Farms at the Stoop, Dumfries

[stoop]

I am interested in identifying individual farms at the Stoop, particularly around the 1820s to the 1840s. Who were the landowners of the farms in the area and are there any records relating to the tenants.? tHANKS STOOP.

[imchad]

Hi

It could be difficult to identify individual owners at that time. Valuation rolls began in 1855 and should provide all the information from then on. Previous to that there is the 1841 census but that only lists occupants.  Another good source is the Horse Tax from 1796/7. Most farmers had a horse but that wouldn't say whether they owned or rented. I should imagine that most of the Stoop would be part of Parkhead estate but I have never came across any records from that.

Ian A McClumpha

[stoop]

Much obliged Ian, you have added to my knowledge by referring to the Parkhead estate. Any idea who owned the Parkhead?. My g.g.g Thomas Ker farmed at the Stoop in every reference to him, there is not anything more specific than T.k farmer at the Stoop. It is very frustrating trying to trace him because cincidentally I was born and brought up at Greenbrae Loaning Stoop. So his fermtoun must have been close by. He died in 1829. Thanks again ,stoop.

[Iandj]

My 3 x great-grandfather, John Smart, also farmed at the Stoop according to the censuses for 1841 to 1861. He was born in Torthorwald, Dumfries in 1783, although he moved to Hamilton, Lanarkshire, when he married (in 1807). Sometime before 1839, he and his family moved to Stoop. By the 1871 census, John appears to have become well established in the Stoop area as he is described as a landowner, living at Lochmaben Road, Dumfries.

John Smart dies of old age in 1874 at the home of his granddaughter, Elizabeth Tait (nee Smith), on the Clonyard of Southwick farm, Kirkcudbrightshire. His will, proved in 1874, states that his personal estate includes: "Proportion of unpaid rents of property at Stoop of which [he] is Liferenter under the settlement of the late Miss Mary Carson of Stoop, still in the hands of her trustees under deduction of taxes."

I have yet to fathom who Mary Carson is, but she must have had a significant influence on the family as John Smart's eldest daughter (my 2 x great-grandmother), is named Mary Carson Smart. Could this Mary Carson be one of the area's major landowners that you're looking for? According to the 1895 Valuation Roll, John Smart's grandson (and my first cousin, 3 times removed), John Thomas Wingfield Smart (1862-1949), owns and lets out five houses, plus a garden and sundry land, in Victoria Place, Stoop. This is in addition to renting and occupying his family home at 65 English Street, Dumfries, and his joiner's workshop at Catherine Street, Dumfries.

[stoop]

landj, good morning you have certainly packed your e-mail with detail. The surname Carson rings a bell I will study your post and reply more fully, thanking you stoop.

[cupcake]

Iandj

Not sure whether this will help. There was a Carson who had a small farm/holding , which went from Greenbrae Loaning to Parkhead. I am referring to the 50's/80's.
I lived in Lockerbie Road, not far from the Stoop. His farm ran  parallel to our back garden and then there was the Parkhead Fever Hospital. Think the farm is still there.

cupcake

[stoop]

Hi cupcake, yes you are correct at the bottom of greenbrae there was the farm I used to take tattie peelings for the pigs and get apples in exchange. I had not realised that the fever hospital was named Parkhead, likewise the new park around the bend. It all helps to plot the farm names of the stoop. stoop.

[cupcake]

 My mistake, it was just known as the Fever Hospital.

cupcake

[stoop]

Hi cupcake, I do not want to throw a spanner in the works but I have a recollection of a John Swan related to the farm, can you recall the name Swan?. regards stoop.