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Peter Drever & Bianca
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Peter Drever & Bianca

Peter Drever (Drever & Boyes, Stromness) pictured on the steps in front of Jacob's Buildings in Dundas Street. He used this building as a store for his Licenced Grocer across the road. Bianca, the cat, belonged to Frazer Dixon who lived just down the road, but was a frequent visitor to the shop. I worked for Peter from leaving school in 1975 until his retirement and shop closure in 1984 - a better boss I could not have wished for! He gave me my first camera, a Brownie 126, with which this photo was taken. Peter's hearty laugh was well known in the town, and could be heard when climbing Porteous' Brae!
Picture added on 11 February 2007
Comments:
I too worked for Peter 1967 to 1970 fond memories
especially stock taking days in the booze store
what a laugh it was
Added by Hazel Walker(Nee Merriman) on 16 September 2012
that's where my dad was born - the MacInneses lived in that store with 9 kids!
Added by Morag MacInnes on 21 September 2012
Thats interesting Morag, when would that have been?
Added by Hazel Walker on 24 September 2012
dad was born there 1922 . His father worked for the Pole Star. Not sure when they came to Orkney, but can find out from my sis!

Added by Morag MacInnes on 24 September 2012
Morag as far as I can remember, was only 4 at the time, my dad took over the shop and store in 1948. Shut the shop in 1984 and sold the store sometime in the 90s.
Added by Brian Drever on 26 September 2012
Gosh! we learn something new every day, I wonder how they got the name Jacobs building.
Added by Hazel Walker(Nee Merriman) on 26 September 2012
really nice to remember this!
Yes these date are aboot right
Added by Morag MacInnes on 01 October 2012
Just been in touch with Mum who reckons Peter bought shop and house in 1947 from her stepdad Murdo MacKenzie who ran it as a fish shop.
Added by Hazel Walker on 02 October 2012
My maternal grandparents, Ned and Isabella Sutherland, lived in Jacob's Buildings in the early 1940s. My brother Ken was born there in September 1940.
Added by Mike Clouston on 13 December 2015
MY Great uncle Peter I remember as a good hearted kind man very like my gran Peggy he liked a laugh
Added by Eileen Flanagan on 20 April 2018
Does anybody know who the young girl in a wheelchair was living in the house and shop prior to it being Drever and Boyes? My Mum and her cousins spent their summer holidays with their Aunts, Jean and Maggie Moar next door in the 1930's and she spoke about a young girl who was wheeled outside in good weather but in bad weather her wheelchair was placed by a hatch in the house which opened into the shop.
Added by Susan Howard on 23 November 2021
I was born in that house (No. 38 Dundas Street) in 1948 but was never told of a disabled wee girl who lived there in the 1930s. My mother and father probably never knew this story either as they only moved there in 1947.
But, regarding the hatch at which this girl was placed in her chair and which opened into the shop, this hatch was in the cellar underneath the floor of the shop and it had a set of 6 ladder - like wooden steps leading from it down into the cellar. This cellar was cold and damp and on a slightly raised level to that of the ground floor of the house so she would have had to have been lifted over the initial stoop at the door to get into the cellar and then sit at the bottom of these steps in her wheelchair and look up into the shop with a very limited view of its' interior. Somehow, I can't imagine her being put there on rainy days and I think she would simply have been kept in the main living room in the warmth.
I do however remember Maggie Moar who lived in the house below us at No 40. She was a kind lady.
Added by Allan Drever on 05 December 2021
your dad was a fine Stromness character
Added by Morag McGill on 28 December 2021
Thank you Morag. He surely was.
Added by Allan Drever on 16 January 2022
Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me find my bridesmaid from 36 years ago! Her name is/ was Morag Robertsen and she lived at 3 Melvin place Stromness. I moved around a lot and lost touch with her and would dearly love to find her again. I hope someone can help. Thank you.
Added by Carrie Mikkelsen on 12 February 2022
Hello there Carrie. Long time no speak. Morag Robertson here. A kind friend sent me your post. I do hope we can catch up.
Added by Morag Robertson on 14 February 2022
Hi Carrie, I've passed your details onto Morag and she has emailed you.
Added by Steven Heddle on 14 February 2022
Thank you so much Steven, I just can't believe it. Morag has been in touch and I am still in shock. One day we hope to come to Orkney and we can all celebrate. Thank you Orkney image library.
Added by Carrie on 14 February 2022
That's great Carrie, delighted to have been of assistance.
Added by Steven Heddle on 21 April 2022
Thank you Morag. He surely was.
Added by Allan Drever on 18 October 2022
Peter and family were near neighbours when we lived in Edinburgh.
Added by Neil Johnstone on 10 November 2022
That would have been in the 1940s as they got married there in 1941 and stayed in Restalrig Avenue finally coming north in 1947.
Added by Allan Drever on 10 November 2022
That's right Allan. I stayed at 104 Restalrig Avenue and we moved north in 1948. Hope you are well, haven't seen you for many a long day. How are Brian and Pam?
Added by Neil Johnstone on 15 November 2022
Is this the Neil Johnstone with whom I was at school and is the brother of Thorfinn Johnstone or am I way off the mark here?
Added by Allan Drever on 08 December 2022
No Allan, must be another Neil.
Added by Neil Johnstone on 09 December 2022
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