Anyone descended from Culloden winners?

Published on Wednesday 12 March 2008 21:12

AT THE Battle of Culloden the 5,000-strong Jacobite army was heavily outnumbered by the government side, which had 9,000 troops.

Yet efforts to find descendants of those who fought in the clash have found plenty of volunteers lining up behind Bonnie Prince Charlie and few with Hanoverian connections.

In January, the National Trust for Scotland, the guardian of the battlefield, launched a global search for young people whose forefathers fought at Culloden.

The trust wants to encourage youngsters to research their family trees to find out if any are related to the soldiers who fought for Prince Charles Edward Stuart, or the government troops, led by the Duke of Cumberland.

The aim is to find two direct descendants to help officially open a new 9.4 million visitor centre at Culloden on 16 April.

Yesterday the trust said its search had so far uncovered several families with Jacobite connections but none with links to the government troops.

More than a dozen youngsters from Canada to Northern Ireland have sent in their family trees, revealing that families of Jacobite troops were scattered far and wide after the battle.

Alexander Bennett, the trust's Culloden project co-ordinator, said: "We always suspected that we'd receive more entries from descendants of the Jacobite troops but we'd also love to hear from people whose family fought on the government side.

"The myth that the battle was a conflict between England and Scotland is still alive today. We know, however, that many Scots fought with the government troops. Some families had members who fought on opposing sides, often against their will.

"The new centre tells the story of Culloden from the perspective of both sides of the conflict and it would be very symbolic to have representatives from both sides help us to officially open the new centre on 16 April."

The closing date for entries to the search is 19 March.

Anyone of school age who would like to take part in the competition should send their family tree by e-mail to the trust at [e-mail] or by post.

These will be scrutinised by judges, including Dr Nick Barratt of the TV genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?