History
Introduction
I have found it only too true that if family stories are passed down by word of mouth, invariably the stories are forgotten or only half-remembered. For instance one story of my mother's was that my Great-grandfather Kennedy as a baby was playing on the shore in Gibraltar, where his father was stationed as a gunner in the Artillery, he was rescued from drowning just in time from the tide coming in. In fact during my research into the family history I learnt that Great-grandfather Kennedy wasn't born until his father was transferred back to Woolwich Arsenal so the story while not a complete lie had presumably been told of one of his older siblings possibly Robert who was born in Gibraltar - Then again young ears tend to shut off when the older generation are telling their tales. "Oh God, here he goes again, we must have heard this story a hundred times!" So the youngster remembers the gist of the story but names, places and dates are inconveniently forgotten. I know, because I was one of those youngsters and recently I have been racking my brains trying to remember stories of the past that I heard so often from those of previous generations.
Accordingly I am writing these few notes so that future generations (if I have any) will have some understanding of the Pender/Borthwick past. You may find the following mind-numbingly boring or you might, if you are reading them sufficiently far in the future, consider that they have some value as a piece of social history, as an indication of how some old boy spent some of his leisure time in retirement after the lady next door at No. 21 Cammo Gardens (Mrs Moyra Wood) presented him with her deceased husband's old Amstrad word processor when she heard that he had thoughts of obtaining a computer. I have had hours of fun with the Amstrad, it is amazing how much comes to mind when one is, writing one's history. What disappears however is people's names at least it is so with me though others don't seem to have the same difficulty. A friend of ours Charles Rodgers who is 84 seems to be able to recall names from the past with comparative ease! or perhaps it is just those names he remembers that we get to hear!
The above was written in 1998 while Charles was still alive. It is now 2000 and Charles is alas no longer with us. My two sons have presented me with this much more up-to-date computer and I am back to struggling manfully with the technology, and the fun continues. Anyway if you, dear reader, get anything like the enjoyment from this little history that I got in recalling it, it will all have been worthwhile.
Burnett Borthwick Pender, 23 Cammo Gardens, Barnton, Edinburgh, May 2000
- The Story of the Penders and the Borthwicks...
- The Story of the Stevensons and the Reynolds...
- The Search for David Borthwick....
- John Pender's War...
