Mowat Westerdale

[nikitah]

Hi I have a real brain teaser, hope someone can help, My Mowat's are William Mowat baptised !0 Jan 1808 Thurso parents John Mowat and Isobel Miller, abode Buckies from freereg and Jane Tait, other children born to John and Iisobel are James 1799 Halkirk abode Calder, Elizabeth 1804  Halkirk abode Calder, mothers name transcribed as ELIZABETH and John 1810 Halkirk abode Westerdale,John Mowat and Isabel Miller married  1796 at Bower Both their abodes Thura.  Alastair Philpps in his book !My Uncle George" refers to William's daughter. Isabella Sinclair and says the Mowat's came out of Strathnaver during the clearances as I understand it the clearances in Strathnaver happened 1818/1819 The Rev' Donald Sage in his book "Memorabilia Domestica"  also says the Mowat's  were burned out of Strathnaver, as you can see by the dates of their baptisms they seem to have been in Westerdale before the clearance of Strathnaver. So this is my problem are the history books wrong , or am I missing something ?, any help will be much appreciated, Merry Christmas to you all. Nikitah  

[spittalhill]

Firstly, the Clearances from Strathnaver started much earlier than 1818, so your Mowats could well have been victims of the Clearances. Secondly Mowat is quite a common surname in Caithness, many of them being there well before the Clearances. I have Mowats in my own family tree in other parts of Caithness from the early 18thC.

[Skoosh]

Nik, Black's Surnames has a page of Mowat stuff going back to 1200. Only a wee bit about Caithness and they were also in Orkney & Shetland, one of them, an Axel Mowat was an Admiral in the Norwegian navy in the 1600's and one of the richest men in the country. There's no mention of Strathnaver, I would have thought those folk had Gaelic names?
 "My Uncle George" is a superb book, my g't grannie was in his congregation at Fearn.

Bests
Skoosh.

[nikitah]

Thanks Spittalhill, I think we have spoken before. Yes I see what you are saying but my Mowat's are the ones in Westerdale, , Isabella Sinclair ms Mowat was the elder sister of my Donaldina and Isabella was the grandmother of Alastair Phillips in his book my uncle George he says and I quote"My Grandmother Isabella was a Mowat out of Strathnaver, Whence her parents, crofters of Grummore, had been evicted during the savage Sutherland clearances " etc her parents being William Mowat and iJane Tait and I can find them in all the census in and around Halkirk William wasn't born until 1808, so I'm a bit confused, His parents seem to be in Caithness from birth to marriage Donald Sage also says these Mowat's were in Strathnaver, Thanks once again Nikitah.     

[nikitah]

Thanks Skoosh it takes me an age to type so I might not get back right away. I'll go and look that one up it sounds interesting . Read some of Rev' Donald Sages earlier and he says the same as Alastair Phillips but I can't work out how they could be in two places at once. You are right about the book, I lent mine to an Uncle who was Dunbeath born and bred, he thought it was hard going but I loved every bit of it, but then i have a vivid imagination and the characters just jumped out at me, they are definitely the characters I remember in Caithness Thank you, Nikitah

[spittalhill]

My own ggg-grandfather was also cleared from Grummore, in 1819, a Mackay not a Mowat, so I guess they would have been near neighbours in that township. BTW, I thought Alistair Phillips' book was a great read. I remember the Sinclairs of Westerdale he refers to, from my childhood. They had the small shop there.

[spittalhill]

Skoosh is right. Mowat is a surname common in the coastal fringe of Caithness and in Orkney and Shetland. Given that Nik mentioned Buckies, Thurso and Thura, Bower for William Mowat's parents place of residence in his original post, and this is correct, I wonder if his Mowats originated from that part of Caithness and then moved to Strathnaver after the children were born with unfortunate consequences!

[nikitah]

Thanks to you both, please can you tell me how I find Nik Black's page? he seems to be referring to my Mowat's. Spittalhill when did the clearances start in Strathnaver?, I thought Rev Sage said December 1818. On another branch of the tree I have the Ross family from Clyne, Roderick Ross was the Father of  Donald who married Dolina Mowat, Roderick was the son of John Ross and Catherine Sutherland, I've read somewhere that the Sutherland's ended in Rogart after being burned out,  Roderick's sister Williamina married John Mackay the blacksmith at Berriedale, Many thanks, Nikitah       

[Skoosh]

Nik,  try a search for "Strathnaver Clearances" on    http://www.electricscotland.com/

Skoosh.