Barbara Batten & the Shirrefs Gordon of Craig Castle

[Reigate1999]

Hi all,

This is my first post on here and I am quite new to researching my family history, so here goes! I’m looking to see if there is a connection between my 2nd great-grandmother Barbara Shirrefs Lumsden Batten and the Shirrefs Gordon family of Craig Castle, Rhynie, Aberdeenshire. This is something that has been discussed in my family for a long time without any proper research, so I’d be very grateful for any insights or advice 

Barbara Shirrefs Lumsden Batten (b. 1867, Southampton; d. 1953 Leamington Spa) was the daughter of James Batten (whose ancestors I have traced back to the early 18th century, all in Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire) and Eleanor née Smith, listed in censuses as being born in Scotland/Aberdeen(shire) but whose ancestry I know nothing about other than the name of her father, as listed on her marriage certificate (William). Barbara is the only one of her siblings to have been given Scottish middle names. I am aware that Lumsden is a relatively common Scottish surname but it appears to be quite a popular middle name given to children of the Shirrefs/Gordon family.

My grandmother and great-uncle have always been under the impression that there is some sort of family connection between their grandmother Barbara Batten and Craig Castle but they do not know what it is. They even visited it once briefly in the late 1950s with their parents (my great-grandparents), while on a family holiday to Scotland.

The other relevant piece of information comes in the form of a needlework sampler, inherited by my grandmother from her grandmother Barbara Batten, which at the bottom is embroidered ‘Maggie I. B. S. Gordon’. I have found a Margaret Isabella Barclay Shirrefs Gordon (1866-1899) who was the daughter of James Francis Gordon Shirrefs Gordon of Craig Castle. This leads me to wonder if there is a particular connection with her, if it is indeed the same person.

If anyone has any information or even ideas on what the connection may be, I would be very grateful.

Many thanks in advance,
Jacob

[flst]

I note that Eleanor was a widow in the 1861 census in Southampton. She had a daughter Mary Jane Roffe born c.1856 & a son, William J. born c.1859. Her husband was Fortunatus Roffe & they married in Southampton in the June quarter, 1853.
flst

[Forfarian]

Welcome to RootsChat

I see that Eleanor's age is 36 in 1861, suggesting that she was born in 1824/1825. In 1871 she was 45, and in 1891 she was 65, suggesting a birth in 1825/1826. However there are no baptisms of an Eleanor Smith, father William, in Aberdeenshire between 1820 and 1830 in the index at Scotland's People.

This could be because no record was ever made, or because the record has not survived, or because she was baptised in the Episcopal Church, whose registers are not indexed at Scotland's People. Or she could have been baptised as Helen or Ellen.

Does either of her marriage certificates say anything more aboure her father? For example, his occupation or whether he was deceased?

[Forfarian]

In the 1871 census at Craig Castle (which is in the parish of Auchindoir and Kearn, not the parish of Rhynie) are James Shirrefs Gordon, 30, landowner, born Madras, with wife Barbara, 30, born Birkenhead and 5 children including Margaret J B, aged 4, born Auchindoir.

In 1891 the family is in Grant Lodge, Elgin, and Barbara died there the following year aged 51. Barbara's maiden surname was Smith, and her parents were William Smith, ship builder, and Elizabeth Purvis Porteous.

So I wonder whether perhaps Barbara was a younger sister of Eleanor?

In the 1841 census is a household at Hamilton Terrace, Bidston, Wirral consisting of William Smith, shipwright, 45; Ellen, 15; Sarah, 11; Elizabeth, 8; and Barbara, 2; all except Barbara born in Scotland. Barbara Smith, mother's surname Porterns, was born in the September quarter of 1839 in Wirral.

William Smith and Elizabeth Porteous had a daughter Helen baptised in Aberdeen on 3 September 1825. Elizabeth Smith, aged 39, died in Wirral in 1841.

So I think that Helen, baptised in 1825 in Aberdeen, is Ellen in the 1841 census and Eleanor later on, and that your connection with the Shirrefs Gordon family is through her sister Barbara, who married James Shirrefs Gordon.

BTW Lumsden, as well as being a surname, is the only village in the parish of Auchindoir and Kearn. See https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ4721. Craig Castle is only a couple of miles from Lumsden.

[flst]

What a great find. Well done! I have found this post by another member which may be useful. https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=231560.0
flst

[Forfarian]

There is a letter in the Aberdeen Press and Journal of 21 January 1939 , reprinted in the Aberdeen Weekly Journal of 26 January 1939, from T B Rudmose-Brown of Ardpatrick, 94 Rathfarnham Road, Dublin who says he is researching the family of his late wife, who was a daughter of James Francis Gordon Shirrefs-Gordon, 14th of Craig. Among the other people he asks about is Barbara Shirrefs-Smith, adopted daughter of Miss Shirrie Lumsden-Shirrefs of Blairmormond and Knowsie, who was the daughter of George Lumsden-Shirrefs (really Barclay) and Mary Smith. He asks who Barbara Shirrefs-Smith and Mary Smith are, and goes on to say that Barbara is said to have been a daughter of William Smith, of Heywood Place, Liverpool, and to have been a first cousin of her husband.

[flst]

I have just seen a family tree on ancestry showing Barbara as being an adopted daughter. Barbara married James in 1861 in Old Machar, therefore their marriage certificate will be able to view on scotlandspeople. This will show her parentage & hopefully there may be one of her relatives as a witness.
flst

[Forfarian]

The obituary of James Francis Shirrefs-Gordon in the Aberdeen Evening Express of 24 June 1893 says that he was the son of Colonel Sheriffs of Torryburn, Kintore, and that he took the name of Gordon when he succeeded Francis Gordon of Craig to the estate of Craig.

Francis Gordon of Craig and Kincardine died on 27 January 1857, aged 84, and his will is available to view on the Scotland's People web site. The deaths index gives his mother's maiden surname as Gordon.

James Francis Gordon Sherriffs applied for a cadetship in the army of the Honourable East India Company in 1857, and among the documents sumitted is an extract from the register of baptisms at Jaulnah, India saying that James Francis Gordon Sherriffs, son of Captain Alexander Sherriffs of the 21st MIN (I take that to be Madras Native Infantry) and his wife Mary Agnes was born on 7 June and baptised on 26 September 1840. Several spelling variants of the surname are used in the application and in the original baptism record.

Digression - I was intrigued to see that although he had received a classical and mathematical education at the West End Academy in Aberdeen, one of those who interviewed him was a Professor of Fortification!

[Forfarian]

1851 census, Knowsie, Lonmay lists John L Sheriffs, 56; sister Shirriff L Sheriffs, unmarried, 67, and Seccos (?Second cousin) Barbara L Smith, 10, scholar, born England.