Photo from collection of Elizabeth Wilson Kerr, Scotland about 1904. Photo currently held by Joan Miller.CLICK ON PHOTO for larger view.

"A bothy bunch about 1904". Click on photo for larger view.

This photo of  “A Bothy Bunch” was found in my Granny Kerr’s photo collection. Granny was born Elizabeth WILSON (1884-1973) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, not to far from Peterhead. She immigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada in 1909 and married Homer KERR who was homesteading not to far from her brother Alex WILSON’s homestead.  We have no other information about this “Bothy bunch” although I assume they are family or school friends.

The photographer information states “Willie Watson, 13 Duff St. TURRIFF which takes us to a town about 30 miles west of Peterhead as the crow flies (37.5 miles via road).  Note WATSON was a family name as well.  Elizabeth Wilson’s father’s name was Martin Watson Wilson (1857 -1942).  He was born in Gamrie, County Banff, Scotland.

UPDATE – Marie, one of my Scottish friends pointed out this was likely a “bothy” bunch instead of brothy bunch. and indeed that is what Granny has written on the back of the postcard.   Marie said “Bothy” means a small cottage or in this case where workers lived. I’ve corrected the “brothy” to “bothy in the text above but left the title as “brothy” because of the spoons and bowls.  Thanks Marie.  I learned a new word today “bothy)

Dit names arose out of the French word “to say” or “dire”.  From Kimberly:

Found primarily in France, New France (French-Canada, Louisiana, etc.), and Scotland, dit names are essentially an alias tacked on to a family name or surname. Dit in French is a form of the word dire, which means “to say,” and in the case of dit names is translated loosely as “that is to say,” or “called.” Therefore, the first name is the family’s original surname, passed down to them by an ancestor, while the “dit” name is the name the person/family is actually called or known as. Dit names are used by families, not specific individuals, and are usually passed down to future generations, either in place of the orginal surname, or in addition to it.

One of the comments on the post come from Dave Pierce who explains the term “Dit” in a military context:

Dit naming was also used to identify cadres of soldiers. Most often they referred to the
surname of the (military)formation as a hailing recognition factor. In the confusion
of battle, it was always necessary to be ableto direct the formation to a particular action
for succesful maneuvering. As the dit naming would recognize “Andre Jaret Dit Beauregard” it further identified Andre Jaret as a soldier of the unit that was directed by the “Beauregard” commander or possibly by the captain whose surname was BEAUREGARD . These were some of the basic tenets of battlefield tactics that were among the first rules that an officer had to learn.

An article on Dit names by Patrick on a Quebec Research roots web had this statement:

Dit names, therefore, have varied origins: army companies (Verchères,
Sorel, etc.); place of origin (Breton, Langlois, Langevin, Montpelier, etc.);
landscape (Beauregard, Beaulieu, etc.); the ancestor's full name (Gaston
Guay to Gastonguay or Castonguay); ancestor's given name (Richard, Vincent,
Robert, etc.); and no doubt for various other reasons, including vainglory
or vanity.

What I find equally fascinating is that dit names can be found in Scotland.  Our Scottish ancestors used names such as Robertson – the son of Robert.  Other examples – Robert Bruce who became the King of Scotland.

Another twist on names has been shown in areas where many people had the same name.  An academic paper by Nancy Dorian in 1969 entitled A Substitute Name System in the Scottish Highlands uses the term “by-names” to describe a naming system found in Gaelic speakers in the East Sutherland region of Scotland.

The by-names in use in East Sutherland fall into several distinct groups: (1) basic
genealogical; (2) descriptive; (3) derisive; (4) nonsense; and (5) secondary genealogical
patterns built on the second, third, and fourth groups.

Dit names and by-names can complicate your research but by understanding how and why they are used will greatly help you find that missing ancestor.

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Related:

Names and Nicknames: Naming Practices in Early Modern Ireland

Names and Naming Patterns in England 1538 -1700

]]> http://www.luxegen.ca/genealogy/understanding-dit-names-and-by-names/feed/ 0 http://www.luxegen.ca/genealogy/family-history/surname-saturday-robertson-in-scotland/ http://www.luxegen.ca/genealogy/family-history/surname-saturday-robertson-in-scotland/#comments Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:00:43 +0000 © Joan Miller - Luxegen Genealogy. http://www.luxegen.ca/?p=3971 #surname

Back to my Scottish roots and my g-grandmother Mary Metcalf ROBERTSON born November 20, 1853 daughter of James ROBERTSON and Mary WEBSTER.

She married my g-grandfather Martin Watson WILSON 24 June 1876 at New Blyth, Aberdeen Scotland.

Connections?  Please leave a comment below.

Lizzie’s parents were Martin Watson Wilson (1857 – 1942) and Margaret Metcalf Robertson (1854 -1936)

Siblings were Alexander, Mary and Martin.  All of the children immigrated to Saskatchewan Canada.  Other names married into this family are Freethy, West, Whyte.

I heard from a descendant of Lizzie’s brother’s (Martin) family this week.  Like me, she grew up in Saskatchewan and now lives in Montana.  We share great grandparents.

I’m looking forward to comparing our research!

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Related posts:

My Grandmother was a Blue Tooner!

Those of us researching in England, Wales or Scotland will be interested in the recent release of the 1939 National Identity Card Database.

The 1939 National Identity Card Survey was undertaken at the outbreak of the Second World War and took place on National Registration Day Friday September 29th, 1939.  The details collected for each person included:

• sex
• date of birth
• marital status
• occupation
• whether member of armed forces or reserves

The 1939 Identity Card database formed the basis of the NHS Central Register when the NHS was set up in 1948.  The data remained secret until challenges to the Freedom of Information Act at the end of 2009 and early into 2010.  It has now been announced the release of data for individuals who have died and are recorded as deceased.

Where to find it

The records can be accessed at the following links:

• For England and Wales – National Health Service information centre – download a form to request information for a fee
• For Scotland – administered by General Register Office for Scotland – fee based
• For more information about the 1939 National Identity Card Database

The 1939 National Identity Card database can complement genealogy research using the 1911 Census, most of which will be released up to and including 2012.  The 1921 Census is due to be released 2022.  The 1931 Census was lost in a fire in 1942.  There were no census in 1941 due to the second world war.

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Related:

Early British Census – 1086 to 1841

Examples of Listings in the British Isles

My grandmother, Elizabeth (WILSON) KERR on my father’s side of the family came from Peterhead Scotland.

She was the daughter of Martin Watson WILSON, b. 1857 Scotland married to Margaret Metcalf ROBERTSON.

Martin WILSON worked on the railroad and their first residence was at Boddam, Scotland.

Martin and Margaret had four children:  Alex, Mary, Martin and Elizabeth.    Alex and Elizabeth immigrated to Saskatchewan,Canada.

Elizabeth married Homer KERR in Saskatchewan (my grandparents).

Connections?  Please comment below.

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Related Posts:

My Grandmother was a Blue Tooner!

Scotlands People can be accessed here.

I received the following notice in the September 2009 issue of Scotland’s People Newsletter about an update to their marriage database records.

“Indexes (NOT IMAGES) to modern marriage records from 1934-2006 have now been added to the site. This now gives the range of statutory records as Indexes of Scottish births and deaths (1855-2006) marriages (1855-2006) and images of births(1855-1908), marriages (1855-1933) and deaths (1855-1958). “

Search the Modern Marriage Records by clicking HERE

Peterhead, Aberdeenshire is the birthplace of my paternal Grandmother Elizabeth WILSON (b. 1884 ), the daughter of Martin Watson WILSON and Margaret Metcalf ROBERTSON.  If you have connections please send a note on the contact form.

Here are some roots resources in Scotland:

GENUKI Scotland

Scotland’s People – the official government genealogy site for births, marriages/banns and deaths of the Old Parish Records (OPRs) of Scotland.

Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society

Scotland Mailing Lists

Scotland BDM Exchange

In a very timely fashion Dick Eastman did a post on the availability of Scottish records on line.

The digital images, on scotlandspeople.gov.uk, the official Government source of genealogical data for Scotland, are of deaths and burials contained in the Old Parish Registers of Scotland (OPRs). The OPRs are the records which the Church of Scotland kept of births and baptisms, banns and marriages and deaths and burials for the 300 years before the start of the civil registration system in 1855.

Births, baptisms, banns and marriages can also be found on this website.

My paternal Grandmother Elizabeth WILSON was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland November 2, 1884, the daughter of Martin Watson WIlSON (b.1857 in Banff or MacDuff Scotland, d. 15 June 1942) and Margaret Metcalf ROBERTSON (b. 1854, d. 15 October 1936).  She had two older siblings, Alec and Mary, and a younger brother Martin.  I’ve heard she was born in the village or town of Peterhead.

Elizabeth came to Canada to join her brother Alec and married Homer KERR, my grandfather in 30 November 1910 in Saskatchewan.

I will be definitely be searching the Scotland database mentioned above for more information.  I recommend you do so too if you ancestry lies in Scotland.

If anyone has connections to the WILSON and ROBERTSON families please leave a comment or use the contact form.

Thanks!