Lerwick

This morning I woke at 5.30 am and went out on deck to find that we were just passing the southern tip of Shetland, known as Sumburgh Head, on the port side of the boat. Visitors to the lighthouse at Sumburgh Head in the past week have filmed pods of orcas swimming very close to the shore. People also go there to observe puffins and other bird species.

We went into the Magnus Lounge for breakfast as the ferry headed north along the Shetland coastline. Shortly before 7 am, we entered Bressay Sound, the channel that separates the island of Bressay on our starboard side from Mainland on our port side. Soon after this Lerwick came into view. Lerwick is Shetland’s only town. Its current population is roughly 7000 people. From the ferry, to the left of the sandy beach, I could see the Lodberrie, which features as the home of DI Jimmy Perez in the Shetland TV series. High on a hill above the town, the town hall was visible. Immediately behind it was the sheriff’s court, which doubles as the police station in the TV series.

We’d booked an automatic Skoda, which we picked up at the ferry terminal. It’s the only time we feel we might need our own vehicle in Scotland, as we don’t have the luxury of public transport to get around. It was a very tight squeeze, but we managed to make our luggage fit and leave just enough room for ourselves. It was only a five minute drive to the car park adjacent to our self contained apartment. We left our gear in the car, as we could not check in before 3 pm, and went for a stroll through Lerwick. It was very quiet at that time of morning. There weren’t even any shops open when we first arrived.

We walked down the main thoroughfare, Commercial Street, looking for places where we might need to reserve a dinner table, and generally getting a feel for the type of town Lerwick is. A few friendly people said hello and some even took the time to pass on recommendations for places to eat. Marg and Janie spotted a few wool and craft stores that they planned to visit later. By 9 am places were opening up, so we found a cafe and ordered coffees.

A very short distance from our accommodation was the Jimmy Perez lodberrie, so we walked down there for a closer look. Lodberries are the old stone houses on Lerwick’s waterfront. The Jimmy Perez place is so famous, and so photographed, that it is just known as The Lodberrie. The tide was out and boats had been pulled up out of the water. They say that the guy who currently lives there is very tolerant of tourists taking selfies outside his place, and has even been known to offer to be the photographer every now and then. Later in the morning we wandered up the hill to the sheriff’s court, which also features regularly in the Shetland TV series as the police station.

One of the reasons I’ve come to Shetland is to learn a little bit more about the place where my great great grandmother once lived. She was born Jane Johnson in East Houlland, Delting, Shetland in 1837, the daughter of William Johnson and Marion Tait. Jane married Archibald Todd from Dumfries, and in 1875 they sailed to Dunedin, NZ, aboard the ‘Aldergrove’. A daughter died on the voyage and another was born in NZ. Soon after, they moved to Melbourne. Archibald was not a good husband. Newspaper reports say he was abusive, and one day, in 1886, when he was drunk he fell and struck his head. The wound developed complications and he died of lockjaw, brought on by tetanus. Jane outlived him by 30 years. Their daughter Marion was my Granddad’s mother. Jane’s parents were typical of Shetlanders at the time. Her father was a fisherman and her mother was listed in one census as a knitter.

In the 1851, Jane was living at 11 Burns Lane in Lerwick, with her parents. In 1861, William was missing from the census, probably away with the fishing fleet, but Marion was now at 5 Burns Lane. By 1871, they were listed at 4 Burns Lane, and in 1881 Marion had died, but William was now at 3 Burns Lane. He died there in 1885. So the Johnson family either moved their lodgings back and forth along the lane, or perhaps the numbering of lodgings changed over time so that they may have always lived in the same lodgings but had different house numbers over time.

I found Burns Lane this morning. It runs off Commercial Street. Lanes and closes in Scottish towns like Lerwick are narrow pathways, often with stairs, between houses that connected streets running parallel to each other. I walked along the narrow lane running my hand over the rough stones and mortar, imagining that I.was touching the same stone walls that my ancestors once did. I climbed the steps up the hill. I’m sure they walked the same steps.

In the 1861 census, Jane was listed as being only 21 years of age, though I’m confident from the documents I’ve seen that she was actually 24. She was not living in Burns Lane. Instead she was listed in Hill Lane and her occupation was domestic servant. She was living with the Laurenson family as their servant. They owned the drapery business located between Burns and Hill Lanes. Jane was still less than about 50 metres away from her parents’ home. Hill Lane is longer and steeper than Burns Lane. Jane and the Laurensons were at number 2, very close to Commercial St.

We ate lunch at midday and walked over to the Shetland Museum. It was terrific. I found some sections more interesting than others. I took particular interest in the sections connected with my own family history – the Vikings, the fishing and textile industries, the crofters, and the emigrants in the 1870s. There was more to see, especially of Shetland in the world wars and other 20th century events, but we were keen to see if we could get into our apartment, so we cut the last few sections short and walked back to the other end of Commercial St and then up the hill to our apartment in Queen’s Place.

When we got the key out of the lockbox and opened the front door, there was a rather unusual framed photo hanging on the wall. It recorded an occasion when Queen Elizabeth once came into this very humble dwelling for a cup of tea. It seems we’ve been walking in the royals’ footsteps over these past few days.