Like all Scottish genealogy the search ends with Noah

This continues Pokey Sue's tale of finding her ancestors in Scotland - she lives in the USA. The photo is of Inverary Castle, a truly good Victorian House, rebuilt after a big fire a few years ago. The real castle is a ruin on Loch Aweside.

Hi John, the bit with the Hawkers or Campbells sign and accompanying nice history bit from you was great.

The Campbells moved forward across the USA after 1824, however we didn't have much interest in that.

We already had the names and were more interested in where did we come from, rather than where we ended up. And it's not too interesting to find the 4th great grandfather who ran the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Arkansas. (But maybe I'm wrong!)

There is a passenger list. This too came from going back and forth across the Atlantic. I put John's death details on a New Jersey university email list for historians, and amateur researchers. A 90 year old lady in California recognized our family. She knew the people, had the name of the ship they left on from Leith, and bounced us back to Killin in Scotland, based on a place name in the death documents.

But like all genealogy, it doesn't really end till it gets back to Noah.

This story ends with some resolution, but just opens up another mystery. Our John Campbell's likely father was one Lord Neill Campbell, an early governor of New Jersey. He stayed in New Jersey only a couple of years however, and actually returned to die in Scotland.

For anyone trying to search their Campbell background, I would not probably point anyone to a particular Campbell website, as there are as many theories about Campbell lines as there are about the Massacre. Scotland's People is a good site.

I may have missed the point here for the plot, but I'm afraid all I can offer is this type of non-linear tale. But don't worry if it's not right for your blog! It's fun to do anyway. And I have been able to impress Kent by mentioning that if you google Highland Lochaber Campbell, you might turn up Pokey.

Pokey Sue.

Thanks Pokey. It seems you just have to fiddle about really and sooner or later you turn up some info. The web is a good place to start - I personally would try the Clan sites, then the names and the places, then I'd ask the grandparents - they know it all anyway and you'll be on the way to a lot of fun.

(I discovered, then met, my entire family in Australia. An uncle moved there early in the 19th century. But I found them from scratch.)

John