Time Travel

Gearrannan Blackhouse Village, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides

Do you remember the first boost you got in researching your family's history?

I was about 18 years old and a friend who knew my heritage referred me to someone he thought would have useful information on my father’s side.  Dad’s family came from North Uist, a small island parish in the Western Isles of Scotland, and apparently someone local to me had researched many families of these islands, the Outer Hebrides.  I rang this gentleman and he asked me a little about my parentage.  He excused himself to get a file, and a few moments later said, “Then your grandparents must be…”  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  I made an appointment to visit and find out what else this man knew about my ancestors.

And it turned out he knew more than possibly anybody else on the planet.  Bill Lawson was then, and is now even more so, the most knowledgeable Hebridean genealogist, having interviewed and researched thousands upon thousands of individuals whose blood flows from these islands, not only in Scotland but across the ocean.  Last night a documentary about the remarkable work he carried out together with his late wife Chris aired on the Gaelic TV channel BBC Alba (pronounced ‘Alabah’).  Don’t worry if, like me, you don’t speak Gaelic – subtitles are provided.  I highly recommend that you watch it.

Bill Lawson (Photo courtesy of BBC Alba)

For me, seeing this programme was like travelling back in time to the day I visited Bill in his Paisley flat in the late 1970s.  His extensive library, his extraordinarily detailed and well-organised files of families from Lewis to Barra, his prodigious knowledge and astonishing memory were all still there.  If it were not for him and his willingness to share what he has collected, myself and countless other family historians would be struggling to piece together a much smaller jigsaw.  He is, quite simply, my family history hero.

If you are able to watch BBC television programmes, this link should take you to the documentary, "Bill Lawson - Sar Shloinntear (The Genealogist)" https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000c088