Welcome to The Roys of Auchtergaven blog! On this site, you'll find a variety of information and stories about the ancestors and descendants of William Roy I and Margaret Campbell who married in Auchtergaven in Scotland in 1842.
I post here as Alison Roy, great-great-great-granddaughter of William and Margaret, but I'm also known as Alison Dennison, and over at one of my other blogs (Feet on Foreign Lands) I'm Fairlie.
I'm an amateur genealogist and family historian with a passion for the stories that flesh out the facts.
I have over 25 years’ experience in working with words in all manner of genres, from technical business report editing through to frivolous blogging and on-line writing. I love it all! I'm happiest when I have a research question to investigate, and a discovered story to tell.
Some of my relevant studies and memberships include:
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Western Australia (History and Literature majors)
- Diploma of Family History, University of Tasmania
- Certificate IV in Professional Writing and Editing, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE
- Member, Writers Victoria
- Member, Genealogical Society of Victoria
- Member, Oral History Victoria
Why William Roy I and Margaret Campbell?
I'm so glad you asked... Back in 2002, when I first became interested in genealogy and family history, my starting point was a print-out of my Roy family tree that my Dad had compiled in the 1990s. William and Margaret were the oldest generation on that print-out, and mentally I've always considered them the 'starting point' for my research. Since then, I've worked away on various branches of my family tree, but I keep circling back to the Roys and to Auchtergaven.
Often I come across a small detail that piques my interest - such as the fact that an 'Alexander Roy' operated a whisky distillery at Glack in 1816-17 - which then takes me down a whole rabbit hole of research, and I wanted to have a place to capture all these stories in a way which relates them back to my starting point and provides a colourful account of this now-widespread family.
My aim is to post random stories of the people and places, but try to always make it clear where they fit in in relation to William and Margaret. There's graphics outlining various bits of the family tree to help you work that out too and a map which pinpoints many of the locations - see the Family Tree and Maps pages on the tabs above. These are works in progress which are constantly evolving.
If you are a part of this fascinating family (or even if you're not, but are interested), I would love to hear from you!
