Am I a descendant of Rob Roy ?..Do I have royal blood in my veins ?..Where in Scotland did my forefathers live ?
Sound familiar ? Well these were some of the many questions received by the newly established Scots Ancestry Research Council at their office in 4A North St David Street, Edinburgh at the end of World War Two. Few nowadays have heard of them, but the body was established in March 1945 by Tom Johnston,Labour MP and Secretary of State for Scotland during Churchill's wartime coalition government.
A gifted politician, Johnston was ahead of his time in many aspects. He established the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board during the war to create employment in the Highlands and provide electricity for industry and domestic use, when only 1% of Highland households had access to that utilty. He also became Chairman of the Forestry Commission and the Scottish Tourist Board, but his influence in the field of Scottish Family History is largely forgotten.What was the stimulus for such a body especially in wartime Britain ? Well there was no central focal point for those seeking questions to their Scottish ancestry.
Rt Hon Tom Johnston MP, A Man of Vision