The latested issue of the Scribbler is now available here.
All the available past Newsletters can be found by following our new dedicated link in the Members menu – “Newsletters”.
Collaborate, Connect, Discover: WikiTree for Surname Researchers
WikiTree is a free, worldwide genealogy website built around the idea of creating one shared family tree. Rather than each researcher maintaining a completely separate tree, members can contribute information, sources, photographs and family knowledge to a common tree. This collaborative approach can be particularly valuable when researching a surname that appears in many branches and across different countries.
For a surname studier, WikiTree can provide a place where researchers can bring together discoveries that might otherwise remain scattered among individual family trees, research notes and archives. One member may have information about a family in Scotland, while another has traced a related branch that emigrated to Australia, Canada or the United States. By sharing their findings, researchers may be able to identify connections that would otherwise be missed.
An important feature of collaborative genealogy is the emphasis on evidence. WikiTree encourages contributors to add sources and explain how relationships have been established. This helps other researchers assess the reliability of information and provides a starting point for further investigation.
We are delighted to have Azure Rae Robinson from WikiTree speaking to us on Saturday 15th August at 4pm UK time. She coordinates several Surname Studier herself and we look forward to hearing her insights.
The strength of collaborative genealogy is simple—the more researchers who contribute carefully documented evidence, the more complete the picture of our shared surname history becomes. Please join us to learn more!
Tracking Surnames Through the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes
Every family historian is familiar with the census and parish registers, but the UK's three official journals of record offer an entirely different dimension of discovery. The London, Edinburgh, and Belfast Gazettes have spent centuries documenting the legal, military, and financial milestones of millions of individuals. For anyone undertaking a surname study or tracing a specific family branch, these archives are indispensable.
The Gazette has served as the UK’s official public record for centuries, publishing notices that document significant legal, governmental, and personal events. From military appointments and honours to company registrations, insolvencies, name changes, and estate notices, these records offer fascinating insights into the lives of people who shared your surname.
One of the greatest strengths of Gazette records is their reliability. As official publications, they preserve information exactly as it appeared at the time of publication. This makes them an excellent source for verifying details you’ve uncovered elsewhere, such as dates of appointments, probate notices, or business activities. Cross-referencing Gazette entries with census records, parish registers, birth and marriage certificates, and newspaper archives can help build a richer and more accurate family history.
This month we will be hearing from Simon Davies, founder of online archiving and community provider, WeAre.xyz.
WeAre.xyz is a space designed to with genealogists in mind, offering an interactive platform for building a living family archive—a place to store, organize, and share your genealogy research in a way that engages your whole family. It goes beyond a traditional family tree by turning your GEDCOM, photos, documents, and stories into a dynamic, collaborative website your relatives can explore and contribute to.
The Queen's Chaplain
My grandfather’s funeral was lead by the Reverend Thomas Bentley Stewart Thomson 1889 – 1973, Chaplain to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second
My grandfather 2nd Lt. Robert Douglas Robin (R D Robin), Highland Light Infantry, first met the Reverend Thomas (Tom) Bentley Stewart Thomson in the trenches during the First World War when he was a Captain in the 9th Battalion, H.L.I. (also known as the Glasgow Highlanders).
T.B. Stewart Thomson was already an ordained minister having obtained his Bachelor of Divinity in 1914 from the University of Aberdeen before the war, becoming Doctor of Divinity later in 1946, and he was Parish Minister for Dalziel near Motherwell, St. Stephen’s in Edinburgh, Old Govan in Glasgow and Dunbarney in Bridge of Earn retiring in 1959.
He was also the first Church of Scotland minister ever to broadcast the Holy Communion on BBC Radio Scotland from Dunbarney Kirk in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire at Christmas 1947, a highly controversial undertaking at the time. In 1951 he was appointed as one of the Chaplains to George VI and in 1952 also to Queen Elizabeth II.
Though my grandfather was not a church-goer, when he discovered he was dying from lung cancer in 1959, he contacted his friend Tom and asked him to officiate at his funeral. The reverend duly arrived attired in the scarlet robes of the Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland and conducted the service.
The Rev. Thomas Bentley Stewart Thomson, M.C. T.D. D.D. Chaplain to the Queen died in 1973 aged 83 and is buried in the Kirkyard at Dunbarney.
