Just some further thoughts on the Robert Cowan uncovered by Rosinish at Skibo Barracks in the 1901 census. There were ten plumbers, including Robert, at Skibo. As I mentioned earlier, all had been born in Ayrshire and all bar one were in their teens or early twenties, clearly working for a contractor based in Ayrshire. Turns out that Robert was the son of a Samuel Cowan, a Master Plumber based in Ayr. Samuel owning an Ayr company of sanitary engineers etc called McIlwrath & Cowan. It must have been of some size for as early as the 1861 census John McIlwrath was employing fourteen men and fourteen boys, although he had died before 1901 and Cowan retained the company name.
Clearly all this points to Cowan having an installation contract at Skibo Castle, Dornoch in 1901 so could be described as a contractor. It seems a distinct possibility that the Cowans also had a maintenance contract to ensure that the complex installations at Skibo Castle continued to function which could perhaps explain why Christopher was there in 1916. Ayr obviously had easy links to Ireland which might explain how he ended up in Scotland then later was sent up to work at Dornoch. But having said all that there does not seem to be a Walter Cowan involved. I don’t want to confuse matters but it may just be worth considering how reliable the information in the police report was. They managed to spell Cowan wrongly, perhaps. Did they get the forename wrong? What sources are there for the name Walter Cowen apart from the police report?
Imber
