I had all the time thought I used to be primarily Irish. I imply, with a reputation like Patrick Pattison I used to be certain I ought to bleed inexperienced. But was that true? At 68 I used to be decided to search out out.
I knew there have been some Scottish ancestors on my mother’s facet of the household, however particulars had been sketchy. She was solely 4 when her father, my grandfather, William Stephen Dave, died in 1926.
We had three or 4 images of the strikingly good-looking Scotsman however he was 65 when my mom was born. I’d typically say to pals “I may be the only one of your contemporaries whose grandfather was born before the Civil War!”
That’s about all I knew, although — that and household legends of his as soon as proudly owning actual property in downtown Los Angeles that he traded for a less-valuable apricot orchard and later for a rabbit ranch.
Such tales should not unusual amongst longtime Southern California households, however I needed to know extra.
Return to your roots, however the place?
I had been to Europe many instances for enterprise and pleasure, first by hitchhiking by way of England, Germany and Norway within the early ’70s and later engaged on Disneyland
DIS,
Paris. For some purpose it by no means occurred to me to go to Scotland, the one place I knew we had some household roots.
This previous yr occurred to coincide with my two daughters having landmark birthdays. One was turning 30 and the opposite 40. What higher option to have fun these events than to go to the “homeland”? But how may I discover a particular place to go to, a location that was related to my grandfather? Even if I did discover it, would something nonetheless be there?
The solely data I had was an outdated household tree my sister-in-law had created 30 years in the past; worryingly, it mentioned my grandfather was from both Elgin or Glasgow, that are 190 miles aside. It was not a lot to go on, and what would I do with that data? Simply present up in every metropolis and question strangers? I wanted to do some severe detective work upfront.
Then it occurred to me to strategy this like an investigative reporter. Being the host of “The Best of California,” a nationally syndicated journey TV present that explores the historical past of the Golden State, I made a decision that I had a few of the instruments wanted to determine this out. I may even use this on my present — and, certainly, this journey turned a phase we titled “The Highlander Comes to California.”
My grandfather wasn’t wealthy, well-known or significantly distinguished, so would there be any hint of him between his beginning in Scotland in 1857 and his dying in California in 1926? Little did I do know that my analysis would contact on Watergate, a bagpiper and an mockingly themed nightclub.
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Organizing your analysis
To start, I broke down my detective work to 6 steps that hopefully may be helpful to you:
1. Finding knowledge
Genealogy is all about dates and data. There are some ways to entry them. Some genealogical analysis providers like Ancestry.com cost for his or her providers and might be dear.
I did use paid providers towards the tip to fill in some blanks, however I needed to begin out by seeing what I may accomplish free. So, I began my quest the place I’ve essentially the most “friends” — Facebook
META,
I didn’t know a lot about Facebook teams however have discovered to understand them as a strong useful resource.
A search of Facebook teams turned up 4 of them dedicated to “Scottish genealogy.” I “liked” all of them and posted my grandfather’s picture alongside along with his date of beginning and date of dying on each. Group members responded shortly, and one individual particularly despatched me a trove of paperwork, together with census data and details about my great-grandfather. His identify was Davie Innes (extra about Davie later). The paperwork additionally confirmed that he was from Elgin and never Glasgow.
2. Local assets
Once we knew that Elgin was our Scottish “hometown” I took a stab and contacted the oldsters on the Elgin Library to see what they could know. It was one other jackpot.
It seems that Scottish libraries have Heritage Centers that maintain historic data, and for 10 kilos they may conduct a preliminary search and estimate the price of copying and sending paperwork you need. Scott Reid was our contact on the library in Elgin and after I informed him throughout a Zoom
ZM,
name what we had been searching for, he discovered extra data.
I additionally contacted folks on the native newspaper, the Northern Scot, to see what they could know and allow them to know I used to be planning to come back over. They needed to do a story on our go to since family tree is common in Scotland.
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3. Finding a location to go to
Once Davie Innes had offered me with details about my nice grandfather, the library was capable of give you census knowledge that had a few addresses. One was the home wherein my great-grandfather had died and the opposite was The Royal Hotel of Elgin, which he had owned within the 1850s whereas additionally working as a veterinary surgeon. I may hardly wait to get to 195 High St., the resort’s tackle: wouldn’t it nonetheless be there?
4. Keep asking
You by no means know the place data could come from. I requested Alistair Whitfield, a reporter for the native paper, if he knew something about 195 High St., and he stunned me by saying he knew the present proprietor. It was now not a resort, however a nightclub and movie show owned by a pleasant fellow named Ron Farquharson. He mentioned he can be blissful to indicate me round once we came to visit. I used to be enthralled by the thought of this evening membership the place my great-grandfather as soon as ran a resort and my grandfather helped out as a “wee” boy. I used to be already desirous about shopping for my kilt.
5. Use journey specialists
Now that I had a selected vacation spot, I needed to determine an itinerary, together with airline reservations, floor transportation and lodges. I used to be overwhelmed by attempting to make all of the items match, so I turned the chore over to skilled journey brokers who specialise in journey to Ireland and Scotland.
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6. Connect the dots
Surprises awaited us in Scotland. First, Davie Innes discovered my household had a connection to Audrey Felt, spouse of the FBI agent nicknamed “Deep Throat” who helped reporters unravel the Watergate scandal. Second, data out there on Ancestry.com confirmed that Davie Innes and I had been distant cousins.
We turned instantaneous pals and Davie helped us shoot video for our TV present. We additionally explored the town, picked up analysis on the library and loved a personal bagpipe efficiency by Ben Mortimer, one other Facebook connection, close to the ruins of the eleventh century Elgin Cathedral.
But what about 195 High Street? What potential mysteries did it maintain? We had been off to see the present proprietor with my daughters Jessamyn and Liza and my newly found cousin Davie in tow. Once there, we discovered the nightclub that had taken the place of my great-grandfather’s Royal Hotel was known as “Downtown USA” and embellished with Route 66 indicators and Elvis and Marilyn Monroe murals.
It was an ideal cultural change. We cherished it.
Pat Pattison is a TV host, writer and senior residing professional seen on CNBC and different retailers. A licensed govt coach primarily based in Los Angeles, he additionally works with folks 50+ on creativity, new careers and way of life transitions. He is the host of the nationwide TV present, “The Best of California With Pat Pattison” and has written a guide about inventive reinvention, known as “Creative YOU Turn.” He might be reached at Patpattison.web, on Facebook and on his YouTube channel. His present might be seen nationally on Fun Roads TV; examine native listings.
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