April 14th

On this day in 1868 your first cousin 3X removed, Elizabeth Fisken, was born.  And beyond the fact that she was born, I have been unable to find anything else about her.

She was born in Luss on Loch Lomond, the fifth of the seven children of Alexander Fisken and Mary Ann Watt.  Dad Alexander was a sawyer.  Her mum died when Elizabeth was 6 and dad remarried - his second wife was Granny Fisken - and so Elizabeth and her siblings were joined by a bunch of half-siblings.

Next we have a marriage.  On this day in 1908 Jennie Riddel married John Milne.  This is where our connection with the Milne name begins.  Milnes who live in the U.S.A.  though they were originally from the same part of Scotland (Aberdeenshire) as Jennie and her family.

Jennie came from Aberdeenshire to Barre, Vermont as a baby with her parents.  John came from Aberdeenshire to Barre, Vermont as an adult to work in the granite industry (as did many Aberdeenshire folk - they being familiar with the hard rock - Aberdeen is known as The Granite City.  I imagine that there was some connection with the Milne/Riddel/Christie families in Aberdeenshire and Jennie's parents would likely have been a bit of a welcoming party for John Milne.  Jennie was 18 when she married 25 year old John.  They had six children and the family continued living in Barre - first at 65 Pleasant Street and then at 11 Madison St.


And lastly on this day, your great grandmother died.  Betsy West.  She died on this day in 1952 when I was four months old.  After me being born, my mum dealt with the death of her father the following month and then grandma 3 months later.  But although I never knew my grandma, she loomed large in my childhood and beyond.  All of the superstitions we followed slavishly came from her.  And it wasn't until I began researching that I discovered that such superstitions are very common in those communities where life is never assured because of the work they do.  I'm talking about Ferryden and dangers of commercial fishing.

Great Grandma died in our home at 56 Bell Terrace in the West End of Newcastle.  She had been living with Uncle Eric and Auntie Cathie but had moved in with us so that mum could nurse her.  She died of mysocardial failure and arterio sclerosis.  She was 75 years old.  Alison tells me that her ashes (and those of grandda) are buried at the West Road Cemetery and their gravestone is made of Aberdeenshire granite.  I'm going to go there this June.