Christina Mackay at Fraserburgh

Date Added: 06 February 2018 Year: 1949 Institution Name: dnhhl Cat No: ◀ | 2017_035_30 | ▶ Picture No: 13622

Monochrome photograph of Christina Mackay ready for work at Fraserburgh.

Dimensions: digital image

Groups: Hidden Gems

1 Comment

Christina is, and was always known in Embo as Christina aigh Chiney. She had an older sister Bella aigh Chiney and a younger sister Barrie aigh Chiney. Chiney was their maternal grandfather Alexander Fraser, who lived at 6 King Street, Embo in the time of the 1911 census. It is said that Alexander had the nickname Chiney because in his youth he worked with a Chinese trader who visited Embo.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s Christine emigrated to Australia with her husband and two children, but tragically her husband drowned in the sea there while swimming shortly after their arrival there. She returned to Embo in about 1964 with her children. I last spoke Christina in Tain in August 2016 when she was from Embo, shopping at the supermarket there. I was on then on holiday from South Africa. Christina's mother, Mary Ann Fraser, was a fist cousin of my mother, Mary Ann Mackay (nee Cumming).
In this photograph Christina, from her work clothing, was obviously working in Fraserburgh as part of an Embo herring packing team. There were many such teams from Embo which followed the herring season at fishing ports in Scotland and England. A packing team normally consisted of two gutters and one packer, and to my knowledge were always staffed by women. Comment left on 07 February 2018 at 09:42 by Kenneth Mackay Many thanks for your comment. We are collecting stories from the Embo fishing days and have had the privilege of interviewing Christina and Bella about their days working with the herring boats. If you have any fishing stories that you may wish to contribute please email at enquiries@historylink.org.uk. We would love to hear them. Administrator

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