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George Heriot Swanston, map engraver – born in Edinburgh on 7 May 1814 A noteworthy anniversary this month is the bicentenary of the birth of the map engraver, George Heriot Swanston. Born in Edinburgh on 7 May 1814, Swanston often worked with the famous cartographer, John Bartholomew (born in Edinburgh on 25 December 1831), and the works of both men can be viewed at the National Library of Scotland's Causewayside building (Edinburgh) where the Map Collection is housed.
We've been tracing Swanston's life and family tree via the records on ScotlandsPeople website. After reading his OPR birth/baptism record of 1814, we viewed his OPR marriage record to Agnes Boon in March 1847. Sadly, his first wife, Margaret (nee Burgess) died of consumption in 1846, aged 31, just 11 years after they were wed. Swanston's second wife, Agnes, also died of consumption, at 1 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, on 2 May 1857. On 26 August 1858, he married Hannah Cousins, spinster, at St Andrews Episcopal Church in Glasgow. The residence given for Swanston is the same as Hannah's: 68 Abbotsford Place, Glasgow.
We further noticed that his first son, George Heriot Swanson (also an engraver), died of consumption in Glasgow in 1857, aged only 22. Also, a daughter, Agnes, died in October 1845, aged only 7 months. Clearly, the family was no stranger to suffering.
We then looked at the 1841 and 1851 censuses to see where in Edinburgh GH Swanston and his family were living - 8 Canning Place in 1851 and 40 Broughton Street in 1851. The 1851 census entry is especially interesting, as it states how many men and apprentices GH Swanston was employing at this time. N.B. when viewing these large images of selected historical records on the website, just click on an image to enlarge it further.
After around 1859/1860, GH swanston disappears from the Scottish records. In the English Census of 1861, there is a 'Geographers Engraver' called George H Swanston living in St Pancras civil parish in London - though his age is given as '40', this could be a slip for '46'. His wife is given as Han(na)h, aged 39 (which does not match her age of 26(?) in the marriage of 1848), and a 12-year-old daughter called Constantine [sic?] is also listed, along with her younger sisters, Kate (8) and Johanna (6). We believe Constantine is Constance, who appears in the entry from the 1851 Scottish Census. We believe GH Swanston died in Shoreditch, London, in 1861, but are not 100% sure about this. If anyone has definite information about GH Swanston's fate, please drop us a line at [log in to unmask]. Old maps of Scotland that show the historical locations of the clans Still on the subject of old maps, we love this beautiful map from 1822 that shows the historical location of the major Scottish clans. We thought this map might be a useful resource for people who are just starting to research their family tree and are curious about the geographical origins of the clan name.
We've also highlighted below three more historical maps. The Bartholomew's map from 1912 offers another geographical listing of clan surnames, while the two military maps from the 18th Century contain the names of clans and the numbers of fighting men each clan can raise. So if a surname in your family tree appears on one of these maps, it might be possible to determine from these resources if your ancestors wore a 'White Cockade' and belonged to a Jacobite clan.
Many thanks to the NLS Map Library for their help with the article on GH Swanson, and also for telling us about these historical maps with Scottish surnames. - Plate 9 of J.G. Bartholomew's 'Survey Atlas of Scotland', 1912;
- A description of the Highlands of Scotland, the situation of the several clans and the number of men able to bear arms...(1731);
- Map of Scotland showing the Forts at Inverness, Fort Augustus, Fort William and Moidart and on which is pencilled the proposed military roads, also the names and numbers of men that could be raised by the various clans (circa 1724 to 1745).
[Text Deleted] All the Best, The ScotlandsPeople Team www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
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