Old Photograph Glassel Scotland

Old photograph of a house at Glassel two miles South East of Torphins, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Famous people named Glassel include;

William Thornton Glassell, born January 15, 1831, died January 28, 1879, was an officer in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. He laid out the city of Orange, California. He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy from the state of Alabama on March 15, 1848. When he was still a midshipman, his ship, the St. Laurence was sent to The Great Exhibition in London, England. Lady Byron, Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron, widow of the famous Lord Byron, visited the ship and invited only Glassell to dine with her the next evening. He accepted and " had a very pleasant interview. " Promoted to lieutenant in 1855, he was aboard USS Hartford off China when the Civil War broke out. When Hartford reached Philadelphia, Glassell declined to swear an additional oath of allegiance prescribed for Southerners, and was consequently imprisoned at Fort Warren and dropped from the U.S. service. Confederate authorities issued him a lieutenant's commission, arranged his exchange, and assigned him to CSS Chicora in the Charleston Squadron. On the night of October 5, 1863, Glassell and a crew of three in the diminutive torpedo boat David attacked the most powerful ship in the United States Navy, New Ironsides. Glassell, and the other crewman were however captured and returned to Fort Warren. Glassell, while in prison, was promoted to commander for his attack on New Ironsides. Exchanged in the last six months of the war, he returned to Charleston, South Carolina. On the evacuation of that city he was transferred to Richmond, Virginia and assigned to command the ironclad Fredericksburg in the James River Squadron. With Richmond's evacuation, the squadron's personnel were reorganized as artillery and infantry, and Glassell commanded a regiment. He was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 28, 1865. Captain Glassell's health had been broken as a result of his experiences while in the Confederate Army, both by his hazardous undertaking, and subsequent capture and eighteen months in a northern military prison. He came to visit his elder brother Andrew Glassell in Los Angeles, and stayed to help in developing the Richland Tract in the capacity of surveyor. The city of Orange was founded by attorneys Andrew Glassell and Alfred Chapman. William T. Glassell died at the age of 48 in Los Angeles, unmarried and childless and is interred at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. His great nephew was George Smith Patton.



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Old Photograph Bassendean House Scotland

Old photograph of Bassendean house located south of Westruther, Borders, Scotland. The medieval village of Bassendean declined in the 17th century, and only a ruined church now remains of the settlement. The church, dedicated to St Mary, was established in the 12th century. Disused after the Scottish Reformation, it was rebuilt in 1647, but was replaced only two years later by a new church at Westruther. It subsequently became the burial ground for the Homes of Bassendean. Bassendean House has been the seat of the Homes of Bassendean since 1583. Only a fragment of the original tower house remains, although the 17th century house is still in domestic occupation. During the 1830s, the Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, Peter Broun, who had ancestral ties to Berwickshire, gave the name Bassendean to his homestead near Perth, Western Australia. By the 1920s, the surrounding suburb had also become known Bassendean and was officially renamed.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Old Photograph Saw Mill Bridge Cortachy Scotland

Old photograph of people walking on Saw Mill Bridge over River South Esk near Cortachy Castle, Scotland. The River Walk from Cortachy Bridge to the Sawmill Bridge was originally laid out in the 1870's in anticipation of a visit to Cortachy by Queen Victoria. In the event this visit never took place but the walk has been carefully and lovingly nurtured and maintained since that period. The trees were planted at that time and include Wellingtonias, Douglas, Silver Firs and Sitca Spruce. Rhododendrons were planted by successive generations of the Airlie family and in particular the azaleas facing the river came from Exbury Gardens, the home of the Rothschild family and were planted by the present Earl. The footbridge halfway between the Cortachy and Sawmill Bridges was built by estate foresters and is known as The American Bridge after the present Countess who is an American citizen.



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Old Photograph Visitor Centre Glencoe Scotland

Old photograph of the visitor centre in Glencoe on ancestry visit to the Highlands of Scotland. This famous Scottish Glen was the site the of the famous Massacre of Glencoe which began simultaneously in three settlements along the glen at Invercoe, Inverrigan, and Achnacon, although the killing took place all over the glen as fleeing MacDonalds were pursued. 38 MacDonalds from the Clan MacDonald of Glen Coe were killed by Campbell guests who had accepted their hospitality. This Highland location featured a lot in Skyfall the James Bond movie, mainly because it is the most famous Scottish glen and one of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. Harry Potter fans will know Glencoe too. In the third film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the scenes featuring Hagrid’s hut were filmed on location in the glen. Scenes in the sixth instalment, The Half Blood Prince were also filmed here. Highlander was also filmed in Glencoe.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Old Photograph Spinningdale Mill Dornoch Firth Scotland

Old photograph of Spinningdale Mill by Dornoch Firth, Sutherland, Scotland. Spinningdale cotton mill, situated on the North shore of the Dornoch Firth was built in 1792 by George Dempster, owner of Skibo Estate, and David Dale, the successful industrialist and entrepreneur, who had already established a cotton mill complex along with Robert Owen at New Lanark. Although the site offered most of the usual requirements of a cotton mill, fast flowing burn for water power, climate damp enough to prevent cotton threads breaking, a means of importing the raw cotton, in this case by sea, the main reason for locating the factory here was to relieve poverty and unemployment. Ironically, problems with the labour force was the main reason it was not successful. There was no tradition of factory work in the Highlands and workers absented themselves at lambing, peat cutting and harvesting times. Thus, when the building was gutted by fire in 1806, it was not deemed worthwhile to rebuild it and it remained a ruin. It is now in a precarious state so best viewed from the road.



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