Elizabeth aka Betsy McLeod – 1826 - 1883

Elizabeth McLeod

Elizabeth McLeod, the third child of John and Christina was born in 1826. The birth record of Elizabeth has not been located but she was almost certainly born at Altnabreck and likely baptised at Achreny. The main Halkirk parish church was about 24 miles away from Altnabreck  with the Thurso River often being uncrossable and very few bridges across the river, but there was a closer outpost church at Achreny known as a ‘missionary church’ that was supported by a travelling minister. Elizabeth may have been named after her mother’s cousin Elizabeth in whose house at Badbea young Christina spent a lot of time following the death of her mother Katherine.

Betsy

Although named Elizabeth in several documents, when she married she used the name Betsy which I think indicates that was her preferred name so I will default to Betsy.

Sphagnum Moss

Some of the pictures of Altnabreck in previous blogs indicate it must have been a hard place to live and rear young children. For example, summer or winter with no running water, what would mothers have used for their baby care instead of cloth baby nappies. Sphagnum Moss apparently. Sphagnum Moss with its anti-bacterial properties has grown abundantly in the peat country of Scotland for thousands of years. Sphagnum moss had many uses for families, including keeping baby’s bottoms clean and dry. Sphagnum moss once dried out can absorb water like a sponge which can then be squeezed out and used again.

 

Sphagnum moss 

To Rumsdale

About 1829, when she was only three, Betsy moved with her family from Aultnabreck to Rumsdale and grew up there. With the family being known for educating their children it is likely that Betsy went to school at some stage. 

The south dyke of the Rumsdale Park with the 

remains of the shepherd's house on the 

eminence behind it.

Busy Family

It would have been a busy family with a new baby every two years or so. Father John was away a lot droving the sheep to market or managing the big Rumsdale farm. Children all had to help with chores like:

• churning butter or
• getting water from the well. Old maps show a well on the middle of the stone enclosure at Rumsdale.
• helping stack or bring peat in for the fire was another chore everyone had to help with.

Census 1841

Betsy McLeod was not located in the 1841 census - she may have left home for work by then possibly as a ‘Female Servant’ – a common occupation for young women at the time. 

An abandoned farm at Backlass

Census 1851

The first record located of Betsy is the 1851 census where she is shown as Elizabeth McLeod age 25 living at Backlass with her two brothers, Willliam aged 20 who is a shepherd and Farquhar at 11 is at school.  Betsy is most likely running the house and looking after her brothers. The census also shows a family at the nearby settlement of Achscoraclate with a young school teacher boarding with them so probably there was a school there that Farquhar  attended.  Backlass was a walk across the moors south of Achscoraclate.

Betsy & William Married

In 1859 Betsy married William Williamson of Tormsdale. Tormsdale was a settlement just a mile south of Westerdale. They were married in the Westerdale Free Church by the Rev David Ferguson. It was a family occasion with the witnesses Farquhar McLeod and Donald Ross (Betsy’s brother-in-law) and her parents John and Christina there. If David Ferguson was true to character the wedding was a genial occasion.

The next minister of the Westerdale-Achreny charge, David Ferguson (1815-1887), was inducted on 5 April 1849. He was a native of Forse, Latheron, and had graduated at King’s College, Aberdeen, in March 1843. “He was a man of genial disposition, upright and straightforward in word and deed. He had a strong and well-built frame, indispensable for his work, which extended over an area of many miles of hill and moor.

Source: Home / Publications / Free Presbyterian Magazine / 1998 to 2003 / November 2003 / The Achreny Mission – Part 3 – After the Disruption

The lovely Westerdale church which was built
after the Disruption in the established church
in 1843. Now a renovated private residence, but as a listed building,
the original pulpit is still there. 
Source: Photos of interior of church Cathy Munro of Westerdale with thanks.

Census 1861

The 1861 census shows William and Elizabeth living at East Tormsdale where William is a farmer of 10 acres. Betsy is running a busy household and, as before, having family residing with her. Her brother Alexander McLeod (my great grandfather) was living with the Williamsons and rather surprisingly at 18 he was shown as still a scholar. Betsy has also taken in a baby. Judging by his name, this little boy William was probably connected via the Williamsons.

The next few years were busy for Betsy and William with the birth of their own children and a move to Rangag where they both lived for the rest of their lives. I will continue the story in the next blog.