THE past holds an irresistible fascination for many people, and Helensburgh and district seems to a rich source of interesting people and events of the past.

My email has been full of inquiries lately, two of them from New Zealand.

The first came from Jennifer Lamm who is looking for family history and possible relatives of her great-grandfather's sister, Christina Burns, who had Rhu and Helensburgh connections.

Christina, who was born in 1833, was married in Rhu, then Row, on July 1 1851 to planter's son Gavin Fullarton, who was born around 1810 in Demerara, Guyana.

Gavin, an accountant, died at La Retraite, 6 Suffolk Street, on June 14 1894 at the age of 84, and Christina died at Dunbeg, 60 James Street, on January 29 1922 aged 89.

Jennifer believes they had five children: John, born about 1853, married but no children; Katherine, born January 31 1855, married name Rowe, living at Rocky Lane, Heswell, Cheshire, in 1929; Christina, born September 17 1857 at Rhu, known as 'Dick', lived in Germany in 1929; Isabella Alice Mary, born November 5 1860 in Rhu; and Sarah, born September 12 1862 in Rhu.

A relation of Christina's was Mrs Effie B.McKim, of Braehead, 9 East Montrose Street.

"I am not sure if all my information is correct," Jennifer told me, "but I would love to find out more about the Fullarton family and what they have done over the years." Another inquiry from New Zealand will be of interest to the local naval community.

Rosemary Sharp noticed that the Faslane-based patrol boat HMS Pursuer took a leading part in the recent Henry Bell and the Comet bicentenary celebrations in Helensburgh on Saturday August 4, and she immediately recalled another Royal Navy vessel of the same name, an escort carrier in World War Two.

She tells me: "My father, Gerald Thomas Jones, naval registration JX53553, was the telegraphist on HMS Pursuer following the Russian Convoy run in the Arctic Circle.

"My mother is now 85 and my father passed away 24 years ago from an unexplained illness in his brain. We believe his ship was involved in some nuclear testing exercises. Dad was also the telegraphist on HMS Redpole.

"My reason for contacting you is because we would like to make contact with anyone who may remember my father, or anything about the nuclear testing and the effects it may have had on the crew in later years." She said that most of his shipmates must be dead now, and those that she had managed to locate died from 'rapid dementia', as did her father.

She added: "I suspect that being made to watch the Hiroshima bomb explode from the deck of their vessel was a contributing factor to these unexplained illnesses." HMS Pursuer, which was a Lease Lend carrier built in Mississippi, was commissioned in June 1943 and scrapped after 1946. After the Arctic convoys she was sent to the Aegean, and then to the Indian Ocean, before being sent back to America.

Another service question arrived from Brian Christie in Lochgilphead, who asked: "Did the Royal Navy Torpedo Range at Arrochar ever have a designated shore base military name such as HMS Sea Eagle at Ardrishaig and HMS Nimrod which was the ASDIC School in Campbeltown?" I have not heard of one myself, but if not, why not?

Originally an Admiralty facility, the Royal Navy Torpedo Testing Station and Range was operational on Loch Long from 1912 to 1986, and the abandoned Admiralty buildings, pier and slipway remained intact and visible on the west shore of the loch, opposite Arrochar, until 2007, when the site was destroyed by fire and largely demolished.

Now there are plans to build a five star hotel and holiday complex on the site, with a stunning view down the loch.

After reading my recent article on artist Sir James Guthrie, who lived much of his life at Rhu and was the leader of the now famous Glasgow Boys, art collector Jim Smith from Blantyre sent me the image above of a Guthrie work which he owns.

It is a 24 x 18s ins charcoal and crayon drawing, and Jim would love to know who the young lady subject was.

If any reader can supply any information or images relating to any of these inquiries, I will be delighted to pass them on.

email: milligeye@btinternet.com