About  Rousay  Roots

My name is Robert C. Marwick.  I was born and raised on the beautiful island of Rousay, in Orkney, Scotland. My family tree is firmly rooted in Rousay as almost all my traceable forebears lived out their lives on this island, earning their living by farming its land and fishing the seas around it.

Rousay, and  the small neighbouring islands of Egilsay, Wyre, and Eynhallow, make up the Parish of Rousay. After I retired I researched the histories of most of the old families in  the parish and published the results in a book called Rousay Roots which ran to three editions but is now out of print

I have designed this website to help those who are seeking information about their ancestors who hailed from the parish of Rousay. 

If you are searching for Rousay ancestors, then this website is the place for you because it contains a wealth of information for you to use.

The information displayed on this site includes:-

• a copy of my book Rousay Roots which contains the family histories of most of the old families in the parish,
• seven censuses of the parish dating from 1841 to 1901,
• gravestone inscriptions from all seven cemeteries in the parish,
• a list of common surnames in the parish,
• lots of old photographs from many families,
• maps of Orkney, Rousay, Egilsay, and Wyre,
• and links to other sites of  genealogical interest.

Since 1998 another Orkney genealogy website (Genuki) has carried an offer by me to help anyone who is researching his/her Rousay ancestry. That offer has brought in hundreds of emails from residents in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and South Africa seeking information about their Rousay forebears. Many of them have followed up the discovery of their ancestors with a visit to Orkney to see where they had lived.

I have written two other books about Rousay. From My Rousay Schoolbag covers the history of schooling in the island from 1725 to the present day. It includes many reminisences of their schooldays by former pupils.  In the other volume, In Dreams We Moor, I take an affectionate look at the island of my birth. Both books are available from Brinnoven the publisher.

Robert C. Marwick

Banner photo - Wasbister is bathed in the warm glow of an Orkney sunset.

Photo shown here by courtesy of Charles Tait and Alistair Marwick  - "Saviskaill Bay and Wasbister Loch from Innister, Rousay".
Photo copyright  www.charles-tait.co.uk