Banffshire: The People and The Lands

[jillruss]

Thanks for highlighting this, Millmoor. It had escaped my attention!

Definitely time consuming as the name search throws up quite a few anomalies but its certainly worth the bother if you have ancestors in Banffshire, as I do. Found quite a lot for Grange.

I'd never found a marriage for my James Shepherd and Margaret Miln(e) - assuming the marriage records for Grange had been lost or destroyed. I was never quite sure I'd got the correct wife. Now I've discovered a 1760 entry (exactly the right time) that states James had been admonished for 'antenuptual fornication with Margaret Miln' so I think that will do the trick!!!

Forfarian, are the rest of the series accessible at all online, do you know?

[Forfarian]

I just remember Bruce telling me that FindMyPast had digitised his 'Lands and People' series. I don't have a subscription to FindMyPast and I am not aware of them being online anywhere else.

[GR2]

jillruss,

the Grange Kirk Session minutes from 1694 - 1710 have been transcribed and published. Assuming your Shepherds and Milnes were in the parish at that time, they were behaving themselves. No Shepherd appears in the minutes and only one Milne, a woman who received poor money between 1703 and her death in 1706.

[jillruss]

Thanks for that GR2 - how nice of you to look.

It goes some way to showing that my theory that the previous generation of Shepherds were originally from Ordiquhill might be correct.

Could I be cheeky and ask if the Grange kirk sessions have any Wilsons included? James Shepherd's parents George Shepherd and Jean Wilson married in Grange in 1735 but I haven't been able to find a baptism for Jean.

Thanks,
Jill

[GR2]

The volumes of session minutes I have for Grange cover 1694 - 1710. I have read the later ones which are in the National Records in Edinburgh or available as virtual volumes in certain local archives. I'm not sure if the pre 1711 ones would allow you to make a link. There are Wilsons mentioned, however:

1694 - 1702
- Alexander Wilson, schoolmaster and session clerk
- Andrew Wilson in Haughs, received poor money several times
- George Wilson in Nethermill, received poor money several times
- Janet Wilson, daughter of Thomas Wilson in Glengerack, adulteress
- John Wilson in Haughs, Sabbath breaker; son of Andrew Wilson in Haughs; entered the King's service
- Patrick Wilson in Cantlie, elder of the kirk
- William Wilson, received poor money on one occasion

1703 - 1710

- Alexander Wilson, schoolmaster and session clerk
- George Wilson, received poor money several times
- Janet Wilson, adulteress, still appearing in sackcloth
- Patrick (once called Peter) Wilson in Cantlie, elder of the kirk

[jillruss]

Thanks, GR2. I'll try and delve further into the male Wilsons you mention to see if there's any liklihood of any of them being Jean's father.

I suppose most of the places (Haughs,Nethermill etc) will be near Grange and therefore near Ordiquihill so perhaps not much to be gained by finding those.

Any idea how you pronounce Ordiquihill?

[Archivos]

Any idea how you pronounce Ordiquihill?

Or-di-kwill, with the 'di' sounding like 'did', without the end d, rather than 'die' and the kwill sounding like a quill pen.  There's sometimes a bit of a 'ch' sound, like at the end of loch on the kwi part, so it's a bit softer than a hard k.

[jillruss]

Thanks, Archivos. I'm practising as I type!

Funny how some place names just capture your imagination -- its one of my favourites! Sad, I know! 

[Archivos]

I like it too!  I also like Finzean, near Banchory - it's Fing-in, sometimes Fing-yin depending on the accent.