Mary Henderson (Stevenson) Garden

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Chalfont,  We are getting down into the detail of what you see at your end which is good so keep working on it.  Sometimes the writing can be difficult so you may have to post bits of it yet.  The Boyndie connection is excellent and I know exactly where it is.  Yes, they have Farming connections which is what I suspected. My wife's Gt Grandfather probably knew them to speak to as he Farmed just up the brae from Boyndie.  I warned you about the Stevensons and the most incredible part is starting to emerge!

The Grey Granite Headstone is a "beautiful" monument to her and it most certainly cost a small fortune when it was put up.  Do your best with the photograph as it should help us locate the Cemetary for you.

I will print your posts so that I can study the details in a bit more closely.

Best wishes for now, nw_whiskers.

 

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Chalfont,  Does the attached picture look like the place you visited at Boyndie in 2011?

nw_whiskers.

[MonicaL]

One thing that strikes me from your latest photo, nw_whiskers. Not sure when the photo of the Mary Stevenstone's stone was taken (any info on this?) but if your photo was taken 80+ years later, it could well be the same area although there is no way of telling at present. Mary's photo looks like a new area of a burial ground given there is nothing really in close proximity, other than a far away grave in the left, nothing else seems nearby.

Monica

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Monica,  This is the "Old Church & Churchyard" from Boyndie as I understand it where they were in 2011 (perhaps ?).  The New part is along the road a bit and it is a "Cemetary"  (NOT a Churchyard) run by the Aberdeenshire Council.  Both are close to Boyndie Bay if you can get the BING Map to work for you.  You will then understand why we "need to see the BACKGROUND in the Picture".  Can we see if the Whins or Gorse are there  to hold the sand in place or is it the "hills in the North of Scotland" in the far background or whatever.  Perhaps the Caravan Park!  The Wooden Boxes you see to the left of the above picture are Potato Box from the Farm next door.  I can assure you that I do know what I am on about just as you are an expert at your job (and you are good at it!). 

The attached MS Word File.RTF has the coordinates in it.  I hope they make some sense to you.  If you can get the "view from the air" to work you will everything in full colour and the waves lashing on to the coastline.

nw_whiskers.

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Monica,  I have checked the attachment to the last post to see that it is all there with the coordinates and the hyper-links that come on BING so you should be home and dry with that. 

Please NOTE this is all fanciful speculation using 2012 technology untill we see some "specific evidence" to support this latest "theory".

Best wishes, nw_whiskers.

[nw_whiskers]

Dear All,  We are asked to find a fine object that is about 6 foot high and 2 foot wide from a list of "place names" and a "photograph of a large field" in about 2,000 square miles in the North East of Scotland.  The object in the forground is "most impressive" and easily identified by what is engraved on it.  The problem is that we can NOT identify the field as we can NOT SEE any prominent landmarks in the far background.  Something LARGE  and obvious would be of some help but it may be an IMPOSSIBLE request on my part.  Do NOT try to create something that is not there already as will not solve the problem.  A simple YES I can see a big Church Spire or a Lighthouse or a Big Hill in the distance is what we want so that we know what "you are seeing" at your end.

We have more than enough information on the "hard working families" involved in the early 1900s, the "fairy tail" wedding in Banff and of the sad events/loss of Mary Henderson Stevenson less than 2 years later.  The family were "truly heart broken" and errected a very expensive monument to her.  Anybody would be proud to stand beside that one and have their photograph taken in that field but we have to find it first.

My methods are not always "pretty" in the eyes of some but I have found many Stevenson gravestones back into the 1700s in Banfshire where others have failed so try and be patient as it should come to us in the end as we eliminate the "less likely" areas and FOCUS on the more likely ones.

Focus ..... have we got a LARGE landmark in the background of this photograph.  The one that is posted suggests that it is NO but you may have a better one in front of you.  Yes or No?

Best wishes,  nw_whiskers.



 

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Chalfont & MonicaL,  I normally look at my wife's Stevenson Family from the pre 1855 era which takes a different mind set from the IT driven ones of the 20th Centuary so "please" do not dispair as I am more than upbeat on the subject for sure.  I posted a summary of where we are on the 31st Dec 2012 so that "you can see" some of the picture that is forming in my mind.  It is a lot less than 2,000 square miles of North East Scotland at this stage but we want to be sure we have the correct location before we get egg on our faces and have to retract.  I am also more than sensitive to the legal constraints in Canada.

I "recognised" names on the Stevenson side in the first post from notes I made when I was in Banff-shire in Feb 2012 but they are not in the generation that Chalfont is asking about but could well be connected.   Anyway, I have everything I need from the family detail side of the equation to move forward with the main event which is in essence:-   "Anybody, would be proud to stand beside that Headstone and have their photograph taken in that field but we have to find the field first".

The camera angle for the attached photograph from 2006 is probably about correct if you look to the sky line just left of the big trees and the associated farm buildings.  The Moray Firth is beyond the tree line in the far distance.

We are into 2013 and have everything to look forward too so we should be more than happy with our work to date.  Best wishes,  nw_whiskers.

 



   

[Chalfont]

Hi all:
Thanks for recent posts. Unfortunately, my wife and I did not visit Boyndie - only Ordiquhill and Alvah graveyards. But the old picture of Mary's gravestone does not at first glance appear to be in any of those three. Also I have a ANESFHS booklet of memorial inscriptions for Alvah and Mary's gravestone is not listed in it.

I am trying to rescan the picture (initially mislaid but now located) to see if I can get better results.

Thanks again,

Chalfont

[Chalfont]

Hi Again:

Here's the best I can do with the photo. Have tried to heighten the contrast at 200 dpi. 300 dpi starts to pick up imperfections in the paper. Behind mowed area on right there appear to be hay bales waiting for collection. Above that could be sea then sky horizon. Even in photograph impossible to be sure. So it could be the Moray Firth beyond the treeline but hard to know for certain.

Isn't being a detective fun?

Chalfont