My earliest GORRIE ancestry can evidently be traced back to what is known amongst Scottish historians as a "ferm toun" in the Logielamond District of north-west Perthshire, where the River Almond tumbles out of the Sma Glen, on the Highland divide, and meanders across a lush part of Perthshire to the east, and its confluence with the river Tay, a few miles north of Perth.
A ferm toun is, to the best of my understanding, a rural household (or a close group of houses) in which more than one branch of an extended family live together over an extended period.
There is a house in Logielamond named Condocloich, which is almost certainly the one shown in an early 19th century Ordnance Survey map of the area. It seems to be a reasonable presumption that this was the house, or a later up-dated version on the same site, in which the early generations of GORRIE's resided.
[Condocloich, as viewed from the main road, looking north. Photo taken by the author in 1993.]
It is said that there is a rounded boulder behind the house known as Condocloich, which boulder stood about 6 foot high, and had a sizeable "dimple" in the upper surface, which collected rainwater. Local folk-lore says it was known as the Baptismal Stone - but whether it was ever used for "consecrated" baptisms is unknown, although that would appear unlikely, as the parish had its own consecrated church.
[The "baptismal stone" at Condocloich. Photo by Jean AYLER of York, ca 2000.]
One of the earliest families with vital events recorded in the Parish Register of Fowlis Wester Parish, and which identified a residence in Condocloich, was that of Humphrey GORRIE (or GORY) and his wife Margaret McCARA, who had children baptised there between 1698 and 1712, including a son John GORRIE (baptised in April 1707), who may have been my ancestor. See further below.
But first we might profit a look at the name GORRIE, and what is speculated about its origins.
EARLY GORRIES IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES.
Some researchers believe that the surname derived from Gorrie [Siol GORRIE I], Lord of Garmoran and of lands on North Uist, who was born in 1341, the eldest son of John, Lord of Islay (or the Isles), by his first wife Amy McRUARI (his third cousin; they were married in 1337 with dispensation from pope Benedict XII), but who did not inherit his father's lands after John repudiated Ami and married secondly (with dispensation from pope Clement VI) in 1350 or 1358 (the former date being indicated by Clement's death in 1352), the Lady Margaret, a daughter of Robert the Steward (who was to be crowned King Robert II of Scotland in 1371); John died at Ardtornish Castle in 1386, whence the Lordship of the Isles went to his eldest son of his second marriage, one Donald of Harlaw, who claimed the Earldom of Ross by right of his marriage to Margaret LESLIE, the only daughter of Euphemia (died in 1398), Countess of Ross.
Gorrie (or Godfrey) was evidently received at the English Court in 1388, with his brothers, as independent Celtic "princes"; said to have been superseded in the succession to the Lordship of the Isles in 1386, for "...maintaining his mother's prior claims"; he is known to have granted in 1389, as Lord of Uist, a charter of lands in North Uist to the Monastery of Inchaffray; he dispossessed his brother Ranald's children when Ranald died shortly after their father John; and he himself died in 1401 at his mother's Castle at Tiorim, in Moydart.
[Ruins of Castel Tiorim. Photo taken by Jean AYLER of York, about 2000.]
Gorrie's eldest son was Allastair [Siol GORRIE II] also known as Angus or Alexander; he was executed at Inverness by James I in 1427, having had issue by Margaret AIRD two known sons:
a. Allastair [Siol GORRIE IV], born in 1421; Lord of North Uist; died in 1460.
b. John Ranald [Siol GORRIE V]; he died in 1469 in battle at Cnoc Salltran, a mile south of the Vallay ford, his descendants "...becoming tenants Clan Uistein, the MacDONALD's of Sleat, in part of the lands which had been ruled by their predecessors" [See Erskine BEVERIDGE, "North Uist, Its Archaeology and Topography," 1911, at page 24 of the facsimile reproduction on 1999]. However, try as I might, I have been unable to establish corroboration of this Battle in any on-line resources.
Gorrie's other sons were:
2. John (born about 1362), Prior of Iona.
3. Ranald [Siol GORRIE III], born in 1365; settled Paible; gave his name to Balranald in the parish of Mantach; he died in 1440, leaving issue.
4. Somerled; ancestor of the CAMERONs.
A modern chronicle of "The Clan MACDONALD," written by the Reverends Angus and Archibald MACDONALD, the Ministers respectively of Killearnan and Kiltarty, was published at Inverness in 1904; it records a very similar account of "The Clan GODFREY" beginning at page 359.
Another source for the above outline is to be found in the "History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, from A.D. 1493 to A.D. 1625," by Donald GREGORY, Edinburgh (Wm TAIT, Publisher), 1836, where the detailed story of John, Lord of the Isles, is told, and where "Siol GORRIE" mentions are made at pages 34 et seq., and at pages 64-65.
A further important source for information about these events is "The Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands," by Frank ADAMS, first published in 1908, with further editions in 1924 and 1934; and with a 4th and revised edition of it published in 1952 by Sir Thomas INNES of Learny, Lord Lyon King of Arms, incorporating additional information from historical deeds and other "...ancient legal documents" [see on-line copy of a 1970 re-print, at pages 236 et seq].
[Map of North Uist, from the Bartholomew Half-Inch map series of G.B. - image courtesy of Collins Bartholomew.
The high-tide island of Vallay lies on the northern coastline, to the west of Udal (on the peninsula
pointing up to the north towards the island of Boreray) and just to the north west of Malaclett.
The valley of Hosta lies to the west, just inside the most western part of the arc of the main road.]
And there is yet another source, published earlier in the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities of Scotland," Volume 8, 10 January 1870, at page 276, in the form of letter by Alex A. CARMICHAEL, Esq, of Lochmaddy (an officer of the Excise Department, with antiquarian interests), to W.F. SKENE, Esq, LL.D., F.S.A. Scot., concerning CARMICHAEL's archaeological forays into the Outer Hebrides, undoubtedly with local folk-lore as his guide, supported by other published versions of the events that he probably had to hand, with the following account of the massacres on North Uist, which are not dated in this account, but which other sources suggest may have occurred in or around 1486:
"The Siol GORRIE, previously referred to, was at one time numerous in North Uist; but a savage feud between themselves and the Siol MURDOCH, another sept of the MacDONALDs, brought them to the verge of extinction. The former were the legitimate possessors of N. Uist, but the latter disputed this, whereupon the two contending factions began a struggle which, in its destructiveness, might be compared to the War of the Roses, or the apocryphal story of the Kilkenny cats.
"It would seem that the Siol MURDOCH (Siolach Mhurachaidh), the descendants of Murdoch, were the stronger, and consequently that the Siol GORRIE (Siolach Ghoirridh), the descendants of Gorrie, were as much indebted to their stratagems as to their strength in maintaining the unequal contest. The greater part of the Siol MURDOCH lived in the valley of Hosta. About three-quarters of a mile from, and in the hill above this, there was a lake. The Siol GORRIE upon one occasion came under cover of night and cut away the embankment of this lake, whereupon the water rushed down the glen and drowned the inhabitants of the valley beneath.
"The scene of this tragedy has remained the site of the lake ever since. During calm, clear weather, I believe, the remains of houses can still be discovered in the bottom of the lake. To revenge this outrage, the rest of the Siol MURDOCH marched in a body against the Siol GORRIE, who lived at Udal, on the north-west side of the the island. It is said that Udal was the largest township in the Long Island at that time.
"The Siol MURDOCH found the Siol GORRIE at their tillage in the fields, when they came upon them unawares, and put them all to the sword, except one man, who escaped by swimming and wading across to the island of Oirisey, whence he escaped to Boisdall, in South Uist, where it is said some of his descendants are still. After putting all their foes to the sword, the Siol MURDOCH pursued their course to the hamlet of Udal, the whole of which they gave to the flames, sparing neither young not old, male or female, in their savagery.
"It is said there were eighteen 'ploughs' at work in the fields on this occasion, and considering that the rude mode of tillage in vogue in those days required 5 to 6 men attending each 'plough' the carnage in this field of slaughter must have been great..."
The Revs A. and A. MACDONALD ["The Clan MACDONALD," Op. Cit., p.366] also make mention of this particular "atrocity" - although the Godfrey/Gorrie mentioned here is instead a nephew of the one identified earlier (see above):
"DONALD, the son of John, succeeded his father at Balranald as tenant of the family of Sleat. We find him here flourishing in the time of the sons of Hugh of Sleat, of whom he was a contemporary. Hugh Macdonald, the Seanachie of the Clan Uistden, describes an episode in Donald's family life of which Angus Collach, son of Hugh, was the hero, and which led to fierce and sanguinary feuds, to which reference has been made in Vol. II.
"Donald married a lady of the Clanranald family, a daughter of Ranald Ban Allanson, 12th Chief. He had at least two sons:
"1. His successor at Balranald, name unknown.
"2. Godfrey, who settled at Vallay.
"For at least two hundred years his descendants occupied Balranald, and with other branches of the Clann Gorraidh engaged in many feuds, particularly with a tribe of Macdonalds, the Siolachadh Mhurchaidh. This sept is said to have been descended from an individual of the name of Murdoch, a natural son, according to the Sleat historian, of Angus Mor of Isla, and was numerous in North Uist, the only region where, so far as we are aware, they had a local habitation and a name. A tradition has been handed down in Uist regarding a strange weird act of vengeance perpetrated upon the Siolachadh Mhurchaidh by the Clan Gorraidh. Loch Hosta in North Uist at present adjoins the farms of Hosta and Baleloch, and it is said that in olden times the hollow now occupied by this sheet of water was dry, and inhabited by a settlement of Siolachadh Mhurchaidh. To the east, and on a higher elevation on the moor, was a lake, and the scheme of retribution concocted by the Siol Ghorraidh took the form of opening a way for its waters, so that their course might be directed downwards upon the unfortunate hamlet. The operation was with little difficulty carried through owing to the character of the moorland, and the lake let loose rushed down into the hollow at Hosta, through the channel of a burn now known as Amhainn Ealaidh, thereby submerging the habitations, and drowning many of the Siol Mhurchaidh. The night on which this terrible scheme was executed, a Clan Gorraidh piper composed and played a pibroch of savage vindictiveness, to which the words were wont to be sung:
'thraigh gu traigh Siolachadh Mhurchaidh.'
"The links of the genealogical succession of Godfrey's descendants at Balranald have not been preserved either in record or tradition up to the time of Donald Macdonald in Paiblisgeary, whom we find in 1723 witnessing the Bond of Uist men in favour of securing the forfeited Estates of Sleat to the family in occupation."
It seems a pity to spoil a good yarn by asking difficult questions, to which we will probably never know the answers anyway. But I do wonder about the following:
1. Was the upper level "peat" dam a natural formation? Or might it have been formed or shaped by human hands, perhaps cutting away a local energy source for their kitchen or ceilidh fires, over a number of years and/or generations? Is that perhaps how the catchment may have been formed in the first place?
2. Was there a rise in water level behind the dam in the days or hours prior to the "collapse"? Or, in engineering-speak, might prolonged recent rain-fall have resulted in a natural rise in pore-water pressure on a potential slip-circle, which may have led to a spontaneous and natural collapse? For which the GORRIEs were instantly blamed, no less!
3. Why were the MURDOCH houses evidently built in a valley which became so easily flooded, lying as they appear to have done in a potential flood zone (with proven potential), in the flood-path of an upper level reservoir of water? And how did that lower reservoir form so quickly - did the upper dam peat wall get washed down substantially intact, and pile up against a restriction further down the glen?
4. If the GORRIE men did plan the "accident" and initiate it as stated, why then did they appear to have been so ill-equipped to react to the revenge attacks mounted by the MURDOCHs? Surely they would have expected such reprisals, and at the very least had weapons with them in their fields? Or posted a look-out to warn their kinfolk at Udal? Perhaps they did, to no useful avail.
Be that as it may, and as appears to occur with all good stories so far back in the past, there are other disagreements among recent and present day researchers concerning the accuracy or otherwise of each other's speculations.
Erskine BEVERIDGE [Op. Cit.] wrote, of the outer Hebridean Island of North Uist, that the "...first recorded occupant of Vallay whom we are able to trace with any certainty was Godfrey McGORRIE, who held Vallay about the year 1516, being there succeeded by his son Alexander and grandson Donald until after 1614."
He added that Donald, evidently the last, was under notice to leave, sometime before 1643, whereupon he received a lease for Malaclett farm, the ruins of which were still known in 1911 as Totaichean Mhic Ghoraidh.
My late great-uncle, Robert Maclagan GORRIE (1898-1970) had his mind wonderfully focused on matters relating to his Scottish heritage during a long stint abroad, working for the Indian Forestry Service between the two World Wars. I have photocopies of his typed pedigree notes, annotated by hand with corrections and additions - and much of his research was published during his lifetime, in articles that appeared in the Clan Donald Magazine (Volume 1, page 506) and elsewhere (including the Journal of the Scottish Historical Society, No 56). His major opus, "The Siol Gorrie," was published in 1968 in the Scottish Genealogist, Volume 15, No 2, at pages 36-43.
His sources included, of course, GREGORY's "History of the Western Highlands, etc" [Op. Cit.]; and an evidently earlier printing of ADAM's "The Clans, etc" [Op. Cit.].
This work was preceded by his evidently much shorter item, with the same title, published three years earlier in the Clan Donald Magazine, No 3, 1965 (Edinburgh), at page 16, as follows:
"The name GORRIE recurs repeatedly in ancient Celtic records as a Gaelicised form of the Scandinavian Gudfroor or Gofrid. Kenneth McALPINE married a Gorries sister, so he may have cemented the entente between Picts and Scots.
"When surnames were still considered unnecessary, GORRIE was a common name amongst both Irish and Dalriadans; it is still common in the Isle of Man today as 'ORREE.' It also arose as an indigenous Norse version in the Orkneys, where it is spelt with one 'R,' whereas the Hebridean form has two. Some of the clan books would have us believe that it is the same as the Lowland Perthshire 'Gowrie,' but the broad 'OW' is not a typical Gaelic sound.
"G.F. BLACK in his 'Surnames of Scotland' gives for MacGORRIE: 'settled in Logiealmond 400 years ago; now used as GORAIDH or GORRIE, a common name in the west Highlands especially among MACDONALDS and MACLEODS.' Descent is from GORRIE, the youngest son of 'Good John of Isla' who died in 1380.
"The main stream of present day GORRIEs appears to be in Clan DONALD, although the LAMONTs and MacALISTERs have also used it. The Clan DONALD accepts the link between the Logiealmond GORRIEs and the descendants of Siol GORRIE of North Uist.
"The 'decay' of the Siol GORRIE reported by GREGORY and repeated in ADAM's 'Clans' was actually a battle at Cnoc Salltran in 1469 when the Siol VURUCHIE of Clan MURCHAID beat the Siol GORRIE in a tribal quarrel.
"GORRIEs remained on the island of Vallay, on the north-west coast of North Uist, until about 1620, but by that time they had become tenants of the Sleat chiefs, and no longer owned any land.
"A number of possible reasons can be advanced for their moving out:
"1. There had been so much sea erosion that their holdings in Vallay, Baleshare and Balranald must have suffered heavily.
"2. Some were put to the horn and escheated for sharing in a disreputable looting of the barque "Susannah" which was blown off its course from St Malo to Limerick and sought harbourage in Uist.
"3. The Augustinian monks from Innerpeffray and Incharay in Logiealmond established a daughter priory at Carinish in North Uist, thus forming a direct link between these two districts.
"4. A GORRIE of Vallay was invited by the Keppoch men to enter for the vacant Keppoch chiefship in 1478. He was not chosen but settled in Tirnadish in Lochaber and lived there until 1548, leaving numerous progeny.
"5. Others of the name took service under CLANRANALD to fight in Ireland and raid the MACKENZIEs in Kintail and the CAMPBELLs in Glenlyon,
" The first records of them turning up in Logiealmond as residents rather than unwelcome visitors are in 1637 and 1642 when William, the son of Donald GORRIE is charged with "hamesucken" of John GOK, and on another date with wrongful imprisonment of John McAGO. But by 1681 Thomas GORRIE was captain of the watch of Logiealmond - incidentally the earliest record of a watch formation, the Black Watch not being formed until 13 years later. The main centre in Logiealmond seems to have been a 'ferm toon' variously spelt as Condocloich, Culnaclich, Culnawhick, Condacloch and Culnacloich, where various families were raised until about 1800 when there was a local population explosion which scattered then into Crieff, Perth and Dundee."
Bob (RMG) also corresponded with Graham GORRIE of Brisbane (a descendant of Sir John Moffat GORRIE, a Justice in Fiji, with roots in Condocloich via Kingskettle in Fife), and their research seemed to disagree upon several details, including the assertion that the GORRIEs held Vallay, close to the north coast of North Uist, near Griminish Point, from 1380 to 1622, when Donald Odhar GORRIE was forced to move to Benbecula (later confirmed to be in error for Malaclett).
But Graham GORRIE left a pedigree in which he asserted that Alexander [Siol IV] and John [Siol VI] were sons of Ranald [Siol III] and not of Allastair [Siol II] as BEVERIDGE had speculated.
And Graham GORRIE continued the line further by asserting in his pedigree (which was in 2003 among papers in the possession of Jean AYLER of York) that Donald [Siol GORRIE VI], of Balranald, married a daughter of Ranald Ban ALLANSON, 12th of Clanranald, and had issue two sons - Donald Mantach, and Gorrie (the latter speculated as being ancestor of our GORRIEs of Condocloich).
Graham GORRIE also speculated that Donald [Siol VI] had a younger brother named Gorrie of Vallay and Tirnadish, ancestor of Alexander of Vallay, who had three sons, including Donald Odhar of Vallay (succeeded to it in 1614, and moved to Benbecula in 1622), Alexander, and John Dow McGORRIE, the two younger brothers both being outlawed in 1634 over the Barque Susannah Affair.
Either way, by the early to mid 1640s, it appears that descendants were settled in the north western reaches of Perthshire, an inland county with no boundaries touching the west coast of Scotland.
The significance of which may not be immediately apparent, except for further family lore which suggests that our GORRIE ancestors may have been "transplanted" into Perthshire because of their alleged involvement in and proclivity for a particular form of "piracy" - whereby "stalwart" citizens in the outer isles would light cairn-fires in stormy weather, so enticing passing ships in distress to seek haven on rocky shores, thereby strewing flotsam wreckage of cargoes along the shoreline for easy pickings.
It is indeed possible that the Barque Susannah Affair mentioned above does appear to have the faint whiff of this form of "piracy" attached it.
Although it is of interest to see, as several of the historians have observed, that there was an early link between North Uist chapelries and the Augustinian Abbeys in Logiealmond, with exchanges of personnel between them over many centuries. These unstudied connections may have resulted in this alternate destination for resettlement of errant Uisteans, whether or not they may have been caught indulging in a bit of piracy to make ends meet.
Although other researchers again suggest the GORRIE "migration" may have been by a different route, through Lochaber in Keppoch, where in 1497-98, the Clan elders deposed their then chief John MACDONNELL, allegedly for delivering up one of their number to an opposing clan chief.
John was a son of Donald, the 3rd chief; and a grandson of Angus, the 2nd chief, who had succeeded his father Alastair Carach, the first Chief of Keppoch, who was the eldest son of John, Lord of the Isles, by his second and "Royal" wife Margaret STEWART (see above).
Whereupon, so the story goes, Gorrie, a descendant of Gorrie, Lord of Garmoran and North Uist, and a younger brother of Donald [Siol IV], was brought from Uist by some of the Keppoch tribe to oppose Donald McGlas McALLISTER, a cousin and heir-apparent (probably as Tanist) to the deposed chief. The arrival in Keppoch of Gorrie of Uist did not prevent Donald Glas from being elevated; but Gorrie remained, leaving a son at Vallay, and died in Keppoch in 1548, where his descendants were among the "...most attached vassals" of later MacDONALD Chiefs of Keppoch.
That was until 1663, when it appears that Siol Dughaill descendants of Gorrie allegedly murdered Alexander and Ranald McDONNELL, recently returned from Rome, on the occasion of Alexander's formal swearing in as Chief of the Clan, which resulted in the perpetrators, father and six sons, being be-headed. I regret that I am unable to source this somewhat macabre story immediately, and will have to trawl back through one of several hundred note-books to find same (and also wonder whether McDONNELL and McDONALD were variations of the same name).
And there is a further line of thought in Scottish naming traditions that GORRIE may be a corruption of the place-name of Gowrie, as in the Carse of Gowrie, suggesting that the North Uist origins may be a slight case of romantic "fiction." The Carse of Gowrie is that rich alluvial tract of land east of Perth, lying between the Tay estuary (to the south) and the Sidlaw Hills (to the north), heading in the direction of Dundee - in quite the opposite direction from the Outer Hebrides!
THE GORRIES OF CONDOCLOICH.
The first mention I have yet found of the GORRIE surname in the north-west of Perthshire appears in an alienation, dated at Perth on 30 June 1604, which confirmed to Chistane RONALDSON, the relict of Patrick STOBBIE at the Mill of Dalchavinoch, a life-rent of 50 merks out of lands in Arthalzie, evidently owned by George OLIPHANT; Cristine's sasine was dated at Perth on 31 January 1605, naming three beneficiaries of her 50 merks life-rent as:
1. Patrick STOBBIE Junior (20 merks).
2. Christane, lawful daughter of the late Thomas GORRIE in Tulliemoran (20 merks).
3. Donald GORRIE, son of the said late Thomas GORRIE (10 merks).
I am not entirely sure what relationship existed between Christane RONALDSON and Christane GORRIE, if any, but it would appear that Tulliemoran was located in that part of Logiealmond which lay within the parish of Monzie, and so not too far distant from Condocloich [see "Rentall of the County of Perth, by Act of the Estates of Parliament of Scotland, 4th August 1649," edited by William GLOAG, Perth, 1835, page 101, Tulliemoran being listed in the "Lot 1st of Logielamond" under the proprietorship of "Grandtully" for the 1835 valuation].
In 1637, William GORRIE, son of Donald GORRIE in Logiealmond, was named in the Registry of the Privy Council. Date-wise, it is not impossible that this Donald was the son of Thomas GORRIE in Tulliemoran (see 2 and 3 above).
He was, as RMG observed, probably the same William GORRIE who was charged, in the same year of 1637, with "hamesucken" - or forcibly imprisoning someone in their own home. William GORRIE, again probably the same, was further charged in 1642 with the wrongful imprisonment of John McARGO.
William was said to have been a tenant of the MURRAY family, who as the Earls of Tullibardine, were Lairds of extensive estates in "Logiealmond, with the Pendicles, Mylne and Mylne hauch" [GLOAG, Op. Cit., page 100, for the 1649 valuation], and which estates included the "ferm toun" of Condocloich.
The earliest mentions I have yet been able to uncover in Scottish Records of the name GORRIE directly associated with Condocloich (alias Culnacloich) appear in the Testamentary Records of the Commissariat of Dunblane, for the parish of Foulls (or Fowlis), as follows:
1. Donald GORRIE in Culnacloich, 2 April 1668.
2. Andrew GORRIE in Condocloich, 27 October 1670; died July 1670, survived by his widow Christane McMULLANE in Buchanty, and by his lawful sons Thomas and Donald.
3. Donald Mantach GORRIE in Condocloich, 20 April 1676; died December 1674, survived by his widow Christian DOUGLAS and his children Janet, Margaret, Christian, Malcolm, Isobel and Katherine.
4. John GORRIE in Condocloich, 13 July 1684; died October 1683, survived by his un-named widow and lawful son and heir Thomas.
5. Donald GORRIE in Condocloich and his spouse Margaret McCRISTANE, 30 July 1685; she died September 1684, husband and children surviving.
6. John GORRIE, 29 August 1728; spouse of Christian ALLAN.
[Condocloich, Logiealmond. Close-up photo taken with telephoto lens from the same spot as the view above.]
There were several other entries in the Index to Testamentary records, but they were not associated with Condocloich:
1. John GORRIE of Gorthie, parish of Foulls (17 March 1656).
2. Donald GORRIE in Cromelland (16 April 1663 - with spouse Margaret ROBERTSON and lawful son Finlay, a minor).
Kirk Session Records for Fowlis (Wester) have not survived for dates prior to the year 1674 - GORRIE mentions in them are a follows:
1. Margaret GORRIE was given a Testificate dated 4 July 1675 (permission to move to another parish).
2. Thomas GORRIE, on 20 April 1679, was alleged to have transgressed by drinking on the Sabbath during the time of Divine Service.
3. In December 1679, three Sabbaths were again broken - by William GORRIE, Andrew SMITH and Margaret GORRIE (14 December); by William GORRIE and Andrew SMITH (21 December); and by Margaret GORRIE (28 December).
4. In November 1687, Calum GORRIE was charged with breaking the Sabbath on 20 Dec, with Alexander DOW, by fishing during the Sermon; they were summoned by the Beadle to attend the Session on 27 November and denied the charge; further charges relating to the alleged offence were made to Session on 11 December, and the Beadle was ordered to bring Thomas GORRIE and John his son to next Session as witnesses. The issue was still not resolved in April 1688, when Calum GORRIE, when further interrogated about who else was "..y't now fishing ye Sabbath," he componed that "...he saw Gorry McGORRY, Donald McCOWAN and Umphra GORRY in Culnacloich likewise."
There was nothing I saw in the Session records (G.R.O., Edinburgh, 1982) to indicate whether Thomas and John GORRIE were called to give evidence for or against Callum; DOW did not appear after the first Session meeting and the others named by Calum did not appear to have been similarly charged. I cannot help wondering whether this might have been evidence of a family feud, or were they simply wayward flock being dragged reluctantly into ecclesiastical line. The slowness of the process seems to suggest a very casual attitude by the GORRIE's towards the authority of the Kirk Session. Perhaps there was a settling in period after the formation of the modern Church of Scotland as part of the 1680 Revolution Settlement, and the GORRIE's were party to testing that settling in process? Especially when the salmon were running!
Likewise, Parish Registers for Fowlis Wester have not survived before the same date.
[Part of John STOBIE's 1783 map of Perthshire.
Image courtesy of the douglasofmonzieandfowliswester.com web-site.]
THE MINOR DISAPORA OF CONDOCLOICH GORRIES.
I suspect that all of the GORRIE families associated with Condocloich were blood related.
I further suspect that most of the other GORRIE families originating in the fairly small area of Perthshire comprising the parishes of Fowlis Wester and adjacent Monzie, and their neighbouring parishes of Crieff, Trinity Gask, Methven, Moneydie, etc, are likely to have also had some sort of kinship.
Apart from my own direct descent from Condocloich (see further below), there were other GORRIE families with origins in Condocloich, but whose direct relationship is not yet understood, and these are summarised as follows.
1. John GORRIE in Culnacloich had a daughter Christian baptised on 27 October 1684.
2. David GORRIE in Condocloich married at Fowlis Wester, after proclamations on 16, 20 and 22 August 1680, to Jane McCARA; they had issue:
a. Margaret GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester, 17 August 1685.
b. Helen GORRIE, bapt ditto 7 April 1688.
c. Catharin GORRIE, bapt ditto 20 November 1698.
3. Gorrie MacGORRIE in Condocloich was married at Fowlis Wester on 5 June 1687 to Anna MURRAY, with issue:
a. Helen (baptised on 3 November 1688).
4. Calum GORRIE in Condocloich, inevitably the errant Sabbath fisherman, had a son John (baptised on 1 June 1693) and a son Donald (baptised on 2 March 1695).
5. John GORRIE of Condocloich had twin daughters Margaret and Anna baptised on 2 September 1693.
6. Donald GORRIE in Condocloich married at Fowlis Wester on 29 December 1700 to Margaret GARDNER, with issue:
a. Helen GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 4 March 1705.
7. Donald GORRIE in Condocloich had other issue, but the name of his spouse is not recorded in the register entries for their baptism, so whether he was the above (6), or the next (8), or another altogether (unlikely without another marriage), cannot yet be established with any confidence:
a. William GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 30 August 1702.
b. Katherine GORRIE, bapt ditto 17 August 1707.
c. Thomas GORRIE, bapt ditto 12 August 1708.
d. Thomas GORRIE, bapt ditto 12 June 1709.
e. John GORRIE, bapt ditto October 1714.
8. Donald GORRIE in Condocloich was married at Fowlis wester on 3 February 1702 to Janet McKAY, with issue:
a. Daniel Dow GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis wester on 24 December 1704.
b. William GORRIE, bapt ditto 20 June 1707.
c. Catharine GORRIE, bapt ditto February 1713.
d. Patrick GORRIE, bapt ditto June 1715.
e. Alexander GORRIE, bapt ditto August 1717.
9. William GORRIE in Condocloich and his wife Christian had un-named twins baptised in March 1711, and a daughter Janet likewise in June 1713.
. . . [There is a significant time break here, which remains unexplained] . . .
12. William GORRIE in Condocloich was married at Fowlis Wester on 27 November 1772 to Ann MENZIES, with issue:
a. Helen GORRIE, bapt at Fowlis Wester on 11 July 1774.
b. William GORRIE, bapt ditto 4 May 1777.
c. Archibald GORRIE, bapt ditto 15 May 1778.
d. Peter GORRIE, bapt ditto 13 August 1789.
13. William GORRIE married at Fowlis Wester (perhaps the above with a second marriage?) on 22 July 1793 to Isabel McISAAC, with issue:
a. Daniel GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 24 April 1797; Minister of the relief Church, Kingskettle, Fifeshre, for 30 years; died at Kingskettle on 31 March 1852; he was married at kingskettle on 16 May 1822 to Jane MOFFAT of Edinburgh St Cuthbert; she died at Edinburgh on 17 December 1865; they had issue:
i. Agnes GORRIE, born at Kingskettle, 9 August 1823; died in Edinburgh on 7 August 1888; married William BARCLAY, Solicitor in Edinburgh, with issue.
ii. Isabel GORRIE, born at Kingskettle on 31 May 1825; died at Edinburgh on 17 September 1903, unmarried.
iii. William GORRIE, born kingskettle on 10 May 1827; emigrated to Canada; died August 1890; married in Edinburgh, June 1854, Margaret Neill HALL of Berwick-upon-Tweed, with issue.
iv. John Moffat GORRIE, born at Kingskettle on 30 March 1829; M.A. (Edin); Scottish Bar, 1856; an Advocate Deputy for Scotland, 1860; Substitute Procureur and Advocate-General for Mauritius, 1869; Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific, 1876; Chief Justice for the Leeward Islands, 1882, and for Trinidad, 1885; sought to enter Parliament for the Liberals in the constituency of St Andrews Burghs, 1892, but withdrew his candidacy under pressure; interdicted by the Governor of Trinidad, but died at Exeter on 4 August 1892 on his way home to Scotland, and before being able to defend himself before the Colonial Office Commissioners; he was married at Edinburgh on 6 December 1855 to Marion GRAHAM; she died at sea on 19 June 1884, on the H.M.S. Nile, 4 days out of St Thomas, and was buried at sea; they had issue 3 daughters and a son.
v. Daniel GORRIE, born at Kingskettle on 17 July 1831; Editor of the Orkney Herald, 1860s; Writer, Cassell's Publishers, London; died at London, 16 September 1893; married at Edinburgh, 26 August 1861, Ann MUNRO; she died in London in 1915; issue 5 sons and 5 daughters, including an eldest son Daniel Stewart GORRIE, who was hanged for murder in London in June 1890.
vi. Jean Moffat GOORIE, born Kingskettle on 27 September 1834; she died at Edinburgh on 30 July 1837, a child.
b. William GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis wester on 15 May 1802; Free Church Minister; emigrated to South Africa; died at Cape Town in September 1874; he married Mary HALL; she probably died in Cape Town in March 1893, without issue.
c. Janet GORRIE, bapt ditto 5 May 1805; probably married in June 1825 to Robert McLAUGHLAN.
[The Fowlis Wester parish church. Image courtesy of the scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk web-site.]
HUMPHREY GORRIE OF CONDOCLOICH.
I expect that Humphrey GORRIE was born around 1665, or perhaps earlier. He was identified as being of Condocloich in 1687, when he was named in a deposition made before the Fowlis Wester Kirk Session as having been fishing during the time of the Sermon (although I am not sure whether or not this mention indicates that he was already of age); and he was residing at Condocloich when his children were born between 1698 and 1712. Details of his death and burial have not yet been found.
Humphrey was married at Fowlis Wester on 23 November 1694 to Margaret McCARA. Her parentage has not yet been determined, and likewise, details of her death and burial have not yet been found.
Humphrey and Margaret had issue:
1. John GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 27 March 1698; evidently died young.
2. Margaret GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 17 September 1699.
3. David GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 25 July 1703.
4. John GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 6 April 1707. He was of an appropriate age to have married in Fowlis Wester in 1730. See next.
JOHN GORRIE OF CONDOCLOICH.
John GORRIE was residing at Condocloich when his children were born between 1734 and 1743; details of his death and burial have not yet been found.
Although he was of an appropriate age to have been the the 1707 baptism, one might have expected him to honour his father in the Scottish naming tradition - but we find no Humphrey among his issue, and perhaps that is because he was another, although there were no other appropriate baptisms in Fowlis Wester.
John was married at Fowlis Wester on 13 March 1730 to Christian ALLAN, a daughter of Donald ALLAN of Milntown of Logie, by his wife Christian COCK (who were probably married at Comrie in November 1702). It should be noted here that there was another John GORRIE (died 1728, aged 31) who was also married to another Christian ALLAN in 1720 - so as to avoid any confusion.
John and Christian had issue, including:
1. Thomas GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 26 February 1734, who does appear to have been my earliest "confirmed" ancestral baptism to have been recorded at Fowlis Wester. See next below.
2. Christian GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 22 February 1736; married at Monzie on 3 December 1762 to John McLEISH of Monzie.
3. William GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 8 April 1739; probably married at Fowlis wester on 5 July 1765 to Elizabeth (Betty) PATON, with issue.
4. John GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 10 May 1741; of Condocloich, 1770 to 1785; Testament confirmed in October 1802; probably married at Methven, on 10 January 1766, to Janet WATT, with issue.
5. Andrew GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 24 April 1743.
[Condocloich. Photo by Jean AYLER of York, ca 2000.]
THOMAS GORRIE OF CONDOCLOICH, AN ELDER.
Thomas GORRIE was recorded in successive entries in the Fowlis Wester baptismal register as being of Condocloich in 1763, 1765 and 1777; at Nether Condocloich in 1767, and an Elder, of Condocloich in 1772 and 1779. Details of his death and burial have not yet been found.
Thomas GORRIE of Fowlis Wester was married to Janet STEWART of Monzie, after proclamations were made at Fowlis Wester on 8 November 1762 and at Monzie on 9 November 1762.
Janet was born at Dallick and baptized at Monzie on 4 July 1742, a daughter of John STUART (this spelling recorded in the baptismal register) and Janet CAMPBELL (they were married at Monzie on 2 March 1739, and had other issue - Margaret STUART born at Dallick and baptised 25 November 1750; Catherine STUART, born at Dallick and baptised 15 June 1755; and John STEWART, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 21 October 1759).
The Edinburgh Sasine Registers record a Sasine dated 11 October 1798, in which Rev John STEWART, Minister of Falkirk (Associate Synod, or Antiburgher; he died at Falkirk on 7 September 1797, aged 39, after partaking in a mission for his Synod to the Orkneys), was seized of an acre of land on the north side of Falkirk, in the parish of Falkirk, which he had purchased on 17 March 1791 from James INGLIS of Glasgow, Hatmaker, and in which John named his heirs as his cousins:
1. Janet STEWART, wife of Thomas GORRIE, Tenant in Condocloich.
2. Margaret STEWART, wife of William MURRAY, Tenant in Dallick.
3. Catherine STEWART, wife of James MILLER, Tenant in Nether Kipney.
It would appear that their brother John may not have survived, or had already done well enough for himself.
Thomas and Janet had issue:
1. John GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 24 October 1763; a Farmer; residing with his daughter Margaret in 1861, a Widower; he may have married, on 5 December 1782, to Catherine GORDON, with issue:
a. John GORRIE, born July 1785; died February 1872; possibly married in 1809, to Catherine McGREGOR, with issue.
John was probably instead married in July 1790, to Christian HALLEY, with issue:
b. John GORRIE, born ca 1797; of Condocloich, Gilmerton and Glasgow; died 1873; married at Crieff, 1819, Margaret SMITH, with issue.
c. Margaret GORRIE, born 1799; died 1874; married at Madderty, 1828, Archibald CARMICHAEL, with issue.
d. Helen GORRIE, born ca 1802; married James MUSHET and went to Paisley.
2. William GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester, 28 April 1765.
3. Andrew GORRIE, born at Nether Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester, 30 May 1767.
4. James GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 2 April 1769.
5. Thomas GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 11 March 1772. Possibly married at Fowlis Wester in 1794, Janet McLEISH, with issue.
6. Daniel GORRIE, baptised at Fowlis Wester on 1 December 1774. See next below.
7. Catherine GORRIE, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 13 July 1777.
8. A son, born at Condocloich and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 18 October 1779. Possibly Peter GORRIE.
9. Janet GORRIE, born ca 1782; died at Monzie on 28 August 1856, aged 74 (parents named in Statutory Registration); married at Methven on 18 July 1802 to Thomas HALLEY, with issue (a daughter Margaret who registered her mother's death).
DANIEL GORRIE, SLATE QUARRIER IN LOGIEALMOND.
Daniel GORRIE was a Slate Quarrier, and as he acquired a family, he moved around residences in the near vicinity of Condocloich - in Wester Lethendy, then in Easter Greenfield, after in Milrodgie, and eventually in Dalick House, which still stands, in all its stark whiteness, on the northern banks of the River Almond, at the foot of the Sma Glen.
[View of Dallick House.
The cleft in the hills (centre of the horizon, behind the left quarter of the house) is the Sma Glen.
Digital image of a print of a photo taken by the author in 1993.]
Daniel's parentage had not been satisfactorily established when his great-grandson, Robert Maclagan GORRIE (RMG), applied to the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh for a grant of Arms in the 1960s, although his association with Condocloich seemed likely. Evidence suggests that RMG saw the 1841 Census of Scotland, identifying his great-grandfather as the Daniel GORRIE living at Dallick House, Logiealmond, Perthshire, a Slate Quarrier, aged 60+, with his two unmarried daughters Janet (11 - probably in error for 15+) and Catherine (14). It appears that RMG interpreted from this entry that Daniel was born about 1781, and with some family folk lore of a kinship with the Kingskettle GORRIEs, speculated that he may have been born on 3 June 1781, the son of Daniel or Donald GORRIE (another Condocloich GORRIE) by his wife Grizel MENZIES (they had other issue born at Condocloich, including Catherine about 1774, Peter in 1788, Margaret in 1789, and Alex in 1793).
But it is also evident that RMG did not see the 1851 Census returns (which may not then have been publicly released under the 100 year privacy rule), in which arguably the same Daniel GORRIE was still residing at Dallick, aged 76, a Dyke Builder, born Fowlis Wester, once again with the same two unmarried daughters Jeanet (28) and Catherine (24), and being honoured with a visit by his eldest son Thomas, up from Perth.
This more precise date, taken together with notions deriving from the Scottish naming tradition, suggest a much more likely baptism for Daniel at Fowlis Wester on 1 December 1774, as the son of Thomas GORRIE and Janet STEWART (see above).
RMG had actually received advice to this effect from Mrs P.M. EAVES-WALTON, a genealogist he had engaged to research the family history, but evidently did not think it added anything to his Armorial claims (which probably did not need to proceed any further back in time to procure the grant of them anyway).
Further, it appears that the Daniel GORRIE who was born in 1781 may have been the Shoemaker in Methven who married Catherine MALLOCH in 1804 and had issue, including a daughter Grizel GORRIE born 1805, whose naming suggests she probably had a grandmother named Grizel.
Daniel appears to have signed the 18 January 1843 Declaration of Adherence to the Monzie Free Church (which initially met in premises at Gilmerton) as Donald GORRIE, Labourer at Dallick, together with his children Janet, Peter and Cathren (among a total membership of 450).
His entry in the Communicants Roll of the Logie Free Church, 1843, recorded him likewise as Donald GORRIE, a Labourer at Dallick, which entry was endorsed with the date of his death - 9 December 1853 (I am presuming that the Monzie Free Church Logie and the Monzie Free Church were probably one and the same). Details of his burial have not been found, but it is possible that he was buried in or near the plot in Monzie parish churchyard (Established Church of Scotland), north of Gilmerton, where his son Peter's McLAREN in-law's gravestone still stands.
[Monzie Parish Church, north of Gilmerton. Image courtesy of the geography.org.uk web-site.]
Daniel was married at Monzie parish church on 30 January 1813, to Janet MURRAY of Monzie, after proclamations on two preceding Sabbaths.
Janet MURRAY was baptized at Monzie on 12 February 1786, the daughter of William MURRAY (baptised at Monzie on 12 November 1749) of Dallick, by his wife Margaret STEWART, a sister of Janet STEWART the wife of Thomas GORRIE, and thereby Daniel GORRIE's first cousin (although some evidence of this might have been expected in some form of a special dispensation for the marriage to proceed, which is not in evidence); Janet was thereby a grand-daughter of John MURRAY of Wester Fendoch and his wife Janet MURRAY (they were married at Monzie on 19 August 1746).
Details of Janet's death and burial have not yet been discovered.
[Lethendy, Logiealmond. Photo taken by the author in 1993.]
Daniel and Janet had issue:
1. Thomas GORRIE, born at Wester Lethendy, and baptised at Fowlis Wester on 8 June 1814; Smith and Wireworker in Perth, working and/or residing at South Street (1843-44), Castle Gable (1845-51), Watergate (1852-69), Union Lane (1872), North Methven Street (1881-88) and King Street (1891); he died at 48 King Street, Perth, on 28 November 1892; he was married at Fowlis Wester on 12 August 1842 to Janet ROY of Crieff; she died at Perth on 17 July 1890; with issue:
a. Mary GORRIE, born 1843; died 1909; the wife of George MAXWELL, Commercial Clerk and Newspaper Librarian of Dundee.
b. Janet GORRIE, born 1846; died 1920; the wife of John SAUNDERS, Master Tinsmith of Perth; they were both buried at Abernethy.
c. Catharine GORRIE, born 1847; died 1848.
d. Daniel GORRIE, born 1849; died 1932; Solicitor and Town Clerk of Dunfermline, who married Ellen Elizabeth CONNAGHER, with issue.
e. Jane GORRIE, born 1852; the wife of Andrew MACOWAN, Draper in Perth.
2. Margaret GORRIE, born at Wester Lehanty (or Lethendy), and baptised on 30 March 1817.
3. William GORRIE, born at Easter Greenfield, and baptised on 18 February 1819; a House Carpenter in Aberdeen (1846-1851) and a Ship's Joiner in Rotherhithe, London (by 1854); he died at 2 Lavender Lane, Rotherhithe, on 11 December 1879; William married firstly, at St Nicholas, Aberdeen, on 26 February 1847, to Sarah Ann MILNE; she died at Rotherhithe in 1854 (September quarter); they had issue:
a. William GORRIE, born Aberdeen, 1848; died 1912; a Shipwright in Rotherhithe, who married Rebecca ORAM, with issue.
b. Sarah Ann L. GORRIE, born Aberdeen, 1850; married Henry Richard CHAPLIN in Rotherhithe in 1874.
William Senior was married secondly, at Rotherhithe in 1862 (December quarter) to Mary ROBERTSON, a widow with children by her previous marriage; she died at Rotherhithe in 1868 (December quarter).
William Senior was married thirdly, also at Rotherhithe in 1875 (March quarter) to Harriett GARTRELE, also a widow; she died at Fulham in 1891 (March quarter).
4. Janet GORRIE, born at Milrodgie, and baptised on 29 July 1821 (although her father appears to have been mis-identified in the register as James GORRIE, her mother was correctly named as Janet MURRAY); with her widowed father in 1841 and 1851 Censuses; signed the 1843 Declaration of Adherence to the Monzie Free Church; went to London, where she was married, at St Thomas's, Stepney, on 6 November 1658, to James Walter COCKER, with issue; she was residing with her brother William GORRIE at Rotherhithe in 1861, with her husband and their infant daughter Jessie Ann COCKER.
5. Peter GORRIE, born at Dallick on 5 September 1823 (although details of his baptism have not yet been discovered). See next below.
6. Catherine GORRIE, born at Dallick, 13 August 1826; with her widowed father, 1841 and 1851; signed the 1843 declaration of Adherence to the Monzie Free Church; on the Logie Free Church Communicant's Roll, 1843; said to have later been a housekeeper to a Dundee Doctor.
[Detail of Dallick House. Digital image of a print of a photo taken by the author in 1993.]
PETER GORRIE, ENGINE FITTER IN PERTH.
Peter GORRIE was enumerated in the 1841 census as an Agricultural Labourer at an "Out-House" in North Kinkell, parish of Trinity Gask, aged 20+, and residing with two other Agricultural Labourers (ione of whom was Duncan STEWART, aged 25+, who may have been a relation).
Peter signed the January 1843 Declaration of Adherence to the Monzie Free Church; and was on the Communicant's Roll of Logie Free Church in May 1843. He subsequently moved to Perth, where he was a wire-worker, and later an engine fitter with the Railways, with a home in Glover Street, near the Perth General Railway Station.
He was enumerated in the 1851 Census at Miss MOIR's Lodging House, 10 St John's Place, Middle Parish, Perth Burgh, aged 27, Wire Worker, born Fowlis Wester.
He was directory listed as Wireworker, Newtown (of Perth), (1854-57), Engine Driver, New Town (1858-59), Engine Fitter at New Town (1860-69), at 18 New Town (1872), and at 18 Glover Street, new Town (1874).
[No 18 Glover Street, Perth. Photo taken by Jean Ayler of York, ca 2000.]
Peter purchased, in May 1864, from the Glover's Corporation of Perth, the north half of Lot 5 of a subdivision of St Leonard's lands near the General Railway Terminus; this was later known as 18 Glover Street (measuring 13 poles 18 yards imperial); he purchased in April 1868 the other half of the lot (measuring 12 poles), later known as 16 Glover Street, from his brother-in-law Duncan McLAREN.
Peter was already living at Glover Street in the 1861 Census, aged 37, Engine Fitter, with his wife and family; he was there in 1871, with his second wife, and two sons by his first; his widow Mary was still there in 1881 and 1891.
Peter died at 18 Glover Street, Perth, on 6 December 1874, aged 51; the death was informed by his son Daniel, who named his father's parents as Daniel GORRIE, Labourer, and Janet MURRAY, both deceased.
Peter was at St John's Place, Perth, when he was married firstly, at South Kinkell, on 16 June 1853 to Margaret McLAREN of Kinkell, parish of Trinity Gask, a daughter of Alexander McLAREN (formerly of Killin, Perthshire), a farm servant; the marriage was performed by Rev Thomas GUNN, Minister of the Free Church at Madderty, and was recorded in the Perth Parish register.
Margaret GORRIE died at 18 Glover Street on 17 May 1867, aged 39; her details are recorded on the McLAREN stone in Monzie Churchyard, suggesting that she may have been buried there.
[The McLaren stone in Monzie Churchyard, photographed by the author in 1993.]
Peter was married secondly, at Glasgow, on 28 October 1870, to Mary NICOLL, of Springburn Parish, Glasgow. He had no further issue by Mary, who survived him and died at 18 Glover Street on 24 February 1895, aged 69, her parents recorded as Andrew NICOLL, Crofter, and Betsy LOUTIT (Mary was baptised at Auchterarder on 11 December 1825, daughter of Andrew NICOL of Backbroin and Elizabeth LUTFOOT).
Peter and Margaret had issue:
1. Daniel GORRIE, born at South Kinkell , parish of Trinity Gask, at 7.00 am on 23 August 1855; he was with his parents in 1861. See next below.
2. Alexander GORRIE, born at Perth on 23 February 1858; with his parents, 1861 Census; with his father and step-mother, 1871; Civil Service Post Office Sorter, with his step-mother, 1881 Census; P.O. Clerk, 20 County Place, Perth (1889-91), and at 19 Queen Street (1891-1900); he died at 12 Viewlands Terrace, Perth, on 19 April 1912, aged 54; he was married at 39 Causewayside, Edinburgh, on 15 December 1887, to Barbara Jane McIVOR, a Domestic servant from Thurso (daughter of James McIVOR, Crofter, and Mary MACKAY); she died at Perth on 8 January 1921; with issue 5 daughters Mary Nicoll (1888-1967), Margaret McLaren (1889-1965), Barbara Jane (1891-1957), Catharine (1893-1970), Jessie McIvor (born 1897), and a son Peter (born 1901), all of whom died unmarried.
3. Janet GORRIE, born at 5 Glover Street, Perth, on 10 April 1860; she was with her parents in 1861; she died at Glover Street on 29 August 1864, of chronic bronchitis, and was buried in the McLAREN plot at Monzie Churchyard.
4. Duncan GORRIE, born at Glover Street, Perth, on 4 June 1863; he died there on 30 November 1864, of hydrocephalus, and was buried in the McLAREN plot at Monzie Churchyard.
DANIEL GORRIE, PHARMACIST.
Daniel GORRIE was living with his parents at Glover Street in the 1861 Census; he was apprenticed to Alexander GLASS, a Pharmaceutical Chemist, of Bon Accord Villa, East Church parish of the Royal Burgh of Perth; Daniel was living with his father and step-mother in the 1871 Census, aged 15, an Apprentice Druggist; he was a Chemist's Assistant in Perth, March 1876, when he was declared the Heir-General to his father Peter GORRIE, Engine Fitter, and Heir-Special to several houses in Glover Street, Newtown of Perth (both of which he disposed of, after his step-mother Mary's death in 1895, to his brother Alexander); he was residing with his step-mother in the 1881 Census, together with his wife Janet, and he was now a Pharmaceutical Chemist.
After he completed his apprenticeship, he gained employment with T. and H. SMITH and Coy of Duke Street, Edinburgh, having gone up from Perth before November 1876, when he was residing at 20 Dublin Street; he moved to lodgings at 3 Barony Street in May 1877; he proceeded to Membership of the Pharmaceutical Society of G.B., passing their Major Examination in October 1877, and still employed at SMITH and Coy.
Daniel GORRIE, M.P.S., opened his own business at 31 Minto Street, Newington, in 1878, and resided at 13 West Mayfield (1878-80), at 12 East Mayfield (1880-81), at 12 Rosehall Terrace, 117 Dalkieth Road,(1881-91), and finally at 2 Cameron Terrace (from 1891).
Daniel published scientific papers in the Pharmaceutical Journal, including one on "Acetic and Allied Acids" (18 December 1880), another on "Preparation of Syrupus Ferri Phosphatus by a new method" (23 December 1882), and a third on "Liquor Bismuthi et Amonii Citratis" (28 February 1891).
[2 Cameron Terrace, Newington. Photo taken by the author in 1993.]
Daniel died at 2 Cameron Terrace on 9 April 1898, aged 42, of syncope from heart failure.
An obituary notice was published in The Chemist and Druggist, 16 April 1898, at page 641:
"GORRIE. — Mr Daniel GORRIE, pharmaceutical chemist, Edinburgh, died very suddenly at his residence, 2 Cameron Terrace, on Saturday morning last, April 9. He complained of slight indisposition on Friday night on returning home from business, and went to bed. On Saturday morning, as he did not get up at the usual time, his little girl went to call him and found him dead. Medical assistance was obtained, but the doctor said he had been dead for four hours, probably from syncope.
"Mr GORRIE was a native of Perth, and served his apprenticeship with Mr GLASS there.
He entered the employment of Messrs T. and H. SMITH, Edinburgh, about 1876, and on passing the Major examination he acquired the business, in 1878, at 31 Minto Street, Edinburgh, which he has carried on since. He was a thoroughly practical pharmacist, and occasionally read papers at the evening meetings of the North British branch of the Pharmaceutical Society.
"Mr GORRIE was only 42 years of age, and leaves a widow and five young children."
His little girl was probably Beth, then aged 6.
His will, dated 17 March 1894, named his wife Janet as executrix; probate was granted on 11 May 1898, with Confirmation on 12 May, at Edinburgh, his estate valued at £2,360 1s 6d. Family lore records that Daniel's pharmaceutical business was or became a partnership, but with whom I do not know; however, it has been said that the partner "purchased" Daniel's share of the venture after his death, for a consideration the GORRIE's believed was undervalued; although it is possible that some of that value may have gone the way of Daniel's elder son Peter, who probably received his Pharmaceutical qualifications while working for the partner during his University years.
[The GORRIE Celtic Cross marking Daniel's grave in Newington Cemetery, Edinburgh.
photographed by the author in 1993.
Detail of inscription below.]
photographed by the author in 1993.
Detail of inscription below.]
Daniel was married in Edinburgh on 28 September 1880, to Janet Bissett MACLAGAN, Telegraph Operator, of Perth, the marriage performed by Rev James GIBSON, Free West Church. She was the eldest daughter of Robert MACLAGAN, of Perth, Superintendent of the Perth General Railway Station (see his separate posting on this blog.spot), and his wife Isabella CRICHTON.
Janet survived Daniel by 40 years, residing at 3 Cameron Park (1900-31) and at 7 Priestfield Road (from 1931), both in the Newington district of Edinburgh; she died in a Nursing Home in Edinburgh, on 30 November 1939, aged 85, of carcinoma of the tongue (under radium treatment), late of 7 Priestfield Road.
Daniel and Janet had issue:
1. Peter GORRIE was born at 12 Rosehall Terrace on 1 August 1881. He attended George Watson's School, then Edinburgh University, and eventually graduated as M.D. (1910), before emigrating to South Australia.
His story is recorded elsewhere on this blog-site, in an earlier posting dated April 2009, at this link:
http://pigott-gorrie.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/in-memoriam-3-feb-1942-peter-gorrie-md.html
2. Isabella Crichton GORRIE, born at 12 Rosehall Terrace on 22 January 1883.
3. Mary Nicoll GORRIE, born at 12 Rosehall Terrace, 12 April 1886.
4. Elizabeth Maclagan GORRIE, born at 2 Cameron Terrace on 7 October 1891.
5. Robert Maclagan GORRIE, born at 2 Cameron Terrace on 26 June 1897; a bursaried scholar at George Watson's School, Edinburgh, October 1904-July 1912; started an apprenticeship on 7 October 1912, possibly in dentistry; enlisted as a private in the Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C., 2 October 1914, and recorded in his diary as being stationed at Swanage; commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Territorial Force, Scottish Horse, 10 July 1915; transferred to the Royal Field Artillery, 24 February 1917; embarked on 1 May 1917 for Le Havre and service on the Western Front; at Arras, Passchendale and; Cambrai, 1917, the German Offensive of March and April 1918, and the Final advance, Albet to Mauberge; mentioned in despatches, 1918. After the War, Bob studied Forestry at Edinburgh University (Rowing Blue), B.Sc., July 1922.
Bob served with the Indian Forestry Service, in the Punjab, appointed on 11 December 1922, in the Northern Plantation Division, Western Circle; he was appointed to the Artillery, India Reserve of Officers, on 13 July 1923, and promoted to the rank of Captain on 21 October 1924; he was a Lecturer at the Forest College at Dehra Dun (1933), and worked elsewhere in India and in Ceylon; he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 5 March 1934; Bob became involved with the Central Museum in Lahore, in re-organizing the Forest section, soon after the closing of the All-India Exhibition of Arts and Industries, Punjab, until 1938, when the work he started was continued by his successor, Mr N.P. MOHAN (Indian Forestry Service).
Bob retired to Balnagowan, Murrayfield Drive, Edinburgh, having achieved the status of Commissioner of the Indian Forestry Service. He died there on 20 December 1970.
Robert was married at Lahore Cathedral, India, on 6 December 1923, to Sydney Grace EASTERBROOK, a daughter of Arthur Blake EASTERBROOK, Baillie of Edinburgh, and Grace Monteath CAMERON; she died in December 1976, having had issue.
a. Sheila Mary GORRIE (a former Liberal Councillor in Durham and wife of the late Norman MACLEOD of Suardal).
b. Duncan GORRIE (late of Edinburgh, Accountant).
c. Donald GORRIE (late Liberal-Democrat Member of the Westminster Parliament for the Scottish Constituency of West Corstorphine, and an inaugural Member of the devolution Scottish Parliament at Holyrood).
The three daughters, Belle, Mary and Beth, were all active supporters of the "Votes for Women" campaigns of the Women's Social and Political Union. See their separate posting on this blog-site, at this link:
http://pigott-gorrie.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/the-gorrie-sisters-scottish-suffragists.html
[The MACLAGAN residence at King Street, Perth, overlooking the South Inch parkland.
Photo taken by the author in 1993.
Photo taken by the author in 1993.
Janet GORRIE and her two daughters were visiting here on census night in 1891.]