Birkenburn Farm , Keith

[Forfarian]

have recently moved to keith area and am looking for any info regarding Birkenburn farm and farmhouse in particular

Go to Elgin, to the Local Heritage Centre, and look it up in the Valuation Rolls. These go back to the mid-1850s, and list the proprietor, tenant and occupier of every property.

The references in the advert to Cullen House and to Tochieneal, which is just outside Cullen, suggest that the proprietor was the Earl of Seafield. In which case, the estate records (something like 2½ tons of them) are held in the National Archives of Scotland and are available for research. See www.nas.gov.uk and catalogue number GD248.

[smudge.g]

many thanks to all for the incredible amount of suggestions and help from you. very much appreciated and I now have somewhere to start looking!!

[NancyMacJ]

Hello, one of my ancestors was born at Birkenburn Farm in 1844, Robert Graham Macdonal, son of James Macdonald and Margaret Bremner.  Margaret's paternal grandparents were John Bremner and Jean Watts.  The Macdonald family did not live at Birkenburn, and we have always wondered why Robert was born there.  If this was the farm of his mother's grandmother's family, the Watts family, that would make sense.  I happen to be traveling in Scotland at the moment on a genealogy trip from the US and googled Birkenburn Farmhouse because I was about to head over there to take a picture. 

[Forfarian]

It was not unusual for a young woman to return to her parents' home for the birth of her first child, where he mother would be on hand to help.

[smudge.g]

Hi Nancy,
came across your post after you had visited the house today!! So far, i have discovered that the land was owned by the Gordon family from 1500s to early 1800s when the Lairds of Birkenburn (1st-9th) lived in a mansion house on the site. The last laird's wife gave birth to a daughter who married a Stuart, and the house/land were shortly after sold to Earls of Seafield around 1820. After this, the mansion disappeared, the farm was built (along with our house in 1850ish) and a series of tenant-farmers lived and worked at the farm. The present Watt family bought the land/farm in early 1900s and have been there ever since. The Watt surname is quite common in keith and huntly so there may be even more ancestors/distant relatives around!!  (ps hope you liked the house!!) regards, gary

[NancyMacJ]

We had a wonderful time.  Met your wife who was very hospitable and Galvin (?) and he directed us to his Grannie's farm house for a nice chat.  The sun came out just as we arrived which was a good omen!  We visited several "ancestral" homes while in the Keith area, including Drumgrain the ancestral home of the John Bremner family and Upper Hillside the ruins of the family farm of his son, also John Bremner and his wife Isobel Dick.  We visited the farm house next door called Mid Hillside and made the acquaintance of the Walker's who live there now and they gave us a very nice tour and provided tea.  We also visited The Grange Memorial Hall which my GGGgrandfather Angus Macdonald MD of Edinbugh endowed and Grannie Watt remembered attending dances there.  The only thing on our list that we couldn't find was the location of the grave of James Macdonald ( Angus' brother) in Keith Cemetery.  We wandered all around in the rain, but no luck.  It is in section E # 11 and 12, but none of the lairs were labeled.  The library in Keith wasn't able to help except to eliminate the top part of the cemetery as a locale, which is well documented.  He died in 1888 on Land St at Keith.  He was retired Army, and the Registrar in Keith as well as the Inspector of the Poor.  His grave site was purchased " in perpetuity" so it should be easily found.   Anyway, I was glad to find your post during our visit.  The timing was perfect! 
Best Regards, Nancy Macdonald Jordan, Houston, TX

[weeaza]

Hi Nancy

You'll find a map of the cemetery here  http://keith-heritage.webplus.net/keith%20cemeteries.html

James Macdonald is in the burial book started in 1871 and there is a map for the 1871 and 1885 burial books.

Steven

[smudge.g]

Great link that one, Steven. the 1821 cemetary book and map shows the location of the grave for james Stuart of Birkenburn (and his family), the last land owner who sold the land/house in about 1820's to the Earls of seafield. The farm was built shortly after i think, as well as our present house. thanks a lot.

[weeaza]

These books and maps used to be on the Visit Keith website but that disappeared last year. I only found them again a couple of months ago.

I spent hours wandering all over the cemetery one day last year looking for relatives. I found all of the graves but only one headstone.

The man on the left in my photo, Andrew Clark, was a crofter at Ryeriggs north of Keith. He is buried in Bellie Churchyard.