On Friday 13th November 2009, I entered into a bet with Mr Grant Duthie on which party would win the next UK General Election, to be held probably in May 2010.

He bet £20 that the Conservative Party would form the next government. I countered his bet saying that the Labour Party will win the next election.

Follow the progress of this blog, and watch Mr Grant Duthie lose his pennies.

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The poll standings as of 15th November 2009 (Yougov poll):

Conservative Party - 41%
Labour Party - 27%
Lib Dems - 18%
Others - 14%.

(ICM Poll):
Conservative Party - 39%
Labour Party - 25%
Liberal Democrats - 17%
Others - 19%

Robert Strachan, my great great grandfather, was born on the 11th October 1868 in thr countryside surrounding Old Deer. He was the eldest of 17 children to a farm labourer Robert Strachan. By the age of 14, forced by the death of his mother, he was working as a farm labouer to support the family wage.

In 1890 he met and married Bella Birnie (1870-1959) in Fraserburgh. By this time he was employed as a carter. Their first son, also Robert, was born in 1891. A second son, Alexander, was born and died in infancy in 1895. George was born in 1900, and a daughter Elsie was born in 1906. By the turn of the century Robert had chnged employment again, finding work as an engineer with the herring fleet.

When war broke out in 1914, his expertise as an engineer say him drafted into the Royal Naval Reserve. About 50% of fishermen would be drafted into the RNR. Robert himself was probably too old to be of any use to enlist in the army. He was not the only member of his family to go off to war. His eldest son Robert had been in the regular army since 1911. As a result, he was one of the first soldiers to cross to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. His younger son George volunteered for war services locally.

In the meantime, Robert Snr spent most of his time at sea trying to clear the mines left by the German Fleet. This was essential to prevent the population of Britain from survival. Every now on then he was granted home leave to be with his family. The war ended for Robert on the 11th October 1917. His vessel struck a mine just off the Isle of Man. It is likely that Robert's vessel, HMT Waltham, struck a mine dropped by the u-boat UC-75 - Commanded by the infamous Commander Johannes Lohs. At the time of death, Robert's widow was pregnant. She gave birth to a son in January 1918.

Robert Strachan is remembered on the war memorial at Fraserburgh Old Parish Church. It seems that he is also mentioned twice on the Fraserburgh War Memorial. As well as this he is listed on the War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle and at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. He is also remembered by his death plaque, awarded by the Government to his family. This plaque has been in my possession since January 2009.

Given that I've been doing my family tree for a year and a bit, I have found some fairly famous people, some local, some national. I will update whenever I can be arsed.

The first of my famous ancestors:

Dr. James Sharp, Archbishop of St. Andrews, Primate of Scotland.

Scottish 'Presbyterian' minister who signed the National Covenant of 1638. In 1660 he was appointed Archbishop of St. Andrews by the newly restored King Charles II. His appointment by the King was largely due to his co-operation in bringing aboutan Episcopalian form of church government to Scotland. For this he was seen as a traitor to the Presbyterian cause and made many enemies. In May 1679, his coach was stopped by a group of Scottish Covenanters who hacked him to pieces in front of his daughter. He is still regarded as a villan in the history of Scotland.

He is my greatx10 Grandfather.