Steven family from Greenland, Dunnet

[yeamanrs]

Hello
Our paternal great grandfather George Steven, was born in Bower, in 1835 and we have traced the Steven family back to 1797 and a John Steven. In his baptism registration in church his name is recorded as John Stivin, ( son of Magnus Steven), born t 1797 in Dunnet, Caithness. Does anyone know of any Steven/Stivin or Stephen burials recorded for Dunnet - if so I would be very interested in finding out more about Magnus Steven, from Nether GreenLand, who was baptized on the 22 March, 1761. His father was recorded as a John Stivin/Stephen. I think John was born about 1738, and married Elspet Dunnet.

Hope someone can help :)

Ruth.(Missouri, USA)

[Rosemary Skea]

Hello Ruth
Magnus Stephen who was born 22 March 1761 was the son of John Stephen and Elizabeth/Elspeth Dunnet. They had 3 other children - an unnamed female, 5 June 1757, John 6 May 1759, and William 16 October 1763.

Magnus married Anne Nicol and they had 12 children between 26 January 1795 and 14 May 1816 which included 2 sets of twins. In the Old Parish Register Magnus is recorded as both Steven and Stephen. The recording of births in Dunnet did not begin until 1751, so you will be unable to find a record of John's birth. I didn't find any marriage records either for John or Magnus, but that is not surprising as it was not a legal requirement . I also searched the MI book and found no record of any burials for Magnus in Dunnet. I would think that he died prior to the 1841 census .

In the 1841 census At Lochend there is :
Ann Steven, age 55, cottager
Elizabeth Steven, age 45, Magnus Steven age 35 and James Steven age 30.
In the 1851 census at Lochend
Elizabeth Steven, head, unmarried,crofter aged 54, Magnus Steven, brother, unmarried aged 35 pauper, and James Steven brother, unmarried, aged 34, pauper, all born in Dunnet.

Moving to Bower and George Steven born 13 February 1835. His parents were John Steven and Elizabeth Campbell whose other children were Johanna b.1825, Helen b. 1827, John b.1830, Alexandrina b. 1832.
In the 1841 census John and family are at Stemster Bower and John is listed as an agricultural labourer aged 44. In 1851 census John is a farmer of 10 acres at Stemster and his place of birth is given as Watten with Elizabeth born in Reay. He and Elizabeth are found in 1861, 1871,1881 census all in Bower parish. John died in 1884 at the age of 89 which would give him a birth year of 1795/1796. I searched in Watten but found no record of his birth.

John Steven who is the father of your great grandfather George cannot be the same John Steven who was born in Dunnet in 1797 to Magnus and Anne Steven as Dunnet and Watten are two separate parishes in Caithness.
I am happy to provide more info on any of the above data.

Rosemary

FREEREG Caithness

[yeamanrs]

Hi Rosemary,
Thanks for replying to my query - I can trace my ancestry definitively to John Steven, born in Watten, Caithness, about 1795/96. I had assumed (WRONGLY!) that Watten was very close to Nether Greenland, Dunnet, and that the John Steven, born in Nether Greenland, Dunnet, and son to Anne Nicol & Magnus Stive/Steven was the same John Steven, born in Watten, spouse of Elisabeth Campbell, and father of Johanna, Helen, George, John and Alexanrina.

I have been unable to find any OPR for John Steven of Watten for 1795 or 1796, or Elisabeth Campbell of Reay, about 1795. We only have the census records and birth records of the children as proof of ancestry. Would you know of any other records that could help with my search into John Steven and Elisabeth Campbell? Thanks so much ~ I very much appreciate your assistance


Ruth, Missouri, USA.

[Durran]

Hi Rosemary,

Ruth asked me to list all the Steven (Stephen) deaths I had on my Dunnet Burial Index. You must have missed my reply as both Magnus and his mother were found in the Kirk Session account book, which is the principal source of my index. Details of the relevant entries are as follows: -

9 May 1752: David Stephen of Dunnet - died
19 Oct 1754: David Stephen of Nether Greenland - died
27 Apr 1752: Janet Stephen of Upper Greenland - died
26 Jun 1836: Magnus Stephen - 6d to ring bell
4 May 1837: William Stephen - 6d to ring bell
28 Nov 1808: Widow of John Steven - burial

John

[yeamanrs]

John and Rosemary, thanks for all this info - I thought our ancestor was John Stiven, son of Magnus Stephen of Greenland, Dunnet, but it appears to be a John Stiven/Steven from Watten, born around 1995/96. I'll start a new post on him. John, I'll pass your info on the Stephens of Dunnet to others in ancestry.
Ruth

[domino]

Ruth
Elizabeth Campbell is one of my line, I have info on her parents and siblings.
If you can pm me with the details you have I will see if I can fill in some of your blanks