BBC Alba documentary on genealogist Bill Lawson

I've just watched a wonderful BBC Alba documentary which was first broadcast in 2019, concerning genealogist Bill Lawson, who is based on the Isle of Harris. Bill is the main driver behind the Hebrides People website (www.hebridespeople.com), as well as being the main guru for the resources available from the Co Leis Thu/Seallam service run in Harris by the Northton Heritage Trust (to which he has donated his lifetime of genealogical research). 

The programme is part of Series 12 of Trusadh, and is entitled Sàr Shloinntear (The Genealogist), and it is fair to say that this is one that every genealogist, particularly every professional genealogist, should perhaps watch, as it is an absolute inspiration and a programme with a real genealogical spirit. 

Bill and his wife Chris have spent a lifetime collating not only historical records about the various islands in the Outer Hebrides, but also the oral history that cannot be found in documents. Not only has Bill been recording material in Scotland, he has regularly travelled to Canada to interview Gaels out there with connections to the islands, as well as compiling materials from around the world. His collections of croft histories are discussed, and his impressive collections of genealogical materials and pedigree charts. 

I have never met Bill, but I was briefly in touch with him and his wife Chris a few years back in 2011 when they launched Hebrides People (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2011/07/hebrides-people-site-goes-live.html), and I was sorry to learn that Chris has sadly since passed away in 2017. The programme is an absolute gem, and a real tonic when set against all the celebrity bubblegum we are often plied with in the name of TV genealogy - this is a programme about a man with a passion for, and interest in, an area, with a demonstratable skill in researching it, an inspiration in how he disseminates what he finds, and a man for whom the community he has been immersed within for most of his life is truly appreciative. We don't often get these kinds of programmes! The programme is in Gaelic (Gàidhlig), although Bill himself speaks in English throughout; it is subtitled throughout.

For the researcher, it also showcases one of the many comainn eachdraidh (historical societies) which exists in the Western Isles, the other family history societies which exist in Scotland (nothing to do with SAFHS!), which I try to plug when I can. Comann Eachdraidh Nis (https://cenonline.org), based at Ness in the north of Lewis, is somewhere I have in fact visited in the past, but during my television days rather than in my genealogical career, and again it offers a wonderful insight into resources available at a local level in the Western Isles.  For lists of other comainn eachdraidh visit www.hebrideanconnections.com and www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/buidhnean/eachdraidh/.

The programme is being broadcast again tonight (Tuesday) on BBC Alba at 10pm, but it is also available on the iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000c088/trusadh-series-12-8-bill-lawson-sar-shloinntear-the-genealogist (for UK access only).

I think when I grow up I just might want to be Bill Lawson. And I think once you have watched it, you might want to be too..! A proper gem, and the Hebrides are lucky to have him.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.