Council Member, Society Treasurer, Membership Secretary
& former Webmaster.
The following article was published
in the 2007 edition of the Clach A’ Choilich (Vol. 6,No. 2)
The New Clan
Treasurer
The question that I am asked most
often by Society members is “Why is a ‘Hedges’ the Treasurer
of the Clan MacThomas Society”. After all, the surname Hedges
does not feature too prominently on the list of Sept
names!
The answer is simple. My late
mother was a Thoms – indeed she joined the Society in 1973
shortly before her early death. She came from a branch of the
family that had moved from Scotland to Manchester and from
there to Clevedon in Somerset which is in the south west of
England.
The family home in Clevedon was
called “Mar Lodge” – we presume it was named after the house
of the same name near Braemar. Those of you who attended the
clan society anniversary gathering in 2004 may recall that we
visited the original “Mar Lodge” and its astonishing Stag
Ballroom. The property in Clevedon has long since been knocked
down to make way for a bus station. However the name lives on
– my brother has called his house in Devon “Mar
Lodge”.
I regularly read of the problems
that members have trying to trace their family trees. I have
been extremely fortunate in this regard since I have inherited
the family bibles inscribed with details of births, marriages
and deaths and also copious family papers. From these it has
been extremely easy to establish that I am the Great Great
Grandson of George Thoms, the brother of Patrick Hunter
MacThomas Thoms, the 15th Chief of the Clan. I do not think
that it is a coincidence that my second forename is also
Patrick.
I joined the Society in 2003 having
found reference to it whilst sorting through family papers. I
subsequently attended the 2004 Gathering in Glenshee.
Following appeals in newsletters, I decided to volunteer to
give a little of my time to assist the Society. Following a
meeting with the President at my home in Fleet, I agreed to
take on the role of Treasurer in October 2006. In his message
in this edition of the Clach A’ Choilich Finegand states that
he is not sure that I knew what I had taken on. He is not
wrong. The good news is that I shall be retiring from full
time employment in less than eighteen months time and should
then have more time to devote to
the task.
Jon P.
Hedges
An
update
In the event Jon
eventually retired in February 2012 - delayed by IT
problems!!
