Tombstone Tuesday - Chrissie Lavery, Tricia Ely

My Grandfathers sister Chrissie Shields Lavery and her Daughter Patricia Shields Ely
I love their photos on this stone in Barone road Cemetery.



Christina Shields Lavery
7th March 1918 - 27th Jan. 2008
A Cherished Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother
In Our Hearts & Memories Forever
Patricia Shields Ely
28th Jan. 1946 - 30th Oct. 2010
A Wonderful Mother & Grandmother
Greatly Loved and Missed By All

Tombstone Tuesday

This week a stone from the Slaven side of the family.

This impressive stone is in the High Kirk Graveyard on the isle of Bute.

Lily Stewart (1860 – 1929) was the younger sister of Sarah Stewart (1854 - 1884) who was married to Henry Slaven (1855-1894).

When Sarah died Lily appears to move in to help with the family and although they never married she had a number of children with Henry Slaven her brother-in-law.

Thomas Slaven, Lily Slaven, John Stewart Slaven and Robert Stewart Slaven.

This remarkable stone is erected by her son John Stewart Slaven and manages to chart his family through the years.

Erected by John S Slaven

In memory of his mother

Lily Stewart died 6^th March 1929 aged 69

The above John S Slaven died 9^th July 1976 aged 47

Dearly loved husband of Elizabeth Miller who died 25^th Feb 1970 aged 84

Their son John died Johannesburg 16^th Oct 1990 aged 72

Their daughter Renee died 6^th Jan 2004 aged 82 

Dearly loved wife of Gerald Hughes died 5^th May 2004 aged 84 years

In loving memory of Harry Slaven who died 30^th Sept 1973 aged 58

Beloved husband of Betty Graham who died 7^th June 1993 aged 77 years

Wordless Wednesday

Shields brothers and sisters

Matthew (1920-1995), Isabella (1901-1984), Annie (1904-1953), Charlie (1913-1975), Margaret (1906-1994),
Chrissie (1918-2009), Jenny Shields [ms Cunningham] (1878-1970), Maime (1898-1977).

You know I can't cope with the Wordless bit

Tombstone Tuesday

This week a stone from the Shields side of the family.

Charles McGowan Shields, Brother of my grandfather Matthew.

In Loving Memory of my dear husband Charles McG. Shields Died 5^th Dec 1975 aged 62 years, their granddaughter Carole Died 21 June 1987 aged 25 years His wife Grace Cordon died 7^th June 1991 aged 69 years.

This stone is in the Barone Road Cemetery on the Isle of Bute. 

Tombstone Tuesday

This week a gravestone from my Shields side. My grandparents Jessie Duncan & Matthew Shields and their son my Uncle Patrick Shields. The blacking in the lettering has worn away but is still readable close up. I'll need to investigate the cost of getting the lettering redone.

This stone is in the High Kirk graveyard in Rothesay, Bute.

Jessie Shields, 1910 - 1982

Son

Patrick Shields, Born 29th Jan 1937 Died 28th Dec 1993

Matthew McGowan Shields born 1910 Died 1995

National Archives of Scotland

Back in June of 2006 I blogged about finding the web pages for The National Archives of Scotland. Searching their catalogue and finding the following entry about a Justiciary appeal by my GreatGrandfather Patrick Shields against the then Lord Bute!

Record: 1 of 1
RefNo Title Date
JC31 Justiciary Appeals Processes 1864-1994
JC31/1906 Justiciary appeals processes, 1906

CountryCode GB RepCode 234
RefNo JC31/1906/19
Repository National Archives of Scotland
Title
Justiciary appeal by Patrick Shields, porter, North British Railway Company, Rothesay, and residing at Minister's Brae, Rothesay v The Most Honourable John Crichton Stuart, Marquis of Bute and Earl of Windsor etc.
Date 1906
Description Lodged 16 March 1906. Appeal dismissed.
AccessStatus: Open

I kept promising to arrange a visit to check out the record but life kept getting in the way.

I eventually made it up to Edinburgh to visit the National Archives in November of 2009. You need to register as a reader and show proof of address and photo id and you can then access the records free of charge. As I already had the record details it was quite straight forward to request the actual documents and they were shortly delivered to my desk as a bound wrap of legal documents tied in ribbon.

It was quite exciting to unwrap these and find the original documents from the court record where my grandfather was found guilty, the handwritten letter from my grandfathers lawyer lodging his appeal to the typewritten findings of the High Court of Justiciary.

I discovered my Great Grandfather had been found guilty of Day Poaching on land belonging to Lord Bute.

On the 26th November 1905, Patrick had been found in the grounds of Barone Park Farm near a rabbit burrow, in a turnip field, with rabbit nets, a ferret and a brown collie dog. When asked what he was doing by the gamewatcher a Mr John McGhee, he admitted he was looking for a rabbit.

You would think a straightforward case so why the appeal?

His lawyer, Mr J Scrymgeour Hepburn, lodged the appeal and argued the gamewatcher had not been asked who the owner of the land was and had not said himself who the owner was, so could you be convicted of poaching if no proof or evidence had been given that someone else owned the land. He put forward that as there had been no evidence of the ownership of the property and it could be in either of two parishes you could not impose a penalty. This despite it being common knowledge that the lands were part of Bute Estate.

Sounds like a legal technicality to me.

It did to the High Court as well. They repelled the procurators contentions and convicted my grandfather and charged a penalty of 20 shillings plus 10 shillings for expenses with the alternative of 14 days imprisonment.

My grandfather sensibly paid the fine.

Buteshire Genealogy Research including The Isle of Arran

Found a useful site for Buteshire records so adding to my blog so i can find it later.

can add births, death, marriages and headstone pictures.

Buteshire Genealogy Research including The Isle of Arran: "Buteshire Genealogy Research
Freely sharing genealogy research specific to Buteshire, Scotland. The Isles of Arran, Bute, Cumbraes, Holy Isle, Inchmarnock and Pladda & The Parishes of Cumbraes, Kilbride, Kilmory, Kingarth, Lochranza, North Bute, Rothesay, Shiskin.
'To find the missing link by sharing our information -'tis the sunshine on a rainy day.'"

First Entry

Starting a blog to help me record research and findings on my family tree.

Came back to edit this first post as I realised it would have helped to say what I'm researching.

I am following my family tree back through the Cowie, Duncan, Shields and Smith lines in Rothesay, Bute, Buckie, Glasgow, Lewis, Banff and eventually Donegal Ireland.

I'll be updating my family tree on ancestry.com and starting a family tree website www.joannecowie.co.uk