A Special Happenstance

22 June 2014
     After a very good "Scottish breakfast" we were off to attend  the nearby church.  This church, named St. Magnus, in Lerwick, just happened to be celebrating its 150th anniversary at the Sunday morning service.  As a result, all the high level church clerics were present and participated in the service conducted, for the most part, by the Incumbent, Rev. Neil Brice.  The regional bishop and the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal church, the Most Reverend David Chillingworth,   Marvelous service as well as congratulations for the huge effort that has been made to restore the church.

Interior of St. Magnus, Lerwick

During the after service "tea and sweets" we were invited to the the final 150th anniversary celebration to be held the next day at 6:30.  The wife of the Primus, Alison, and Denise had a lengthy and very animated chat as the Primus and his wife were going to be on holiday in County Donegal when we would be there.  Our locations did not coincide so we left with a business card and a request to look them up should we happen to be in the area.  The bishops had to leave as they were to officiate at a confirmation service on the island of Yell.
We left, as we had reservations at the Grand Hotel carvery (buffet dinner) for 1:30.  After a very nice and varied meal we left and went to the Shetland Museum and Archives.  Denise was in her glory as she was handling original documents with all the appropriate care that is essential.  At 5:00PM the museum closed and we returned to out B&B for "tea and sweets" still quite full from the carvery.
Note:
The Rev. Brice was happy to share the fact that one of his predecessors, Francis Fulford. left England in the 1840's for Canada and became the first bishop of Montreal (25 July 1850)

Monday, 23 June 2014

Our hosts, Peter and Betty, informed us of their friend's malady and that she may have to stay in the B&B as the issue with her back had hospitalized her.  This was a catchup day dealing with mundane chores such as laundry.  Denise took the local transit to a launderer and did most of the laundry herself with willing assistance from the staff at what is named Manson Dry Cleaners.  Because Denise had just missed the bus she walked back to the B&B. This walk was quite a distance and tired her out.
After a rest we went out to dinner and back to St. Magnus for the final 150th celebration.  The service was most upbeat and afterwards there was a reception of typical church sandwiches and "sweets".  One thing most notable was the serving of wine or sherry at this festivity as well.  Our dinner meal had been what could be politely called awful and this was a real treat for us to end the day.  Of course, we kept the Sunday and Monday bulletins as souvenirs.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Out hosts, Betty and Peter, were in a much better humour as their friend was better and likely to be realeased from Hospital that day.  After another great breakfast, we were off to the Shetland Family History Society's office. We supplied information on Denise's family that happened after leaving Shetland for Liverpool to assist with their Shetland ancestral file.  We had a great time and when the office closed at noon we were served tea and "sweets" including very tasty Penguin bars.

That afternoon we returned our Canada "hire car" to Bolt's Car Hire as we were walking everywhere.  We received a refund and had a great chat about the potential family ties between Denise and John Garrioch the owner.  We also arranged for a taxi for 9:15 to take us to the airport on the 27th.

Now, we headed for the Shetland Museum and Archives.  We stopped at the front desk and inquired about the office of the personnel who are responsible for the Shetland webcams that I have observed for years.  The front desk person called up and a couple of minutes later we met Andy Steven, Destination Manager.  We believe that he was very surprised about our knowledge of, not only, locations, but also, the "in service" state of the cameras to the point that he asked us to do a brief (4 min.) interview to be broadcast on 60 North FM.  Andy Steven is to set up the time and will contact us through our B&B or  the SFHS.  On the way to our B&B we stopped and admired the beautiful King George Garden in Lerwick.  The garden is one half of the area and the lawn bowling club is the other half of the area.  The caretakers/gardeners should take a bow!!

Denise went back to the archive room to view the 1755 Dunrossness register and I wandered around the museum itself.  I came back to the archive room and added some information to the Family Tree Maker database that Denise had gleaned from the register.  We were there until closing and left to walk along Commercial Street.  We had dinner in the pub at the Grand Hotel and continued to walk along Commercial Street eventually coming to the Masonic building, the home of Morton Lodge # 89 and the Royal Arch.  This building also has a social area which is not unlike a pub.  We met several gents there and I was shown the lodge room for both the Masons and Royal Arch.  It is very steeped in history!  While I was touring, Denise chatted with Willy Anderson. about family history and the SFHS.  It was a very full day and we finally headed back to our B&B.