 |
| Robert and Elizabeth McWilliam in 1893 |
Robert was the youngest son of James McWilliam and his wife Margaret Shearer. He had an older sister, Margaret, who died aged just 20 in 1850, and two older brothers (John and Alex) who both emigrated to the USA around 1860. James spent several years in the USA both before and after the birth of Robert. We don’t know exactly how long these absences were, but they must have been fairly substantial, and therefore must have made things quite difficult for his wife and family back home in Smithston. There were other families at Smithston though (particularly the Garden family), so at least I guess Robert wasn’t left to be an all-round farmer while still a teenager. But farming was certainly to be his career – first at Smithston and then moving in 1887 to nearby Glencorrie. He and Elizabeth Green had 12 (or 13?) children, starting (?) with James in 1869. I have a copy of young James’ birth certificate which shows that he was born out of wedlock. The certificate has an endorsement which says that the birth was legitimised by subsequent marriage, but this is dated 1892. In fact I now understand that the marriage took place on 26 June 1869. The 1871 census shows Robert (27), Elizabeth (22) to be married and living with son James (1) in Fife Street, Dufftown, and with a daughter Robina (3) in Speymouth.
Robina was in fact the illegitimate daughter of Robert McWilliam and Marjory (May) Black. I believe that May grew up in Knockando and was working as a cook in the Fochabers area. I don’t know the story of Robina’s earliest years, but she was eventually brought up as Robina McWilliam with the rest of the McWilliam family at Glencorrie.
When his father James died in 1872 Robert was just 28 years old, and the father of two boys - as well as of Robina, and it seems that he got stuck in to being a successful farmer and family man. In 1887 the family made the move from Smithson to nearby Glencorrie, thus taking on a slightly larger farm – with its bigger responsibilities and better housing. The farms were rented (from the Duke of Gordon’s estates - partly in Glenfiddich and partly in Glenrinnes estates), but this move was a small step up in the world. Robert and Elizabeth continued to have a growing family, with a new baby born every two, or sometimes three, years. These included my own grandfather, Rob, in 1873.
Here again is the 1893 photo of the whole family, including baby Mary who was born that year.
And an extract from the family tree. See an earlier post for who's who in the photo.
When Robert died in 1915, farming at Glencorrie was continued by James, with Rob as 2nd in command and Jean (known as Jane) as housekeeper. Robert’s wife Elizabeth lived till age of 85 in 1934, and I understand that she was a very strong character who remained in full charge of her faculties, and she was probably the real boss at the farm, as well as an important influence in the lives of her grandchildren.
James remained single all his life. Rob and his wife Janet (or Jessie) Pirrie had a family of 10 including my father George. Alex married Helen Ramsay and farmed at Clunymore, raising a family of 8. Elizabeth (Bessie-Ann) and her husband Willie McDonald lived in Dufftown and had a family of 10.
Janet married Alex Taylor, a farmer from Skene, and they raised a family of 9. The youngest was Isabella (Tibby) who still lives there. Margaret married Willie Fraser of Dufftown (a distillery manager), and they raised a family of 4 – the eldest being Helen Bennett (who has helped considerably in filling me in with much of this information). She and her two sisters live in the Aberdeen area of Scotland, while brother Ronnie is a retired Doctor in Calgary, Canada.
Mary married Peter Ramsay, and the family moved to Glasgow where Peter initially worked on the trams – and they had a family of 3 boys. Peter, the middle son, moved to British Colombia in the late 1940s?
Hellen (Nellie) married Robert Mair and the family emigrated to Canada (BC) in approx. 1912. Their first three children were born in Scotland, and the youngest (Gladi) was born in Canada.
Willie and John left for the USA when they were young men (somewhere between 1905 and 1910), and Peter followed them later, maybe about 1920. They all settled in the New York area. John died there very young in 1921 (of an infection). Willie and Peter each died in 1958. The only offspring was Robert (Bob) – son of Willie and his wife May Younie (originally from Elgin). Helen Bennett visited Bob in NY in 1956, and she tells me that he and his wife (name?) had five children.
I have a copy of a letter that Willie wrote to James in 1918, with his news from New York, and referring to the financial settlement for their father Robert's gravestone. I can't lay my hands on the photo I have of the stone, but I will try to come back here with that when I track it down. In the meantime here is the text.
In loving memory of
Robert McWilliam, farmer, who died at Glencorrie 23.1.1915, aged 70 years.
Also his son John who died at Pennsylvania, USA 23.1.1921, aged 36 years.
Elizabeth Green, wife of the above Robert McWilliam who died at Glencorrie 21.1.1934, aged 85 years.
Their daughter Jane who died at Glencorrie 7.11.1939 aged 61 years.
Their son James who died at Glencorrie 29.11.1939, aged 70 years.
And I will include Willie's letter as a separate item, because I find it an interesting reflection of the way things were.
I have Mairs from Portknockie in my family!
ReplyDelete