Seventh Generation 
Seventh Generation Laurence Hughson had great skills as a navigator as told on page 38 of "Out Skerries and Island Community" by Joan Dey, her source being "The Sixern Days" J.J. Laurenson. New Shetlander No 70 (1964)
"Navigation was with the help of warts and toogs, small mounds of stones on the high points of the land. Other prominent features were used to provide meids (or meads), crossbearings whereby a good fishing ground or the site of a dangerous wreck could be pinpointed.
In bad weather, when land was not visible there were other methods.The story is told of Laurence Hughson of Skerries, a man small of stature but great intelligence, who performed a marvellous piece of navigation returning from the framhaaf - deep sea fishing grounds. In dense fog, with his boat full of fish, he told his men to pull away but not to speak to him. He scanned the water intently. They rowed. They knew he was taking them in by the "moder-dy", an underlying swell in the sea which he used as a guide. They rowed, apparently blind for seven hours and landed dead on course. His grateful crew gave him an unwonted vote of thanks: "Weel done, Laurence. We aye kent du wis a guid man, an so shaas on da day."
Laurence married Barbara COUTTS on 5 Sep 1774 in Mid And Sth Yell, Shetland, Sct.
Their children were:
32 i. William HUGHSON (born on 21 Nov 1774 - died before 1851)
Barbara married Laurence HUGHSON on 5 Sep 1774 in Mid And Sth Yell, Shetland, Sct.
Henry married Janet PETERSON about 1779.
Their children were:
34 i. Charles HENDERSON (born on 6 May 1785 Grutton, Fetlar, Shi, Sct - died aft 1851, Bef 1871)
ii. Innes HENDERSON ()
Janet married Henry JAMIESON about 1779.
In 1809 the conditions in Shetland were as poor as they had ever been,a time of poverty, harassment from the Press Gang and the thralldom of fishing tenures at it's height. The Mathewson family on their croft at Houll lived like all their neighbours in the shadows of these dark days.
Laurence who was not a fisherman and his family were evicted from their croft in Houll to make room for a tenant who was prepared to fish for the laird. The Mathewsons with their possessions, including 300 sheep moved to the island of Fetlar - four miles away and more fertile than Yell.
In October 1813 Laurence and his son Andrew were summonsed to the Manse where they went with great trepidation as a summons to the Manse usually meant a rebuke for some breach of Church law. But on this occasion it was to inform them that Andrew at the age of 14 years had been chosen to teach young people at the north end of the isle.
Laurence married Marion FORDYCE in 1782.
Their children were:
35 i. Barbara MATHEWSON (born on 22 Jul 1785 Shetland, Sct - died before 1871)
ii. Andrew Dishington MATHEWSON (born on 2 Apr 1799 Houll North-A-Voe Mid Yell, Shi, Sct)
Andrew Dishington Mathewson is featured in chapter 9, Page 83 -105 of the book " A vehement thirst after Knowledge" by John Graham. Andrew's mother's side of the family had a strong tradition of literacy which was unusual in those days of limited education.
His Aunt Dorothy Fordyce "was the first that told me of Sir Isaac Newton and the wonders of Astronomy" and it was she who taught him to read so that by the age of five he had read the whole of Proverbs and the New Testament, could write and do some basic arithmetic.
This was a remarkable achievement in Yell in 1804 with no organised education. Other parents in the district hearing of this prodigy brought their children and he was instructing pupils to read from the bible at the age of six years old.
His education at the knee of his mother and Aunt was supplemented at first by the well informed old men in the district who collected an audience at every opportunity on the long winter nights to pass on their knowledge in the absence of books and apparatus.
In 1809 Andrew moved to the island of Fetlar with his family who had been evicted from Houll because they were not fishermen. This proved fortunate for Andrew as there was a school operating in Fetlar. In 1813 he was chosen as a teacher to young people at the north end of the isle, a post he accepted and taught there for three winters.
He was a gifted calligraphist and some of his coloured books with examples of penmanship had been sent to the manse together with hand printed Collects he had made from a prayer-book sent home by his brother Arthur who had enlisted in the army. Andrew did further study in maths in Unst and under Alexander Marshall of Edinburgh and others which led to his lifetime commitment as a teacher in the newly established parochial school in Yell.
He complained "I have to teach Alphabet to one class and Great Circle Sailing, the longitude and Sea-Charts to the other" He preferred teaching advanced work to older pupils than to be "chained"as he put it "to plod on with helpless infants in the alphabet". His reputation as a teacher of navigation attracted pupils from all over Shetland.
His lack of financial rewards for his teachings forced him to undertake private marine and land surveying work during vacations and then beyond the vacations which resulted in absences from his school leading to reports that the school was being neglected. This caused many conflicts which sadly led to the end of an extraordinary teaching career of 56 years.
He had been a lynch-pin of the community as session clerk, precentor, Sabbath School teacher, registrar, postmaster, apothecary, surveyor and frequently organised protests and petitions for better local conditions. He was a highly talented teacher and original thinker far ahead of his day.
iii. Sarah MATHEWSON (born on 20 Dec 1782)
iv. Ann MATHEWSON (born on 12 Aug 1788)
v. Arthur MATHEWSON (born on 25 Dec 1790)
vi. Thomas MATHEWSON (born about 1793 - died about 1793)
vii. Janet Margaret MATHEWSON (born on 17 Jun 1795)
viii. Robina MATHEWSON (born on 29 Jul 1803)
Marion was evicted from the croft where she was living in Houll and crossed over to the isle of Fetlar - four miles away with the family, her possessions including three hundred sheep. Her son Andrew Dishington Mathewson, who was a school -master for 56 years credited his mother's family with having a strong tradition of education at a time when literacy was not for everyone. She and her sister Dorothy taught Andrew ( and most likely all her children) to read the Scriptures and do basic maths.
Marion married Laurence MATHEWSON in 1782.
William married Prudence TONKIN on 23 Jun 1781 in St Agnes, Con, Eng.
Their children were:
i. Ann LANGDON (born on 19 May 1782 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
ii. Nicholas LANGDON (born on 18 Oct 1783 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
iii. Mary LANGDON (born on 8 Mar 1789 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
48 iv. John LANGDON (born on 22 Apr 1792 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
v. Thomas LANGDON (born on 13 Mar 1796 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
vi. Joseph LANGDON (born on 13 Mar 1796 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
vii. Betcy LANGDON (born on 29 Jun 1799 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
viii. William LANGDON (born on 13 Feb 1803 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
ix. Prudence LANGDON (born on 25 Nov 1804 St Agnes, Con, Eng)
Prudence married William LANGDON on 23 Jun 1781 in St Agnes, Con, Eng.
James married Mary STEPHENS on 21 Mar 1782 in St Agnes, Con, Eng.
Their children were:
Mary married James WATERS on 21 Mar 1782 in St Agnes, Con, Eng.
James married Mary JENKINS.
Their children were:
52 i. William TRELOAR (born in 1785 - died on 4 Feb 1851 in Helston, Con, Eng)
Mary married James Henry TRELOAR.
Thomas married Mary BOLITHO on 3 Jun 1786 in Wendron, Con, Eng.
Their children were:
53 i. Charity MOYLE (born in 1796 Helston, Con, Eng - died in 1876)
Mary married Thomas MOYLE on 3 Jun 1786 in Wendron, Con, Eng.
John married Judith HARRY.
Their children were:
Judith married John TRENGROUSE.
Seventh Generation Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List
This Web Site was Created 18 May 2002 with Legacy 4.0 from Millennia