Janet aka Jessie McLeod was born in Rumsdale in 1838. Her
birth record has not been located.
Rumsdale
The first record I can find of Janet is the 1841 Rumsdale
Census. Janet (spelled Jannet in this record) is living with her family at
Rumsdale and is 3 years old.
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| Census 1841 Rumsdale |
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| Rumsdale |
In the 1851 census Janet is still living at home at
Rumsdale. She is 13 years old and is a scholar going to school with her
brothers James and Alexander. This census confirms that she was indeed born in
the Halkirk parish.
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| Census 1851 Rumsdale |
In the 1861 census Jessie, as she is now called, is 22 years old and still living at home in Rumsdale. Her parents are now in their sixties so no doubt Jessie will be busy helping either her mother in the house or her father on the farm. Her older siblings have all gone. Only her younger sister Catherine and niece Christina Ross, Mary and Donald Ross’s daughter) are still at home. There is also a domestic servant in the house.
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| Census 1861 Rumsdale |
Achscoriclate
In 1863 Jessie married William Burnett at Achscoriclate.
Jessie put on her marriage record that she was a ‘housemaid’ and William a
shepherd.
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| Achscoriclate Ruins |
Forssmains
Jessie’s usual residence was Rumsdale and William's Forssmains in the parish
of Reay where he must have been working on the farm as a shepherd. Its not
clear why William and Jessie married at Achscoriclate rather than the big
church at Reay. Achscoriclate, on the edge of Loch More, was perhaps a mid-point
between the two places of residence. William’s mother was a McDonald who seem
to have some long association with Achscoriclate so that is perhaps another
clue. Perhaps the marriage was held in a McDonald home. The four parents were
still alive so maybe they were all at the wedding. Jessie’s younger brother
Alexander McLeod was a witness. The minister David Ferguson who was the Free
Church minister from Westerdale and had a long association with the McLeods of
Rumsdale must have ridden from Westerdale to Achscoriclate on his horse. Jessie and William probably went back to Forssmains for his work.
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| The entrance to the farm at Forss Mains |
Helshetter
The next information on Jessie and William is from the 1871
Census where they are now living at Helshetter near Reay. William is still a
shepherd. They now have four little girls – Christina 6, Mary 4, Dolina 2 and
Johan 9 months. William’s mother Mary is
living with them as is a domestic servant.
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| The remains of a sheiling at Helshetter |
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| Track from Reay to Helshetter Strath |
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The caption from David Glass of his picture
of Helshetter house is:
This
house, now badly decayed, was last occupied in the 1960s. The only access at
that time was by a footpath through the plantation and a footbridge (now long
gone) that crossed the Sandside Burn.
Helshetter Strath was cleared in 1772, early in
the Highland Clearances, and the present house is probably a relic of the sheep
farming era that followed. It is shown on the 1877 OS map.
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Reay
In the 1881 census the family has continued to grow. There
are now five daughters and a son - Christina 16, Mary 14, Dolina 12, Johan 10,
Esther 6, Andr 3 [Andrew] 3. They are in the village of Reay very near the
school house. William is still a shepherd and the neighbour is a shepherd also
so they must be working on the Reay farm which is located very near the Reay
village. Note both Jessie and William speak Gaelic.
Holburn Head
In the 1891 census the Burnett family have moved again.
They are now situated out on the coast near the Scrabster Road at Holburn Head.
Their neighbours are the harbour master, two lighthouse keepers and a sheep
dealer. William is still a shepherd. Another daughter Jessie now 9 has joined
the family as has a 6 year old grandson named John Robertson. It is not clear
who the parent(s) of this John are but possibly Christina was his mother. Andrew, Jessie and John are all going to
school.
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| Holburn Head |
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| The lighthouse and keeper's garden at Holburn Head |
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