John Steven/Stivin of Watten, 1790s.

[yeamanrs]

Hi all
Looking for info on a John Steven from Watten. He married an Elisabeth Campbell and settled in Bower, Caithness - Stemster, Hilliclay. According to the 1841-1881 census for the parish of Bower, John was from Watten, Caithness and was born about 1795/1796 and had a family of five.



Birth
c.1795
Watten, Caithness, Scotland.


Residence
1841 (Age: 46)
Stemster, Bower, Caithness.
Agricultural Labourer.


Residence
1851 (Age: 56)
Stemster, Bower, Caithness.
Farmer 10 acres arable.


Residence
1861 (Age: 66)
Stemster, Bower, Caithness.
Crofter.


Residence
1871 (Age: 76)
Bower, Caithness.
Retired Farmer.


Residence
1881 (Age: 86)
Hilliclay, Bower, Caithness.
Retired Farmer.




Died in Bower, 1884.


I have searched the OPRs for him in Watten, but cannot seem to find any info about him there. Can anyone help?
I think Elisabeth Campbell from Reay may have been Elizabeth, born 12th May 1794 in Reay to Alexander Campbell and Margaret Mackay.
Thanks so much,
Ruth, Missouri USA.

[Scohn]

Hi Ruth
To answer your question about not finding John Steven, the ORP’s in Caithness are very difficult to decipher, the information is not there or has gone missing. For this reason I gave up my research in 2010.

As for info on John Steven b1796 his parents were John Steven and Jane Budge, his father is list as occupation soldier on John’s death certificate.

I will pm you about sending further info

Hope the above is useful

John, Caithness Scotland. GGG Grandson of John 1796-1884 & Elizabeth Campbell 1798-?

[yeamanrs]

Thanks John - look out for my pm re. Steven family. The mystery of who this John Steven was has been driving us demented for over 3 years! Appreciate your help,
Ruth.

[Rosemary Skea]

Prior to 1854, there was no legal requirement for births or marriages to be registered in the parish records. There was also a fee payable and many just did not have the few pence necessary for payment. In Watten birth records began in 1714 and they are all available on FREEREG. I do not understand your comment that the OPR's in Caithness are very difficult to decipher as with the exception of Wick, all parishes are available as transcriptions on FREEREG. There are a few parishes where pages from the OPRs are so badly faded or damaged that it has been impossible to transcribe the data, but the percentage of data not available on FREEREG from Caithness is small. Unfortunately, there was some mix up in the filming of the
Watten OPR,s and baptisms and marriages 1820-1854 is not available.

We all have the problem of not finding the answers we want, but that doesn't mean that we give up - I think it makes us look even more. John Steven's birth was not recorded in Watten as far as I could see and I haven't seen his marriage to Elizabeth Campbell either, but the census records for the family are all available on FREECEN.

I have been transcribing the Caithness Old Parish Registers for FREEREG over the past 7 years and wilh the help of my faithful transcriber , Frank, we are about to complete this project. Wick is proving a challenge as the quality of the film is poor but we keep trying ! If you have any queries
please feel free to contact me.

Rosemary

FREEREG co-ordinator, Caithness


Hi Ruth
To answer your question about not finding John Steven, the ORP’s in Caithness are very difficult to decipher, the information is not there or has gone missing. For this reason I gave up my research in 2010.

As for info on John Steven b1796 his parents were John Steven and Jane Budge, his father is list as occupation soldier on John’s death certificate.

I will pm you about sending further info

Hope the above is useful

John, Caithness Scotland. GGG Grandson of John 1796-1884 & Elizabeth Campbell 1798-?

[Scohn]

Hi Rosemary
My research into John Steven was being done in 2008 at the NHA Wick, having spent a further 2 years researching other avenues I stopped researching him directly, my comment “I gave up my research in 2010” was misleading I in fact put his file at the bottom of the pile and moved on to researching other family members.
My comment “OPR's in Caithness are very difficult to decipher” was not directed at the OPR’s for Caithness but more the OPR’s stored on microfiche for Reay at the NHA Wick.

I was searching the microfiche OPR’s of Reay as I had established that John Steven was not recorded in Caithness so I started researching in the next county and choose Reay as the start.

My research on freereg and other web sites have not produced any straightforward hits for John Steven in the birth, christenings or marriages.
Your comment “there was no legal requirement for births or marriages to be registered in the parish records” was something I had already considered along with the possibility the information is wrong, as a direct decedent of John Steven and knowing the family through my research they have not been very accurate with there dates and facts to officialdom.

Thank you for your work as a FREEREG co-ordinator and also the other FREEREG volunteers.

John