and death certificates and the 1911 censuses from the Scotland’s People website.

John Murray and the Buttercup fishing boat

November 1, 2022September 17, 2022jahunteruk Leave a comment

This blog post is about my paternal great, great grandfather and one of his fishing boats, the Buttercup.

John Murray was born on 23 January 1863 at Buckpool, Banffshire, Scotland to James Murray,a fisherman, and Ann Mair. In the 1871 census John was a scholar living at 12 Brae Side, Buckie with his parents and his older siblings, Helen, George, Jean (also called Jane in other records) and Jessie. In the 1881 census John is a fisherman living at Chapel Lane, Buckie with his parents and his sister Jane.

On 9 September 1887 John married Ann Reid at Main Street, Buckpool after banns according to the forms of the Disciples of Christ with James Bowie and Alexander Stewart as witnesses.

This photo of John and his wife Ann is one of my favourite family history photos. I love the contrast between John’s appearance here and how he must have looked when he was working as a fisherman. In this photo John and Ann are with their grandson John Murray. Not all of the colourising facilities on family history websites work brilliantly on all photos but I am quite taken by Ancestry’s coloured version of this photo which I’ll share at the end of this blog post.

In the 1891 census John (a fisherman) and Ann were living at 23 Seaview Road, Buckpool (which would then be in our family until the 1980s) with their baby son James (my great grandfather). In the 1901 census John, a fisherman, and Ann were at 23 Seaview Road with their 3 sons, James, William and John. In the 1911 census we have John and Ann at 23 Seaview Road with their 4 sons, James, William, John and George – by this time James and William were fishermen as well as their father still fishing.

This is 23 Seaview Road:

John Murray died on 30 March 1943 when he was aged 80 at 23 Seaview Road from arteriosclerosis and aortic incompetence, ie heart disease. John is buried in the cemetery at Buckpool:

It was John’s obituary in the 8 April 1943 issue of the Aberdeen Weekly Journal that introduced me to his fishing boat the Buttercup (the obituary also refers to the Craigmin fishing boat which I’ve blogged on previously):

WELL-KNOWN BUCKIE FISHERMAN

‘The death has occurred at 23 Seaview Road, Buckie of Mr John Murray (‘Farmer’), retired fisherman, who was well known and highly respected in the community.

Mr Murray, who was eighty years of age, had several sailboats – his last being Buttercup – and then he and his family built the steam drifter, Craigmin, of which he was skipper. Retiring from the sea about fifteen years ago, Mr Murray took a keen interest in bowling, frequently taking part in games on the public green.

He was predeceased by his wife and is survived by four sons, one of whom is harbourmaster at Buckie.’

I am currently analysing my numerous books of fishing boats built near Buckie for those boats which belonged to my ancestors but it is quite possible to determine details of the launch, working life and eventual fate of the Buttercup from the digitised newspapers.

The Buttercup was launched in 1897:

ELGIN COURANT AND MORAYSHRIE ADVERTISER, 23 APRIL 1897

BOATBUILDING

‘In view of the west coast fishing, several more boats have either been launched or are ready for the water. On Friday Mr George Smith launched the Buttercup BF 1981 for Mr George Murray Farmer.’

(As an aside, the suffix of Farmer is a tee-name. In the fishing communities of Scotland there are relatively few surnames so families are differentiated between using suffices added onto their surnames).

BANFFSHIRE ADVERTISER 21 OCTOBER 1897

THE FISHING INDUSTRY – YARMOUTH AND LOWESTOFT

‘The BF (Banff) and INS (Inverness) boats generally have been doing as well as any sailing out of port, for the week ending Friday. The highest catches amongst the BF boats were – (first place) Buttercup 8 3/4 lasts.’

ELGIN COURANT AND MORAYSHIRE ADVERTISER, 9 SEPTEMBER 1902

CLOSE OF THE HERRING FISHING – A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

‘After a most successful season the east coast fishing season has come to a close. The total catch at the mainland stations amounts to 670,416 crans, as compared to 453,353 crans last year. FRASERBURGH – the fishing at this port has been the most successful one during the past eight years. The following are a few of the most successful crews fishing from the port this season: (last in the list of 27) Buttercup of Buckie, £440. ‘

ELGIN COURANT AND MORAYSHIRE ADVERTISER, 22 MARCH 1904.

BUCKIE – SALE OF FISHING BOATS

‘Seven first-class Zulu fishing boats were exposed for sale by auction in the Masonic Institute on Saturday. There were about 100 fishermen present, but bidding was exceedingly stiff. The only boat to change hands was the Buttercup, BF 1981, which was knocked down to Mr George Flett, Findochty for about £390. An offer of £200 was made for the Lebonan, BF 1715, but was not accepted. Mr Murray, of Thomson, Murray & Co, acted as auctioneer.’

ABERDEEN PEOPLE’S JOURNAL, 12 AUGUST 1905

BUCKIE

‘The Findochty fishing boat Buttercup (BF 1981), which was wrecked on Friday of last week at the back of Wick harbour, was owned by Messrs George and John Smith and William Ross. The boat was insured in the lately-formed Findochty Insurance Club. The wreck has been sold for £60.’

This is the colourised version of my favourite photo of John and his wife:

Sources: birth, marriage and death certificates and census records from the Scotland’s People website, digitised newspapers from the British Newspaper Archive website.

Interview With A Fisherman (My Uncle)

October 1, 2022August 3, 2022jahunteruk Leave a comment

Dear blog reader

A full quarter of my family tree is based within the fishing community of Banffshire and so I am very aware of the tradition history of the Scottish community, both boats moving from As far as the Orkneys and the Shetlands down to the English fishing grounds in the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft area along with the females of the community following to gut the fish.

However it stopped me in my tracks when I spotted an interview with my 3 x great uncle in the newspaper sharing my ancestral family’s experiences and opinions on the fishing trade.

As an explanatory addition, the suffix Farmer after the surname of Murray is a local tee or by-name. As there are often so few different surnames in Scottish fishing communities different families of the same surname have different tee-names to differentiate themselves. Also, the Buttercup boat mentioned in the article was owned by my great, great grandfather John Murray. Finally, there are places local to Buckie named in the attached interview: Buckie is a big fishing town on the Moray Firth coast and Buckpool and Portessie are smaller areas attached to Buckie.

I do hope you find this as fascinating as I do.

Jacqueline

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THE BANFFSHIRE ADVERTISER, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1901

INTERVIEW WITH A BUCKIE FISHERMAN

The important place which the English herring fishing now takes in the yearly round of the Scotch and above all the Moray Firth fishermen, has caused more and more public attention to be drawn to and concentrated on that industry within the past year or two. Not that the taking part in the English coast is anything of recent birth in the Scotch fisherman’s almanac, because in a humble and unassuming way the Moray Firth fishermen have been a factor in the Yarmouth fishing for over twenty years now. But it is really only within the past four or five years that the English fishing has come to be the all-engrossing subject in the fishing towns and villages during the months of October, November, and part of December. Prior to the year 1876, that is 25 years ago, the period of the year between the end of the east coast of great summer herring fishing in September and the opening of the west coast fishing in May, the Scotch fishermen looked to the white fishing to provide him with a living. He enjoyed the success that attended the small lines till Christmas, and then used the great lines till the time for preparing for the west coast fishing. At that time the white fish were not so scarce in the adjacent waters as they now are, and the boats were half the size of the present ones. Altogether the industry had not assumed the importance it has done since.

While possessing a fair amount of fishery questions, both local and national, through an extended period of residence among and personal contact with fishermen, still the representative of the ‘Aberdeen Journal’ who was detailed to glean information for this article considered that there were matters of common knowledge to the practical seagoing fisherman which were not likely to come within the purview of a landsman, however long he might have been resident among fishermen. Acting on this conviction, the ‘Journal’ representative successfully cornered a fisherman whom he knew possessed the necessary knowledge and experience, as well as a good measure of all-round common sense to balance his particular qualifications in this respect. This fisherman was Mr George Murray (‘Farmer’) of the Buttercup, BF1981, one of the hardy race of Buckie fishermen. As a full-fledged storm was whistling through the streets at the time, it was advisable to get under cover, and, seated by a comforting fire, the pressman, by means of a series of questions, was able to elicit from Mr Murray the information of which he was in search.

To begin with, Mr Murray recollects that, in 1876, there were three boats from Buckpool and about the same number from Buckie that went to the English fishing for the first time from this part of the coast. At that time the decked boats were beginning to find favour among the fishermen, and they required a decked boat for the south voyage which then took some weeks to accomplish compared with a couple of days in 1901. The boats then made direct for Yarmouth, and did so for many years afterwards, the idea of fishing at Scarborough and Grimsby en route being one which has been put in practice only within the last few years. Three years late (1879) the number of boats leaving Buckpool for Yarmouth was 13, and from Buckie a like number, but still, although the attention to the English fishing was increasing on the part of the Scotch fishermen, that fishing was not what might be called a popular one with the Moray Firth men for several reasons. These were that it was performed at a time of the year when frequent storms might be expected, that the voyage was a long one, that the navigation of English waters not only differs from the conditions which obtain at home, but is more difficult on account of shoal sands, greater sea traffic, and a low-lying coast, generally of a sandy colour, so that, as Mr Murray tersely put it, you could not see it till you were on to it. Mr Murray, however, admitted frankly that the English coast was well lighted, and that in foggy weather the fog signals were kept going.

But a fishing which, practically year in year out, unfailingly spelt success, and could be counted on to average £200 per boat, was not one that would be allowed to slip out of the fishermen’s diary, as fishings such as the Islay fishing have been allowed to do. With the vast increase in the size of the boats and the additional comforts provided in them, as well as the knowledge that comes by experience and tends to breed self-confidence if not contempt, the English fishing has now largely lost its terrors for the moray Firth fishermen, and it may be assumed that with the annual training of the rising generation of fishermen those terrors will never exist as they once existed to their fathers. The Moray Firth fisherman is now ready to go anywhere and everywhere that offers a reasonable prospect of filling his nets with the silvery king of the sea. Season herring fishings, in fact, are growing so numerous – there are five of them already – that they endanger the success of each other to a considerable extent by producing a feeling of restlessness on the part of the fishermen who have been, and are now, rather apt to chase about from one fishing to another on the strength of daily reports of doings at other ports. Very often the best days of a herring season at any particular fishing come at the very end, but by that great time a great part of the fleet has left for some other fishing. The Shetland fishing treads so closely on the west coat or Stornoway fishing as to have this effect, and similarly the Shetland fishing, as in the present year, often extends into the time usually devoted to the east coast fishing, and so on. When one considers that half of one year’s grossing is frequently made in a single night by a boat, it will be seen how important it is to a fisherman to give the fishing grounds all the chances possible, even although they may for many weary days be soured by the disappointing process of hauling in ‘black yarn’, ie empty nets.

Half a dozen years ago the number of boats leaving Buckie for the English fishing was about 60, and up to this time Grimsby was unknown as a herring port to the Scotchmen, and Scarborough had not yet been paid attention to. By leaps and bounds, during the past year or two, has the English fishing sprung up, till it occupies the completely absorbing position it does today along the Moray Firth coast. This year there was the most complete desertion of Buckie and the neighbouring coast towns on record. The Cluny and other harbours presented for a couple of months the appearance of ‘harbours to let’, there being only four or five big boats and a dozen to twenty small boats left to prosecute the white fishing from the Cluny Harbour.

The approximate number of boats that left Buckie for the English fishing this season were 30 boats from Buckpool, 50 from Buckie, and 40 from Portessie – a total of 130 large boats of the first class. At the close of the east coast fishing the hired Highlanders are dismissed, and the Moray Firth men proceed to make up crews among themselves for the English fishing. The fisherman, Mr Murray, informs me, who has a good boat in trim for the voyage south does his best to make up a crew. Should he not succeed, he himself just joins a crew being made up for some other boat. This, of course, necessitates many of the boats being laid up on the beach, and in the dividing of the English gold, one share out of the nine which the net proceeds are parted is earned by the boat. The expense for the English fishing amount to about £60; the balance of the grossings is divided into nine shares apportioned one share to each of the seven men who go to form the crew of the boat, one share to the boat, half a share to the cook, who is a boy, and a half share in respect of the steam engine.

As to the conditions under which the Moray Firth fishermen prosecute the English fishing today, I have Mr Murray’s word for it that there is no comparison. In former years the boats were so small that the men could not live steadily in them, so they were compelled to have lodgings ashore. Now all that is changed, and the 80 ft. over all boats are furnished, in many instances, much better than on shipboard. The large cabin aft has about seven feet of headroom; bunks of the most comfortable design are placed all round, and presses for everything are handily arranged. The cooking is the hands of a boy, who does nothing else but attend to the culinary department, and the table is furnished fit for a king – but my readers must not conceive too glorious an impression of a fisherman’s life from such a remark. I mean by it that the standard of living aboard the fishing boat has improved with the other improvements effected, for although the modern fisherman may not at the end of a year be able to show a large or any, balance in £ s d, yet in the very nature of things he goes through and handles a bug lump of cash in the course of a year. Today, therefore, the fishermen live aboard the boats.

The steam engines for hauling purposes,which are an innovation of a few years, and then cost £80, have been enlarged and made more powerful, and they now cost £120 each. Against this expenditure, as I have already stated, one-half share of the earnings is placed.

The English fishing is different from the Scotch fishing in respect that the herring are smaller and harder than the west coast fish. For this reason the Scotchmen prosecute it with old nets. A new net is practically useless, Mr Murray says, because it breaks and destroys the appearance of the fish for market. A net is considered old and fit for the English fishing when it has been four years in use, and these old nets are specially laid past and reserved for the English fishing. The destruction of them at the English fishing is, however, frequently very heavy, but as they are not of great pecuniary value, the loss is not great.

In the opinion of Mr Murray, Yarmouth is by far the most favoured port to conduct fishing operations from in the estimation of the Scotch fishermen, and no fewer than 470 Scotch boats were there in the season just closing. Lowestoft comes next, Grimsby third, and Scarborough a bad fourth on account of its harbour being tidal. The average distance the fleet have to go to the fishing grounds is from 15 to 18 miles off the coast in an easterly direction.

As to grievance, well, with such a large fleet making a sudden descent upon a seaport, it is little wonder if the pinch of deficient harbour accommodation be felt at the English ports. That want probably stands a better chance of remedy in England, as the richer place, than in Scotland. The greatest grievance the Scotch boats have is the system of charging them harbour dues for their registered tonnage. A good deal of correspondence has taken place over this matter, but the official coach lumbers along but slowly. The case in a nutshell is, that the Scotch zulu boats which have a registered tonnage of 40 tons or so pay upon that as against a registered tonnage of 15 tons or so for a steam drifter, one-half larger deduction being made in the case of the latter for engine, etc, space. There is an opinion entertained by some that the zulus could claim exemption for the cabin space at present, but this has not been done, as far as I am aware. The Board of Trade have suggested that the remedy is to put the fishing boats under the Merchant Shipping Act, but that remedy Mr Murray and other fishermen hold is worse than the disease. Indeed one Lossiemouth boat tried it – and repented. Fishermen don’t want the trouble of having to keep a log, carry lifebelts, when they having fishing buoys, carry a small boat, pass Board of Trade examinations for charge of a boat – which some existing skippers could not do – and furnish periodical reports to the Board of Trade.

With the great falling off in the landing of white fish in the winter months, and the increased attention paid to the English fishermen by the Scotch fishermen, it was the most natural thing in the world that the scotch curers would also turn their eyes to where the fleet went. The Scotch curer has, within three years, become an important factor in the English herring market. The Yarmouth curers admit not only this, but that there is a likelihood of the number of Scotch curers increasing. Their importance was indicated at the roup of Yarmouth curing stations last Tuesday, when 66 stances, which three years ago were waste land, fetched nearly £1800 of rent, or £500 above last year’s returns. Scotch curers were mentioned as lessees in the English correspondent’s telegram from almost every fishing town round about the Moray Firth but Buckie, but, I think, the Buckie curers would be there too, for they have been taking their share of what has been going with the others.

A word is also due about the position occupied by Scotch fish salesmen. Finding business also slack at home, the fish selling firms began to send representatives south last year. They ventured as far as Grimsby, but this year they became more ambitious, and invaded Yarmouth itself. So far as I have been able to gather they have met with a success which has quite come up to their expectations. It must be recollected that Scotch fish salesmen do business in the south under manifest disadvantages as compared with their English confreres, but no doubt in years to come they will be able to hold up their end of the plank. The English salesmen send north representatives to canvas the Scotch boats before they set out for the English fishing, and they can offer better inducements to the fishermen than the home salesmen in the way of storage for nets, etc. It is even said that if the Scotch fish salesmen are tn enter into serious competition with the English firms on English ground, the English salesmen will retaliate by competing with the Scotch firms at Scotch ports during the Scotch fishings. But of this I cannot say more.

So as far as the Buckie boats are concerned, not more than two-thirds of them have already returned home, and indeed the people here have no special anxiety to see them home. There is only an average fishing of somewhat over £200 per boat, and as the boats that remained have had heavy shots almost daily, the return of the boats so soon is almost a misfortune. It is, however, considered that the recent storm and the disastrous effects in its wake made the fishermen anxious to square up and get home.

Sources: British Newspaper Archive website and postcards of Buckie in personal possession of Jacqueline Hunter.

Ancestral Research by Jacqueline

Specialising in Scottish family history research

Fisherman