I have finally decided to try and finish sorting out the Gunns, Sinclairs, Sutherlands, Hendersons, etc. Like many people's history, these families have run riot through the 1840s-1890s in Himself's line. One thing I would like to find, and seems to be very short in information, is the history of the Castle and, more importantly, the estate. There seems to be little or no gen on the latter and only basic information on the former. This is more a matter of interest in the context of the family lines than trying to prove Himself as being 'heir to the castle'.
The families seem to consist mainly of fishermen with a couple of Ag Labs thrown into the mix according to the 1871 census. I've followed one part of it down to the present day, through Catherine Sutherland (1839-1911) who seems to have moved away from Caithness to Midlothian as a youngish woman and married George McKinlay. She was the third of 15 children; did the family just get too big for her (although it looks as though 2 or 3 died young as others of the same name followed)? Did she move for a job? Was it impossible for the workers on the estate, as their families grew (and boy, did they grow!) to look after their children properly - I would imagine that the estate could not possibly employ all of the eventual crowd that ended up there. Because of the 'population explosion' on the estate itself, did it finally buckle under the strain? Was it sold on and the new owner refuse to take all the workforce? So many questions/possible variables. It's such a shame that there doesn't seem to be too much information.
BTW, I do have fairly extensive research on the family coming down the line, so I don't want to waste people's time in thinking I need information on them, thank you.
Author
Topic: Dunbeath Castle and Estate (Read 6904 times)