I was born on 15th August 1960 in Stirling, Scotland, but spent most of my childhood living in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow. The house I grew up in was 28 Menteith Avenue, Bishopbriggs. I attended Wester Cleddens Primary School, and then Bishopbriggs High School, where my mother was Principal Teacher of English.

I left school in 1978 and went to Aberdeen University, where I gained an MA (Hons) in English in 1982. I had always intended to follow in my mother's footsteps and become an English teacher, but the year I graduated there were too many English teachers! (difficult to imagine nowadays), and so the teacher training college that year wasn't accepting people to train to teach English. I quickly had to reconsider my future, and opted for Social Work. From 1982 to 1984 I attended Edinburgh University and gained the Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work. And so, from then on I have worked in a variety of social work posts in Lanarkshire.

On 14th February 1992, I married Martin, and we now have two wonderful children, Euan and Catriona. Our household also includes two dogs (both rescued mongrels), a cat, two dwarf hamsters and a goldfish. We have over the years had other pets, including for a while 24 ducks in the back garden.

Martin, my husband, has Parkinsons Disease. He has his own website with lots of useful information for anyone affected by Parkinsons at www.martinpurchase.org.uk

Family Tree

I have been working for about a year now on our family tree. This can be found at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=fionacameron

My father was brought up in Perthshire, but his family came from Caithness - names are Cameron, Downie, Miller, McKay, Fraser, McLeod, Matheson, McDonald, Corner and Bremner.

My mother was a Keith from Aberdeen - the names on this side are Davidson, Innes, Smith, Wilson, Bruce, Robertson and Downie. The Keiths were from Peterhead before Aberdeen, and many of the family were from Aberdeenshire and Banffshire.

Martin's father was from Portsmouth. His mother has proven to be quite a mystery. Her name was Lydia Elizabeth Kerridge, born on 7th January 1901. Martin's father, Charles George Edgar Purchase, was brought up by his aunt and never knew his mother. Through Genes Reunited, we made contact with the family of a man who turned out to be George's brother, or probably half brother, who had unfortunately died. This was wonderful! We met them, and they turned out to be a lovely family with whom we have kept in touch ever since. So, Martin now has a new cousin! However, despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to find out the story of Lydia and why she couldn't care for any of her three children. We don't know what happened to her, where she went, or even where she died. So, if anybody out there knows anything at all, please get in touch!

The names on Martin's father's side of the family are Purchase, Kerridge, Savage, Young, Cole and Lemon.

Martin's mother came from Cambusnethan, Wishaw. Her family names from Lanarkshire are Mitchell, Laird, Martin, Wilson, Hamilton, Bannatyne and Bryce. Her family were from various parts of Lanarkshire, including Carmichael and Douglas.

If you have any of these names from these parts of the country and think that there might be a link with your tree, please get in touch at fmcameron@lineone.net

Lanarkshire Cecilian Orchestra

The Lanarkshire Cecilian Orchestra is the only amateur orchestra in Lanarkshire. I play violin in the orchestra, and Martin plays bass trombone. We met in the orchestra, and Harry Watson, the conductor, was our best man. This is a wonderful, friendly orchestra which has been on the go for many years, and which meets in Earnock High School each Thursday from 7-9pm, Sept to June. The website is http://www.lanarkshirececilianorchestra.org.uk/

Well, this a web site under construction, and more will be added, a bit at a time. So, I'll post this just now, and will work away at adding info, pictures etc. In the meantime, I've claimed my place on the world wide web, and hope to hear from you with comments, views, links etc.

Message Board

Here is my message board. Please leave comments! This web site is in its very early stages of construction, but if you have comments, advice, or think you might be linked to the family tree, I'd be delighted to hear from you!

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=14552