Donald Bain, born Wick 1774

[Alan Grove]

Thank you for reading this.

My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather was Donald Bain, who was born in Wick in 1774, probably on the 9th March.

By the time he was 20 he had moved to the Redruth area of Cornwall, when he worked at various jobs including schoolmaster, private tutor and estate manager.

Although he appears to have spent most of his adult life in this area, there is evidence that he spent some time in the 1820’s in the Plymstock area of Devon.

From the 1830’s onwards he was back in the Redruth area where he was involved with the management of Portreath harbour. It is possible that by the time of his death he had gained a controlling interest in the harbour company.

In 1807 he married Harriet Wise, the daughter of a surgeon from Redruth. They had at least six children, including my Great-Great-Grandmother Harriet.

He died on the 18th April 1850 and was buried in the churchyard of Illogan parish church, near Redruth.

Although I have researched Donald’s adult life, I know almost nothing about his family and ancestors in Caithness, and I am now keen to find out more.

If any of this sounds familiar, I would be interested to hear from you.

Thank you once again for reading this.

Alan Grove

[elizabeth forbes]

Hello Alan Grove,
I am not connected to this Bain family but I have searched my Bain data base for info for you.
Donald Bain b. 9 Mar. 1774* to Parents:-
Donald Bain & Christine Bain maiden surname Bain. Have not found a Marriage for this Couple
Children born to Donald & Christine
William, son b. 25 Sep. 1767 Wick
James, son b. 20 Apr. 1770 Wick
Donald, 1774*
Christine, Dau. b. 31 Mar.1777 Wick
Barbara, Dau.b. 9 Oct. 1779 Wick
All info comes from Scotlands People.

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Hope this helps and good luck with your research

Regards Teeny

[Alan Grove]

Teeny,
Thank you for your reply to my question about Donald Bain. You have increased my knowledge of my Scottish Bain ancestors by seven-fold!

I was aware from an earlier index searach of Scotlands People that there was a record of a Donald Bain being born in Wick on the 9th March 1774. (The date given on his tombstone in Cornwall.) However, I wanted to find out as much as possible before downloading any more detail.

As well as Donald's apparent time spent in Devon, there is evidence of one or two other Bain families in the Plymouth area. It will be interesting to see if they are related to my side of the family, and hopefully this information may go some way to answering this.

Thank you once again.

Alan Grove

[HughF]

Hi Alan

Looks like we're related. I believe that Donald Bain and Harriet Wise had 8 children -
1) Harriet Wise Bain, b. 5 July 1808, m. Richard Ivey from whom are descended the Ivey, Grove, Fairweather and James families;
2) Richard Bain, b. 24 April 1810, unmarried;
3) Catherine Bain, b. 2 Dec 1812, d. 19 Feb 1819;
4) Mary Elizabeth Bain, b. 2 June 1816, m. Richard Sincock from whom are descended the Sincock and Power families;
5) Catherine Bain, b. 1820, m. John Ball Smith;
6) Donald Bain, b. 31 Aug 1823, m. Amelia Richards from whom are descended the Smith, Canning and Fleming families;
7) John Bain, b. 8 Nov 1825, unmarried;
8) David Wise Bain, b.28 Aug 1829, m. Eliza Hitchins - they had 13 children some of whom died young.

I am descended from Donald and Amelia. I know a lot about this branch but only have names for the other branches for c.1840-1900. I'd be most interested in learning more and particularly about why Donald Bain went from Wick to Cornwall and Devon.

I can also give you a few details about Harriet Wise's ancestry if you're interested.

The big question of course is are we related to the famous Alexander Bain?

Regards,
Hugh Fleming

[Alan Grove]

Hugh,

Thank you very much for your posting. It's good to meet another "Bain".

I will reply to your information in a day or two, but I thought I would make a quick reply just to let you know I've seen it.

Regards

Alan Grove

[marionq]

Hugh, I can't tell from your details if you are a Fleming from Caithness. I am from the Flemings who started over in Sutherland around 1816 and moved to Caithness. If you think it is the same branch let me know I have lots on them!

Marion

[Alan Grove]

Hugh,

I think of all the branches of my family, the Bains have proved to be the most interesting.

From the outset I have to say I have no idea why Donald Bain ened up in Cornwall, although it is a question that intrigues me. After all, from Wick to Redruth is almost as far as you can move on the British mainland.

Most of the information I have about him is derived from "Portreath - Some Chapters in its History". This book, by Michael Tangye was first published in 1968.

This book refers to him as having been a teacher at Redruth Grammar School up until 1802. It is possible that a teaching career may well have led him to Cornwall.

The parish registers for St Uny or St Euny, Redruth show that Donald Bain and Harriot (sic) Wise were married on 11th October 1807.

I agree about the 8 children.

One thing that has puzzled me is that some of the younger children appear to have been born in Devon, in the Plymstock area. This seems to cover the period of 1816 - 1830. Nothing else I've found to the Bains having been in this area.

However, a trawl through the BMD indexes seems to show a Bain family in the Plymouth area from 1840 onwards. I wonder if there is any connection to ours?

Donald Bain died on 18th April 1850 and Harriet on 18th August 1861.

They are both buried in the family plot in Illogan Churchyard, along with many other members of the family.

There is much more I can share about the Bain family, but I'll leave that for another time.

Regards

Alan Grove

[HughF]

Marion, I don't think we're related. The Flemings I am descended from came from Lanarkshire. Nice to hear from you anyway.

Alan, this is really interesting. There's lots more info I can supply. What direction would you most like to take this in?

Regards
Hugh

[Alan Grove]

Hugh,

I think the best approach would be to tell each other the extent of our knowledge.

I was going to start by working through your list of the the first generation of Bain children and tell you what I know about each one.

I'm sure there are areas where our knowledge overlaps, but hopefully we should both end up knowing more.

I think rather than fill up pages here, it would be better to exchange information privately, by E-mail. I am quite happy to use the address I sent you.

Of course, if anyone else has an interst in our family, they can contact us via this site.

Let me know what you want to do.

Regards

Alan grove

[HughF]

Alan

Sounds a good plan. I'll send you my email address.

Regards
Hugh

[amcampbe]

I was interested to read that you had a Bain database. I'm looking for an information on a Donald Bain who married a Jean Sutherland. They had a daughter Helen who is my great great great grandmother. She married a Alexander McKenzie. Both seem to be from Latherton. Any one have any information? Thanks

[elizabeth forbes]

Hi there,
A few dates with the names would help,
Regards
Teeny