Latheron House

[camsmith]

I have viewed the photo on Caithness.org of Latheron House and it has been suggested that the property was the old Church Manse and maybe not Latheron House in 1848. I was wondering if anyone can confirm either way.

Once again I turn to your help.
Many thanks,

Campbell

[fred]

I have viewed the photo on Caithness.org of Latheron House and it has been suggested that the property was the old Church Manse and maybe not Latheron House in 1848. I was wondering if anyone can confirm either way.

Once again I turn to your help.
Many thanks,

Campbell

I don't think that has been Latheron House for very long, it's still marked as the Manse on the 1912 map.

[camsmith]

thanks Fred.

I am taking my mother and aunt to show them where their relatives came from so would love to show them the right Latheron House if possible. The period I am after is Feb 1838 when Don Munro brought the estate to Oct 1857 when his son WSJH Murno put the property onto market.

I have also been advised that Gillivon House was the Lairds house at one time, but not sure if it corresponds to the period when the Munro's owned the property.

Regards,

[fred]

thanks Fred.

I am taking my mother and aunt to show them where their relatives came from so would love to show them the right Latheron House if possible. The period I am after is Feb 1838 when Don Munro brought the estate to Oct 1857 when his son WSJH Murno put the property onto market.

I have also been advised that Gillivon House was the Lairds house at one time, but not sure if it corresponds to the period when the Munro's owned the property.

Regards,

The 1776 map shows Latheron House between the old coast road and the coast.

http://www.graven-images.org.uk/temp/1776.jpg

The 1822 map shows it on the Thurso road.

http://www.graven-images.org.uk/temp/1822.jpg

Gillivoan is in the 1851 census as the Free Church Manse and there is only the Rev. Davidson and his family living there at the time. It must have been built between 1843 and then.

[fred]

Gillivoan is in the 1851 census as the Free Church Manse and there is only the Rev. Davidson and his family living there at the time. It must have been built between 1843 and then.

Gillivoan was built in the mid 1700s so could well have been the Laird's house before becoming the Manse.

[camsmith]

Thanks again Fred,

I have also looked on Google Books and there are two mentions of the location of Latheron House.
"Blacks Picturesque Tourist of Scotland" Edition 7 1849 has Latheron House - W S Munro , on the right side of the Road from Inverness and the earlier Edition 4 , 1845 has Latheron House - Munro on the left side of the road from Inverness.

I have also found a architect called James Matthew built a house in Latheron for W S Munro mentioned in the Aberdeen Journal 30 May 1855.

Below i have copied a reply from Jim who has kindly given me some information and thought it might be of interest to others who would like to know about Latheron.

"I think the odds are 80% for Gillivoan and 0% for what is currently (only in the last ten years) called Latheron House, which was the manse for Latheron church with 15 acres of its own grounds. It was the residence of George Davidson, minister, from 1720 to the 'disruption' in 1743. He left the church on a matter of principle, along with a large part of the congregation. This meant a large drop in income, the loss of his home for the past twenty three years and a loss of status. He was given a house to use, by the owner of Latheron estate, at Gillivoan.
The Manse house is not on Latheron estate but is on Latheronwheel estate so is very unlikely to have been named Latheron House and would not have been occupied by the owner of Latheron estate.
George Davidson's brother was a well respected architect, William Davidson and was responsible for building several churches and harbours in Caithness. It is likely he could have designed the house for Donald Munro's son.
There is a fair bit on the internet about George Davidson as he wrote well and left substantial records of his life and experiences."

thanks again.

[fred]

"I think the odds are 80% for Gillivoan and 0% for what is currently (only in the last ten years) called Latheron House, which was the manse for Latheron church with 15 acres of its own grounds. It was the residence of George Davidson, minister, from 1720 to the 'disruption' in 1743. He left the church on a matter of principle, along with a large part of the congregation. This meant a large drop in income, the loss of his home for the past twenty three years and a loss of status. He was given a house to use, by the owner of Latheron estate, at Gillivoan.
The Manse house is not on Latheron estate but is on Latheronwheel estate so is very unlikely to have been named Latheron House and would not have been occupied by the owner of Latheron estate.
George Davidson's brother was a well respected architect, William Davidson and was responsible for building several churches and harbours in Caithness. It is likely he could have designed the house for Donald Munro's son.
There is a fair bit on the internet about George Davidson as he wrote well and left substantial records of his life and experiences."

thanks again.

I should point out that Rev. Davidson was the minister from 1820 to the 'disruption' in 1843. It would be between that date and the census of 1851 that he moved into Gillivoan.

You can read the 1840 Statistical Account of Latheron written be Rev. Davidson on my website:

http://www.graven-images.org.uk/library/lib.htm