Olla Nicolson, Northmavine.

[wullie m.]

Folks, has anybody a clue of what happened to an Olla Nicolson, merchant seaman. He was born at Tronaster, Delting on 16th June 1828 and is at Skae, Northmavine in 1841. His parents were William Nicolson, b.1780 at Norwick & Agnes Halcrow b. 1790 Trondavoe, Delting. Last heard of around 1854 when he was the father of Betsy Tulloch, b. Northmavine, her mother was Willamina Tulloch. I've hit a bit of a brick wall on the excellent Bayanne site. Thanks for your time. wullie m

[MuckleJoannie]

There are a couple of websites I have found useful for chasing the loose ends of my family history. Scotlands People has all birth, marriage and death records for Scotland and you can view online a copy of the relevant certificates. You pay a small sum for credits to view them.

 

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

 

Find My Past has UK records, including English Censuses up to 1911

 

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp

 

You could also try the Shetland Family History Society. They do not have information online but they are open several days a week. Information their database is similar to Bayanne but there are differences due to people giving information to one but not the other.

 

http://www.shetland-fhs.org.uk/

[wullie m.]

Thanks Joannie, I've tried the usual suspects but nae joy, did he die abroad? I think my best recourse would be to join the Shetland FHS, he never married Willamina as far as I know, yet they used Nicolson as a middle name in the family thereafter so they must have thought something o him! Olla I assume is Oliver? Thanks again buddy!

wullie m.

[gruidsy]

If he died in 1855 or after you should be able to track him down through the registrar, even if he died at sea or abroad.

[EM]

Olla I assume is Oliver?

Yes. Indeed the following names seem to used synonymously: Ola, Olla, Olave, Olav, Olaf, Oliver and Ollie.

[deardron]

Olaf/Olav and Oliver are historically different names (see etymonline.com). Generally speaking, Olla might descend from either name. (Faroese has masculine names Óli and Óla which are shortened forms for Ólavur).

[EM]

Olaf/Olav and Oliver are historically different names (see etymonline.com). Generally speaking, Olla might descend from either name. (Faroese has masculine names Óli and Óla which are shortened forms for Ólavur).

Yes this is an interesting point. I was hunting for info on one of my roguish ancestors: Ola Sinclair. I quickly discovered that the historical records refer to him as Ola etc., and also Oliver. This interested me because of his family, birthplace and timeline. Being a Sinclair he was from a nobbish Scotty dynasty, but he was born in Shetland. The fact that he was recorded as Ola shows that his family were using the Norsky name rather than Oliver. Later references to him as Oliver seem to indicate the typical de-Norskification policy used by many early historians.

 

I would suggest that even though individuals may be named in the Norsky manner, it is worth widening search terms to allow for the Scottification carried out by some historians and record keepers.

[deardron]

I suppose originally "Olla" was used for Olav, but as soon as the name Oliver came to Shetland, it was influenced by this tradition, so there could have been a bit of contamination between the 2 (3) names.

[wullie m.]

Folks, Oliver's an uncommon Scottish name except amongst the Sinclairs it would appear! presumably there's a Shetland name Ollason!

Difference between a Sinclair & a Tinkler = a bar of soap! wullie m.

[Ghostrider]

Thanks Joannie, I've tried the usual suspects but nae joy, did he die abroad? I think my best recourse would be to join the Shetland FHS, he never married Willamina as far as I know, yet they used Nicolson as a middle name in the family thereafter so they must have thought something o him! Olla I assume is Oliver? Thanks again buddy!

wullie m.

 

Bear in mind you're dealing with the era here when it was not uncommon for men, especially those at the sailing to "vanish", so as to avoid having to marry. Some no doubt created new identities for themselves elsewhere, while others simply settled elsewhere under the same identity but kept details of their earlier life too vague for it to be connected beyond doubt to their new life. Either was relatively easy to do the way records were kept back then.

 

Not trying to cast aspersions here, but the fact that a couple in that era had a child, but never married, and the birth of the child is the last known record of the father, leaves that option wide open.

 

Using his name "may" have signified he (and/or possibly his extended family) was well thought of, but equally it "may" have signified the need to apportion some form of "responsibility" or similar attribution.

[wullie m.]

Ghostrider, re' the bounder! t'was ever thus, rattling the can without making a contribution, is as old as Adam! on the other hand, he maybe just drooned, Shetlanders had a certain predisposition to droonin, and one is reluctant to cast aspersions at this early stage. Trouble is, by the time you're interested in this stuff, anybody with likely info' is deid! cheers wullie

[Ghostrider]

^^ Sometimes even those who knew the real truth were few and far between.

 

I have an old ancestor who "officially" met his end in so much sassermaet on the deck, when he got blown off one of the yards while stowing sails in the face of a rising gale, and was buried at sea someplace off Chile or thereabouts. Only thing was, things kept turning up out of the blue for many years afterwards which caused folk to question that "official" version.

 

Maybe he did depart this mortal coil as recorded and it was just his "widow" and family clutching at straws, and seeing in coincidences more than there really was. Or maybe it was all faked and was his solution to a problem, in a time of life when divorce was not an option.

 

At sea the Captain's power and jurisdiction was absolute, and as long as he ticked the right boxes and made the right noises when the ship got back to port, he could fabricate anything he felt like doing, or it was made worth his while to do, and get away with it.

[MuckleJoannie]

I was at the Shetland Family History Society and had a look on their database. Their information on Olla Nicolson is the same as Bayanne.

 

The lack of modern communications in the 19th century did make it difficult for information to be communicated. My great grandfather moved to Foula in 1880's with his mother. He had a mental breakdown and disapeared for a while, eventually ending up in Montrose Asylum where he died. His mother was abandoned on Foula where she died. We were unable to obtain any family information from her death certificate as noone on Foula could get it at the time of her death.

[wullie m.]

Thanks MuckleJoannie, it might have to remain wan o history's mystery's! There is an auld cousin o my faither's in Edinburgh, who must be 90 but gey wandered. Read a very good book on Foula last year, can't remember the name, gettin wandered masel! wullie m.