GEORGE MACKAY BROWN Chronology

Time Line for George Mackay Brown
and his family
revamping -
thank you for your patience

1874	John Brown born in Stromness
1891	Mhairi Sheena Mackay born to Hugh and Georgina Mackay of Braal, Strathy, Sutherland
1910	June: Marriage of John and Mhairi Sheena [Mary Jane]
1911	Birth of John and Mary's first child, Ruby at Victoria Street, Stromness
1913	Birth of Hugh [Hughie]
1915	Birth of John [Jackie]
1917	Birth of Harold who died in infancy from measles
1919	Birth of Richard [Norrie] May: Ruby was in a party of school children taken out in a small boat to view the German Fleet anchored in Scapa Flow. While they were there, the Fleet was ordered to scuttle. Ruby witnessed the sinking of the ships and the sea full of German soldiers swimming for their lives.
1921	17th October: Birth of George Mackay Brown, Stromness. Lived at Clouston's Pier.
1923	and 1926: Stromness voted to remain 'dry'.
1926	George joined his brothers at Stromness Academy
1927	Hughie left school at 14, apprenticed to Stromness baker
1928	Family moved to Melvin Place, Stromness
1929	Ruby left home to train as a teacher in Aberdeen
1934	Family moved to new council estate, Wells Park, Stromness
1935	Jimmy Brown's [John's brother] body found in Stromness Harbour.
1936	December: John Brown retired due to ill health. No pension. George, aged 15, and Norrie contracted measles, which left George with permanent health difficulties.
1937	George, aged 16, stopped going to Presbyterian Church with family, and started going on his own to the Episcopalian Church.
1939	The Orkney Herald published George's sonnet 'The Hills of Hoy at Sunset' George failed first attempt at Highers. Outbreak of WW2 - 60,000 service men and women arrived on Orkney. Hughie got a job as barman in the NAAFI formed in the old Commercial Hotel. October: Sinking of HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow by a German U-boat, with the loss of 800+ men. German bombers sank HMS Iron Duke, with no loss of life.
1940	March: German bombs over Scapa Flow, first air raid casualty of the war as James Isbister was killed at the Brig o' Waithe. 11 July: John Brown died while working on Hoy. George left school, got a job sorting mail at the Stromness Post Office, service in Home Guard. Ruby married Ted Ogilvie.
1941	March: George received his call-up papers. His medical examination revealed TB. He was sent directly to the Eastbank Sanitorium in Kirkwall. October: George discharged from Eastbank but unfit for work. Between 1941 and 1945 Italian Chapel built on Lams Holm by Italian POW's. George's writing at this time shows admiring and him moving towards Catholicism.
1942	Ted Ogilvie, Ruby's husband, killed at the Battle of El Alamein.
1944	Francis Scarfe, university lecturer and published poet, billeted with George, Mary and Ruby at Wells Park. George became Stromness Correspondent for the Orkney Herald.
1945	George mounted a campaign via his column to re-open public houses in Stromness.
1946	George went to Hoy for the first time; it made a significant impression which lasted all his life. "The beauty of Rackwick struck me like a blow."
1947	Ruby married John Ross. Electricity came to Stromness. George began to have work published by The Shetlander. Nov: Stromness voted to become 'wet' again.
1948	May: First bar re-opened in Stromness Hotel. George took first flight Kirkwall to Aberdeen to visit Ian MacInnes who was studying at Grays School of Art. Grays School subsequently published some of George's poems. 'Let's see the Orkney Islands' published, George's first book.
1951	George began evening class. With grant of £150 from Orkney Council, gained a place at Newbattle Abbey, Dalkeith, Midlothian, one of 22 students under warden Edwin Muir.
1952	Edwin Muir began sending out George's poems for publication. BBC invited George to read some of his poems on a radio programme about Rackwick.
1953	April: George back in Eastbank for a year. Launched and edited hospital magazine 'Saga'.
1954	'The Storm', George's first collection of 20 poems, published by Orkney Press, illustrated by Ian MacInnes. The edition of 300 sold out in 2 weeks.
1956	24 March: Hughie died from a heart attack. Summer: George well enough to go back to Newbattle for the summer term. Autumn: with a grant from the National Teachers Training Scheme, George started a 4 year course at Edinburgh University, MA Hons in English. Began to attend mass weekly.
1957	Met Stella Cartwright in the Abbotsford Bar, Rose Street, Edinburgh. She was 20, he was 36. Norrie taught English at Portobello High School.
1959	'Loaves and Fishes' published by Hogarth Press.
1960	George suffered serious physical breakdown early in 1960, went to Orkney to recuperate. Late Spring: proposed to Stella. Early Summer: George took his finals. Mhairi arrived from Orkney for the degree ceremony. Autumn: Edinburgh University magazine 'Gambit' published George's 'Four Poems for Stella' alongside Stella's poem 'Parting'. The engagement was over, although they remained friends for the rest of their lives. September: George enrolled at Moray House College of Education to train as a teacher, with a placement at Boghall School, Bathgate. November: George collapsed with chronic bronchitis, sent to the Tor-na-Dee Sanitorium near Aberdeen.
1961	March: back to Moray House, but not for long May: left Moray House Back to Orkney by the end of the year 23 Dec: received into the Catholic Church, baptised at the Church of Our Lady and St Joseph, Kirkwall.
1962	Second collection of poems turned down by Hogarth. Started relationship with Sylvia Wishart. April: Stella Cartwright visit to Wells Park. Autumn: Post graduate grant to research Gerard Manley Hopkins. Lodged with John Broom in Bathgate, Edinburgh.
1964	June: Norrie died from heart attack during Mary's visit. Mary's health began to fail, loss of memory. July: George returned to Orkney with his mother. Sent another collection to Hogarth this time accepted.
1965	Aug: 'Year of the Whale' published. Relationship with Sylvia Wishart ended. Started to drink with renewed vigour. Dec: Scottish Arts Council offered George bursary of £750 for poetry.
1966	'Five Voyages of Arnor' published
1967	Feb: 'Calendar of Love' collection of short stories published to critical acclaim. Robert Rendall, Orcadian poet, died. Mary suffered a series of small strokes. October: Mary taken to Eastbank. November 3rd: Mary died with her family at her bedside.
1968	George received travel scholarship from Society of Authors. In May he travelled to Ireland with the photographer, Paddy Hughes. Sept: Moved to Mayburn Court. 'Twelve Poems' and 'The Wedding: a poem' published
1969	'Time to Keep' published, won Scottish Arts Council prize £1,000. Summer: 'Orkney Tapestry' published with drawings by Sylvia Wishart.
1970	May: Willa Muir died Summer: George and Peter Maxwell Davies, the composer, met for the first time in Rackwick. Max decided to renovate a croft house in Rackwick. 'A Spell for Green Corn' published.
1971	February 18: first essay published under the title 'Letter from Hamnavoe' in the Orcadian newspaper. 'Fishermen with Ploughs', 'Lifeboat and other poems', and 'Poems New and Selected' published. Katherine Mansfield Mention short story prize for title story in 'A Time to Keep'.
1972	'Greenvoe', first novel, published
1973	'Four Poems' and 'Magnus' published 'Poems' published in the USA Tanker Terminal set up on Flotta for the Piper Oil Field 100 miles to the east of Orkney. Uranium discovered close to Stromness, Mainland, Orkney
1974	Published: 'Hawkfall and other stories', 'The Two Fiddlers: tales from Orkney' illustrated by Ian MacInnes Awarded OBE. Peter Maxwell Davies moved to the renovated Bunnertoon in Rackwick.
1975	November: collection of essays from the Orcadian published under the title 'Letters from Hamnavoe'. 'Edwin Muir: a brief memoir' published in limited edition.
1976	Honorary degree from Open University [MS] Resumed essays in the Orcadian after a short gap, now under the title 'Under Brinkie's Brae'. Published: 'Winterfold', 'The Sun's Net' and 'Time in a Red Coat'.
1977	Made fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Honorary degree from Dundee University [LL.D] Midsummer: first St Magnus Festival opened in Kirkwall, Orkney, with 'The Martyrdom of St Magnus', an opera, collaboration between George and Peter Maxwell Davies. Published: 'Pictures in the Cave', illustrated by Ian MacInnes, 'Selected Poems', and 'Witch and other stories', commentary and notes by D.M.Budge.
1979	Collection of essays from the Orcadian published under the title 'Under Brinkie's Brae'.
1980	Published 'Six Lives of Fankle the Cat', illustrated by Ian MacInnes.
1981	Published 'Portrait of Orkney', photographs by Werner Forman.
1983	Published 'Andrina and other stories', and 'Voyages'
1984	Published 'Christmas Poems', wood gravings by John Lawrence, and 'Three Plays'.
1985	Honorary Degree from Glasgow University [D.Litt] Published 'Christmas Stories', wood engravings by John Lawrence, and 'The Hooded Fisherman' in limited edition, illustrated by Charles Shearer.
1986	Published: 'Keepers of the House' illustrated by Gillian Martin, limited edition; 'Loom of Light' with photographs by Gunnie Moberg and illustrations by Simon Fraser; 'The Scottish Bestiary' with various illustrators, limited edition.
1987	Published: 'A Celebration for Magnus' with photographs by Gunnie Moberg and Giles Conacher, paintings and drawings by Simon Fraser, handwritten musical score by Peter Maxwell Davies.