Are you a Riddell and Interested in Your Family Tree ?

A lady in New Zealand named Gail Riddell and an apparently unrelated Jim Riddell in America are joint administrators for the Riddell/Riddle/Ridley/Ruddell DNA project with an American based firm called FamilyTree DNA. .

Gail's family were mostly from the Roxburghshire area but were also in Berwickshire and Lanarkshire (not to mention all through the Lothian area), depending on the lands they purchased/versus where their money was "made". Jim's forebears were from Lanarkshire in the late 16th Century and are thought to have left at the time of the Covenanters.

Gail wrote "I have many men from New Zealand, Australia, USA, one from South Africa and a few from UK who have been excited by what they have learned as a result of testing their Y-Chromosome.  They have worked hard in order to raise sufficient funds for me to be able to offer totally free, a number of  Y-37 tests for any man living in Northumberland, the Scottish Borders, Yorkshire or lowland Scotland who has this surname and who has a family tree of his paternal ancestry back to around 1800 or earlier.

The bottom line is to extend and "prove" our genealogy in a way that paper trails have been unable.  By that, I mean if we go back into history, especially the 1600s (as an example) and look at the deaths, followed by pestilence, followed by famines and we soon begin to realise that not everyone who bears a particular surname is actually of that stock.  I say this because many young women with wee ones to feed were made widows and frequently joined up with a "protector" who thus gave his name to those
wee ones.

For those who are anxious about DNA testing - the medical genes are not considered in the test that I am offering as a "freebie".  The test itself needs just two separate cheek swabs.  "

If you're a Riddle (whatever the spelling), and you've got a family tree on the paternal side back to 1800, and you would be willing to take the test, please contact Gail at the email address below.

If you want help building your family tree, there are still a few family history surgeries available (booking essential) on our Berwick 900 Family History Day on Saturday 16th April 2016 at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The Descendants of James Burgon and Joanna Richardson

From Jenny Burgon:
We really enjoyed the (Berwick's Maritime Connections) exhibition in July and were really sorry we were unable to return in October (for the Family History Festival).  
We noticed that one of the Burgon tree branches stopped at James Burgon and Joanna Richardson.
Their second son, Alexander, is my husband’s grandfather and here is a list of his descendants. 
I hope it fleshes out some of his offspring.

James Burgon (1856 – 1928) married Joanna Richardson (1854- 1894)

Children: 
Peter (1879 -  )
Alexander (1880-1947)
Alexander was born at home in Low Greens, the second son of James and Joanna Burgon.   He joined the Navy and sailed home from China on HMS Rinaldo.  He was based at HMS Pembroke, Chatham until his marriage at the Baptist Chapel, Castlegate, Berwick-upon-Tweed on 19 October 1905.  He married Eliza Webb (1881 – 1962), the eldest daughter of a former soldier, Charles Webb (1844 – 1916) who had been posted to Berwick and married a widow, Eliza Fewell (née Scott) (1845 – 1932) in July 1879.

On his marriage, Alexander left the Navy and worked for the railway.  He and Eliza had four children: James (1907 – 1949), Alexandrina (1910 – 1982), Charles (1911 – 1974) and Peter (1916 – 1975).

James worked in Glasgow, where he married Catherine Macmillan Guy.  He volunteered for the services at the outbreak of the war but was declared unfit due to rheumatic fever as a child and joined Fairfields, the shipyards.   He also joined the Home Guard and worked in Clydebank during the blitz.   After the war he returned to Berwick.  He died there in 1950 leaving his widow with two sons, Alec and David.

Alexandrina, always known as Rina, married John Buglass and had two daughters.  Charles joined the Merchant Navy, married Nancy and had a daughter.  Peter married Isa and also had a daughter, Wendy, who joined the WRENS.  Both Charlie and Peter spent the war years in the Navy.

James’ son Alec married Valerie and has a son and three daughters, Robert, Catherine, Alexandra and Carolyn.  All married and Robert has two daughters, Laura and Olivia Burgon.  Alexandra has a daughter and 3 sons, the youngest are twins.  Carolyn has a son.   James’ son David married Jenny and has Graeme, Peter and Ruth.  Both boys married and Graeme has two daughters, Rosalind and Hayley Burgon.

Rina’s two daughters, Sandra and Frances, married and had children.  Charlie’s daughter, Patricia, married and had a son, Ben, and daughter, Nancy, who has two sons, Frank and Sidney and a daughter, Mabel.

Of Alexander’s 2 grandsons and 4 granddaughters, Alec worked as a marine draughtsman and Wendy joined the WRENs.  Of his, at least 11 great grandchildren, two have worked as diving instructors but the marine connection is now very weak.   He currently has at least 7 great great grandsons and 6 great great granddaughters.   Sadly, the Berwick connection is also weakening.  All but one of his surviving grandchildren are living in Scotland, one lives in Kent and one died in New Zealand.

Which Berwick ?

Berwick-upon-Tweed town centre from the Elizabethan Ramparts

I was talking to Linda Bankier of Berwick Record Office about other places named Berwick and she told me some interesting stories about the confusion with the other Berwick in England, the place in East Sussex as well as some of the people who think that Berwick is still in Berwickshire (in Scotland).

We see Berwick-upon-Tweed called Berwick-on-Tweed, and most often Berwick but there are other places named Berwick in the world.

There's:
Berwick, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Berwick, Louisiana, USA
Berwick, Maine, USA
Berwick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Berwick, New Brunswick, Canada
Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada
Berwick, Ontario, Canada
Berwick, Otago, New Zealand
Berwick, Pennsylvania, USA
Berwick, South Africa
Berwick, Sussex, England
North Berwick, Scotland




Find A Grave says that Berwick, Louisiana, USA was named after Thomas Berwick (1740-1792), a surveyor from Pennsylvania and Wikipedia states that he was the first white settler to trek through the wilderness in that part of America.

According to the town history of Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada, it's named after Berwick-upon-Tweed, the bear on the Canadian town's arms being taken from Berwick-upon-Tweed's arms.

Berwick, Pennsylvania is a twin town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and is named after Berwick-upon-Tweed.

According to Wikipedia, the Berwick suburb of Melbourne is named after Berwick-upon-Tweed, as was Berwick, Maine (perhaps due to the transported Scots prisoners of war from the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 ?)



The origins of Berwick, Sussex, England and North Berwick, Scotland suggest that like Berwick-upon-Tweed, the name Berwick is derived from the old English words 'bere' meaning barley and 'wic' meaning farmstead or settlement.

I'm disappointed that I haven't managed to find out about why these places were named Berwick:
Berwick, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Berwick, New Brunswick, Canada
Berwick, Ontario, Canada
Berwick, Otago, New Zealand
Berwick, South Africa
but I hope you'll leave me a comment below or send me a tweet @Berwick900.

I've probably left out several other places named Berwick and if that's the case, please don't hesitate to let me know.