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Forfar Family News
- Summer 2024
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A newsletter for descendants & relatives of
Sgr. David & Jean (Dalgity) Scott
who married at Forfar, Scotland in 1795, and were
stationed
in Halifax, Nova Scotia with the
Royal Artillery in 1801.
Hello to everyone
from Prince Edward Island! Greetings to cousins and
relatives far and wide.
Reflecting on events that happened on this month in 1803 - it was on August 14th - 221 years ago that the family of Sgr. David began a journey without their husband and father. While we can not imagine their grief and loss, we do know that they carried on, and established themselves in Nova Scotia. Through the families of their two sons John and David Jr. their descendants eventually became established in both Canada and the US in the years that followed. Beginning with just basic details of his death in Halifax, Nova Scotia it was in 1973 that I began to explore archives in Woolwich and London, England as well as Halifax, NS in hopes of learning more. Letters that had been saved from distant relatives by my parents some 100 years old, helped paint a larger picture, but it was the arrival of the Internet and DNA testing which allowed us to confirm connections that were lost for many years. Currently eight DNA tests have confirmed the connections of various branches of the family.
FindaGrave.com which allows us to locate and add images of ancestors and relatives to pictures of their headstones is the latest tool that is helping. Though the efforts of local history buffs, often headstone have been photographed and the location given, with family adding photographs and other items about that family member. While it remains a work in progress and not all cemeteries have volunteers to upload content and photograph headstones, people can add graves that have not already been documented or ask for help from volunteers.
In the last newsletter I mentioned the efforts of James Struckmeyer III who is a member of the 3rd Pittsburgh Line and a 4th cousin of mine. Jamie's career in the military (US Air Force) has allowed him to travel extensively and cultivated his strong interest in history as well. He has been adding photographs and linking the relationship between family members within the ten generation descendants of Sgr David & Jean Scott as well as other branches of his family. It is a wonderful way to visit graves (paying our respects from a distance) and, to add information that paints a larger picture or puts a face to a name. As an example of how these work, I have included the entry for Sgr. David Scott which I added information and pictures. You will find that it links to the work Jamie has been doing like the entry for his great-great-grandfather Thomas Forester Scott. I recently created a "virtual cemetery" which combines all the individual entries for the descendants and family of Sgr. David and Jean Scott in one place. While still a work in progress with 189 entries, please consider adding content that others can access, or let me know of graves that you know of that are missing - so we honour those who have gone before.
Building your own virtual cemetery is a way to cluster records in one place. For example I recently started one for all direct ancestors of my wife and another for myself that makes it easier to locate ancestor records of many different branches all in one place.
While the connection to those that went before remains strong, the continued growth of a new generation brings hope. As we approach September I am reminded of the special event last year when the two founding branches were each expecting a new grandson on the same day. While the arrival of babies does not always follow clocks to the hour - as it would happen - one baby arrived very quickly within minutes of arrival at hospital (in Canada) and the other took a bit longer with the midnight hour having arrived and clocked over to a new day, giving the two healthy boys, our grandson Niko here in PEI, and Donna Maloy's grandson Gavin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, each a unique (but very close) birthdate. As members of the youngest generation their ancestors included the brothers John and David Scott Jr, the sons of Sgr. David and Jean Scott who themselves had been born in England and Scotland as their parents followed the life of a military family - moving as required. Congratulations to Katie & Kevin Maloy in Harrisburg and to Suzanne & Bradley Gallant in PEI! Happy Birthday wishes to the soon-to-be 1 year old cousins!
Scotland
Reflecting on events that happened on this month in 1803 - it was on August 14th - 221 years ago that the family of Sgr. David began a journey without their husband and father. While we can not imagine their grief and loss, we do know that they carried on, and established themselves in Nova Scotia. Through the families of their two sons John and David Jr. their descendants eventually became established in both Canada and the US in the years that followed. Beginning with just basic details of his death in Halifax, Nova Scotia it was in 1973 that I began to explore archives in Woolwich and London, England as well as Halifax, NS in hopes of learning more. Letters that had been saved from distant relatives by my parents some 100 years old, helped paint a larger picture, but it was the arrival of the Internet and DNA testing which allowed us to confirm connections that were lost for many years. Currently eight DNA tests have confirmed the connections of various branches of the family.
FindaGrave.com which allows us to locate and add images of ancestors and relatives to pictures of their headstones is the latest tool that is helping. Though the efforts of local history buffs, often headstone have been photographed and the location given, with family adding photographs and other items about that family member. While it remains a work in progress and not all cemeteries have volunteers to upload content and photograph headstones, people can add graves that have not already been documented or ask for help from volunteers.
In the last newsletter I mentioned the efforts of James Struckmeyer III who is a member of the 3rd Pittsburgh Line and a 4th cousin of mine. Jamie's career in the military (US Air Force) has allowed him to travel extensively and cultivated his strong interest in history as well. He has been adding photographs and linking the relationship between family members within the ten generation descendants of Sgr David & Jean Scott as well as other branches of his family. It is a wonderful way to visit graves (paying our respects from a distance) and, to add information that paints a larger picture or puts a face to a name. As an example of how these work, I have included the entry for Sgr. David Scott which I added information and pictures. You will find that it links to the work Jamie has been doing like the entry for his great-great-grandfather Thomas Forester Scott. I recently created a "virtual cemetery" which combines all the individual entries for the descendants and family of Sgr. David and Jean Scott in one place. While still a work in progress with 189 entries, please consider adding content that others can access, or let me know of graves that you know of that are missing - so we honour those who have gone before.
Building your own virtual cemetery is a way to cluster records in one place. For example I recently started one for all direct ancestors of my wife and another for myself that makes it easier to locate ancestor records of many different branches all in one place.
While the connection to those that went before remains strong, the continued growth of a new generation brings hope. As we approach September I am reminded of the special event last year when the two founding branches were each expecting a new grandson on the same day. While the arrival of babies does not always follow clocks to the hour - as it would happen - one baby arrived very quickly within minutes of arrival at hospital (in Canada) and the other took a bit longer with the midnight hour having arrived and clocked over to a new day, giving the two healthy boys, our grandson Niko here in PEI, and Donna Maloy's grandson Gavin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, each a unique (but very close) birthdate. As members of the youngest generation their ancestors included the brothers John and David Scott Jr, the sons of Sgr. David and Jean Scott who themselves had been born in England and Scotland as their parents followed the life of a military family - moving as required. Congratulations to Katie & Kevin Maloy in Harrisburg and to Suzanne & Bradley Gallant in PEI! Happy Birthday wishes to the soon-to-be 1 year old cousins!
Scotland
- A Clan Scott gathering in
Scotland has been considered for several years
without a firm date being set, and this week I
learned that it is now planned for June 2026 -
timed to connect with the Selkirk Common
Riding, an annual event in the Borders near
Sir Walter Scott's courthouse (he worked as a
judge). Plans have not been announced fully
but will include major Scott sites in the
Borders and Edinburgh with highlights
including Bowhill
House (seat of the current Chief of Clan
Scott in the Borders) and Abbotsford
the historic home of Sir Walter Scott. We
attended similar events in 2009 and 2014 and
look forward to attending this event as well.
The initial
plan which was rescheduled to 2026 gives
an idea of major locations being considered.
Contacting Clan
Scott Society directly is the best way
to be on their mailing list for future
announcements and registration.
The
Selkirk Riding has ancient roots with the basic role of
ensuring that commonly-held land "the commons" were intact and
no one had encroached on it with a fence or building (or a
shopping mall). Five hundred riders, travel the hills and
valleys even fording rivers in the steps of their ancestors.
As you can imagine, the town comes alive with celebration at
the same time. While the actual horse riding is left to the
local riders along with some more serious visitors, at the
2014 Scott Gathering, I was surprised to meet an American
lawyer who works in the Internal Court of Justice in the Hague
(World Court) who arranges for a horse so he can ride the
event each year. A little more complicated than renting a car
at the airport, it has been possible for him each year to
participate fully.
Clan Scott Society tends to focus on the
Borders region and Edinburgh since it is so rich in Scott
history and living culture, but for those of us also with an
ancestral connection to Forfar in County Angus located north
of Edinburgh not far from Dundee, that region remains an
equally rich area for touring. The tourism staff at Visit
Angus maintain an excellent website and if you subscribe
to their newsletter you can receive updates on the various
festivals and family/local history activities held annually.
Ancestral History Update -
Research continues
on our shared family history. I look forward to making
direct contact with as many descendants as possible to
update their branch of the family tree. Meanwhile our
shared family story of early generations is available
under the Family From
Forfar title. We have a framework of the
earliest generations in family tree format at
FamilySearch.org which any registered user can add or
link material to. The growing genealogical
material on FamilySearch.org can be navigated through
this link.
As well
the linking of grave memorials from across the
continent through FindaGrave.com
into a single virtual cemetery brings together
information on many of our shared relatives. This virtual
cemetery of Sgr. David and Jean Scott's family
was just begun a few weeks ago; with 195 memorials
currently, it continues to grow as more graves are
found or added to the existing records on FindaGrave.
Any suggestions or help in locating additional
information and pictures is greatly appreciated.
Research on a genealogy of descendants continues, as we know that Sgr. David and Jean Scott had at least 567 descendants over 10 generations and along with 334 spouses/partners there were 901 family members including:
3 children
11 grandchildren
47 great-grandchildren
50 great-great-grandchildren
67 great-great-great-grandchildren
111 great-great-great-great-grandchildren
170 great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (so far)
89 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (so far)
18 great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (so far)
Sincerely, Ian Scott
Forfar Family News Index
Scott@HomePort
HomePort
Do you have information that could be helpful in correcting or adding to the contents of HomePort ? We appreciate your comments, suggestions and additions.
Research on a genealogy of descendants continues, as we know that Sgr. David and Jean Scott had at least 567 descendants over 10 generations and along with 334 spouses/partners there were 901 family members including:
3 children
11 grandchildren
47 great-grandchildren
50 great-great-grandchildren
67 great-great-great-grandchildren
111 great-great-great-great-grandchildren
170 great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (so far)
89 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (so far)
18 great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (so far)
We hope that HomePort (IanScott.ca)
is helpful in sharing
family history. Scott material starts at Scott@HomePort.
Please feel free to share these links with
others.
Facebook
Friends
A
private Facebook
group called Descendants
and Family of Sgr. David & Jean
Scott for sharing photos, stories
and family information is in place which
we hope you will join.
If you are
on Facebook, and we haven't connected already,
please send along a friend
request. You
can also connect through Instagram
or LinkedIn,
or directly by email.
As the great bard himself
wrote:
If you keep a thing seven years, you are sure to find a use for it.
If you keep a thing seven years, you are sure to find a use for it.
Sir Walter Scott, (1771-1832)
Sincerely, Ian Scott
Forfar Family News Index
Scott@HomePort
HomePort
Do you have information that could be helpful in correcting or adding to the contents of HomePort ? We appreciate your comments, suggestions and additions.
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