Letter sent to Mrs Rosanna Currie (nee Clement) in 1833

In 2005 my sister Lis came into possession of letters and documents relating to the Currie family between 1819 and 1942, which had been left to her by our grandmother's cousin Leslie.

Leslie had become very interested in the family history, drawing up her version of the family tree and making some attempts to trace the Scottish side of the ancestry. We were sure that there was much information to be gained from the letters, which were all jumbled together, many in their original envelopes, so we began by putting them into chronological order and tried to piece together little bits of information. After lots of "You don't suppose this could be..." and "Wait a minute, where was that bit about..." the story of the family began to come together.

But in the way of these things, all that happened was that we were left with even more puzzles to solve in an endless and insatiable quest for knowledge about our ancestors. Yes, the genealogical Pandora has been well and truly let out of its box and there is no going back. So in an attempt to share what we have found with relatives that we know about and those that we don't, this website has been created.

The will of John Kirkpatrick, uncle of James Currie

The Family Overview lists all the people for whom we have information. Clicking a person's name will give you biographical information for that person (and sometimes for that person's immediate family too if they are a distant relative). As well as the Currie families in Dumfries, England, Canada and South Africa, we have some information on the in-laws - the Clement family from Balmaclellan in Kirkcudbright in Scotland and the Johnston family from Leslie (Fife, Scotland) and Canada.

The Family Story link leads you to an attempt to tie together the individual biographies into a chronological account of the extended family.

As well as the family letters we also have:

• Detailed household accounts for Alexander Currie's family spanning a lengthy period in the mid-1800s
• Minutes of the Young Men's Christian Association from the late 1800s
• Books of sermons from Rev John Johnston of Leslie in Fife
• Letters relating to the voyage of Yacht Tai-Mo-Shan in 1933-34 from Hong Kong to England

We have not really begun to look at most of these yet.

If you are interested in knowing more about any of the source documents listed or have any other information to share or questions to ask, please email Jo jo@curriefamily.org.uk