Place Name Query

[sgmcgregor]

Hello all,

I was doing some family research on a line in my family and the placename that keeps coming up is Gallowhill, Wick.

Can anyone tell a Thurso boy where this is? My knowledge of Wick isn't what it should be - after all, it's only about 20 miles away.

Does anyone know of any good websites for historical maps? Most of the family are originally from Wick, Thurmster, Watten, Latheron etc. There are also some links to the Inverness and Aberdeen areas.

Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help.

Steven

[Oddquine]

Don't know anything about Gallowhill, but for maps, try

http://www.nls.uk/maps/

[Mosser]

Hello all,

I was doing some family research on a line in my family and the placename that keeps coming up is Gallowhill, Wick.

Can anyone tell a Thurso boy where this is? My knowledge of Wick isn't what it should be - after all, it's only about 20 miles away.

Does anyone know of any good websites for historical maps? Most of the family are originally from Wick, Thurmster, Watten, Latheron etc. There are also some links to the Inverness and Aberdeen areas.

Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help.

Steven
Gallowhill is the area which is now Bignold Court etc on the corner of George St and North Road.

[trinkie]

Thank you Mosser.
Was that where the Gallows were ? Can you give us any more info ?
Who was the last person to be Hung in Wick?
Is there a connection with the Fiddler in MacPherson's Rant and Wick? I seem to remember a mention of him growing up in Wick.
Sorry - but one thing leads to another in local history.

Trinkie

[sgmcgregor]

Thanks for the information regarding the location.

Also, a thank you for the website for old maps. I will now have a look at some of the old maps to locate the area.

The majority of the place names have been street names which are still in existence today. This one has been the only confusing one.

The only other place which existed back then which I had originally had trouble with locating had been Langley Park. I did however manage to locate this one on an old map in Wick Archives.

This Gallowhill was another new one on me. Never to old to learn, eh?

Steven

[sgmcgregor]

I have been looking at Census records for this Dallas family and the 1851 census gives a fuller address of "Kilmster Road, Gallowhill".

Also the 1861 census gives the address as "Gallowhill House". In this census it also has a column for "Number of rooms with one or more window". This column has the entry 6.

Someone in Wick Archives had suggested that this can be an indication of the relative wealth of a family. Is this an accurate statement?

Steven

[Mosser]

I have been looking at Census records for this Dallas family and the 1851 census gives a fuller address of "Kilmster Road, Gallowhill".

Also the 1861 census gives the address as "Gallowhill House". In this census it also has a column for "Number of rooms with one or more window". This column has the entry 6.

Someone in Wick Archives had suggested that this can be an indication of the relative wealth of a family. Is this an accurate statement?

Steven
Hi,
Killimster Road is the old name for George Street. There was a toll house on the corner of Robert Street called Killimster Toll. The Dallas family lived beyond the Toll House therefore were technically out of the Burgh. They were Saddlers to trade with a shop in Bridge Street. Hope this helps.

[marionq]

The window tax was a discouragement to have many windows in the house or an encouragement to show off how wealthy you were. You will often see in Scotland the evidence of a window which has been filled in to avoid this tax in old houses.

"William III's window tax (1696) was imposed on every dwelling except cottages. The rates were 2 shillings for houses with less than 10 windows, 6 shillings for 10-20 windows, and 10 shillings for more than 20 windows. It led to the stopping up of windows, often temporarily until the assessment had passed. During the Napoleonic wars the tax was increased on several occasions and by 1815 the yield was a substantial £2 million. In 1823 the tax was halved and in 1851 abolished."

Marion, Renfrewshire

[trinkie]

Thank you for the info - Mosser - is the toll house still there ?

I think I'm right in saying that George Street houses were built in the late 1800s, many of them to house the family and employees of the famous McEwan Furniture factory people..... and what a handsome street it is.

Marionq - you're right about the window tax. You can still see many of the windows filled in but with a nice trompe l'oeil of 'window panes and curtains' to balance the house, so to speak.

Trinkie

[sgmcgregor]

Thank you all again for your continued interest and answers.

It is a joy to have so much input from others who know so much more than myself.

The note on Kilmster Road and George Street being the same place is fantastic. Also the Dallas family have been linked to the occupation of "Saddlers" in all of the records. I had no idea about Bridge Street though.

I do know of the valuation rolls in the Wick Archive, but as all of the details I have so far is fairly new, is this where you got the reference to Bridge Street? I can go back and look at this for more details.

As for the window tax, I have heard that there were some "unusual" taxes many years ago - i.e. hearth tax for one. Were these varied means of raising taxes common?

I know I complain about paying tax - I never earn enough money!! - but were there other means of raising tax which we would now see as being strange?

Thanks to everyone again for their interest and their responses.

Steven

[trinkie]

You will find this interesting .



http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/taxation.asp (http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/taxation.asp)

[Mosser]

Thank you for the info - Mosser - is the toll house still there ?

I think I'm right in saying that George Street houses were built in the late 1800s, many of them to house the family and employees of the famous McEwan Furniture factory people..... and what a handsome street it is.

Marionq - you're right about the window tax. You can still see many of the windows filled in but with a nice trompe l'oeil of 'window panes and curtains' to balance the house, so to speak.

Trinkie
Hi Trinkie,
the toll house was demolished in the 1950s to make way for the new council housing. McEwens employees were nearly all in Robert St with the foremen on Kirkhill. The family built all their houses in George St and North Road.

[Mosser]

Thank you Mosser.
Was that where the Gallows were ? Can you give us any more info ?
Who was the last person to be Hung in Wick?
Is there a connection with the Fiddler in MacPherson's Rant and Wick? I seem to remember a mention of him growing up in Wick.
Sorry - but one thing leads to another in local history.

Trinkie
Hi Trinkie,

there is little information on hangings in Wick although the town did have whippers and hangmen. there was an area to the east of Mount Hooly called "Hangman's Rig" and there is a record of Wick "borrowing a hangman from Kirkwall but unfortunately the Wick council minute book is missing for the period. It was common for the condemned man's family to bribe the hangman to move to another parish and then the felon volunteered for the hangman's job, maybe that is why there is never a mention of hanging.