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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Aberdeenshire => Topic started by: mcbearuk on Friday 07 January 11 18:10 GMT (UK)
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We have bought the house formerly attached to the Farm and Estate known as BALCHERS in the Parish of King Edward. We are attempting to write a history of Balchers as part of the restoration of the house. We are particularly interested in the DUNCAN family who lived at Balchers for around 200 years from 1750.
If anyone has anything that might help please let me know, on here or...................
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Hi mcbearuk
Welcome to RootsChat :)
This link here has a number of monumental inscriptions for the Duncan family at Balchers. Use your 'find' tool and search for Balchers.
www.clan-duncan.co.uk/monumental/duncan-kingedward-cemetery.html
A good way forward would be look at the census entries for the family at Balchers. Not sure if you have gone down this route already. http://freecen.rootsweb.com/ has now 100% of the 1841 Aberdeenshire census on line, and up to 86% of the 1851 census entries.
Monica
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Thanks Monica,
we had already explored the kirkyard inscriptions and started on a family tree.
The 1841 and 51 censuses are very interesting and helpful. We will look at the pay to view records for the later censuses.
I gather that the last of the Duncans - 'Old Mrs Duncan' , who lived well into the 20th century, was a well kent character in the Parish and a leading light in the Horticultural Society. I am hoping that I can find more about her - press cuttings, photographs etc.
I wonder if there are any Duncans still living in this area?
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If you are particularly interested in history so recent into the 20th Century, have you thought to contact the local history group/library. They may well have archives that give you more information on the family. The local history reference library is also likely to have newspaper archives that you could research.
Monica
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You have probably looked in this already. There is a book by James Godsman called King-Edward, Aberdeenshire The Story of a Parish. You do have to check out what it says as there are many errors, largely due to the author's trying to cover so much ground. There is an entry for Balchers on page 250 and entries for the crofts on Balchers on page 254.
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I have a scrapbook of clippings from the late 1800s (mostly from the Banffshire Journal) which includes several articles by James Lawrence who was a friend of "Mr Duncan of Balchers" and mentions him several times. If you send me a PM I can give you more details and arrange to send you copies if you like.
Kirsty
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Kirsty
that sounds like a really good insight into the Duncans of Balchers. If you can scan and email or xerox the pages I will meet all costs. Please contact me on (*) and I will give you our telephone number and address - atho that it easy, its (*)!
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Hi just found your quest re Duncan family at Balchers. My grandfather and his family were linked with them in the early 1900s. I have letters to my grandfather from Patrick Duncan photos and a story that one of his sisters Mary Ann Morrison married the last Patrick Duncan and I am unsure but there is a story that he was the last governor of India, not validated. We are coming to Scotland in late August and would like to see the places and to give a copy of our records.
Hopping this is helpful.
Sandie
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Sandie
thanks for your reply!
We would be delighted to see you in August, show you around and discuss what we know of the history of Balchers and the Duncans.
Unfortunately I am getting a little too old to keep the house and garden going as we would like, so we have decided to sell Balchers and move into a smaller retirement house later this year. This does mean that Balchers is currently up for sale, so you can have a look at the brochure about the place by going to the website of Mcewan Fraser Legal and typing Old House of Balchers into the search box.
We converted the servants wing at Balchers into a holiday cottage, it has 2 bedrooms and sleeps 4, if you are coming up for a few days you mat find staying there interesting!
Regards
Scott McIntosh
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Hi Scott
Many thanks, Rob and I will definitely love to have a visit. Is there some way that I can contact you directly?
I am putting together a booklet with all the information that we have. Do you have any information on the Morrison family John and Barbara, my grandfather born James Arthur 1899.
Regards Sandie
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This site seems to object to the giving out of contact details, but ifyouwrite tous at
I've removed your address as once Sandie has made three posts you will be able to communicate through personal message system
regards flst
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Sandie,
Robert Duncan (d. 1863) and Isabella Morrison (d. 1873) had children, including Patrick (d. 1919) and John (d. 1907). Patrick's son, Patrick, married Mary Ann Morrison. They sold Balchers in 1942. John married Janet Taylor and had children including Sir Patrick Duncan, Governor-General of South Africa. John and Janet farmed Mill of Fortrie. Sir Patrick Duncan's wife was Alice Dod.
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Thanks Gr2 for adding to the modern history of Balchers. An old (mid 70s at a guess) looked through the hedge at the house a couple of Summers ago, when I spoke to him he told me that his father had Balchers ' at the end of the war and for a few years after' - he told me tales of how cold it was during the bad Winter of '47.
I suspect that the farm was bought soon after that by Mr Allan of Melrose estates, he amassed a number of farms in the area, but didnt live at Balchers. When he died Melrose Estates was divided between his children and Gordon Allen took Balchers as part of his share, he lives at Castle of Cullen, near Gardenstown and farmed the Balchers land until about 4 yers ago, he has now let the farm to another local farming concern - Benzies - who manage a number of farms in the area, they mostly farm root vegetables.
Gordon Allen sold the house of Balchers to Roy Chillingworth and his wife 30-40 yers ago. they found the house in a run down condition and spent a lot of effort turning it into a home. They brought up 4 children in the house, the youngest daughter still lives in King Edward.
John and I bought the house in 2008 and have spent a lot of money and time improving the house and converting the servant's wing into a holiday cottage. We have also been recovering the 'lost garden', cutting back rhododendrons and self seeded saplings to recover Mrs Duncan's garden.
Both John and I now have some medical problems and are planning to retire to a smaller housenear Edinburgh. So, with sadness, we have now put the Old House of Balchers on the market.
...and Sandie please post another couple of messages and I can communicate my address to you
Scott McIntosh
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Hi Scott
I was really pleased to receive the information and am very glad to see the house being used again the photos that I have show the families having a good tie there. Hopefully this will allow us to correspond privately I wish you luck in selling such a beautiful property but not before we get the chance to visit I am being a bit selfish but the place has drawn me.
Regards Sandie
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Sandie
if you google Old House of Balchers you will see some of the recent pictures of the house. The Aberdeen Press and Journal also did a recent article on the house in their Property Section. You can see full details of the house on the website of Mcewan Fraser Legal, our selling agents. You can contact us on (*)
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flst
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Hello to those who are familiar with Balchers, King Edward, Aberdeenshire. I am researching my gr-grandfather, who's name was John Morrison. I see with interest on the 1871 census there is a John Morrison age 25, born in Boyndie. My gr-grandfather matches this information. With reading the posts on this site, the Morrison family married into the Duncan family. The other Morrison listed in this census is Jane Morrison, age 68. My question is: would any of you know if the John Morrison listed as residing at Balchers in 1871 is related to Isabella Morrison who married Patrick Duncan? The information is truly uncanny as my John's mother was Isabella, but Isabella Barron and his father was William Morrison. My John was the gamekeeper at Forglen House in 1880 (unclear for how long prior) then in 1881 became the gamekeeper at Drummuir Castle. He married Janet Paton. My John also died in 1907 but he died at Turner Memorial Hospital in Keith. If anyone has any information on the Morrison family who married into the Duncan family, I would be very appreciative. It is interesting that the John Morrison listed as living at Balchers in 1871 is listed as a farm servant which makes me think he was not a close relative of the Morrisons?? I was wondering if the Jane Morrison listed as living at Balchers is my John's grandmother/great aunt/??? since Isabella is not listed. I have zero information on William Morrison (my John's father) other than he had already passed away by 1878, when my John Morrison married Janet Paton in Peterhead. Thank you in advance.
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Hi Kate, and welcome to RootsChat.
I'm afraid I am a wee bit confused by what you have written, but I'm sure we can help.
Presumably you have the marriage certificate of John Morrison and Janet Paton. What was William Morrison's occupation? And what, exactly, was his mother's surname listed as? Where was he residing?
Do you have any actual birth, marriage and death certificates or original census records for any other of these folk? You can get these from www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk (SP) at modest cost. You will need these to be sure of anything but we can probably find out quite a bit from other sources.
I see from http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp that John Morrison also ran the Plough Inn in Keith for a few years before he died and that his age at death was given as 60. The index at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk (SP) tells me that Jessie Paton or Morrison died in Botriphnie in 1891 aged 42. (Drummuir is in the parish of Botriphnie.)
The 1881 census lists at Eastertown, Botriphnie John Morrison, 34, gamekeeper, born Boyndie; wife Jessie, 30, born Peterhead; daughter Jessie Ann, 1, born Forglen, and a lodger. (The names Janet and Jessie are used interchangeably in Scotland.)
Unfortunately Scotland's People lists only one baptism of a John Mor(r)ison in Boyndie in the 1840s, the son of John Morrison and Isabella Sievwright, baptised in 1846, who is obviously not yours.
According to the transcriptions at https://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl there are two John Morrisons, both born in Boyndie, both farm servants in King Edward in 1871. One is 25 and the other 27. The 25-year-old is at Balchers, but he could be the one I just mentioned above. He is just one of several servants in the household, and it is most likely just coincidence that the farmer's aunt's surname is the same.
In 1861 there is just one, a 16-year-old John Morison, born Boyndie, a cattleman at Little Crannah, Marnoch. He is the only John Mor(r)ison born in Boyndie in the 1840s in the FreeCEN transcription of the 1861 census.
In 1851 John Morison, aged 5, born Boyndie, is described as 'wife's son' in the census at Pitgair, Gamrie. The head of the household is James Birnie, farmer, 40, born Tyrie and the wife is Isabella Birnie, 33, born Boyndie. James Birnie married Isabella Sievwright in Gamrie in 1850. So this one isn't yours, and it looks as if yours isn't in any census before (possibly) 1871. He is the only John Mor(r)ison born in Boyndie in the 1840s in the FreeCEN transcription of the 1851 census, and the only John Mor(r)ison aged 4 to 8 living in Banffshire in a household with an Isabella in the SP index to the 1851 census.
Therefore the probability is that your John Morrison was illegitimate, which will make it much harder to find out who his father was.
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Now, to the Duncans. Patrick Duncan was aged 45 in 1871, and born in Alvah. So he must be the son of Robert Duncan and Isabel Morrison, baptised in Alvah on 12 July 1825.
In 1851 he is at Balchers, listed as the great-nephew of Elspet Duncan, widow, aged 77, born Turriff. Also in the household is Jane Morrison, niece of Elspet Duncan, born Turriff. In 1841 the same people are listed, but Jean Morison is described as 'servant'. They are still there in 1861, though by now Patrick is the farmer, Jane Morrison, 59, is 'aunt' and Elspet Duncan, 89, is 'great-aunt'.
Robert Duncan and Isabella Morrison and the rest of their family remained at Auchinbaidy, Alvah.
Elspet Davidson or Duncan, mother's surname Lloyd, died in King Edward in 1866, aged 84. Elspet Davidson married Peter Duncan in 1797 and the banns were called in both Turriff and Alvah. So the mother of Isabella Morrison must have been a Davidson.
However there no record on SP of sisters Jean, Isabella and Mar* Mor(r)ison, mother Davidson. So it may be that the family were Episcopalians and/or that no records have survived of their baptisms. There is a marriage of James Morison to Anna Davidson in Turriff in 1792 which might be the one.
In 1881 Jane Morrison, 79, was living with her sister, name transcribed as 'Mar', aged 84, in Turriff. Jane died in Turriff in 1885, aged 86. Either her death certificate, or that of her sister Isabella in 1873, will tell you who their parents were. There was also a brother John who died in 1880 aged 76.
What does seem fairly clear is that Isabella Mor(r)ison who married Robert Duncan came from a Turriff family, and that your John's origins are not easy to find. Mor(r)ison is a very common surname, and my personal opinion is that it is just a coincidence that a John Morrison who is probably yours but might not be was employed in 1871 by a farmer whose mother's maiden surname was Morison.
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Forfarian – thank you for this information re the Morrison/Duncan link. As you can probably tell, I’m keen to investigate any snippet of information that contains even a remote possibility that it pertains to my gr-grandfather, John Morrison or even my gr-gr grandfather, William Morrison. I can trace John’s whereabouts post 1878 when he married Janet Margaret Paton at her parent’s house in Peterhead. I have the bible given to Janet (Jessie) as a wedding gift. I do not have the originals or copies of the census, marriage/death records and newspaper clippings, only what’s posted on Ancestry, Family Search etc. I know that he was a gamekeeper at Forglen House, Forglen when he married and that Jessie was a servant there. Their first born daughter was born at Forglen House iIn 1880. In 1881 they moved to Drummuir Castle and they lived at Easterton. Their other 4 children were born at Easteron and attended school in Botriphnie. My grandfather was the youngest. They were there until 1901. John then either owned or managed the Plough Inn in Keith until his death at Turner Memorial Hospital in 1907. All of his children immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada just before WWI. All of the sons fought in the war, all survived.
On John’s marriage record (1878), it states his father was William Morrison a farmer, deceased and his mother is listed as Isabella Barron a domestic servant. His death record names the same parents. I, too believe that he was illegitimate and have yet been able to trace his birth record although all records that I have state he was born in Boyndie. I don’t think that William and Isabella were ever married. There is a record of Isabella Barron marrying an Andrew Mitchell with John Morrison being a witness but to date, I cannot confirm that it is the correct folks. The John Morrison/ Isabella Sievwright records having a son, John Morrison confused me also, but I agree that this is not my John.
When I saw the 1871 census with a John Morrison of the correct age, in somewhat the general vicinity, I certainly sat up and took notice. What intrigued me was that he was listed as a farm servant which is why I was so interested. If he was a relative of the Morrison/Duncan link, then I thought he would be listed as a nephew/cousin or something similar, not a servant. It also intrigued me that several of the dates and names were similar to my John, so I could not let this pass by. I do so wish my family surname was a little less common!
Once I get a little more organized and check out a few more resources, including the ones you provided for which I thank you sincerely, I’ll look again at SP. As noted above, I use (sometimes with caution) Ancestry as most of my maternal ancestors immigrated to the US in the 1600-1700’s most from England, Switzerland and Germany then fled to Ontario just before or during the American Revolution. The Morrisons are my ‘new-comers’
Thanks you once again. Kate.