Hello, and welcome to the Bolt family website.

The aim of this site is to record and display the history behind the Bolt familes that is believed to be of Shetland or Norse origin. I hope to show how the family has grown and developed since the13th Century.

To date I currently have nine separate Bolt lines living on or around the Shetland Islands. Finding the missing link may one day bring them all together.

The low point of hardship was reached during the mid 19th century; dependence on the land and sea by a population of 31,000 was hard work, things however, were about to change.

It had now become apparent to landowners that sheep farming might be more profitable than fishing and crofting. Tenants thus became an obstacle rather than an asset and fishing tenures began to die out. It was only a step from this to persuading, paying or even forced eviction. Between 1861 and 1881 the population of Shetland dropped by 8000 people or one quarter.

I pick up the story as my Bolt ancestors leave the islands and set up the family home in:- Leith, Scotland; North Shields, England; Melbourne, Australia and Dunedin, New Zealand. Join me on this fascinating journey of discovery.