Hi, TRUBRIT.

Scottish, actually (assuming that Orkney folks consider themselves Scottish). My great-grandfather, Robert Firth, was from Orkney, and like a lot of Orkneymen, hired on with the Hudson's Bay Company around 1850. He was sent by Chief Factor James Douglas at Fort Victoria to survey and assess San Juan Island for raising sheep. Charles Griffin was put in charge of the Belle Vue Farm sheep ranch on San Juan Island. My great-grandfather replaced Griffin in 1861, leased the land from the Hudson's Bay Company, and eventually gained ownership. He raised nine children there, one of whom was my grandfather, Robert Firth Jr. My father, also named Robert Firth, was born on San Juan Island. I have cousins all over the islands. I, on the other hand, was born in Los Angeles, but I live in Seattle.

The name isn't too common around here, either. Time was when the only two Firths listed in the Seattle telephone directory were my father and one of my aunts. Now there are eight, but as far as I know, we aren't related. I presume that "Firth" is a place name and since there are a lot of firths (sort of like a fjord in Norway) in and around Scotland, I imaging that the name sprang up here and there among people who were not necessarily related. A whole collection of British actors:   Peter Firth, Colin Firth, and Jonathan Firth.

Where is your family from? Who knows? We may be related. (PM me if you wish, so we don't drift the thread too far.)

Don Firth