Location of 'Blacks' in Nenthorn Village

[suek2075]

I don't know if there is anyone local to Nenthorn who can help me with this....  in 1861 my ancestor James Keddie and his family are located in Nenthorn Village at 'Blacks', which I assume was a farm, as James was a ploughman. The entry before this was the 'Lodge'. Having searched some older maps of Nenthorn the only Lodge that I can find was on at Nenthorn House, so my best guess at the moment was that Blacks Farm was the home farm on the Nenthorn Estate. However, I've also found more recent information for a 'Blacks Riding School', which may originally have been a farm, but is in a different location. I'd really like to be able to pinpoint the farm if I can. James and the family worked on a number of farms in and around Nenthorn and Burnbrae, and it's proving difficult to work out where they were. I understand that all the farms on the Nenthorn estate were sold off years ago, and with the exception of Burnbrae Farm, which was once the home farm, they don't exist anymore. But this is all pieced together from various bits on the internet, so I would appreciate it if anyone has any local knowledge.

[terianne]

the 'blacks' may refer to the farm tenant

the Black family were tenant farmer in Burnbrae in the 1800's

james probably worked for the black's

[suek2075]

Thanks terianne - yes, I believe the Blacks were the farm tenants, I spotted the Black family on the same return as the Keddie family and the farmer, John Black, was a witness at the wedding of James' daughter Margaret to William Lauder. William was a farm steward, also in Burnbrae, but I'm not sure if he also worked for John Black. I can't figure out whether John Black's farm was in Nenthorn or Burnbrae. I've managed to find out about some of the farms that the family worked on from the Gazeteer and other sites, but can't find any mention anywhere of Blacks. One of James' sons, George, was born in Burnbrae, which may also have been at Blacks, if Blacks was actually in Burnbrae not Nenthorn.