Virtute Parta

Virtute Parta

Saturday 15 January 2011

A Halliday! A Halliday! Lets Get Organised

Ok,enough procrastination,lets get a proper global communication going between all Hallidays with roots in Scotland and lets see where we share our heritage and family connections. Due to other genealogy commitments I have let this lapse but with the New Year I am determined to get the ball rolling and see what develops. I will continue to post historical,biographical and genealogical stories of interest and will welcome enquiries from others.We have several members of the clan in Australia,NewZealand,Canada and USA who have done a considerable amount of research and now we really need to share that with others.
I am currently writing an MSc thesis  The Fiction of Identity; Has Scottish Literature Invented My Family History ? which takes a close critical examination of the writings of mostly 19th century antiquarians and how they invented what we believe to be the Halliday family history.
How many times have you seen written on the web and in publications that:
  1.  Tom Halliday of Corehead was the nephew of William Wallace
  2.  They had a tower/castle at Corehead
  3. The Halliday family took part in the Crusades
  4. They were Border Reivers
  5. They were Covenanters
  6. The family gathered on Halliday Hill before embarking on a raid into England
  7. The origins of the name from a war cry,Latin,Old English etc
  8. We are descended from Picts,Celts Anglo-Saxons
Hopefully you and I will be able to set the record straight and who knows in the future compile a new up to date publication about our family history and origins. There will be another Clan gathering in Scotland in 2014 and it would be great if we could aim to join this with our other Border neighbours the Moffats and the Johnstons.Plenty to think about so please contribute with your stories and thoughts.
I can be contacted at email  chrisxhalliday@tiscali.co.uk
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