I have in my possession my gggfather's Gaelic Bible. This book belongs to Hector Morrison in Newton Kinkell. I am certain that he is Hector Urquart Morrison.
This was the man that started me off! The man whose Bible I have. I searched for him in the birth registers and the Census, but could never be certain I had found the right person. In those days people did not normally travel far and so the search ought to have been easy. I spent so much time tracing back possible people to see whether they seemed right or not. It was several years later that I discovered that the Census enumerators in 1841 were instructed to enter children’s ages accurately, but for adults they had to round the age down to the nearest 5. This had caused much of the confusion.
In the 1841 census in Inverness he was shown as 25, implying he was born 1816. His place of birth was correctly shown as “Out-of-county”. The enumerator should have logged age 30. In the 1851 Census he was shown as 40 implying 1811, and his place of birth was recorded as Redcastle, a place on the south shore of the Black Isle. In the 1861 Census, he was shown as 46 implying 1815 and his place of birth was Ferintosh. His tombstone in Old Inverness Churchyard commemorates his death in 1865, and his son records him as 50. In all the census records, the children named and counted agree with the children in the Bible, thus confirming that we have the same person. I can now say confidently that he was born on 20th February 1811 in Newton of Ferintosh on the Black Isle, and his parents were John Morrison and Isobel Gollan. It has taken me until 2012 to be sure of this.
Interestingly his birth register shows a middle name Urquhart, which he did not put in his Bible, in Census records, or on his tombstone. The next baby on the register was born to parents with the surname Urquhart. I suspect the Minister made a mistake!
The flyleaf shows his children
As regards his parents, sadly I did not record how I concluded that I selected the right John Morrison and Isobel Gollan. Your information looks more logical.
I will PM you
