Isles John Burness aka 'Isles' and 'Bervonian' 1927 - 2010

[Ruskie]

I've only just found this post.   

I just searched to see the last time Isles had been online and found this very sad news. Isles and I didn't have any common 'genealogical' associations, but I read many of his posts, spoke to him via PM, and thought he was a really lovely man. I remember when he posted a photograph of his young self in uniform and I thought then how kind he looked.

So sad, and also a bit sad how few replies there are to this post ...   

[MonicaL]

Ruskie, I think you will find that a number of people, like me, have sent a PM to Agnes, as she mentioned in her original post 

My last exchange with Isles was on the issue of his first name, Isles, which after all his years he had given up trying to figure out why his parents had called him that and what the source of it could have been!

I am still convinced that his mother had fed him the OS maps since a toddler, given his vast knowledge of place names and history.

Much missed by many who had dealings with him.

Monica

[Ruskie]

Ruskie, I think you will find that a number of people, like me, have sent a PM to Agnes, as she mentioned in her original post 
Monica

Thanks for letting me know Monica, I'm glad about that. 

[Binkie]

Just to thank everyone for their wonderful postings & private messages about Isles which are much appreciated.

His funeral at Bervie (which was very well attended) just captured the spirit of the man & certainly was a celebration of his life.

He was a keen angler, cyclist & local historian & everything he did was done with the utmost enthusiasm.

This picture of him when he was doing his national service at Carnwath Barracks just captures the very essence of him.

[Binkie]

I was just thinking - he's probably helping out God with genealogical problems!!!!!

 

Agnes

[MonicaL]

He sure is  Wonder if he has been able to verify and confirm his sources back to Adam 

Thank you for posting that photo of him during military service Agnes - gosh, he looks like he was a tall lad with a cheeky grin!

Monica

[Binkie]

Glad you liked it, Monica

I bet he's asking God why he was named Isles. 

Isles was about 6ft with the longest legs and the biggest grin you've ever seen.  He also had a devilish sense of humour which sometimes manifested itself in poetry or song.  I wish I had kept some of his poetry!  I must admit I did like it when he phoned to sing me his version of a topical ditty he had composed.  He hated some of the "In Memoriam" entries in the Dundee Courier & had found that they could mostly be sung to the tune of "The Wearing of the Green". 

Now you'll find it difficult to read the "In Memoriam" column without bursting into song!

Agnes

[Ruskie]

Thanks for the extra insight Agnes. Everyone should have someone like that in their life. 

And thank you for posting the photo - I'm not sure if that's the exact one Isles himself posted but it was definitely the same outfit and definitely the same smile. 

(and I'm going to have to google "The Wearing of the Green") as I'm not familiar with it.)

[Binkie]

It probably is the same photograph - he always had a devil of a time attaching images & it's very difficult to explain to someone over the phone.

Isles certainly enriched my life.  We met by chance when I decided to visit Inverbervie after finding out my great grandfather Arthur Burness Bowman had been born there.  I went into Willie Beattie's shop & said that I was looking for the Queens Arms which my great great grandmother had owned (little realising that if I walked another few steps I would be right next to it) & he said "You'll be a Bowman".  I agreed but said that Jane Bowman was a Burness before she was married so he got on the phone to Isles & I had the most marvellous day being shown round.

Now the much more interesting part as far as I'm concerned.  My father's family were not close & I had only ever had real contact with my mother's English relatives. I also knew a great deal more about the Smiths of Earby & Lothersdale in Yorkshire as my Grandma who lived with us had been alive when Kenneth Wilson researched the families of Lothersdale & she was able to have the Herefordshire part of the family incorporated in the tree.

Enter Isles - a paternal relative - who was certainly a carbon copy of me in nature which is why we formed such a deep bond. 

What also amazed me was that my father who was born in Motherwell & Isles who was born in Stonehaven had exactly the same laugh!!! 

I think I'll use the Queen's Arms as my avatar as it was taken on the day I met Isles.