Former Ardersier resident set to return north to present history work on village life in the 19th century
Life in Ardersier in the 19th century is the subject of a new work recently published by one of the village's former inhabitants.
Elspeth Wilson (74), spent her childhood in Ardersier and is returning home to share the self-published work with local history enthusiasts.
A passion project for Elspeth, research for the work which covers a period in the middle of the 19th century started in the late 1980s as part of a history course she undertook at that time.
She said: “When my kids were younger I went to do Scottish historical studies, a night school course at Glasgow University. It was a free course, and for the last year you had to choose a topic of research.
“I chose Ardersier in the mid-19th century, because I was born and brought up there, and I thought it would be really interesting to do some research."
Going through a range of records held in Glasgow and Edinburgh, she was also able to access the archives at Cawdor Estate after agreeing to give a copy of her work to the estate when it was finished.
“It was quite incredible,” she said of the local material she was given access to.
“I went into this office and on the table were laid out all these old records, rolled up with ribbons. It was absolutely amazing.
“I just wish I'd had more time to research, you know, because my kids were little and I had to travel up and down to access these documents.”
After completing her thesis, Elspeth gave a copy to Earl Cawdor which eventually went to Inverness Library.
“I kind of left it as it was,” she said. “It was all typed up but quite difficult to read.”
She picked the original project up again more recently and, she said, it quickly “grew arms and legs”.
A young co-worker at a local charity shop offered to convert the work into a digital format while another who works as a graphic artist and author offered to help edit and publish it.
“We’ve got more photographs and other material,” Elspeth said of how the original work evolved.
“I am just really delighted that it is coming to fruition. There is an old copy at the library but this is much more accessible.”
“(For me) it was just kind of a resurgence of a feeling of belonging to that village. It reconnected me with my feeling of belonging there.”
Elspeth will share her efforts will share her findings with the local genealogy society as well as libraries in Inverness and Ardersier.
The book captures snippets of daily life, with Elspeth taking a particular interest in the poor houses and conditions for women at the time.
She said: “What's occurred to me now, re-reading it, was how difficult life was for women especially if you were pregnant to a soldier who was in the Fort (Fort George). It was very hard for them.
“Part of the conclusion is about what a patriarchal society it was in those days.”
