An Orcadian Coincidence — Canadian makes surprising discovery while researching family history

December 18, 2017 at 12:20 pm

David Searle from Nanoose Bay in Canada has been researching his Orcadian ancestors, by adoption and by birth. He hopes that someone here in Orkney will be able to identify the man in this picture, who he thinks may be Thomas Seater, of Lower Gritley, Deerness.

Can you identify the man in this picture?

That was the question put to us at The Orcadian newsroom, last week, from a Canadian man researching his family tree.

David Searle, who lives in Nanoose Bay, British Columbia, hopes that someone here in Orkney will be able to tell him more about this photo — which he believes was taken at Lower Gritley in Deerness during the 19th Century. If they can, the amateur genealogist will have filled in yet another gap in the story of his Orcadian relatives.

But there’s a twist in this tale!

David, who was adopted at birth in 1951 by Art and Etta Searle, has long known that his adoptive mother’s side had Orkney connections. What he didn’t realise, however, is that he is actually connected to Orkney through his birth family as well.

“My adoptive mother’s maiden name was Etta Marguerite Rendall Cowan, her mother was Elizabeth Aleda Seater (Seatter sometimes),” he explained.

“She grew up in Lower Grittley, their home is still standing. I think the gentleman in the photo is either her father or grandfather (Thomas Seater?)”

Recently, thanks to genealogy website Ancestry and its DNA offerings, David has discovered both sets of his birth grandparents, many living cousins, and a half-brother. This also includes his great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Calder, who was editor of The Orcadian during the late 1800s, as well as an agricultural paper that was circulated in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland.

“It’s ironic that the Calders and the Seaters lived only 10 miles apart around 1900 and possibly knew each other’s families,” said David, who was surprised to have fallen upon this Orcadian coincidence.

“The Calders lived in St Ola and Seaters in Deerness. Cawdor Castle was the ancestral home of the Calder’s but they lived in Orkney, Inverness and Edinburgh over the years.”

If you have any more information about David’s family, or can identify the man in the picture, don’t hesitate to get in contact via email at newsroom@orcadian.co.uk or through The Orcadian Facebook page.