The story behind why some humble cottages near the harbour were named after an accident at sea.
Featured Articles
Museum Blog: Poor relief
Many people researching their family will have found out that not everyone enjoyed financial stability, wealth, social status, or home ownership. Some
may have faced homelessness or poverty through no fault of their own. This week’s Museum Blog details Museum resources available for research into the lives of these unfortunate people. Blog 10, Poor relief
Museum Blog: Valuation Rolls and Sasine records
If you are doing either family history research or researching your home both the Valuation roles and the Sasine records may be of interest and easily accessible for anyone who comes into the Stewartry museum.
When researching your home, the best place to start is always the deeds, and or local Planning departments. Many councils have archives for older buildings, or they can tell you who may hold the archive such as the local library archival service.
Valuation rolls hold the most information out of the two types of records. They go by property, who owns it, who lives in it, the yearly rent or value,
and if a Feu duty is to be paid also who it is paid too. They are broken down into Parishes and all the properties held by an owner are kept together. These were issued yearly so you can track a family member or address for years, through different addresses or tenants.
Jim Bell’s Blog: Atkinson Place
This article is shared from Stewartry Old Postcards and Local Snippets – Jim Bell 29/08/25
Walk down St Mary Street and tucked just out of view is a Victorian square built not for grandeur, but for grace. What we now call Atkinson Place began in 1869, when a letter postmarked London arrived at Kirkcudbright Kirk Session bearing £200 and a simple wish: to build “one or more Alms Houses with some of the comforts of Prince Albert’s model cottages.” The donor asked only for public receipt—their identity veiled in modesty.
Over the next decade, more anonymous gifts arrived, eventually totalling £3,500. By 1880, construction was complete: sixteen little cottages, arranged in three neat sides, entered by wrought-iron gates inscribed with “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The benefactor was later revealed as Edward Atkinson, a Kirkcudbright native and manager of the Provincial Bank of England—and uncle to artist E. A. Hornel, adding a touch of artistic lineage to the tale.
Museum Blog: Stone Tools
At the time of writing this the Stewartry Museum has two displays containing Axe Heads and Axe hammers. There is a permanent display in the Archaeology cabinets and a temporary exhibition on archaeology and Treasure Trove.
The items in the temporary exhibit contain a collection of axe heads once the property of E A Hornell. Although most widely known for his art, he was also a keen Antiquarian and very interested in the archaeology of the area. In the display alongside Hornel’s donation are donations from Captain Hope and other locals.
Jim Bell’s Blog: Why does Galloway have a Shire and a Stewartry?
In medieval Scotland, territorial administration evolved around two primary offices: the sheriff and the steward. While their jurisdictions often shared similar aims – maintaining justice, raising revenue, and representing royal authority – the manner of governance and the origin of each office diverged markedly.
Most counties, or shires, were overseen by sheriffs, royal officers tasked with enforcing the king’s laws, presiding over courts, issuing warrants, and later becoming embedded in the evolving national judiciary. Their authority typically stretched across a cluster of parishes and was formalised in writs and recorded judgments. Wigtownshire is one such example, where sheriffdom extended west of the River Cree.
By contrast, Stewartries emerged where the steward, rather than the sheriff, exercised control. Stewards administered Crown lands or territories under direct royal oversight, managing not only justice but also finances, rents, and estate affairs. In 1369, Archibald the Grim, newly invested as Earl of Douglas, placed eastern Galloway under a steward based at Kirkcudbright. This act defined the region as The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, a name that has persisted long after the administrative function dissolved.
Museum Blog: Commemorative China.
Many of us have something in the house that commemorates some major historical event. For example a thimble marking Charles and Diana’s wedding or a mug marking the late Queen’s coronation.
This week’s Stewartry Museum Blog describes the Commemorative items held there.
Museum Blog: Memorial Plaques
Many households will have a prized Memorial Plaque along with a Princess 
Mary gift box which both date from WW1. Around the picture the legend reads “He died for freedom and honour”, or for the approximately 600 plaques issued to commemorate women, “She died for freedom and honour”.
This week’s Blog looks at the plaques which can be found in the Museum
In the public exhibition, the museum has on display five Memorial plaques. Four of these are for lads born in the area, the fifth for a lad who had family connections here. Each bearing a name.
Also known as a Dead Man’s Penny or a Widow’s Penny, they were sent out for each person who died in battle in World War 1. Some were still being issued into the 1930’s for those who died from injuries they received in the war.