William Farquhar

[NFTaylorScotland]

Can anyone shed any light on a bit of a mystery?

My 3rd great grandfather William Farquhar married Barbara Nicolson in Canisbay on 27th November 1857. His age is listed as 22 giving a birth date of c. 1835, his fathers name is given as Donald Farquhar and his mothers name as Elizabeth Sutherland.

Scotlands People has no record of a William Farquhar being born to a Donald and Elizabeth Sutherland anywhere in Scotland within 5 years either way of 1835. There is a record of a William Farquhar being born to a William Farquhar and Elizabeth Anderson in Latheron in 1837.

However, there is also record of the birth of a William Farquhar to Donald and Elizabeth (Betty) McKean in Latheron in 1831.

There is also a death certificate for a William Farquhar in 1895 where he is listed as being married to Barbara Nicolson and the son of Donald Farquhar and Betty McKean. This would be conclusive for me but his age is listed as 58 which would give a birth date of 1837.

So I have two possible candidates for my ancestor : William Farquhar, the son of William and Elizabeth Anderson born 1837 or William Farquhar, the son of Donald and Betty McKean born 1831 - both in Latheron. I suspect it's the second but wondered if anyone had any more information.

Thanks

Niall Taylor

[cuthill]

In the 1841 census i came up with 3 William Farquhar,2 in Latheron and 1 in wick.It has Bell Farquhar 25,Martha 9,William 5,and james 3 Wick.

[NFTaylorScotland]

Thanks. Yes, I was ruling out the William recorded in Wick in 1841 to Erie and Mary on the basis that William might have got his mothers surname wrong on his marriage certificate but wouldn't have got her forename wrong or his fathers forename. I'm basically assuming that his death certificate is right and that his mothers name was Betty McKean. I'm just wondering if anyone knows of a reason why it might have been recorded as Sutherland on his marriage certificate. Is it possible (and this is just a complete guess!) that 'Sutherland' was used when the mothers maiden name was unclear?

Niall

[davelna]

Hello Niall,
I have a Francis Farquhar b 1814 who married Andrew Ryrie 1834 in Latheron. Her parents were George Farquhar and Janet Sinclair.
Francis had a brother b 1805 in Latheron. He married Elizabeth Sutherland 1833 in Latheron.
I believe the parents of George senior were Donald Farquhar and Helen Miller married 1787 in Latheron.
Hope this info is of some use to you.

Regards
David

[Durran]

Hi Niall,

Don't worry about discrepancies in ages on death certificates. I have come across many examples of errors on them. A son recorded the death of his father with an age at death of 62, when he was actually 72. The daughter then recorded the death of their mother and said she was 70, when she was 83!

Having said that, Donald Farquhar was having difficulty with his age in census returns - 1851 at Milton, Wick he was 18; 1861 at Seater, Canisbay he was 25; 1871 at Hill of Forss, Thurso he was 37 and 1881 at Murza, Bower he was 46. The naming sequence of his children was the reverse of what is normal in Caithness. First-born daughter should have been named Barbara, after his wife's mother Barbara Smith - was actually called Elizabeth (after his mother Elizabeth (Betty) McKean?). First son should have been named after his father (Donald) but was called David Nicolson Farquhar after Barbara Nicolson's father David. Second son was then named Donald, so I would be confident that Donald's death certificate (with the exception of his age) is accurate.

I have had a further look at the 1851 census and see that William and his brother James, born 16 Oct 1834 in Latheron to Donald Farquhar & Elisabeth McKean, were obviously working as farm servant and herd boy on John Barnetson's farm. This will help to explain why William states that he was born in Wick in the 1861 etc census returns. In the 1851 census both he and brother James have Latheron as place of birth.

John

[NFTaylorScotland]

Hello Niall,
I have a Francis Farquhar b 1814 who married Andrew Ryrie 1834 in Latheron. Her parents were George Farquhar and Janet Sinclair.
Francis had a brother b 1805 in Latheron. He married Elizabeth Sutherland 1833 in Latheron.
I believe the parents of George senior were Donald Farquhar and Helen Miller married 1787 in Latheron.
Hope this info is of some use to you.

Regards
David

Hi David

Thanks. That's really interesting - if confusing! Do you know if Francis' brother was called Donald? I can't find an 1833 marriage in Latheron between a Farquhar and a Sutherland on Scotlands People though I'm probably missing a trick. So there was a Donald Farquhar born c. 1784 and another Donald Farquhar born c.1805 both in Latheron. Donald 1 marries Elizabeth McKean. Donald 2 marries Elizabeth Sutherland. William Farquhar son of Elizabeth Sutherland (according to his marriage cert) marries a Barbara Nicolson. William Farquhar son of Betty McKean (according to his death certificate) also marries a Barbara Nicolson (according to his death certificate). I had ruled out the possibility of two William Farquars marrying different Barbara Nicolsons but I'm beginning to wonder!

Niall

[davelna]

Hello Niall,

Sorry forgot to say Francis brother was George b 1805. Francis was my 3 x great grandmother.

David

[NFTaylorScotland]

Hi Niall,

Don't worry about discrepancies in ages on death certificates. I have come across many examples of errors on them. A son recorded the death of his father with an age at death of 62, when he was actually 72. The daughter then recorded the death of their mother and said she was 70, when she was 83!

Having said that, Donald Farquhar was having difficulty with his age in census returns - 1851 at Milton, Wick he was 18; 1861 at Seater, Canisbay he was 25; 1871 at Hill of Forss, Thurso he was 37 and 1881 at Murza, Bower he was 46. The naming sequence of his children was the reverse of what is normal in Caithness. First-born daughter should have been named Barbara, after his wife's mother Barbara Smith - was actually called Elizabeth (after his mother Elizabeth (Betty) McKean?). First son should have been named after his father (Donald) but was called David Nicolson Farquhar after Barbara Nicolson's father David. Second son was then named Donald, so I would be confident that Donald's death certificate (with the exception of his age) is accurate.

I have had a further look at the 1851 census and see that William and his brother James, born 16 Oct 1834 in Latheron to Donald Farquhar & Elisabeth McKean, were obviously working as farm servant and herd boy on John Barnetson's farm. This will help to explain why William states that he was born in Wick in the 1861 etc census returns. In the 1851 census both he and brother James have Latheron as place of birth.

John

Hi John

Thanks for replying. William does seem to have been a bit inexact but I suspect that was reasonably common? The bit I'm really confused about is why he named his mother as Elizabeth Sutherland on his marriage certificate when it should have been Elizabeth McKean. I see from David's post above that he has a Farquhar marrying an Elizabeth Sutherland in 1833 in Latheron but I can't find that marriage in Scotlands People. If David is right then things get really confusing...

Niall

[NFTaylorScotland]

Hello Niall,

Sorry forgot to say Francis brother was George b 1805. Francis was my 3 x great grandmother.

David

Hi David

Thanks. I still can't find the 1833 marriage between George Farquhar and Elizabeth Sutherland on Scotland's People but I'm sure that's down to my incompetence :-). If they did have a son called William then he might be the man but then he would have got his fathers name wrong in his marriage certificate (and it would have been recorded wrongly on his death certificate as well). I have a feeling I'm missing something in all this.

Niall

[Mamie_2]

Barbara is my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Barbara Smith is my 2nd great grandaunt.
I have William as the one born in 1831 to Donald and Elizabeth Mckain/Mckeen/ aka Elizabeth Sutherland. Her parents ought to be named Alexander and Janet as Donald's were John and Christian, I think she died between 1841 and 1851 though. Donald died in 1866 at Thrumster in Wick and the informant was his son John. Donald and Elizabeth/Betty married in 1822 so both most likely born no earlier than 1802. This is the only Donald Farquhar/Elizabeth marriage on the IGI.

There was only one marriage for William Farquhar and Barbara Nicolson in Caithness.

While the naming pattern does help to determine who someone's parents might be it isn't foolproof and there are a number of reasons why the traditional order may not have been followed. Most times the first four children have some combination of the grandparents first names but sometimes one of the first four is a named for a deceased sibling of one of the couple.
Sooo... a candidate for Elizabeth is this one - the earlier Latheron records rarely record a mother. Spelling didn't really become consistent until the latter half of the 19th century.
County Caithness-shire.
Place Latheron
Church Church of Scotland
RegisterNumber
DateOfBirth
BaptismDate 10 Dec 1797
Forename Elizabeth
Sex F
FatherForename Willm
MotherForename
FatherSurname ?MCCAN
MotherSurname
Abode East Clyth
FatherOccupation
Notes
FileNumber 21338

Donald and Elizabeth Mckain had 8 or 9 children Janet 1823, John 1825, Christian 1827? , Alexander 1829, William 1831, Donald 1833, James 1834 and Sinclair 1841 and possibly a George in 1838 all born at East Clyth in Latheron.

It's not unusual to have mistakes on marriage records although generally most "pro" genealogists would assume the record that is the most correct is one where the parties themselves supposedly supplied the information as opposed to death certificates where a son-in-law supplied it.

We have to be related of course so who exactly do you descend from??

Mamie

[Mamie_2]

County Caithness-shire
Place Latheron
Church
RegisterNumber
MarriageDate 21 Mar 1822
GroomForename Donald
GroomSurname FARQUHAR
GroomAge
GroomParish Latheron
GroomCondition Bachelor
GroomOccupation
GroomAbode East Clyth
BrideForename Elizabeth
BrideSurname MCKEAN
BrideAge
BrideParish Latheron
BrideCondition Spinster
BrideOccupation
BrideAbode East Clyth
GroomFatherForename
GroomFatherSurname
GroomFatherOccupation
BrideFatherForename
BrideFatherSurname
BrideFatherOccupation
WitnessOneForename
WitnessOneSurname
WitnessTwoForename
WitnessTwoSurname
Notes Contracted 16 Feb 1822
FileNumber 21336

[NFTaylorScotland]

Barbara is my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Barbara Smith is my 2nd great grandaunt.
I have William as the one born in 1831 to Donald and Elizabeth Mckain/Mckeen/ aka Elizabeth Sutherland. Her parents ought to be named Alexander and Janet as Donald's were John and Christian, I think she died between 1841 and 1851 though. Donald died in 1866 at Thrumster in Wick and the informant was his son John. Donald and Elizabeth/Betty married in 1822 so both most likely born no earlier than 1802. This is the only Donald Farquhar/Elizabeth marriage on the IGI.

There was only one marriage for William Farquhar and Barbara Nicolson in Caithness.

While the naming pattern does help to determine who someone's parents might be it isn't foolproof and there are a number of reasons why the traditional order may not have been followed. Most times the first four children have some combination of the grandparents first names but sometimes one of the first four is a named for a deceased sibling of one of the couple.
Sooo... a candidate for Elizabeth is this one - the earlier Latheron records rarely record a mother. Spelling didn't really become consistent until the latter half of the 19th century.
County Caithness-shire.
Place Latheron
Church Church of Scotland
RegisterNumber
DateOfBirth
BaptismDate 10 Dec 1797
Forename Elizabeth
Sex F
FatherForename Willm
MotherForename
FatherSurname ?MCCAN
MotherSurname
Abode East Clyth
FatherOccupation
Notes
FileNumber 21338

Donald and Elizabeth Mckain had 8 or 9 children Janet 1823, John 1825, Christian 1827? , Alexander 1829, William 1831, Donald 1833, James 1834 and Sinclair 1841 and possibly a George in 1838 all born at East Clyth in Latheron.

It's not unusual to have mistakes on marriage records although generally most "pro" genealogists would assume the record that is the most correct is one where the parties themselves supposedly supplied the information as opposed to death certificates where a son-in-law supplied it.

We have to be related of course so who exactly do you descend from??

Mamie

Hi Mamie

That's brilliant, thanks. Any idea why his mother might have been known as both Sutherland and McKain/McKeen? However, if we're agreed that there's only one William and that he was born in 1831 then it's not all that important. He was just a bit unsure when he was born!

I descend from Barbara's son Donald (b 1866) through his son Benjamin (b 1895). Benjamin was my great grandfather. I don't quite know what that makes our relationship - some sort of distant cousin?

Niall

[Mamie_2]

Hej Niall!
Not that distant - 4th cousins 2X removed.

Some of my favourite cousins are 4th cousins( I collaborate with two of my Swedish 4th cousins on my maternal family)

I have no idea why William would have said Elizabeth Sutherland for his marriage certificate his marriage. Unless Mckean/Mckain/Mckeen is a byname for Sutherland. To know if that was true would require some surname research. A byname(alias) was used by various branches of a clan to distinguish them from one another.

I've been doing some research on William's family and I think the parents of Elizabeth Mckean are William Mckean and Janet Farquhar. So she and Donald may have been cousins of some sort as well. I believe she was the oldest of their children since they married in 1797 and she was probably the one born in 1797.

My real name is Maryann.
PM me and I'll give you my email address.

Mamie(my dad's nickname for me when I was a little girl)