The birth of Hibs footballer Gordon Smith has been published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).
Gordon Smith was born on 26 May 1924 in Edinburgh and played his first game for Hibernian FC in April 1941, scoring a hat-trick in a friendly against Hearts at Tynecastle Park.
He became part of Hibs’ “Famous Five” forward line alongside Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormand. All five were later inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
Smith won league championship medals with Hibs, Hearts and Dundee, the only person to have won the league with three different clubs. He scored 400 goals in 900 appearances. He was capped 19 times for Scotland, captaining the national team to a 3-1 victory over Hungary in 1955. He died in 2004 aged 80.
Other records now published as they are more than 100 years old is the birth of comedian Rikki Fulton revealed among 245,000 records newly released online by NRS. Robert “Rikki” Fulton is best known for playing the dour minister the Reverend I.M. Jolly in his annual comedy sketch show Scotch & Wry. He was born in Glasgow on 15 April 1924.
Other records now added to the NRS online research website Scotland’s People include:
- The 1949 marriage entry of the 10th Earl of Selkirk and Audrey Sale-Barker, who both served as pilots during World War II. Sale-Barker also captained the British women’s skiing team at the 1936 Winter Olympics.
- The 1974 death entry of pioneering Orcadian bird expert Eddie Balfour, known for his studies of birds of prey.
Birth records over 100 years old are added to the site annually, along with death records that are 50 years old and marriage records that are 75 years old. Family historians and researchers can access them wherever they are.
National Records of Scotland Chief Executive Alison Byrne said: “The annual birth, marriage and death records are our most hotly anticipated records release every year.
“Scotland’s People helps researchers all over the world to investigate their heritage from the comfort of their own homes. If you’ve always wanted to look into your own family history, now would be an excellent time to start.
“I’m delighted to add these new records of Scotland’s ordinary and extraordinary people to the centuries of Scottish history already available.”
