Help Needed ..Pitlochry..1910

[ajjbc]

I am looking for help and/or information on a piece of property.
1909-1910.

"Dail-na-Coille"
Pitlochry
Perth

Who were the owners and when would this large  house have been built.?
I am in Canada.
Yes...I have tried Google.
Yes ..I have contacted the present owners..they do not know.


I am amazed that this beautil place has retained it's original name,well at least from 1909 anyway.
Thanks in advance for any clues and help.

[Isabel H]

Dail na Coille doesn't seem to feature in a view of Pitlochry that is thought to date from about 1885. I am fairly sure it would have been built in the 1890s. Next time I am in Perth (next Friday if all goes well) I'll pop into the archives and see what I can find out for you.

[ajjbc]

Thank you Isabell.I really appreciate this.
Dail na Coille..at present appears to Bed and Breakfast.
It has been owned for as few dozen years by present owner.
I believe previous to that..possibly owned by Blair & co,somethiing like that ...possibly associated with Whiskey.
Am wondering if there are directories for that year 1909 or even 1910?
 Again thank you for your time ......we genealogist are a  curious batch of folks.

[ajjbc]

Isabell...I have come up with some revised imfo on Dail na Coille.
The present owner wrote:

"We have owned the property since the mid 1970s, when we purchased it from Arthur Bell & Sons the Distillers who used it as their Blair Athol Distillery (Pitlochry) manager's house.  The family name was David & Isla Smart. We have no knowledge at present, of how long it was in Bell's ownership."

[Isabel H]

Here are two mentions of Dal-na-coille from info. I have to hand. It seems to have been the home of a Menzies family.

From an old notebook apparently written by the Moulin minister at the time:
Death 1917, Apr 10. MENZIES.    At Perth,  Isabella Menzies U.F.Ch. formerly of Dalnacoile   b(urial) Moulin

An inscription from Moulin Kirkyard:
In memory of ALEXANDER MENZIES, painter in London died 10 February 1851 aged 49 years also MARJORY CAMERON beloved wife of JAMES MENZIES, who died at Killiecrankie 27 May 1881 aged 75 years
   JAMES MENZIES, Killiecrankie who slept in Jesus 11 June 1890, aged 84 years.  Also JANE, daughter of the above JAMES MENZIES, who died at Dail-na-Coille Pitlochry 26 February 1908

[Isabel H]

Dail-na-Coille first appears in The Valuation Rolls for the County of Perth – Highland District – Parish of Moulin for the year 1899-1900, so I would assume that that is when it was completed and first occupied. Many houses are listed simply as “house & garden” but the larger ones like Dail-na-Coille are named. The house, garden and backhouse were owned and occupied from then until 1914 by one or both of the Misses Jessie and Jane Menzies.
From 1897-1899 a Jessie Menzies (probably the same one) rented Knockdhu, which was vacant in 1899-1890.
Both Jessie and Jane are listed as Owners/occupiers from 1899-1901. In 1901-1902 only Jane is listed. I didn’t have time to check all the volumes, but from 1908-1914 only Jessie is listed. After that the house is owned by Lachlan McKay, Stationer.
It would not have been owned by Arthur Bell & Sons before 1933 which is when they acquired Blair Atholl Distillery.
Hope that helps.
Isabel

[ajjbc]

Isabel H,
             Thank you so much for your time and research...I too have been picking away at this and on the 1891 find :
James Menzies  age 32 and his wife Jane age 21 and 2 girls (daugh) ,Anne age 3 and Lizzie age 1 living there...address "the Castle"
On the 1901 census JAmes and JAne are still there with 3 more children added and this time the address is listed as the "The Cottages"
So I wonder who lives in the Big House ??
His occupation is listed as a ploughman...so at this point I believe that he (James Menzies) was employed there.
It all all very interesting...why all this research...well...I have a post card dated  Sep 1909 sent to my grandmother at Dail-na Coille...
Have been going over all my old research and wondered did she visit OR was she employed as a Domestic.So you can see my interest in knowing who owned the property.
1 1 /2 years later she came to BC Canada and married her fiance from Scotland who came out here before her to secure job and land..the rest is history.
All these tid-bits put meat on the bones.
Again many thanks....what we research go through for more info.