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Orkney Biographies
From Viking times on, Orcadians have gone out into the world to seek their fortune. Being generally well-educated and enterprising, they made their mark in many ways, as their children did after them. Meanwhile, those who stayed at home left interesting stories of their own.
I was brought up on stories of many of these characters and, while researching material for the A Little Piece of Orkney e-mails I have discovered many more.
Books that provided material for several of these biographies are available in the shop - The Family of Clouston, Always Something Doing and The Autobiography of Samuel Laing of Papdale 1780-1868. Who Was Who In Orkney by Bill Hewison is a very interesting reference book on a great variety of people connected with Orkney through the years.
I will be delighted to hear from anyone who knows more about these characters below, either to correct something or to add to it. Please contact me to send your information and comments.
| Charles Anderson | - Director of Australian Museum | |
| Andrew Bannatyne | - one of Winnipeg's founding fathers | |
| George Broadfoot | - Government Agent in Afghanistan | |
| James Clouston | - explorer of Labrador | |
| William Alexander Clouston | - folklorist | |
| James Campbell Clouston | - Piermaster at Dunkirk | |
| Arthur Clouston | - test pilot and long-distance flyer | |
| John Craigie | - made important discovery on wheat disease | |
| Andrew Craigie Jnr | - Apothecary General | |
| Andrew Craigie Snr | - Warden of the port of Boston | |
| Stuart Garson | - Premier of Manitoba | |
| William Garson | - quarry owner in Canada | |
| John Inkster | - early businessman in Winnipeg | |
| Colin Inkster | - High Sheriff of Manitoba | |
| Alexander Kennedy Isbister | - Educationalist | |
| Thomas Johnston | - New York businessman | |
| Mrs Edward Kennard | - novelist, Samuel Laing's daughter | |
| Alexander Kennedy | - Chief Factor of Hudson Bay Company | |
| William Kennedy | - Arctic explorer | |
| Samuel Laing, Jnr | - financier and author | |
| Captain William Leask | - claimed to be first on board Mary Celeste | |
| Robert Leask | - awarded RNLI Silver Medal | |
| Sir John Login | - guardian of Duleep Singh | |
| Rear-Admiral Spencer Login | - sailor and rugby international | |
| James Russell Lowell | - American poet and ambassador | |
| Captain Henry Mowat | - Captain in British Navy | |
| John Norquay | - Premier of Manitoba | |
| William Peddie | - Physics professor | |
| John Scollay | - involved in American Revolution | |
| William Scollay | - gave Scollay Square in Boston its name | |
| James Sinclair | - led parties of settlers over the Rockies | |
| Keith Spence | - officer in American Navy | |
| Robert Traill Spence | - American naval hero | |
| William Guthrie Spence | - Australian trade unionist and politician | |
| Professor Thomas Stewart Traill | - Editor of Encyclopedia Britannica | |
| John Walter | - Edmonton's first millionaire | |
| Peter Watt (formerly Twatt) | - founder of Pennsylvania store |
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