A bit of a challenge? You bet!
What do you do if you want to write a true story that is fifty to a hundred years old, with few written references or published photographs? That was the problem that faced me when I decided to write the story of The Buttercup and it's remarkable founder, Andrew Ewing, who gave away a fortune in his wish to die a poor man.
I knew the basic story, since I was born and brought up on Andrew Ewing's farm and my grandparents had told me the tale - but there was barely enough for an article, never mind a book, and all I had to illustrate it, were a few family photographs. The only answer was to track down down and interview those who worked for the company and the nieces and nephews of Andrew Ewing - for he had no children. But how, and also, many would be well into old age, since Andrew Ewing died in 1956?
I must have been mad to take on the challenge but I then commenced a three year period of research, which involved appealing for information in every local newspaper in Scotland and going through the birth death and marriage records of the Ewing family.I was lucky, since enough former employees responded to my appeal - some well into their nineties - and amazingly I eventually found most of Andrew Ewing's nieces and nephews. However,for a long time, key pieces of the story were missing and it took me ages to find Andrew Ewing's family photos.
To make my task even harder, I had decided to write the book as a story - which is a bit of a problem when there are key pieces missing and you can't just make it up!
Eventually and amazingly it all came together, but then came the next problem - I had to publish quickly since so many of the people who had contributed were very old and I wanted them to see it. But that's another story and subject for a later blog!The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company
I knew the basic story, since I was born and brought up on Andrew Ewing's farm and my grandparents had told me the tale - but there was barely enough for an article, never mind a book, and all I had to illustrate it, were a few family photographs. The only answer was to track down down and interview those who worked for the company and the nieces and nephews of Andrew Ewing - for he had no children. But how, and also, many would be well into old age, since Andrew Ewing died in 1956?
I must have been mad to take on the challenge but I then commenced a three year period of research, which involved appealing for information in every local newspaper in Scotland and going through the birth death and marriage records of the Ewing family.I was lucky, since enough former employees responded to my appeal - some well into their nineties - and amazingly I eventually found most of Andrew Ewing's nieces and nephews. However,for a long time, key pieces of the story were missing and it took me ages to find Andrew Ewing's family photos.
To make my task even harder, I had decided to write the book as a story - which is a bit of a problem when there are key pieces missing and you can't just make it up!
Eventually and amazingly it all came together, but then came the next problem - I had to publish quickly since so many of the people who had contributed were very old and I wanted them to see it. But that's another story and subject for a later blog!The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company
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