Joseph Wickens b cir 1801) / Isabella Bruce (b cir 1810)

[clarkems]

I am looking for the connection between the Earl of Caithness and Isabella Bruce, who is said to have been the grandaughter of the 10th earl of Caithness. I can't seem to find a match for the marriage of a daughter of that family from the 9th through 11th Earls of Caithness and a Bruce. However I do find a Isabella Sinclair who died unmarried, but I think, because of the birth date, that would have been her aunt perhaps.

She married a Joseph Wickens (b cir 1801) and settled in southern Nova Scotia where the family name has flourished. And also, is Wickens a common name in Wick? He was supposed to be from Danbury, Essex but I'm not sure. It is said that we was working as an estate manager for the Earl so I would imagine the union may have been frowned upon by her family if she was in fact related to the Earl.

Any clues would be much appreciated.

Michael Clarke
Calgary, Alberta

PS

Thanks for the geneology URLs. On Scotlandspeople.gov.org I found the following leads by following the births and marriage records.

Isabella Bruce was? born to Donald Bruce and Chirst Forbes. Donald Bruce was? the son of David Bruce and Jean Sinclair. Jean Sinclair was? the daughter of Alexander Sinclair, 10th Earl of Caithness. I have not thoroughly researched this but the trail makes sense. If anyone has any corroborating family trees for Sinclairs or Bruce families in Caithness it would be great to hear about it.

[Andrew Bruce]

Isabella Bruce was? born to Donald Bruce and Chirst Forbes. Donald Bruce was? the son of David Bruce and Jean Sinclair. Jean Sinclair was? the daughter of Alexander Sinclair, 10th Earl of Caithness. I have not thoroughly researched this but the trail makes sense. If anyone has any corroborating family trees for Sinclairs or Bruce families in Caithness it would be great to hear about it.

I might be able to help you in the right direction as this is also part of my family history and ties in with the Earl of Caithness. I am related to Donald Bruce and our oral family history tells of a conection to the Earl of Caithness.

Isabella Bruce was born 1815 and died 1888 aged 72 she is buried in grave 310 the old grave yard Latheron. Her patents were Donald Bruce and Christina Forbes. Donald and his wife Christina are buried in the next grave no 309. Donald was born 1769 and died 18 Dec 1857 aged 87. He was a farmer of Munsary. Christina died 8 May 1855 aged 78.

David Bruce was not married to Jean Sinclair as far as I can see. I have him married first to Jannet Campbell. They had 5 children William 1762, John 1766 (he is my ancestor), David 1768, Donald 1769 (he married Christina Forbes) and Isobel 1773. David Bruce was married for a second time in 1775 to Jannet Gunn and they had at least 4 more children, Robert 1778, Margaret 1781, Mary 1785 and Alexander 1787.
Interestingly Jannet Gunn later remarried a McGreger.

Where there is a conection with the Earl of Caithness is the house the Bruce families lived in. Niend was a pair of very substanitial farm houses built by the Earl of Caithness. There were 5 separate families living there all with one of the Bruce relatives as part of it. ( the house and farm are next to the old church and grave yard of Latheron. It is now known as Newlands of Niend and is a donkey sanctury I think.)

I would love to find out what the connection is between the house, the Bruce family and the Earl of Caithness.

My ancestor, John Bruce (brother to Donald) married Janet Gunn (same name but different person to the one married to David Bruce). John Bruces parents were David Bruce and Janet Campbell. I think Davids father was William born @1690. The old grave yard at Latheron gives good details of their family. I also have information on all their brothers and sisters and mostly what happened to them.I have all the birth, marrage, death certificates and census results from 1841 to 1901.For some background I looked at the graves around John Bruce and his wife Janet Gunn. Alexander Bruce grave 306 died John Bruce grave 307 died 1838Donald Bruce grave 308 died 1876William Bruce grave 309 died 1845Walter Bruce grave 310 died 1906I looked at the death certificate of Donald Bruce in grave 308. His parents were David Bruce and Janet Campbell. I also found his birth record which shows he was born in Brachungry, Forss. Looking further I see that David Bruce and Janet Campbell have 4 other children. William Bruce 1762, John Bruce 1766 David Bruce 1768 (served in 91 foot Regiment), Donald Bruce 1769 and Isobel Bruce 1773. All these children were born in Brachungry.John Bruce married to Janet Gunn and in grave 307 next to his brother Donald.In 1775 David Bruce from Brachungry married Janet Gunn and had at least 4 more children. Robert Bruce 1778, Margaret Bruce 1781, Mary Bruce 1785, Alexander Bruce 1787. Alexander Bruce of 1787 is buried in grave 306 next to his half brother John. Janet Gunn then went on to remarry. William Bruce of 1762 married Hellen Hay in 1784. There daughter Christina Bruce married John Sutherland. In her death certificate of 1866 it has her father’s occupation as a master miller.In 1851 in Niend lived Helen Bruce aged 86. Also was her daughter Elizabeth who was married to Daniel Sutherland (down as David but this is wrong. They married 04 April 1834). Helen had been married to Alexander Bruce of 1787. Her parents were Neil Gunn and Elizabeth Bain.Donald Bruce of 1769 married Christina Forbes. They have 13 children, Margaret, William, David, Donald, Donald (dec), Janet, James, Alexander, Isabela, Ann, Christian, Robert and Walter. Of these children it is William Bruce 1809-1845 in grave 309, Donald Bruce 1811-1876 in grave 308, Isabella Bruce 1815-1888 in grave 310 and Walter Bruce 1822-1906 in grave 310.Trying to go back as far as I can I noticed that the eldest child born to David Bruce and Janet Cambell was William Bruce 1762. I also noticed that on the birth record of Robert Bruce in 1778 his birth was witnessed by a William Bruce. Donald Bruce of 1769 also named his first son William Bruce in 1809. From the conventional naming of calling your first son after the fathers father you could conclude that the father of David Bruce was William Bruce.In summary I have now identified all the occupants of graves 306-311 and all the individuals living in the 5 parts of Niend Farm.

[fred]

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Isabella Bruce was? born to Donald Bruce and Chirst Forbes. Donald Bruce was? the son of David Bruce and Jean Sinclair. Jean Sinclair was? the daughter of Alexander Sinclair, 10th Earl of Caithness. I have not thoroughly researched this but the trail makes sense. If anyone has any corroborating family trees for Sinclairs or Bruce families in Caithness it would be great to hear about

Both family trees are available on my website http://www.graven-images.org.uk just click on Henderson's Caithness Family History and enjoy.

[clarkems]

I found this entry which seems to have a connection to the Earl of Caithness


213/06/1766 BRUCE, DONALD born to DAVID BRUCE/JEAN SINCLAIR Wick/CAITHNESS 043/ 0020 0105

[Andrew Bruce]

I have found a link.

Janet Bruce married James Sinclair the 4th son of John Sinclair, the 10th Earl of Caithness.

They had at least one daughter Elspeth who married her cousin William Bruce, 3rd of Stanstill in 1640.

Janet Bruce was the daughter of William Bruce, who was the Son of David Bruce who was the son of William Bruce, 2nd of Stanstill.

I would be keen to see if this leads to a conection with the Bruce families of Forse and Latheron. Can any one help with that one, my info only goes back to David Bruce and Jannet Campbell who married @1760.