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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Banffshire => Topic started by: smudge.g on Sunday 17 February 13 06:15 GMT (UK)
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Good morning from a newbie member!
have recently moved to keith area and am looking for any info regarding Birkenburn farm and farmhouse in particular, just outside of keith on the A96. The farm has been owned by the Watt family since early 20th century but I have no info on what the farm did before then or who owned it.
Have seen aerial photos of the farm and house from 1960's but havent found any copies available.
Regards
GS
Moderator comment - Topics merged to prevent duplication.
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The Valuation Rolls may be one source. You would need to find which archive centre in Moray holds the ones you require:
http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital_volumes/dv.php?dv_id=29&place_id=913&p_name=keith
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http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ4548
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When I tried a google: "Birkenburn Farm, Keith, Banffshire" a list of items came up.
Top of the list is Birkenburn Farmhouse. Click this and scroll down until you see a photo on the left. On the right of it, it says: Property history of Birkenburn Farm. If you click this, there is a nice view of the farm. And there may be other interesting stuff on this site, which I didn't look into.
Also on the list, after the google, try the site 5th from the top. Click on it and there is a William Watt, and it mentions Dairy Farming.
The original google gives several other sites relating to the farm. Maybe somewhere on the list it tells you what the farm did originally. It might be worth looking through them.
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Birkenburn was a Gordon house until the 18th century. There is another Birkenburn in Gartly that may get confused with it.
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hi,
you could try www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk they have farm horse tax books there peerhaps you may get a listing also www.scran.ac.uk you may get something from them scran has an old map if you key in birkenburn
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The National Library of Scotland maps website will give you free access to old maps of the area, including large-scale Ordnance Survey ones.
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1851 Census (HO107 159 46 3)
James Jock, Head, Unmarried, age 59, Farmer of 140 acres + 3 Lab, b. Boharm, Morayshire, Elginshire
+ brother William Jock, 53, sister Margt Jock, 48 and servants/farm labourers.
Address - Farm of Mains of Birkenburn, Keith
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DESIRABLE FARM AND RESIDENCE in Banffshire
To be let for 19 years, or such other period as may be agreed upon, with Entry either now or at Michealmas first
The MAINS and MANSION HOUSE of BIRKENBURN pleasantly situated in the neighbourhood of the Town of Keith
The Farm of the Mains contains about 160 acres of Arable, and upwards of 60 of Wood and Meadow, and other pasture. The greater part of the Pasture is susceptible of improvement, and may be rendered Arable at little expense.
Offers will be received by John Wilson of Tochieneal (?), or John Fraser at Cullen House, both by Cullen, til Monday the 20th inst
Cullen House, 12 July 1834
Advert appeared in the Aberdeen Journal July 1834
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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.
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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!!
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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Thank you for the map - I'll head back over to the cemetery on my way to Aberdeen to get a photo. Thanks!
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I recently came across a reference to Birkenburn Farm in a Last Will and Testament document for William Stuart dated 1799.
William Stuart died 23 June 1800 at Fort St George, Madras, India.
In the 3 page document, he is described as an Assistant Surgeon and referred to as Dr William Stuart, who is in the service of the Honourable East India Company. He requests his executors to sell his belongings and property, pay his servants wages, pay his debts, and then remit the rest of the money to his father John Stuart Esquire of Birkenburn, near Keith, North Britain.
I found this document on the Find My Past website:
British India Office Wills & Probate, William Stuart, Madras, 1799
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Thank you for posting - quite fascinating.
My ancestor James Macdonald (1799-1847) of North Uist married a local Keith girl Margaret Bremner (1806-1871)and left her a widow in 1847 with 5 children, including a son Robert Graham Macdonald born 1844 at Birkenburn according to a family bible. He was apparently named after the local secessionist minister Robert Graham. My assumption is the family were members of the Secessionist Church in Keith as none of the 5 children have birth records.
The Stuart name is prominent in my family history although I am not descended from any Stuart. Margaret Bremner's sister Elspet Bremner married John Stuart and she and her husband emigrated to Ontario, Canada before 1850. John Stuart founded Ingersoll Mills and made oatmeal. His son Robert (1851-1926) later founded Quaker Oats and was a first cousin to my great great grandfather Angus Macdonald MD (1836-1886) (see Wikipedia) through the Bremner sisters. Angus' sons, my great grandfather Robert John Macdonald and his brother George Macdonald, emigrated to the US in the 1890's to work for Quaker Oats. George Macdonald married his 2nd cousin Margaret Stuart, the daughter of Robert Stuart. My grandfather Ewen Macdonald also worked for Quaker Oats.
The known Stuart family progenitor Robert Stuart (1767-1852) was a retired Army pensioner and was born in Rothiemurchus, Inverness and died in Dufftown, Banffshire. His wife's surname was also Stuart, Christian (Stuart) Stuart died in Ingersoll, Ontario in 1874. Her birth family appear to be from near Dufftown, Banffshire, but moved to Tomintoul, Kirkmichael, Banffshire before she was born.
Stuart is as common in Scotland as Smith is in the US. I'll try to see if Dr William Stuart son of John Stuart of Birkenburn is related somehow. May be a needle in the haystack, but worth a try.
Thanks again,
Nancy Macdonald Jordan
Houston, TX
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LIBINDX has references to James McDonald and Margaret Bremner. Their names are on a gravestone in Botriphnie Kirkyard.
James McDonald died 6 December 1847 at Blackhillock, Keith, aged 48.
Margaret Bremner or McDonald died 27 December 1871 at Keith, aged 65. You can download an image of her death certificate at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. It should tell you the full names of both her parents including her mother's maiden surname.
Their son John died 28 October 1869 at Llanberis, North Wales, aged 22. His death was registered in Carnarvon but there's not much point getting a copy as English and Welsh death certificates don't include information about the deceased's parents.
The same stone mentions James Gordon, died 18 September 1867 at Insch, aged 44. His death certificate might explain why he is on the same stone.
I am not sure if the family at Croftgibb, Grange in 1851 is them; There are Margaret, aged 44, widow, pauper, born Keith; daughter Betty, 12, born Aberdeen; sons Robert, 6 and John, 3, both born in Keith. As Margaret is described as a pauper there should be something about her in the Keith Parochial Board records.
In 1841 there are two households listed at Birkenburn: one headed by James Jack, farmer, aged 45 and the other occupied by 4 farm labourers, so it's probably the bothy.
The only M(a)cDonald in the same or the next enumeration district is a 15-year-old farm labourer named Hugh McDonald.
There is a Bremner family at Herickburn: William, 55; Elspet, 55; Jean, 15; Hellen, 12; and William, 7. Maybe this William is a brother of Margaret and Elspet?
Blackhillock is in the next enumeration district. It's on the opposite side of the main Keith to Huntly road. See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=57.5239&lon=-2.9313&layers=6&b=1 and https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ4348
The 1865 valuation roll says that the proprietor of Birkenburn was the Earl of Seafield. The Seafield estate papers (some 2½ tons of them!) are in the National Records of Scotland, and I found in them a letter written by my umpteenth great-grandfather to the Earl's factor. According to the NRS catalogue there are writs of Birkenburn 1854-1933. See https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/search.aspx and search for catalogue references starting GD248.
Robert Graham was ordained minister of Keith United Associate Church in 1843, just after the Disruption in May 1843. However he had been elected in March 1843, before the Disruption, so his ordination had nothing to do with the Free Church, and there is a biography of him in Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae. Also a history of this congregation, which was Antiburgher. He resigned in 1847 and went into the Church of Scotland in Dundee then Abernyte. The easiest way to look up all this is through the General Index at http://www.ecclegen.com.
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Thanks Forfarian,
I pretty much have all the information you wrote - I've actually been to Scotland 4 times in the last 20 years of studying it. Went to Botriphnie kirkyard and Grange Cross Roads where Margaret Bremner Macdonald lived at Croft Gibb after her husband's death. I think I've pretty much played out that line.
I was replying to someone who posted about a Dr William Stuart who died in India in 1800 and proceeds from his estate were sent to his father John Stuart of Birkenburn.
My questions were regarding these Stuarts of Birkenburn. Could they be related to the Stuarts who emigrated to Canada and the US and founded Quaker Oats?
I've also studied the Stuarts in America for 20 years so I know about them. Dr William Stuart is new to me and I do not know if he is related to the Stuarts of Quaker Oats. It's a common name in Scotland, so perhaps not.
Anyhow thanks for your assistance. Much appreciated.
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I was replying to someone who posted about a Dr William Stuart who died in India in 1800 and proceeds from his estate were sent to his father John Stuart of Birkenburn.
There's a will of John Stuart esq, late of Birkenburn, thereafter feuar in Fife Keith, dated 4 April 1844.
Esq implies he owned land, and if so there should be something in the Registers of Sasines. LIBINDX has a reference to John Stuart, son of John Stuart of Birkenburn and Helen Anderson of Mudhouse, who sold Birkenburn to the Earl of Seafield in 1824 and died in Fife-Keith in 1837.
A John St*art was buried in Keith on 3 March 1844. I think he must be the John Stewart living in the Square, Fife-Keith in 1841, aged 70, with Jean, 60; Ann, 60 and Cathrine, 50, all born in Banffshire.
The 1851 census lists Jane Stuart, 76 with her sisters Ann Stuart, 73 and Cathrine Stuart, 69, all annuitants and all born in Keith.
Ann Stuart, daughter of John Stuart, Birkenburn, died in Keith in 1864. Her death certificate describes her father as 'Landed proprietor' and says he mother's maiden surname was Ann Stewart. An announcement in the Banffshire Journal confirms that she was a daughter of John Stuart, Birkenburn.
There are baptisms of children to John Stuart and ? Stuart in Keith
Patrick 5 June 1774
Jean 24 November 1776
Anna 24 July 1778
Katherine 5 August 1781
Elizabeth 16 July 1785
George 14 April 1791
There's a notice in the Aberdeen Journal in 1823 inviting anyone having claims against or debts due to the late Mr John Stuart, of Birkenburn, to submit them to Mr John Stuart, Birkenburn.
The death of Jane, eldest surviving daughter of the late John Stewart Esq of Birkenburn, was announced in the Elgin Courant on 5 December 1856.
Catherine Stuart, mother's maiden surname Stuart, died in Keith in 1868 aged 87.
An obituary of Alexander Kynoch says that his wife was Magdalen, daughter of James Stephen and granddaughter of John Stuart on Birkenburn. Magdalen Stephen, one of six children of James Stephen and Mary Stuart, was baptised in Keith on 7 May 1826.
So as well as the listed baptisms, there were at least two more children - John (d 1844), Mary (m John Stephen) and probably another, William, (d 1800 in India). Or could John S of Birkenburn have been married twice, first to Helen Anderson and then to Ann Stewart?
There are four baptisms of children to John St*art and Helen Anderson
John, 14 December 1764
William, 1 September 1767
Robert, October 1768
Alexander, 21 November 1769
There are numerous newspaper references to John Stuart of Birkenburn as a cattle breeder and dealer in the 1850s and 1860s. Also to a William Stuart, farmer, Mains of Birkenburn. However there don't seem to have been any Stuarts actually living at Birkenburn in any census.
So, putting together information gleaned from a variety of sources, there seem to have been at least 5 John St*arts of Birkenburn
(1) born 1733, married Helen Anderson, died 1822
(2) married Ann Stewart
(2) son of (1) above, born 1764 and died 1837
(3) son of (2) above, died 29 February 1844, buried in Keith 1844 3 March, apparently unmarried
(4) cattle dealer after 1851
Unless (1) and (2) are the same person, and the 1837 death date is spurious .... so many questions, so few answers :(
At any rate, I think it's clear enough that the John Stuart who married Elspet Bremner and founded the Quaker Oats dynasty can't have been a Stuart of Birkenburn unless the connection was much further back.
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Another snippet, from an item in the Banffshire Journal in 1869, quotes a monument in the kirk of Keith: Sacred to the memory of the Gordons and Stuarts of Birkenburn, 1845 - the first Gordon of Birkenburn, a son of Lesmore, in Rhynie, acquired the estate about 1550. The family failed in three co-heiresses about the middle of the last century. One married Mr Stuart, Minister of Drumblade; a sceond, Mr Milne, Minister of Inverkeithny; and the third, known as 'Lady Catherine Gordon', died in Fife-Keith. John Stuart, son of the Minister of Drumblade, sold Birkenburn to the Earl of Seafield, and erected the stone from which the above inscription is copied.
Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae has: John Stewart, born Lhanbryd 1700, son of Walter Stewart, minister of Lhanbryd; educated Marischal College; ordained to Lhanbryd 23rd March 1727; Called to Drumblade 24th September 1734; died 9 February 1743. He marr 10th August 1732 Magdalene (died 2nd May 1783), daughter of William Gordon of Birkenburn, and had issue: John (great-grandfather of Professor James Cooper DD); Jean; Mary; Magdalene.
SP has baptisms of James and Jean, children of John Stuart and Magdalen Gordon, in Keith on 5 May 1733.
Reverend Professor James Cooper DD (1846-1922) was the son of John Alexander Stephen and Ann Stephen or Cooper, who was the daughter of James Stephen and Mary Stuart or Stephen, the daughter of John Stuart of Birkenburn and Ann Stuart/Stewart.
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"A system of heraldry speculative and practical" - Alexander Nesbit, Edinburgh 1722
Chapter IV "Of FOURFOOTED BEASTS Page 317
Alexander Gordon of BIRKENBURN, descended of Lessmore, the first cadet of that family, carries as Lessmore, within a Bordure Argent, Crest;a Hart's Head couped, proper, charged with a Crescent Argent. Motto Bydand
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At any rate, I think it's clear enough that the John Stuart who married Elspet Bremner and founded the Quaker Oats dynasty can't have been a Stuart of Birkenburn unless the connection was much further back.
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Agree - not likely same Stuart family.
I just wonder why Margaret Bremner Macdonald gave birth to her 4th child at Birkenburn in 1844? Her husband (James Macdonald) died at Blackhillock in 1847 according to his gravestone. Blackhillock is a place name, while Birkenburn is a farm across the road. He may have died at the farm and they wrote Blackhillock on the gravestone as a place name. Who would they have known in 1844-1847 at Birkenburn Farm that would have given them refuge?
Thanks for your help.
Nancy Macdonald Jordan
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I just wonder why Margaret Bremner Macdonald gave birth to her 4th child at Birkenburn in 1844? Her husband (James Macdonald) died at Blackhillock in 1847 according to his gravestone. Blackhillock is a place name, while Birkenburn is a farm across the road. He may have died at the farm and they wrote Blackhillock on the gravestone as a place name. Who would they have known in 1844-1847 at Birkenburn Farm that would have given them refuge?
Yes, I have been wondering that too.
I don't think anyone in the 1840s or any time since would confuse Blackhillock with Birkenburn. They were two separate farms, one on either side of the Keith to Huntly road. By the 1850s a lime works had been opened at Blackhillock, and there are a now a quarry, a roads department depot and a major electricity transforming station on Blackhillock.
Birkenburn was a property of the Gordons, then of the Stuarts, then of the Earl of Seafield, but the proprietor of Blackhillock in the mid-19th century was Andrew Stewart Esq. This Andrew Stewart is elusive; he is not in the 1841, 1851 or 1861 census in Keith, and the valuation rolls list the names of tenants in Blackhillock.
From perusing the catalogue of the National Records of Scotland, I think he might be Andrew Stewart or Steuart of Auchlunkart, who died in Menton, France in 1905, and seems to have had a London home. The Steuarts of Auchlunkart apparently claim descent from the 'noble house of Athole', so I think that attaching your Stuarts, or the Birkenburn ones, to the Auchlunkart ones might be an interesting challenge.
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Forfarian -
The only person on Ancestry.com I can find who has done research on the Stuarts of Birkenburn is username scseke and he has done great homework but his style leaves a lot to be desired. He cited as a source https://archive.org/stream/houseofgordonedi02bull#page/130/mode/1up
Are you familiar with the source above?
The man I am trying to connect is Robert Stuart (1768/69-1852) who was an army pensioner who married late in life after his military travel was over. When he was 57/8, he married 28 yr old Christian Stuart of Tomintoul. They moved to Dufftown about 1836-38 and raised a family there. Robert died in Dufftown in 1852 and is buried just south at Mortlach. Banffshire. All census records have him born in Banffshire, with one census reporting Rothiemurchas, Banffshire as a birthplace. His marriage record in 1825 reports he is from Delliefure, Cromdale, Banffshire.
John Stuart of Birkenburn (1733-1822) had 4 sons with Helen Anderson - including Robert Stuart baptized at Keith on 8 Oct 1768. According to the poster on Ancestry.com, this Robert Stuart was last heard from in 1815 when he visited Birkenburn, and then he died unmarried.
Could this be the same person? The patronymic naming pattern is present. The birth year is close (all we have is census ages for the Robert Stuart in Dufftown). Both went into the Army.
Coincidental,yes. Still after doing this for so many decades, my nose is smelling something worth researching further. Do you have access to military records by any chance?
Nancy Macdonald Jordan
Houston, Texas
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The only person on Ancestry.com I can find who has done research on the Stuarts of Birkenburn is username scseke and he has done great homework but his style leaves a lot to be desired. He cited as a source https://archive.org/stream/houseofgordonedi02bull#page/130/mode/1up
Are you familiar with the source above?
Yes, I have come across the 'House of Gordon'. However it is a secondary source, and I always take with a good deal of caution any secondary sources. On the plus side, the author does say that he was given access to the charter chest of the Steuarts of Auchlunkart, so he is only one step away from a primary source.
I wouldn't trust any tree I find online. Especially not one submitted to Ancestry, My Heritage or similar web sites. I would use it as a finding aid and try to confirm its contents from primary sources.
The man I am trying to connect is Robert Stuart (1768/69-1852) who was an army pensioner who married late in life after his military travel was over. When he was 57/8, he married 28 yr old Christian Stuart of Tomintoul.
I see that the marriage was proclaimed in both Kirkmichael and in Cromdale Inverallan and Advie. Do you have the originals of both?
They moved to Dufftown about 1836-38 and raised a family there. Robert died in Dufftown in 1852 and is buried just south at Mortlach. Banffshire.
Dufftown is actually in Mortlach - the parish kirk there pre-dates Dufftown by several centuries; Dufftown was established in 1817, close to the Kirk of Mortlach which is over 1000 years old.
All census records have him born in Banffshire, with one census reporting Rothiemurchas, Banffshire as a birthplace. His marriage record in 1825 reports he is from Delliefure, Cromdale, Banffshire.
Rothiemurchus is not in Banffshire. The transcriptions of the 1851 census on FreeCEN and FindMyPast both give his birthplace as Rothiemurchus, Inverness-shire, and the 1841 (from transcriptions) says he was not born in Banffshire. Delliefure is quite close to Rothiemurchus, and both are in the opposite direction to Keith. In 1851 his age is given as 81; if accurate that would indeed put his birth in 1769/1770.
John Stuart of Birkenburn (1733-1822) had 4 sons with Helen Anderson - including Robert Stuart baptized at Keith on 8 Oct 1768. According to the poster on Ancestry.com, this Robert Stuart was last heard from in 1815 when he visited Birkenburn, and then he died unmarried.
Noting that John Stuart of Birkenburn mentioned only sisters in his will, in spite of having 3 brothers and 2 half-brothers*, does suggest that the various brothers and half-brothers must have predeceased him.
*this assumes that I am correct in deducing that Ann St*art was the second wife of Helen Anderson's widower. I have yet to find definite proof of that, though The House of Gordon also says so.
Could this be the same person? The patronymic naming pattern is present. The birth year is close (all we have is census ages for the Robert Stuart in Dufftown). Both went into the Army.
Given the consistency of the birthplace information in the census, I think it is unlikely that the Robert St*art who died in Mortlach in 1852 was the one born in Keith in 1768, but I don't think it can quite be ruled out. However The House of Gordon says that Robert Stuart of Birkenburn died in England in 1815.
As for the patronymic naming pattern, I can find five children: John, baptised 21 February 1826; Peter, baptised 13 June 1827; Barbara, aged 7 in 1841 so born 1833/1834; Robert, born 26 May 1835; and Jane, baptised 24 January 1838. If he had been the son of Helen Henderson you would have expected his second daughter to be named Helen, but there are gaps in the family so the naming tradition cannot be relied on. Do you know the names of Christian's parents?
Coincidental,yes. Still after doing this for so many decades, my nose is smelling something worth researching further. Do you have access to military records by any chance?
Only those available online, unless I were to take a trip to London.
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Sorry for the Rothiemurchus BANFFSHIRE error. I knew it was Inverness - I've been there. Also, the reference to Mortlach being south of Dufftown, I know about the history of Dufftown, I was referring to the cemetery being south of Dufftown proper, been there, too.
Good point about John Stuart death in 1837 mentioning only his sisters.
Thanks for helping me.
Nancy Macdonald Jordan
Houston, Texas
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Forforian,
Regarding the patrynomic naming pattern for Robert Stuart and Christian Stuart:
known children:
JOHN Stuart
1826–1899 d Covington, California
Peter Stuart
1827–1898 d Ontario, CAN
Helen Stuart
1833–1911 m1 Ross, m2 Cole, d Ontario, CA
Barbara Stuart
1834–1894 d Ontario, CAN [unmarried, lived with her mother, and then her sister Elspet Tocher - may have been mentally challenged - see 1861 Ontario census]
Robert Stuart
1835–1913 d Ontario, CAN
Elspet Stuart
1836–1904 m Tocher, d Ontario, CAN
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Good point about John Stuart death in 1837 mentioning only his sisters.
That's another thing.
I have yet to see a primary source for John's death in 1837, although it is quoted in LIBINDX.
However
- In the 1841 census (transcription) John Stewart, 70 is in Fife-Keith with Jean 60; Ann, 60 and Cathrine, 50, three of the half-sisters of John Stuart of Birkenburn. If this John Stewart is not their half-brother, still alive and presumably kicking in 1841, who else could he possibly be?
- According to LIBINDX http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp John Stuart was buried in Keith on 3 March 1884. The page reference is MF A Ke (105), which is the same reference as the burial of Ann Stewart in 1864 and Catherine Stewart in 1868, John of Birkenburn's half-sisters.
- The testament of John Stuart of Birkenburn was confirmed on 4 April 1844; his sister Mary Stewart or Stephen stated that her brother John died on 29 February 1844 and the date of his will was 7 March 1842. The confirmation aso names his sisters Jean, Ann and Katharine.
So where (other than an unsourced reference in The House of Gordon), did the death date of 1837 come from? And, in the face of three pieces of primary evidence against him having died in 1837, do we still believe that he died in 1837?
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This is an extract from the burial records.
Page 105.
Name: John Stuart Esq of Birkenburn. Section Number on Plan 91. Extent of Ground 13 feet 0 inches.
Age
Depth of Grave
Number of Grave
Stone
Date of Burial
Jun 21st 1839 Miss Elizabeth Stuart 4
Mar 4th 1844 John Stuart Esq're 3
Nov 27th 1856 Miss Jane Stuart 5
Apr 25th 1864 Miss Ann Stuart 4
Oct 23rd 1867 Alexander Kynoch 1
Jun 30th 1868 Miss Catherine Stuart 5
Aug 21st 1875 Magdalene Stephen or Kynoch 3
Feb 5th 1937 Jessie Mc G Clifford or Kynoch 84 4 ft 4
Feb 10th 1937 George Kynoch 82 4 ft 2
Hope this helps
Steven
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Yes, very much, thanks, Steven.
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Hi,
I was really interested to see these various posts about Birkenburn, Keith. I have been researching this for some time although there was some information I was not aware particularly relating to the death of William Stuart in Madras. Not sure I can help about Robert but I would agree with what seems to be the conclusion that the Robert being sought is not the one from Birkenburn.
I am a direct descendant of John Stuart Esq of Birkenburn who died in 1844 as previously mentioned. I am also at a loss as to why his death was recorded in various sources as 1837. The will is very clear. He appears in the 1841 Census living in Keith with his half-sisters.
I am descended from him via the illegitimate son mentioned in the will who was left £500, his shirts and other clothes. I doubt I have seen a better worded will for help prove someone was the father of an illegitimate child! Its wording described the name, location and occupation of James at the time of the 1841 Census a year before the will was written. James was born to John Stuart Esq and an Isobel Dey from Keith and I have found the records from Keith Kirk Session Records when they were summoned to appear before the Session in 1793 to answer for their "sin". He was referred to as "Young Birkenburn" and his father paid a nice amount into the Poor Relief to atone for his sins!
In terms of Birkenburn Estate, the National Records of Scotland hold two plans of the estate. One was produced for John Stuart and the other for the Earl of Seafield when he purchased it. I managed to obtain these a few weeks ago when visiting NRS and for some reason the cartographer has flipped the layout of plans so they initially appear different but are definitely the same estate. It appears that the Stuarts were not great with money and, as was common at that time, had to sell off the estate. I think there was perhaps a tax levied to help pay for the Napoleonic War that caused a lot of estates to be sold off. There is a story which was in one of the books mentioned that one member of the Gordon family was not happy when the Stuarts sold the estate to Seafield instead of selling to him to keep it in the Gordon family. He was apparently willing to pay more!!
I am delivering a talk on this family later in the year and will be doing more research this summer, hopefully including a trip up to Keith to look at the site and the kirkyard etc. If anyone has any more information or wishes to exchange more information please let me know. I know that there is nothing left of the house but hopefully, equipped with the estate plans I may be able to make some sense of its scale and location.
Thanks again and it is amazing how sharing of information on a site such as this can help people cover gaps in research.
Gary Lawrie
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Thanks Gary. Would love a copy of your talk.
Nancy Macdonald Jordan
Houston, TX
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I am delivering a talk on this family later in the year
Where and when?