Tracing who lived at a house/farm

[Nichy]

Thank you so much for all of your help and information. I have found in the Records of Invercauld in 1765 it says “in exchange for the Island of Balnoe presently possessed by John Gray your Lordship’s tenant in Balno”. I am not sure how he is related to Helen Gray’s father John Gray-maybe it is his father or uncle? I also have the baptism record of Helen Gray at Balno in 1811 so am not sure how they tie in with the Davidsons being the tenants there for so long. I wonder if the tenants ever rented out the farms to other people or was it just the landowners that did that? Thank you again

[Nichy]

Helen Gray

[Forfarian]

I doubt that the tenants of a single farm would sublet - in fact their lease might well forbid them doing so.

However most farms would have cottages for their workers as well as the farm house itself, so you could have two or more families living there.

I notice that that baptism record doesn't say that John Gray and Christian Farquharson were 'in' or 'at' Balno.

Usually if it says 'John Smith in xyz' it means that John Smith was the tenant of xyz, but if it says 'John Smith at xyz' he is often a less permanent occupant, such as a labourer, ploughman, shepherd etc. (John Smith of xyz is the owner or a member of the owner's family.)

[Nichy]

The next child that they had in 1813 says “John Gray in Balno and his wife Christian Farquharson had a son baptised named James”. The son John born in 1801 just says “John Gray and Christian Farquharson Balno” like Helen’s one so not sure if he was the tenant or just a labourer there?

[Nichy]

James Gray 1813

[Nichy]

This is from the records of Invercauld in 1765-maybe my John Gray’s father or Uncle?

[Neale1961]

However most farms would have cottages for their workers as well as the farm house itself, so you could have two or more families living there.

This seems to be the most obvious explaination.
If you look at the 1841 census there are 2 different families and 2 dwellings recorded at Balno

Davidson family
https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a13fe01f4040b9d6ee18ca8/anne-ritchie-1841-aberdeenshire-glenmuick-tullich-1832-?locale=en\

Reid family
https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a13fe01f4040b9d6ee18ca8?dwel=5a13fdf6f4040b9d6ee17f79&locale=en&page_number=0

Do you know when your John Gray died? That might give you an idea when the family moved away from the farm, and it might explain why the family was not there in 1841.

[Nichy]

Thank you for this information-yes it looks like there are more than one family able to live there. I can’t find any dates or anything to do with John Gray or Christian Farquharson’s deaths-I’m finding that really tricky.

[Neale1961]

On the marriage record for John Gray and Christian Farquharson, does it give any information about where he was living? Does it mention Balno?