Jenny McLeod

I met Jenny many years ago. While I knew her as a history buff, I wasn’t prepared for her in-depth knowledge about her family ancestry or the detailed local history in which her ancestors, past and to some extent present, have been involved. We met at Jenny’s home, and she directed me to the lounge where our initial discussions would take place. I am not a housekeeper she remarked, which in plain view was an honest assessment. There were files, records, books with bits of paper stashed inside, birth and death certificates and newspaper cuttings piled in a near neat fashion on the floor. I am proud to enter a new word into the English language albeit briefly. There are history teachers, historians and historyolics. I have now met the latter. Her great, great, great grandfather, William Smith was born at Denbrae, Scotland and according to the 1851 census, at the age of 75, he lived at 17 Castle Street, Dundee. He is listed as a former ship owner and captain