The Russells of Westfield |
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There are widely differing views regarding the 'here-after', but it can safely be said that the work of the family historian, at a minimum, provides a 'here-after' for the living and reduces the potential for the spirit of our loved-ones to be lost forever. When I first became interested in the history of my family, I was told that my paternal line descended from coal miners from Scotland. This conjured up images of hardy individuals working in harsh conditions as depicted in films relating the struggles of miners to unionize in the eastern U.S. What I didn't know at that time was that these miners had relatively good conditions when compared with their Scottish forebears. My first effort to extend our family history led me to naively write to the Postmaster of Westfield, Clackmannanshire, Scotland and found that I received no reply. During subsequent visits to the scrubland between Clackmannan and the Forth, I found that there was scant sign of the Craigrie pit and none at all of the settlement of Westfield. Local enquiries and examination of the archive of the local library produced only minimal information regarding the settlement which numbered over 200 at the time of the 1850 census and none at all other than the Old Parish Records regarding the thousands of individuals who lived there during it's more than 200 years of existence. This Web site is dedicated to those hardy men and women who lived in the all too quickly forgotten mining settlements of Scotland who have not as yet found their 'here-after.' |
Westfield Non-Russell births (1762-1799) added since last update.
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