John Bruce and Elizabeth Sutherland

[gh1936]

John Bruce married Elizabeth Sutherland on 24 Mar 1774 according to the IGI entry. Is anyone researching this family line>

[Artista]

Hi I have a Healean Bruce as a 5x gt g/mother. All I know is that she married John Kirk in Wick in 1741. If your John Bruce is a relative I would love to know more. A William Bruce was a witness at the wedding.
Cheers

[gh1936]

Artista

I see that from the IGI that Helen Bruce m John Kirk on 22 Nov 1741 in Bower. Maybe one partner came from Bower and the other from Wick so that two sets of banns were read and each parish recorded the marriage. There are a few children all girls who were probably theirs.

Unfortunately I know nothing about John Bruce excepe that the marriage was in Latheron.

If John Bruce was related to the other Bruce families in Latheron then by tradition their ancestor Walter Bruce came from Bower probably about 1710.

John m Elizabeth on 24 Mar1774 and on the IGI there three children, father John born in the next few years. Jean b 1777, Helen b 1779, and Robert b 1786. These could be their children but as the mother was not recorded there is no certainty.

[Andrew Bruce]

I am related to the Bruce line from Bower and Latheron and may be able to help out with the history of John Bruce and Elizabeth Sutherland in Latheron as well as other Bruce lines in Caithness and Thurso.

I have five sources of information I use to build my picture.

The first and most reliable is the Parish records. For Latheron the marriage records start at 1760 and the birth records start at 1740.

My second source is the recorded information on the grave stones in the old Latheron and Dirlot cemetrys.

Third is a book written by The Rev George Sutherland in 1903. He was related to the Bruce and Gunn line from Bower and Latheron. Some of his information can be checked against the parish records but much more is about the verbal history passed down through the generations.

Fourth is the book by Caithness Family History by John Henderson which outlines the Bruce family history in Caithness from 1550 to 1680.

Fifth is information on the internet which other genealogists posts. Much of this fills in missing areas or brick walls but I have no way of verifying how accurate it is.

I have previously posted information about the Bruce family history in Caithness but a quick summary is.

The first Bruce in Caithness was David Bruce of Stanstill who moved to Caithness in 1562. I understand that David Bruce was born in 1536 and was the fifth son of David Bruce (7th of Clackmannan) and Jane Blackadder. (I have not been able to confirm this and other family historys claim David as going to Green where he died in 1568)

Wherever David came from the Bruce history is very well documented from 1562 till about 1680. In all my research I have never come across another Bruce in Caithness prior to 1900 that could not tie back to Stanstill.

The first record of any Bruce in Latheron is that of Elizabeth Bruce who married a Gunn in Dirlot in 1680. My understanding is that Elizabeth was from Stanstill.

In Latheron I have records of 3 Bruces in the 1740s. I understand that all 3 were brothers and came to Latheron from Bower. The first is William Bruce. He fought at Culloden and was taken prisoner. The records show him as Prisoner after Culloden, sent to colonies age 20, husbandry in Dunbeath 31 March 1747.

The second is George Bruce of Houstry. The records show him having 2 sons Alexander 1743 and John in 1750. I believe it is this John who is your John who married Elizabeth Sutherland in 1774 at Shinvall. Interestingly John had an illegitimate son James aged 20 at Houstry in 1770. The records show this James later living at Shinvall.

The third is my line Walter Bruce. The name Walter goes back to Stanstill in Bower. There is a tradition to the effect that our Bruces were sprung from a family of Bruces belonging to Bower in Caithness, and that in bliadhua nan gaidheal, the year of the Gael, that is, 1745, a recruiting party from Prince Charlie came to Caithness, and that a young man of the name of Walter Bruce, a member of this Bower family joined them. While the party was on its way out of the county he fell sick, and was left on the open moor on the farm of Cattaig. A young girl, a daughter of Gunn, Cattaig, happened to find him, and the young man was carried into Cattaig house, and nursed back to health.
On recovering he went home to Bower, but soon returned and married his rescuer, and took up house in Dalnachar on Strathbeg, in the neighbourhood of Cattaig.

The events of this story all ring true except for the dates. Cattaig is the same farm that Walters aunt Elizabeth moved to in 1680. Dalnachar is now a ruin but is just a few hundred meters away from Cattaig. I have linked 7 children as probably being from Walter. The records I have relate to when they were married. For the men I subtracted 25 years to estimate date of birth and the women I subtracted 20 years. William b@1725, John b@1730, Angus b@1732, b@James and David b@1733, Marjory b@1742 and Margaret b@1745. This would put Walters birth about 1700 – 1705.

David who was born about 1733 is in my line. He moved from Dalnachar to Braehungie. The fact that Walters brother William was sent to the colonies could go some way to explain the discrepancy. There were brutal reprisals after the battle and anyone connected with it would have to distance themselves from the Jacobite cause.

[Artista]

Artista

I see that from the IGI that Helen Bruce m John Kirk on 22 Nov 1741 in Bower. Maybe one partner came from Bower and the other from Wick so that two sets of banns were read and each parish recorded the marriage. There are a few children all girls who were probably theirs.

Unfortunately I know nothing about John Bruce excepe that the marriage was in Latheron.

If John Bruce was related to the other Bruce families in Latheron then by tradition their ancestor Walter Bruce came from Bower probably about 1710.

John m Elizabeth on 24 Mar1774 and on the IGI there three children, father John born in the next few years. Jean b 1777, Helen b 1779, and Robert b 1786. These could be their children but as the mother was not recorded there is no certainty.
Thanks for the information, everything is a help. It is interesting about there being two records for a marriage. The one I found on Scotlands People is dated 6/12/1741 for Wick. Maybe the entry for 22 Nov was when the banns were read.
I have only one daughter for H Bruce and J Kirk who is Jane Kirk who married Adam Horne. Is the IGI easy to access? Cheers

[gh1936]

Artista

The IGI is quite easy.

Search for FamilySearch.org Select Advanced Search then International Genealogical Index.

You can also search for individual parishes.

Search for Hugh Wallis igi batch numbers. Select Country, County, Parish and then select the period and births or marriages as you wish.

Good luck

[kimhemingway]

Hi
(ex IGI) I have a William Sutherland and Catherine Bruce (b 7.11.816 Wick) married 1.6.1832 Bower and Wick in my tree. Catherine's parents being John Bruce and Elizabeth Campbell,

Does this tie in with your tree.

[gh1936]

Hello Kim

Are you sure you have the right Catherine? The one quoted would only have been 15 which would have been very young.

[kimhemingway]

Hi
Sorry now I am not sure. I was relying on someone elses info on ancestry.com. which showed Catherines parents.
IGI
has Janet Sutherland married to James MacKay her parents are William Sutherland and Catherine Bruce. m 1.6.1832 there is no birth date for Catherine.
I didn't realise there were so many Catherine Bruces

[kimhemingway]

Hi
I went back and checked the census in 1841 said Catherine was 30. that makes the one I had the wrong one. Thanks for putting me on the right track. this gives me a blank as there are more than one Catherine Bruce about this birth date.