Brechin – home?

One of the only places I was certain I wanted to visit was Brechin, a small town in Pict country, near Aberdeen and Perth. (I guess it is Perthshire) The first official recorded entry for a Hebenton was here in 1680’s. My great grandfather was born here, and moved from here to go to Ceylon to work as a coffee planter in the late 1850’s. He sent his 5 eldest children (of 12) back here to live with his sister and go to school etc….
I had a great two hours hunting through the 1861 and then 1851 census for my family’s entry. I found my great great grand father and his daughter for 1861 really quickly. This was after my great grand father had left, and my great great grand mother had died. He and Susan (his daughter) had moved into his brother’s house at 109 High Street. We of course went to see this and photograph it. I found nearly every other Hebenton in 1851, but not my family.
Bonnie and I then wandered about, discovering that Brechin has an old tradition that everything closes at 1pm on a Wednesday. I had had a cunning plan to buy my family wee gifts from Brechin, but as it was Wednesday this old tradition made that nearly impossible. Still we enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere. There are no Hebentons living in Brechin now. We also visited the Pearse Street where my great grandfather’s sister (Susan) and her husband lived. They had no children, but the five eldest in my grandfathers family lived there when they returned to Brechin.
We also discovered that Brechin is in the area where St. Ninian came to evangelise the Picts. So although Brechin itself is not his, certainly he went there, and there was a church and monastery very early on.

A few days later (Friday) Bonnie and I went to visit some relatives in Glasgow, Ewen and George Hebenton and their mum. Ewen and George have done a vast amount of research into the Hebenton family tree, and freely share this with any who want it. A highlight every year is getting their update and Christmas letter. It was so strange talking to a Hebenton on the phone who I didn’t know. And so good to meet them. Their part of the family come from a small village called Tannadice, which is a few km from Brechin. We drove through there as well to see where they all came from.
I look forward to revisiting them in time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Simply Sent

They Were Not There at the Beginning

Youth Camp