Writing

The following are selected items from various scribblings I have produced over the years!

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Books and articles – selected items

 

The Ulster Scots – 1999, available at http://www.talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10524  and http://www.scotlandsgreateststory.bravehost.com/ulsterscots.html

 

Ceann-Suidhe nan Staitean Ceilteach – Cothrom issue 26, 2000 (750 words) {written in Gaelic}

 

The Rail Disaster that Unleashed Hidden Demons – The Herald, Oct 1^st 2000 (900 words)

 

The Sword and the Cross: Four Turbulent Episodes in the History of the Christian Church – St. Andrews Press 2003 (with Matt Barrett and Ann Muir, all uncredited, copyright BBC)  ISBN 0 7152 0809 8

 

Remembered… John Paton – Your Family Tree 39: The Battle of the Somme 90^th anniversary supplement, Jul 2006 (200 words)

 

Trapped in Brussels – Your Family Tree 40, Aug 2006 (2300 words)

 

Murdered with an Axe – Your Family Tree 43, Autumn 2006 (2100 words)

 

Medicine Man – Practical Family History 105, Sep 2006 (600 words)

 

The Weavers of Perth in 1837 – Tay Valley FHS Journal, 2007

 

Give Their Mortal Remains Back to Their Families – Your Family Tree 46, Jan 2007 (750 words)

 

The Ruhleben Story – Practical Family History 109, Jan 2007 (1400 words)

Available at http://www.family-tree.co.uk/ffhsmembers/PFH_APR2007_taster.pdf

 

My Father, the Russians and the Nuclear Sub Disaster That Never Was – The Herald, Apr 4^th 2007 (1400 words)

 

How to Become a Volunteer Indexer – Your Family Tree 51, Spring 2007 (2200 words)

 

Stolen Lives – The Scotsman, Sat June 16 2007 (1900 words)

 

Genealogy is Becoming more Relevant than History – Your Family Tree 54, Aug 2007 (700 words)

 

The Remarkable Dr. Henderson – Your Family Tree 55, Sep 2007 (2200 words)

 

The Scottish Church from 1560 – Talking Scot, Sep 2007

Available at http://www.talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10330

 

Sir Sidney Smith – Body Snatcher – Master Detective, Oct 2007 (1900 words)

 

Absolute Beginners… Trace Your Family’s Genes – Your Family Tree 56, Oct 2007 (2200 words)

 

Killing Off my Ancestors – Practical Family History 118, Oct 2007 (1700 words)

 

Which Genealogy Course? Part One: Beginners – Practical Family History 121, Jan 2008 (1500 words)

 

Find Your Relatives Using Your DNA – Your Family Tree 59, Jan 2008 (3300 words)

Re-edited as Discover Genetic Cousins at Ancestry, available to read online at http://www.scotlandsgreateststory.bravehost.com/DNA.html

 

Which Genealogy Course? Part Two: At a Distance – Practical Family History 122, Feb 2008 (1500 words)

 

Absolute beginners…Build Your Family Tree – Your Family Tree 60, Feb 2008 (2900 words)

 

Which Genealogy Course? Part Three: Academic Study – Practical Family History 123, Mar 2008 (1500 words)

 

Census Returns – Your Family Tree 61, Mar 2008 (2600 words)

 

Irish Online Records are too Expensive – Your Family Tree 61, Mar 2008 (700 words)

 

K9 Kids: Join the Club – Dogs Monthly, Apr 2008 (1500 words)

 

Get Started with Birth Certificates – Your Family Tree 62, Apr 2008 (2600 words)

 

Prisoner of the Germans – Your Family Tree 62, Apr 2008 (2300 words)

 

Scottish wills – Your Family Tree 62, Apr 2008 (200 words)

 

Get Started with Marriage Certificates – Your Family Tree 63, Spring 2008 (2700 words)

 

Glimpse Inside New ScotlandsPeople Centre – Practical Family History 125, May 2008 (1400 words)

 

A Beginners Guide to Genetic Genealogy – Largs and North Ayrshire FHS Journal, Spring 2008

Also available at http://www.talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10478

 

Get Started with Death Certificates – Your Family Tree 64, May 2008 (2700 words)

 

The Hopetoun Quarry Murders – Practical Family History 126, June 2008 (1600 words)

 

Get Started with Parish Registers - Your Family Tree 65, June 2008 (2700 words)

 

Get Started with Gravestone Inscriptions - Your Family Tree 66, July 2008 (2700 words)

 

Terror on Easter Tuesday - Your Family Tree 66, July 2008 (2300 words - re: the Belfast Blitz of 1941)

 

The Internet is More Use to Genealogy than TV - Your Family Tree 67, August 2008 (700 words on the eventual demise of family history programming on television)

 

Get Started with Election Records - Your Family Tree 68, Sept 2008 (2700 words)

 

My Ancestor was a Ghost Hunter! - Family History Monthly issue 162, November 2008 (1400 words)

 

 

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Academic (University of Strathclyde)

The Weavers of Perth 1770 - 1844: A Genealogical Database, with Introduction

August 2007 (5600 words, plus appendices)

 

The aim of this project was to try to construct a genealogical records database on the weavers of the town of Perth, the main conurbation in the Scottish county of Perthshire, with a view to creating a statistical resource for future research into the social history of this particular group. In addition the results would also make an excellent genealogical resource for those studying their weaver ancestors within the town during this period. It was decided that the project would utilise both publicly and privately held records on the weavers. A successful approach was made through the National Register of Archives in Edinburgh to gain access to the privately held records of the Weaver Incorporation of Perth, which included both apprenticeship records and freemen appointments.

 

At the same time, the Militia Act survey of 1802 and further indenture papers were studied at Perth and Kinross Archives, whilst the old parochial registers for Perth were examined in detail to find the names of all children born to weavers within the target period. This database alone numbers well over 8800 entries. Additional records were found from directories and census records. From the various resources studied, some preliminary findings were made from the records to show the value of their potential worth.

 

 

 

The Role of King James VI Hospital as Feudal Superior in 19th Century Perth

August 2008 (13,500 words, plus appendices)

 

Under a charter granted in 1569, the Scottish king James VI endowed the creation of a hospital within the royal burgh of Perth for the care of the poor. With lands granted to the institution that had previously belonged to the royal burgh’s pre-Reformation holy orders, the Hospital, on behalf of the ‘poor and indigent members of Jesus Christ’, took on the role of a feudal superior over lands which were then further subinfeudated to raise income, a situation which continued until the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act in 2000.

 

With the earlier history of the Hospital having previously been researched by R. Milne up to the end of the Eighteenth Century (1891), this study concerns itself with the role of the body in the following century, one of the most dynamic within Perth’s long history, which saw the ancient burgh radically transformed from a medieval town to a bustling modern city. Drawing from the primary documentation found within the Hospital’s maps, chartularies, feu duty and rent books, and through additional supporting material such as the Valuation Rolls from the burgh, it asks two key questions in particular – just how important, and just how successful, was the Hospital’s role as a feudal superior with regard to the raising of income for its own purposes, and in the development of Perth throughout the Nineteenth Century?

 

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Talks

 

Beginners Guide to Ancestry.co.uk - Perth Family History Fair, A. K. Bell Library, Perth 13 AUG 2008

 

 

Forthcoming:

 

DNA - Largs Family History Society, 27 JAN 2009

 

World War 1 Civilian POWs in Germany - Society of Genealogists, London, 27 MAY 2009

 

My Ancestor was a Weaver - Society of Genealogists, London, 27 MAY 2009

 

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Television scripting – selected credits

 

Neither Old Nor Beautiful? – University of the West of England, 1993

 

A bronze statue of King William III was unveiled in the Northern Irish town of Carrickfergus in 1990, the tercentenary of the Battle of the Boyne. Far from being welcomed in what is one of the most Protestant towns in Ulster, the locals took deep offence. The reason? King Billy was without a horse!  This documentary examined the power of symbols, and what happens when they are interfered with.

 

 

Where the Streets Have Two Names – University of the West of England, 1994

 

The Irish language in Northern Ireland has been going through something of a revival in recent years. This documentary examined the state of Gaelic in Belfast in the early 1990s, and the polarised attitudes towards it from both the Protestant and Catholic communities, and the negative impact of its politicisation by both the British Government and Sinn Fein.

 

 

Time Flyers: The Missing Castle – BBC2, 2001

 

In the heart of Herefordshire lies Croft Castle, long etablished from the medieval period.Or does it? Early medieval documents and current aerial photographs suggested that the current building is not in fact the original. So where was the original? In this programme, the Time Flyers team set out to find the missing castle...

 

 

Time Flyers: Clash of the Clans – BBC2, 2002

 

On the Hebridean island of Lewis, the clans Morrison and MacLeod were once formidable enemies. In this programme, the Time Flyers team set out to find the Morrisons last retreat on the sea stack of Dun Eistean, before being driven from the island forever by the mighty MacLeods...

 

 

Time Flyers: Villages of the Dammed – BBC2, 2002

 

In the Derwent Valley, two villages, Ashopton and Derrwent once stood for centuries. With the need for a reliable water supply for the neighbouring city of Sheffield, the valley was chosen in Victorian times to form one of the largest reservoirs in the country. As the dam builders began their work, the residents were forced to leave their ancestral homes, soon to become the villages of the dammed...

 

 

The Sword and the Cross: Knox – BBC2 Scotland, 2003  (with Ann Muir)

 

John Knox was the firebrand preacher who brought the fiery sermons of Calvinism to the very heart of Roman Catholic Scotland. Richard Holloway investigates both the man and the myth...

 

 

The Sword and the Cross: The Godly Commonwealth – BBC2 Scotland, 2003

 

In 1843, the Church of Scotland split at the worst possible time in its history, just as the Roman Catholic religion was embedding itself once more in Scotland, in the aftermath of the Irish famine. In this programme, Richard Holloway examines Thomas Chalmers' ambition to re-establish the old Knoxian dream of the Godly Commonwealth in Scotland, and the reasons for its utter failure.

 

 

Silver Stories: Children in Need 25^th anniversary special – BBC1 Scotland, 2004

 

Four stories showing how the money raised by the BBC's Children in Need appeal has helped the most needy in Scotland for the last 25 years.

 

 

Coast (series one): Solway to Skye – BBC1, 2005 (with Jane McWilliams)

 

Programme seven of the BAFTA award winning series took the Coast team to the western edge of Scotland, where they encountered nuclear submarines, rockets carrying mail between islands, ships launched on the Clyde and an armada led by James V.

 

 

ERI – Edinburgh Royal Infirmary: Transplant (liver) – BBC1 Scotland, 2005

 

Three stories following patients at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh's transplant unit as they prepare for lifesaving operations.

 

 

ERI – Edinburgh Royal Infirmary: Transplant (kidney) – BBC1 Scotland, 2006

 

Three more stories following patients at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh's transplant unit as they prepare for lifesaving operations.

 

 

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Successful Television Programme and Series Developments

 

Picture This: The Chingford Newsreel – BBC Bristol, 1995

 

The residents of the London borough of Chingford meet annually to watch the local Chingford produced Pathe style newsreel, still in production after almost fifty years.

 

 

Secret History Special: The Few – Channel Four, 2000

 

In 1940, the few defended the skies of Britain against the Luftwaffe, in what Churchill later described as their finest hour. In this film, Secret History looked at the class divide amongst the pilots, and asked whether it affected the performance of those who were involved as the battle progressed.

 

 

Meet the Ancestors Special: Malaria and the Fall of Rome – BBC2, 2001

 

An excavation in the Italian hill town of Lugnano in Teverina revealed a burial site within which the bodies of almost 70 infants were discovered, dating to the 5th Century AD, and all buried within days of each other. DNA testing of the remains revealed the presence of plasmodium falciporum - malaria. In this programme Julian Richards examines just how significant the arrival of malaria in the 5th Century might have been, and investigates how it contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.

 

 

Time Flyers – BBC2, 2001-2004

 

The aerial archaeology series that solved mysteries from the air as well as through excavations in the ground.

 

 

The Enforcers – BBC1 Scotland, 2004

 

The six part series following the Trading Standards departments of Perth & Kinross, Fife, South Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.

 

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Commissions 

If you wish to commission an article or script, please contact me using the details below.