I’ve enjoyed several overseas holidays and almost all have included somewhere related to my family history. On one occasion I even planned my itinerary specifically to follow the path my ancestors took as they gradually moved south from Aberdeen to Montrose and Arbroath. It was a bit like travelling through time, exploring some of the places my relatives lived, worked and walked, using addresses I’d found in records.

Aberdeen

Starting with a few days in Aberdeen, walking along the Esplanade I experienced the bitter, cold winds off the North Sea. I couldn’t help imagining what it must have been like for my 4x great-grandfather, James Reid, who was a salmon fisherman there.

When James married my 4x great-grandmother Janet Pyper, the banns were read in the parish of Old Machar. The historic St Machar’s Cathedral building, now located in the Old Aberdeen district, dates back to the early 15th century, and is on a site used by the church for hundreds of years before that. The history and atmosphere are palpable.

Old cobbled streets lead to Wrights’ and Coopers’ Place where woodworkers and barrel makers traded. My 4x great-grandfather John Smith may well have visited there in the course of his job as a carter for Gilcomston Brewery. He married my 4x great-grandmother Elspet Bain at St Nicholas, which dates back many years, and where the kirkyard includes the graves of people who share names with my family.

James Reid and Janet Pyper’s son, also named James, was the one who moved south with his family sometime around 1878. As I travelled by train along what was probably the same route my 3x great-grandparents took, the landscape changed, becoming less stark. I also got a better sense of the distance between places and what the experience might have been like in years past.

Arbroath

In Arbroath I wandered through the ruins of Arbroath Abbey, which was founded in 1178 and is where the Declaration of Arbroath proclaimed Scottish independence from England in 1320.

I walked along the waterside, and ate an Arbroath Smokie lunch. And I found the war memorial where my 2x great-granduncle is remembered, the houses where his family lived, and the Ogilvie Place house where his parents, my 3x great-grandparents, lived their final years. On the High Street I found where another 3x great-grandmother, Mary Joss, lived before she married.

Montrose

There were other ancestors who also moved south. My 4x great-grandparents James Joss and Helen Addison were both were born in Banffshire, where James was a gardener. They had a large family and were in their forties when they moved to Montrose in the early 1870s. The Reid and Joss families became linked when my 2x great-grandparents married. William Ritchie, was James Joss’ grandson and Margaret Reid was James Reid’s daughter.

In Montrose I saw the house on Braoch Road where my grandmother was born, and another on King Street where her father lived. Walking a heritage trail around town and along the coast I explored coastal paths, the estuary known as Montrose Basin, and many other places my relatives would have known.

Planning a family history trip

If you’re a family historian I highly recommend planning a trip to places your ancestors lived. It will give you insight into their lives, and a different kind of context for your research. Here are some tips:

• Take time to prepare before you leave because it will save you time and help you know what it is you want to accomplish on the trip
• Make a list of places significant to your family (e.g. addresses from the census, churches where relatives were married, cemeteries where they were buried)
• When you create your itinerary allow plenty of time wherever you go because you’re bound to find something extra you want to see or delve into
• When booking accommodation search online to see if you can find somewhere that connects with your relatives or where they lived
• Print and take a copy of your family tree for easy reference
• Search online for printable heritage trails or apps you can download for the places you’re visiting
• If you want to visit an archive or record centre make sure you check whether you need to book or register in advance for a reader’s ticket
• If you plan on visiting a cemetery to look for a relative’s grave it’s useful to see what you can discover online first
• When you arrive make time to go to the local library or history museum and speak to the locals because you never know what gems they could share (find out their opening hours beforehand and remember they might be limited)
• Get out and walk around – it’s the best way to explore

Select references

‘Heritage Trail Old Aberdeen: A Guide to old Aberdeen’, Aberdeen City Council, pamphlet, 2013.

The Cathedral Church of St Machar, https://www.stmachar.com/, accessed 12 July 2025.

‘Kirk of St Nicholas Uniting Aberdeen’, Scotland’s Churches Trust, https://www.scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/church/kirk-of-st-nicholas-uniting-aberdeen/, accessed 12 July 2025.

‘Mercat Cross’, Visit Aberdeen, https://www.visitabdn.com/listing/mercat-cross, accessed 12 July 2025.

‘Arbroath Abbey’, Visit Scotland, https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/arbroath-abbey-p247571, accessed 12 July 2025.

‘The Declaration of Arbroath’, National Records of Scotland, https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/learning-and-events/the-declaration-of-arbroath/, accessed 12 July 2025

‘Montrose Heritage Trail’, Visit Angus, https://visitangus.com/get-inspired/heritage-trails/montrose-heritage-trail/, accessed 13 July 2025.

‘Montrose Basin’, Scottish Wildlife Trust, https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserve/montrose-basin/, accessed 13 July 2025.

‘History of MoHUB (Montrose YMCA)’, MoHUB, https://www.mohub.co.uk/?p=929, accessed 13 July 2025.

‘William Lamb’s Minesweeper’, ArtUK, https://artuk.org/learn/learning-resources/william-lambs-minesweeper, accessed 13 July 2025.