Caithness CWS - Community Pages - Caithness Exiles - London Caithness Association - London Caithness History

23 May 05
The Final Chapter
1976 - 2003
This section is the work of Isobel Stanmore and completed by Edward Reeve before shortly his death. Bill Fernie met Edward and his wife Janet on a couple of occasions following the start of the section for the London Caithness.

Speech
Speech From
Mrs M W Atkins

We are pleased to begin to make public for the first time a document put together from the minutes of the London Caithness Association. Miss Nancy A Roloff completed her work in 1976 and we owe her great thanks for her work carry out 25 years ago. Miss Roloff started at the beginning and created a narrative commencing on 31 January 1856 and typed on 52 pages. This document was brought to Caithness last year by Mrs Isobel Stanmore the secretary of the London Caithness Association to see if we were interested in publishing it. It is a fascinating document setting out the relationship with Caithness people in London and their visitors from the the county they were either born in or came to support. Due to the necessity to have the document completely retyped it has not been possible to publish it sooner. We would like to thank Janis Paterson (nee McGee) formerly of Wick who offered to type up the whole document in a form for publishing on the web site.

The history is full of the fun and cameraderie of Caithness folk in a far flung place brought together with a common purpose to enjoy each others company and wherever possible assist any Caithnessians fallen on hard times - especially as you will see at times of crisis both personal and national. As the history unfolds you will see a side of Caithness never seen before and happening hundreds of miles away in London. The exodus of people from Caithness has gone on for hundreds of years and the London Caithness Association saw many of them arrive in London and pass on their way to war or to other countries to live. At its inception there were many such organisations covering every county in Scotland in London. The London Caithness Association is one of the last still in existence - a testament to the organisation and what it has meant to them down the years.
The Association had a chair made in honour of the work that Nancy Roloff carried out over the years for the association. The chair is kept in the Wick Heritage Museum.

10 January 2002
Alastair Walsh Atkins son of Mrs M W Atkins has been in touch to say his mother has been delighted to hear that her speech from so long ago is on the Internet
Marguerite Walsh Atkins - nee Black of Halkirk.
My mother, Marguerite Walsh Atkins, nee Black from Halkirk, is now in her 92nd year and has been delighted with the information I have downloaded for from your excellent website. In particular, I have sent her all the information from the London Caithness Association with which she was associated for many years.The site kindly publishes a speech she gave at one of the meetings, which gives her great satisfaction, and amusement!
Thurso school to Aberdeen University, then to Oxford University.
There met my father. On graduation he joined the Foreign Office in London where he remained for many years. Hence my mother's location to London. Prior to their marriage, she spent two years in India as principal of Mysore Ladies' College.
My father's role involved two 3-year overseas postings, accompanied by my mother, to Dublin and to Pakistan. My parents separated in 1967. My mother remained in London, working for some time in the Foreign Office and then teaching English to students which she continued to do on an individual basis, up to 'A' level, until she was in her 80's. In 1997 she moved into a residential care home near my youngest brother in Berkshire.