Mary McLeod 1828 - 1906 Part A

Mary McLeod - 1828

Mary McLeod, the fourth child of John and Christina, was born in Altnabreck and baptised 8 May 1828. Mary was named after her father’s mother Mary McKay. Her birth is registered in the Halkirk parish but as with her older siblings the baptism may have taken place at the Achreny Mission church. 

The McLeod family moved from Altnabreck to Rumsdale sometime within a year or so of Mary’s birth so about 1829. 

Census 1841 Rumsdale

The census of 1841 shows Mary the eldest child of the McLeod family at home aged 12. Kitty, Donald and Betsy have gone already. There are five children younger than Mary at home. I am sure she was in great demand to help her mother with household chores. She is not shown as going to school but the McLeod parents were strong on education so Mary probably had some schooling. By the time she was a young adult Mary left home to get work as a House Servant. 

Census 1851 Achany, Lairg

Mary was not located on the 1851 census. The 1851 census was taken on 30 March 1851. In the Parish of Lairg, it shows Donald Ross age 24 (he was 28) as a shepherd in Achany, Lairg. However, there is a house servant at the same address named Mary McKay born in Caithness, Halkirk. I have no proof but I wonder if this Mary may have been Mary McLeod and the census taker made an error with her name. So although Mary is not correctly located in the March 1851 census, her marriage two months later confirms where she was living.

Grassland track from Achany Farm to Braemore Farm

Marriage 1851 Mary and Donald - But Where?

On 27 May 1851 Mary McLeod married Donald Ross. They were both shown on the marriage record as living in Braemore, Parish of Lairg. Mary was a servant and Donald a shepherd. Braemore is shown on Google Earth now as being the farm next door to Achany.

Lairg Free Church. A simple Gothic church, built of local granite 1847

There seems to be some conflicting evidence about the place and the date of the marriage of Mary and Donald. The Lairg parish register says they were registered at Lairg on 17 May 1851 and married there on 27 May 1851. 

Another marriage record dated 26 May 1851, says the banns were proclaimed on two Sabbaths in the parish church of Lairg in order to marriage. On the same document Gustavus Aird the Minister of the Free Church in the Parish of Creich says he married Donald and Mary on 27 May 1851. Two other documents support the Creich, Sutherland marriage – on the records for the births in Orkney of sons Donald in 1862 and William in 1864,when the parents have been required to provide information on their marriage, it is stated that they were married in Creich on 26 May 1851. Since Donald Ross signed both those records that data must be correct. So Donald and Mary must have had their banns proclaimed in Lairg but been married in Creich. 

Rev Dr Gustavus Aird

Source: www.tainmuseum.org.uk

Gustavus Aird was the minister of the Free Church of Creich from 1843 – 1898. He was held in high regard as a minister and preacher. In 1888 he became the Moderator of the General Assembly held in Inverness in 1888. The church building where he married Donald and Mary is gone and was replaced in 1881 on the same site. There is a memorial to Rev Gustavus Aird within the church enclosure. 

There was quite a considerable amount of travel either to Lairg or to Creich. The Creich church is actually just out of Bonar Bridge at Migdale. Maybe they walked all the way both to Lairg and Creich but the 1851 census shows a blacksmith living at Gruids nearby to Achany so maybe they had a horse and cart. 

It is about 12 miles from Lairg to Migdale at Bonar Bridge where the Creich church was.Then it is about 50 miles from Bonar Bridge to Cromarty Mains. I had to tip this view on its side to get Lairg and Bonar Bridge in. 

A long walk!

Cromarty Mains - 1852

The next we hear of Mary and Donald is 1852 and they are living at Mains, Cromarty. Donald is a shepherd there. So putting the marriage in Creich at Bonar Bridge in the picture it would make sense that they may have left the jobs in Achany, travelled to Creich for their wedding ceremony and then on to Cromarty.

Source: Canmore Image

The Cromarty Mains farm is a flat farm very near the coast. It should have been a good farm to manage sheep. 

10 children - to be continued

Betsy McLeod - Part B

Rangag

Some time between 1861 and 1865 William and Betsy moved to Rangag, a small settlement near Loch Rangag.

OS six inch to mile maps 1840s to 1880s

Loch Rangag

Loch Rangag is a minor loch in the north of Latheron Parish in the Highlands area of Scotland 5 miles (8km) northwest of Lybster and between Lochs Stemster and Ruard.

Loch Rangag

Broch Site 

The remains of a broch known as the Greysteil Castle are on the edge of Loch Rangag. Greysteil was a notorious robber and freebooter. His dates are doubtful but he may have lived in the late sixteenth century. He was an expert swordsman and no person who had a conflict with him or set foot on his land lived to tell the tale. He was eventually overcome by a magic sword loaned to a young aggrieved hunter by a widow who lived nearby at Halsary.

Remains of Greysteil Castle in centre

Doubly Good

The move to Rangag was doubly good. The Williamsons secured the rent or lease of one of the farms in Rangag owned by George Sutherland of Forse. About the same time Betsy’s parents John and Christina McLeod needed a place to retire to as the Rumsdale farm they had worked on for 40 years was sold in 1863. The McLeods got the rent or lease of a small house and land next door to the Williamsons. This house may have been built by subscription in 1842, at the same time the Halsary Mission church, a little way up the road, was built.

The McLeod House in 2009

Rangag OS 25 inch to mile maps 1850s to 1880s

Valuation Rolls and Census Records

The Valuation Roll for 1865 shows William Williamson renting a farm in Rangag. The proprietor was George Sutherland Esq of Forse. The yearly rent was £23. The size of the farm is not given on the Valuation Roll.

Valuation Roll 1865

The 1871 census states that the size of the farm was 100 acres with 29 arable.

The Valuation Roll for 1875 shows that William was still on the Rangag farm and the rent had gone up to £25 per year. Again the size is not given.

Valuation Roll 1875

The census for 1881 says William was farming 40 acres with 29 arable.

It is not clear why the farm changed size between the two census records.

Family Births

In 1862 Betsy had a baby girl she named Christina after her mother. This baby did not survive.

A second baby girl was born in April 1864 also named Christina (1864 – 1919)

Son William was born in June 1866 (1866 – 1946)

Daughter Elizabeth was born in June 1869 (1869 – 1909)

The Farm

With 29 acres of arable land William would have been busy enough. The Google Earth view of the Williamson land shows some flat paddocks that would be easy to grow crops on but some of the country behind the house is hilly and a bit rough. He may have grazed stock – sheep or cattle – on this area.

The Williamson house from the A9 

They had a good water supply and a small water wheel beside the house.

The site of the old water wheel

School

There was a school for both boys and girls within easy walking distance of the house.

Halsary

A substantial ‘meeting house’ had been built at Halsary in 1842 by members of the Church of Scotland. Following the Disruption in the church in 1843 the local church goers were (unlike many other Scottish congregations) allowed to continue using the Halsary building for worship. The McLeods and Williamsons were devout members of the new Free Church of Scotland. I am sure meetings at Halsary would have been an important focus of the week for both the Williamsons and the McLeods. Halsary was within comfortable walking distance of Rangag. There were up to 350 attending church at Halsary in the 1800s so people came from miles around. Betsy’s youngest sister Catherine was married at Halsary in 1877 – more on that event in another blog.

The old Halsary meeting house

Census 1871

The census for 1871 shows the Williamson family living in Rangag. The household includes the three young children, Christina, William and Elizabeth, plus nephew William Sutherland who has lived with the family since birth.

Census 1871

Family next Door

The 1871 census confirms Betsy’s mother Christina McLeod and her youngest daughter Catherine McLeod living next door to the Williamsons. They are running a grocery business from the house. John McLeod had died in 1869.

Census 1881

The census for 1881 shows a few changes in the family arrangements. The nephew William Sutherland is gone, probably working somewhere else. Missing also was daughter Elizabeth who was living in Thurso with an aunt. William and Christina are living at home with their parents. Next door in Rangag are Betsy’s sister Catherine, her husband James Taylor and their daughters.

Census 1881

Betsy's Death

On 9 Jan 1883 Betsy died of Typhoid. She was 57. Typhoid spreads by a person eating or drinking contaminated food or water. At the time Betsy died the causes and treatments for Typhoid were only just beginning to be understood. Her husband William was with her when she died.

Betsy’s Death

Census 1891

The census for 1891shows the widower William at home on the croft. With him are his unmarried son William, his unmarried daughter Christina and her baby son David Campbell Williamson. A school mistress is also boarding with them.

Census 1891

Census 1901

The census for 1901 shows William at home aged 76. Son William has married Catherine McIver. They are both living at this house. Grandson David Williamson Campbell is here living with his grandfather. David stayed in Rangag for most of his life. His mother married Alexander Campbell and they went to Glasgow. He died in 1909 leaving her a widow with seven dependent children. Christina took all her children except David to New Zealand

Census 1901

William's Death

In 1902 William Died age 77 of cancer. His son William was with him.

The Williamson House

In 2011 a local farmer took me through the now deserted Williamson house. Here are some of my pictures. 

Was this Betsy’s iron?

The barn