I'm also related to John Nisbet; he was my great-grandfather. His daughter Kate married my grandfather, William Grindlay, in 1908. They spent most of their married life in Stondon Park.

John Nisbet was born in Unst, in the Shetland Islands, in 1849. By March 1871 he had arrived in London; he was a footman in Hanover Square. By the time of his marriage in November 1871 he was a policeman at the Carter Road police station, off Walworth Road. He then became a commercial traveller.

He was an active member of the campaign to keep One Tree Hill open and was appointed honorary secretary. After the hill became a public open space he wrote a booklet which I suppose is a principal source on the history of the hill and the campaign to keep it open.

I would be delighted to hear from the friend who may also be related to him. I have more detailed family history information, but it's fairly inaccessible at the moment. My email address is sgrindlay[at]gmail.com

As a descendant of John Nisbet I was invited by the Friends of One Tree Hill to help unveil the plaque in 2005. Of the two balding, grey-haired old men I'm the one not wearing a robe: