Meet Nancy Black - Oban Museum

Born and bred in Oban, volunteer Nancy Black’s involvement with Oban War and Peace Museum goes a long way back. “The museum started off in our house, because we had as much as anyone else in Oban about the war. No photos, of course, as they would have been too sensitive, but documents and things from newspapers.”

Two short exhibitions in shops started the ball rolling, but they soon realised that the interest was far greater than they had anticipated. They then rented a place on the pier from the council, which kept them going for a few years, but they were moved on. They then went to a building rented to them by MacBrayne, but the council again moved them on after a few years. Plans to buy it fell flat, not least due to the cost of repairs. They then moved into their present building, the old Oban Times Office on the seafront, which at last seems like home.

“People have commented on how much room we have and what a good location this is. Much more befitting our mission” says Nancy. “I have been made a trustee, and go on the rota once a week, but there is always something else needing done.”

“I have a long history of volunteering. Most recently I worked with the McDougall collection, but started during the war with the E.R.O., the Emergency Relief Organisation, the Red Cross and the canteen. I was a founder member of the Chamber of Commerce in Oban. You don’t really think about it.”

Nancy is particularly interested in the maritime side of things, having started her working life with MacBrayne during the war. “I went in as an office girl. Six months later, I was in charge of the stores – loading up for the convoys and so on. There were some memorable times. I had to get them down so wrote a book, Courage, about the merchant navy and what they did for us during the war.”

 Many family histories and genealogy projects start in response to queries, so after many requests Nancy eventually decided to write hers down. “I can trace my roots in the Oban area to 1368, so my family’s story is strongly intertwined with the story of Oban itself. It tries to take a broad perspective.”

 When visiting Lochgilphead some years ago, Nancy inherited someone else’s research work, concerning families in the Kilmelford area and acted as an informal point of contact for genealogical enquiries. “This started long before the internet made it much easier,” adds Nancy “but now I answer open enquiries I find on the web for this area. I have so much in these resources.”

 However, Nancy has also used modern science in her genealogical quest. “A few years ago we had an enquiry from some Australian researchers, about an Archibald McCowan – a name that is also on my family tree. The dates matched, but there was no definite proof. I contacted a male McCowan cousin – they wanted the Y chromosome – and got the DNA matching done and found that they were cousins going back 3 generations!”

In her working life, Nancy ran a very established business in Oban. “I started in my shop in Argyll Square, doing stone polishing, then diversified into waterproofs and that and then chandlery.”

 From her long career in business Nancy has brought many skills to the museum, not least the ability to deal with rules and regulation. “Last year, when I became a trustee, I was given a 30 page document to read, which explains amongst other things liability and so on. Not many folk know how about these things before embarking on a trusteeship. In fact, if they did they might just stay at home!” she laughs.

 Nancy feels that she wants to be less “hands-on” with her volunteering now, whilst still being there as a consultative resource. “They still give me watch-keeping shifts though”, she laughs, “but I like meeting folk – from overseas, folk who have been here during the war, there’s always something in common. Though it’s great to be able to speak to older folk, I also enjoy going out to schools. The children are very keen to know about the history of the town.”

 “We have 1000 of our exhibits out and catalogued, but still have 2000 to do. We are still building it up, and we are still getting many donations. Storage is the problem, much of it is lying in garages, as there is little room here. We are trying to move away from just being a war museum, and focussing as much on peace.”

 The museum has about 60 volunteers, a great representation from the town, most of whom are older folk. “The youngsters are in their 40s!” laughs Nancy. “It is a great social scene, and we are always looking for other folk to join. Practical skills like carpentry are always in demand, but the most important thing is the desire to talk to people. It keeps the brain going, because we are learning all the time, about new exhibits, new stories.”

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Nancy’s book, “Courage”, on her teenage years during the war, is available for £5 from the museum. Another book “From a hollow on the hill – Tales of Lorne and Fortingall families”, is £15.