Ross/Manson

[davelna]

I have traced my maternal line back to a Samuel Ross, born circa 1792 in Dunnet, who married Isabella Manson, born circa 1792 in Canisbay. If anyone has any info for this family or knows of any ancestors/decsendents it would be much appreciated

David

[flora]

Hi David, from freereg, at Dunnet, Baptism 15 April 1792, Samuel Ross, Father John Ross Mother Margaret Sinclair, Flora

[flora]

forgot to say wit George Sutherland, and Donald Calder, also take your pick from these Isabella Manson @ Reay 30 July 1791 F Mr William Manson M Isabella Williamson abode Borrowston, or @ Olrig20 September 1791 F John Manson, M Christian Stephen, abode Olrick? wit Geo Murray and Janet Manson, Ihope this helps? Flora

[Rosemary Skea]

John and Margaret also had a daughter Susanna born 16.11.1794 at Ham, Dunnet.

John may have been born 18.7.1773 at Brugh, Dunnet, father John Ross. No mother is seen, but I suspect that she could be Ann Allan. John and Ann had another 2 daughters recorded as born in Brugh - Ann on 26/11/1769 and Isobel 2/6/1771 and that timeline fits with John born in 1773.

Regards

Rosemary

FreeReg Co-ordinator Caithness

[flora]

From scotlandspeople, John Ross married Margaret Sinclair @Olrig 28July 1781, Flora

[davelna]

Thankyou Flora.
I am a little confused if John married Margaret Sinclair 1781 I think birth date of 1773 does not match up. Or am I missing something?
Regards
David

[davelna]

Have established my Gt Gt grandmother was Isabella Ross (1830-1871) daughter of Samuel Ross and Isabella Manson. Isabella, who never married, had three sons all by different fathers!!!. This has made constructing my family tree interesting albeit difficult. Isobella had a sister Margaret Ross (1824-1970) who also had three children outside of marriage but she eventually married the father of two of them William Bain 12/2/1861 in Watten. William Bain,a farmer, was born 1809 in Watten brother of Alexander Bain the famous inventor. I would be interested in hearing from anyone with any of the above in their family tree.
David

[scotsannie]

Hi there, Alexander Bain was my 4 x Gt Uncle on my mothers side, he did not have a brother called Donald, there were 13 children born to John Bain and Isobel Waiter. Bain is a common name in Caithness and on doing my research I found lots of Alexander Bain's.

[davelna]

Hello, Thanks for the reply. I have made a mistake Margaret Ross married William Bain born 23 Jan 1809 in Watten son of John and Isabel.
Mixed up with my Gt grandmother Williamina Bain (on the other side of my family)who has a Donald in her side but from East Clyth.
Regards

[flora]

Oh dear! now I'm confused , can we start again? Flora.

[flora]

Sooooooooooooooo, Lets go with the Ross branch Samuel Ross, baptised at Dunnet 15 April 1792, Fathers name John Ross, Mothers name Margaret Sinclair, wit' George Sutherland and Donald Calder, a possible marriage for his parents John Ross and Margaret Sinclair 28 July 1781 at Olrig. in 1841 census from FreeCen Samuel Ross Farmer age 45, wife Isabella Ross ms Manson age 45 ,Elizabeth Ross age 20. David Ross age 14, and Isabella Ross age 11, all living at Wick all born Caithness. If John and Margaret married in 1781 that would make a possible birthdate of 1760 ish, do you agree so far?. Flora.

[flora]

from freecen 1851 Samuel Ross head age 55 farmer of 4 acres born Dunnet,-Isabella Ross wife age 58 born Canisbay,-Margaret Ross dau age 25 employed at home born Wick,-Isabella Ross dau age 19 Ag Lab born Wick Alexander Henderson farmers Grandson age 5 born Wick.-William Bain farmers Grandson age 6 born Wick, living Bilbster Wick

[flora]

From feecen 1861 Samuel Ross W Head farmer 8 acres born Dunnet,-Isabella Ross dau age 30 b Wick, - Alexander Henderson age 15 grandson ,- Margaret Bain age 6 Grandaughter,- David Campbell age 3 Grandson all born Wick

[flora]

from freecen 1871 Isabella Ross head U age 36 gen serv ,- David Campbell son age 12, -John Mcaully son age 7, all born Wick living Drumdry Wick

[davelna]

Hello,
Now we are cooking on gas. All now in agreement. Just to explain all info I have gathered so far is from either Scotlands People, Free Cen/Reg or my gradndmother before she passed away.
With reference to the 1851 census the grandchildren with Samuel Ross ie Alexander Henderson and William Bain are sons of Margaret Ross. 1861 Census grandchildren ie Alexander Henderson and Margaret Bain are children of Margaret Ross. David Campbell is son of Isobella Ross. The father of the Bain children was a William Bain, a farmer from Wattem, who eventually married Margaret Ross 12/6/1861 in Watten.
As far as I know Samuel Ross and Isabella Manson had the following childrenElizabeth 1818,John 1819,James 1821,Margaret 1824,William 1826(died infancy),David 1827,Isabella 1830 and William 1832. All born in Canisby. As yet I have only been able to establish info for Margaret and Isabella (my Gt,Gt Grandmother).
Isabella spent her early years working as a farm serv in and around Bilbster. She had three sons David Campbell (my Gt Grandfather) 1857, John McAulay 1864, both born in Bilbster, and Alexander Asher 1876 born in Wick. David Campbell married Williamina Bain on the 13/3/1885 in Wick. Williamina Bain was born 13/1/869 in East Clyth. She was the daughter of James Bain and Jane Ryrie. Witnesses at the marriage were John McAulay and Isobel (Bella) Bain, cousin of David Campbell. Williamina Bain and Bella Bain were not directly related. My grandmother was Isabella Ross Campbell born 3/2/1889 in Langley Park, Wick
I will stop there and let you digest. If you agree all is OK I will write again and let you know where Bella Bain fits in.

David

[flora]

Going by the Scottish naming pattern it would suggest Isabella Manson's parents are James and Elizabeth, there's a Isobel Manson born 13 March baptised 17 March 1792 Canisbay parents James Manson Mother Elizabeth Chalmers, there's a marriage for this couple at Canisbay on freereg James Manson, Elspet Chalmers 12 November 1788 contracted 25 September 1788 Groom and brides parish Canisbay

[davelna]

Thankyou once again. Everything seems to fit. It has been a little tortuous but I now have enough info to take my familytree back a generation which was my original intent. All that is left to do is fill in all the gaps. Should keep me busy over the winter.
Best wishes
Daivid

[flora]

If you decide Elspeth Chalmers is your line, the only birth I can find for her is 16 September 1768 Father Robert Chalmers Mother Cobie Mainland at Kirkwall Orkney, Robert and Cobie married 21 November 1767 Kirkwall, A birth for Robert Chalmers baptism 26 February 1754 Kirkwall Father James Chalmers Mother Euphan Cromarty. And Cobee Mainland baptised 13 May 1741 Kirkwall Father Jam Mainland Mother Elspeth all from freereg so if these are yours tha'ts another generation, Good luck

[Ty_Ross]

Hello there all the way from Manitoba Canada! My wife and I have just returned from our trip to Europe where we spent a few days in Wick and the surrounding Caithness area and I thought you'd all like to see what I found. I've been researching my family history for some years now and hadn't made it over to Scotland yet, but we had an amazing time and I'm sure it won't be too long before we return. My Great-Great grandfather Samuel Ross (Born Wick 1849) and his wife Annie Jack Ross came to Canada in 1881 with their then 3 year old son David Jack Ross, my Great-Grandfather (As well as their other children). My Samuel Ross' parents were David Ross (Born Wick 1828) and Janet Doull (Born Pulteneytown 1831) We visited Wick Old Municipal Cemetery and found their final resting place.



David Ross' parents are Samuel Ross (Born Dunnet 1792) and Isobel/Isabella Manson (Born Canisbay 1792)

We had been planning our trip for many months before departing and it was only a couple of weeks before we were leaving that I (essentially) accidentally stumbled on a notation made in one of the Burial Records/Monumental Inscriptions books published by the Caithness Family History Society:

"WATTEN WA4
4 Sam Ross fr Bilbster 19.11.1863 67, w Isa Manson 3.11.1856 62, ed fam."

I got in touch with a woman who has been to all of the cemeteries in the Caithness area and photographed as many of the monuments as possible and has an incredible website dedicated to this pursuit (I'm sure you've all been to it) http://www.oddquine.co.uk/gravestones/

She mentioned that the monument for Samuel was either accidentally missed during her photography or that possibly it didn't exist any more. So off we go! She sent me a very detailed plan of the cemetery and showed me exactly where to look, even posting pictures of the nearby graves (She was such an incredible help)

We got to Watten Cemetery which is on the South East side of Loch Watten, a truly beautiful place to spend eternity I'm sure our ancestors must have thought. After searching the more obvious areas, along the back wall there were several graves covered in a mass of thick vines, I cleared the names of the taller stones to reveal the names, each stone were not my people (May they rest in peace) There was a large gap where a tangled mass of vines lay and then more taller monuments, though the names on those were clear; again not my people. I thought, maybe, just maybe there is a shorter grave (the ones beside are 6+ feet tall) in this giant mass of vines, so I reached my entire arm in and felt a stone! You wouldn't believe the feeling, I gently cleared the leaves of the thick twisting vines and what did I see in the shadows? "ROSS"

We had found them! Being as careful as possible I began to cut away the vines that had completely enveloped our ancestor's grave marker for so long, the names came clear, Samuel Ross and Isabella Manson, my Great-Great-Great-Great grandparents!





Now we're back in Canada but it was quite a journey. We also visited the Dunnet Parish Cemetery where we found the graves of my 2x Great Grandfather Samuel Ross' Wife's (Annie Jack Ross) parents David Jack and Isabella Sutherland. (Which I also took very nice photographs if anyone is interested)

I hope the images have shown up and that you all enjoyed the story. If anyone would like high definition versions of the photos or would like to send me a message at any time, feel free to do so, I can be reached at tjr82@hotmail.com.

For what it's worth, my family tree is uploaded onto Ancestry.com, I have Samuel Ross' parents as John Ross (Olrig, Born Approx. 1755) and Margaret Sinclair (Born Whitefield, Olrig 1748 )

John Ross' parents: John Ross (Born Olrig 1724) and Christian Clark (Born Wick 1731)

John Ross' father: Alexander Ross (Born Olrig? 1698?)

[flora]

Hi Ty, that's wonderful, I hope David sees your good news soon. Flora