Family and local history

Minto Pit, Lochgelly Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., Fife

While researching an enquiry on a mining accident I came across a really useful resource in the library catalogue. ‘Mining Deaths in Great Britain‘ by Ian Winstanley has been published in seven volumes and covers the period 1850-1914. Details of the accidents have been taken from the Reports of the Mines Inspectors, as well as local newspapers. Information provided includes dates of the accidents, names of the pits, where the pit was situated and the age of the victim, if known. Each volume includes an alphabetical list of surnames.

A person may now set out on Sunday afternoon after divine service from Edinburgh to London; may stay a whole day in London; and be again in Edinburgh on Saturday at six in the morning!  The distance from Edinburgh to London is 400 miles. — Forty years ago, it was common for people to make their will, before setting out on a London journey.  ~~ William Creech,  1793

A quote that speaks volumes about the trials of travelling more than a few miles in the mid-18th century!  William Creech was a magistrate in Edinburgh and this quote is from letters he wrote to Sir John Sinclair, who published them in 1791 as an appendix to the first Statistical Account of Scotland.  His letters are a terrifically entertaining read as well as being an interesting snapshot of some 30 years of  everyday life in Edinburgh.

The Statistical Accounts of Scotland for 1791 and 1841 have been digitised by the University of Edinburgh. It’s a free resource and all visitors can browse, read and print pages. Access the search page by scrolling down the home page to the box labelled ‘for non-subscribers’ and selecting ‘browse scanned pages’.

Three men in working clothes around 1870

If you’re interested in family history then we run a monthly Readers’ Workshop’ called ‘Discovering family history’, where you can find out about the resources we hold to help you with your family research. These include directories, gravestone inscriptions, newspapers and census records, to name just a few of the categories covered in the workshop which are useful for family history research.

The workshop also includes some practical information on using the Library for those that are new to our services. It’s run at a different time each month and you can find out more information, including booking details, at Readers’ Workshops.

Do come along, the workshops are open to everyone and they’re free!