"Elie, Fife and Edinburgh, Scotland"

"UK showing Bristol and Edinburgh"

"Elie parish is situated on the Firth of Forth around Elie Bay.  It is bounded on the north and west by Kilconquhar and on the east by Abercrombie.  It is 1 mile from east to west and 1 mile in breadth, with an area of 1590 acres.  1470 acres are under cultivation, 70 acres are wooded, and 40 acres are waste land lying near the shore, being little better than a bed of sand. There are no hills.  It is watered by a small stream which issues from Kilconquhar Loch and empties into Elie harbour.  The soil is of an average quality. The rent of land is from £1 to £4-5/- per acre.  Although coals are not wrought now in the parish, it bears ample proof of this having been done at a former period.  Coals are now brought from another parish or imported from Newcastle.  There is a Free Church but no U P church.  There are 2 small schools besides a parish school.  With few exceptions the inhabitants are sober, industrious, moral and religious.  Elie Burgh is a Burgh of Barony.  It is neat, clean, well-built and has a fine appearance.  The harbour is good, safe and well sheltered from W and SW gales.  A few fishermen live in the village, and go along the coast for white fish.  Grain, potatoes and other produce are taken to Leith weekly; and other mercantile goods are brought back in return.  The Aberdeen and Dundee steamboats stop at the harbour twice a week to land and take in passengers. The nearest market is Colinsburgh, 2.5 miles distant, which is also the post town, although there is a sub-post office in the village. The parish church and school are here.  There is one inn, a good subscription library and a friendly society called the Sea Box.  From the fine clean sands few places in the Firth are better adapted for sea bathing, hence in summer it is much resorted to for that purpose.  It is 5 miles from Anstruther, 13 from St Andrews and 15 from Cupar."  [From 'A descriptive & historic gazeteer of the counties of Fife, Kinross & Clackmannan', M Barbieri, published 1857].

"Kilconquhar (pronounced Kinnuchar) is bounded by Elie, Cameron, Ceres, St Monans, Carnbee, Newburn, Largo and the River Forth.  It is 9 miles from north to south and 2 miles in breadth.  There are 2900 acres under cultivation, 1600 under pasture, 800 under wood and about 200 acres of links. Kilconquhar Loch, nearly 2 miles in circumference, boasts some of the largest eel and pike in the country.  It is also frequented by a large quantity of duck, teal and swans.  There are 1450 cattle and over 500 horses, the latter being reared for the market and sold at 4 years old. There are 24 thrashing mills.  Coal is abundant in the parish.  Nearly 300 persons are employed weaving dowlasses, checks and sheetings for the Kirkland, Kirkcaldy and Dundee markets; yet there are no spinning mills nor manufactures in the parish.  Besides the Church at Kilconquhar, there is a chapel of ease at Largoward, and UP churches at Kilconquhar and Colinsburgh.  There is a parish school and 6 others.  There are 12 public houses.  Earlsferry village and royal burgh consists of a single street with bye lanes, intimately joined with Elie.  The inhabitants are weavers, fishers and colliers.  Colinsburgh is a burgh of barony under the Balcarres family.  Its main industry is leather currying.   Kilconquhar village also has a tan-works."  [From 'A descriptive & historic gazeteer of the counties of Fife, Kinross & Clackmannan', M Barbieri, published 1857].

Bristol, city, municipal and parliamentary borough, seaport, and county of itself, chiefly in Gloucestershire but partly in Somerset, at the confluence of the rivers Avon and Frome, 6 miles from the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth and 120 miles west of London by rail, the port being 29 miles from Cardiff, 70 from Swansea, 245 from Dublin, 255 from Cork, and 325 from Liverpool; municipal borough, 4632 acres, population 206,874; parliamentary borough, population 253,906.  Bristol is built on a number of eminences, and has a fine appearance.    It contains important institutions, religious, educational, and charitable.  It has several fine churches, notably the Cathedral (1142-1160), and the church of St Mary Redcliffe.  It includes the suburbs of Clifton Down, a magnificent suspension bridge spans the river Avon, having an elevation of 245 ft. above the high water mark.  From an early date Bristol has been a seaport of great importance, its position being very favourable to commerce.  In the reign of Henry II it carried on trade with the north of Europe, and between 1239 and 1247 there was occasion for enlarging and improving the accommodation for the shipping.  There are now extensive docks, not only within the city itself, but also at Avonmouth on the north side of the mouth of the river, and at Portishead on the south side; both these harbours being in direct communication with the city by railway.  The coasting trade is of great magnitude, steamers plying regularly between Bristol and Cardiff, Swansea, London, Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, and Glasgow; while the foreign trade extends to nearly all parts of the world.  Bristol has manufacturers of glass, soap, and earthenware; shipbuilding, tanning, and sugar-refining; and extensive chemical and engineering works.  Bristol returns 4 members to Parliament - 4 divisions: West, North, East, and South, 1 member for each division; the parliamentary limits were extended in 1885 so as to include the local government districts of St George, Horfield, and Stapleton, and an additional part of the parish of Bedminster.  It returned 2 members till 1885.  [Bartholemew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887]

Comment: This is a small Branch and it looks as though the earliest ancestor, William Hyndmarsh, was a migrant from England, probably Alnwick, Northumberland.  There appears to have been a tanning industry at Kilconquhar, which borders Elie, and this may be the link since tanning was an important occupation in Alnwick at the time.  It is also interesting to note that James Hindmarsh, William's son, was a "bootmaker" which gives further credibility to the hypothesis.

You may view the family tree for this Branch here.