Auction purchase sheds fascinating light on former Cromarty Public School pupil – could local residents now fill in the blanks?
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A good number of members braved icy conditions in order to make their way to the Christmas
meeting.
The speaker was Paul Monk, a member who has regularly given talks to the society, often relating to his role as the honorary curator at the Courthouse Museum. This lecture was no exception, as the starting point was an envelope handed in to the museum earlier this year.
The contents proved to be an archive of papers relating to Margaret Munro, an ex-pupil of Cromarty Public School, from the early 20th century. These had been sent by a lady in Essex, addressed to the Cromarty Primary School. It seems that she had bought a box at an auction in Edinburgh some years before and had now decided that the best place for them was back in Cromarty. They found their way to Paul’s desk and he set about his own investigations.
Researching Margaret’s family, he found that her father was originally from a farm in Inshes, Inverness, who had moved to Cromarty Mains Farm to work as a ploughman. His daughter Margaret was born in one of the Cromarty Mains farm cottages in 1885 and she attended the local Cromarty Public School.
RELATED: 300-year history of house brought to light
Political past and local democracy thrown into the spotlight at Black Isle gathering
Scrutinising all the contents, Paul came to realise that Margaret did well enough at school to become a pupil teacher there, as stated in a Leaving Certificate examination from 1902, when she would have been around seventeen. There were numerous testimonials referring to her competence and popularity with both pupils and their parents. These were written by teachers and chairs of school boards. There was also a 1904 notice from the “Scotch Education Department”, Whitehall, advising that she was now a fully qualified teacher.
From Cromarty School she moved on to Scotsburn School at Kildary, where she taught for three or four years before evidence showed her to be living near Edinburgh and teaching at Dalmeny Public School. There were certificates showing that Margaret had undertaken additional training in PE and drawing and art.
Paul looked through photos in the Courthouse archives and came across two pictures taken on the same day in 1905 – one of the school staff and another of the senior class. By a process of elimination he found Margaret in both. He also found her handwriting by chance – from his own collection of Cromarty postcards, one of which had been sent by Maggie Munro to a female acquaintance in London that she had met at Nigg and wished to keep in contact.
Gradually he was building up a picture of her and he turned his attention to Dalmeny, as it was, when Margaret taught there. The Dalmeny Oil Company developed local shale mines and oil works to produce kerosene. There were four underground mines and a community of houses, Dalmeny Rows, for all the oil workers and their families. The children at Margaret’s school would have lived here – a far cry from her rural Cromarty Mains background.
That’s where the talk ended – but there must surely be more to tell of this young lady from our town and members would be interested if anyone has further light to shed! Paul explained that the museum tries to tell the stories of the artefacts it holds and went on to talk about a proposal for a project next year.
There is a need to systematically go through the museum’s collection of photos, turning it into a meaningful archive which can then be digitised – an interesting assignment for some willing volunteers!
A convivial social time included mulled wine with some festive eats and a chance to catch up on everyone’s news.
The remainder of our programme for 22/23 moves to a different venue and a different day.
Meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm in the Victoria Hall, Cromarty.
Our next speaker, on 17 January, 2023, will be Diana Hamilton-Jones speaking about James Braidwood and his legacy to the modern fire service. Visitors are welcome and further information is available on our website: www.cromartyhistory.scot
