“That should have been ours”, the usual family refrain as we drove anywhere near Houton in Orphir, Orkney. The tale is strong and persistent: a young woman was tricked into signing away her right to the Houton estate, the story goes. So it fits well with ‘Family legend’ this week’s theme for #52ancestors challenge. Williamina | more…
Testament. Not the old and new but a collective name for all the documents to do with the administration of a dead person’s estate. It could include: an inventory of their moveable possessions (cash, bank accounts, farm stock, furniture for example) perhaps a will setting out who was to receive what. If so the documents | more…
Moncrieff is one of the more unusual surnames in my family tree. Unusual for Orkney that is. The name links to Houton, formerly a small estate in the parish of Orphir, Orkney. Map (name spelled Houston) Moncrieff origins I’d never investigated where the Moncrieffs came from but last year I had a client whose ancestry | more…
