William Roy I - the first thirty years

So, we've established that William Roy I was born sometime between 24 March 1811 and 12 May 1811 (the dates when a. his grandmother appeared on his pregnant mother's behalf before the Auchtergaven Kirk Sessions and b. when his baptism is recorded in the Auchtergaven Parish Church register). But what happened after that?

Unfortunately, records of the period between 1811 and 1841 (the first Scottish census that is indexed and available online) are relatively scant, so we need to piece together the timeline from fragments of information.

Given that William's mother, Ann Peddie was living in the parish of Little Dunkeld at the time she was called to appear before the Kirk Session, it is possible that she had returned to her parents' home at Ballinloan.1 

Ballinloan farm in 2010 cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Russel Wills - geograph.org.uk/p/1543620

We don't know how long she would have remained there. Earning an income to support herself and her child would possibly have been a priority, and she may even have left William with his grandparents while she sought servant work elsewhere. 

Nearby, Margaret Campbell, William's future wife, grew up in Meikle Logie which is less than a mile (1.5 kms) from Ballinloan, and the Campbell and Peddie families attended the same small church of Laganallachy, so perhaps William met Margaret first while living at Ballinloan and they may even have been childhood friends?2

What we do know for sure is that William's mother, Ann married John Cowans on 6 January 1817 in Little Dunkeld.3 However, while the record states that she is from Little Dunkeld, he is of the 'Parish of Auchtergaven'. William would have been about six years old at that time. 

Almost exactly one year later, in January 1818, the first child of that marriage was born - Peter Cowans. A second son, William followed in July 1819 and a third, David in December of 1823 . In each of these cases, the Auchtergaven parish register shows that the family was living at the Tullybelton Loch.4 

The Loch of Tullybelton is a small inland loch about two miles in a straight line (3.25 kms) from the Glack, where William's father, James lived at the time of William's birth.  James was no longer living there though. By 1815, he was living in the village of Bankfoot with his wife, Jane Dow and their baby son, James -  and a second son, George was also born in Bankfoot in 1823.5

Loch Tullybelton cc-by-sa/2.0 - © William Starkey - geograph.org.uk/p/2731775

Loch Tullybelton cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Richard Webb - geograph.org.uk/p/4794167

There's then a gap of almost 20 years in the records, before we can pick up the trail again with the 1841 Scotland Census. At this point in time, we find Ann and John Cowans at Corral Quarry near Bankfoot. 

A description of 'Corral Quarry' can be found in the Ordnance Survey Name Books for Perthshire:

This name applies to a Quarry and a Cothouse, the former is disused, the latter is one storey in height, slated and in good repair, and takes its name from the quarry. Property of Thomas Wylie Esqr. Airleywight.6

John is 70 and Ann is 60 (keeping in mind that ages in the 1841 census were rounded down to the nearest 5 years) and John's occupation is shown as 'flesher' (i.e butcher). None of the sons are living with them.7

James and Jane/Jean Roy are still living in the village of Bankfoot, where their ages are shown as 45 and 50 respectively. Their two sons, James and George  (aged 20 and 15) live with them, together with Thomas McLeish, a 45 year old farm servant. James and both sons are shown as being 'Linen H.L.W' (hand loom weavers), three of the many workers supporting the burgeoning linen industry in Auchtergaven.8 

By 1841, William Roy I was, of course, now 30 years old, so I had to look further afield for him. But he hadn't gone too far.  I found him in a household at 'Colly', which refers to Balmacolly (or the Mill of Balmacollie), a place still within the Auchtergaven Parish. Once again, a description can be found in the Ordnance Survey Name Books:

Consists of a Corn Mill and Farmsteading. the buildings are partly one and partly two storeys in height all slated and in good repair, property of His Grace the Duke of Atholl.9

William is the head of his household and his age is recorded accurately as 30 years old. His occupation is given as 'miller' and he is the only miller at Balmacolly.  Also living in the same household are:

• Christian Marshall, 19 year old F.S (female servant)
• John McFarlane, 30 year old Ag. Lab (agricultural labourer)
• John Robertson, 29 year old Ag. Lab
• Donald Duff, 17 year old Ag. Lab
• James Pryor, 19 year old, Ag. Lab

The farmer at Balmacolly at that time (shown on the same page in a separate household with his family) was Peter McFarlane.10 

(Interesting aside...Balmacolly is still a working farm today, and if you visit the Bankfoot Inn, all the beef on their menu is from Balmacolly Farm)

Anyway, to get back to William... At 30 years of age, he is a miller at the Balmacolly Corn Mill. On the following ordinance survey map (dating from 1864) you can see that the corn mill was located alongside the Wharry Burn which would have provided the water to power the mill.11 

 

Image reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Mills such as these were used to make oat and barley meal commercially, and the 'miller' who was in charge of the mill, held a highly-regarded role in the community. To acquire the skills of being a miller, it is likely that William had been an apprentice to one first. A miller's skills, 'seemed always to be in demand in preindustrial times'.12 The advent of steam and rapid industrialisation of agriculture however, eventually changed the milling industry. 

So, on the census night of 6 June 1841, at 30 years of age, we see that William has acquired a highly-regarded skill, and is gainfully employed. Nine months later, he marries Margaret Campbell.13 But that, and what happens next, are stories for a future post...

Confused about where these characters fit into the family tree? Or where this action is occurring?  You can always check The Family Tree and Map pages for visual clues.

Footnotes

1. Auchtergaven kirk session, Minutes (1808-1855) and Proclamations (1855-1861), Session 15th, 24 March 1811, National Records of Scotland, CH2/22/2, Image 00007; Baptism of Anna Peddie, born 7 January 1780, Old Parish Registers 373/ 10  Little Dunkeld, p.139.

2. Baptism of Margaret Campbell, born 29 March 1812, Old Parish Registers Births, 373/ 10 Little Dunkeld, p.316; Alison Mitchell (ed), North Perthshire Monumental Inscriptions, Vol.2, p.211.

3. Marriage of Anne Peddie and John Cowans, married 6 January 1817, Old Parish Registers Marriages, 373/10 Little Dunkeld, p.435.

4. Baptism of Peter Cowans, born 7 January 1818, Old Parish Registers Births, 330/10 Auchtergaven, p.212; Baptism of William Cowans, born 17 July 1819, Old Parish Registers Births, 330/10 Auchtergaven, p.222; Baptism of David Cowans, born 6 December 1823, Old Parish Registers Births, 330/20 Auchtergaven, p.35.

5. Baptism of James Roy, born 17 February 1815, Old Parish Registers Births, 330/10 Auchtergaven, p.199; Baptism of George Roy, born August 1823, Old Parish Registers Births, 330/20 Auchtergaven, p.29

6. Ordnance Survey Name Books Perthshire, 1859-1862, Perthshire volume 08, OS1/25/8/38. 

7. Census record for Anne Cowans, aged 60, Corral Quarry, Auchtergaven, Scotland, 1841 Scotland Census, National Records of Scotland, scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

8. Census record for James Roy, aged 45, Bankfoot, Auchtergaven, Scotland, 1841 Scotland Census, National Records of Scotland, scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

9. Ordnance Survey Name Books Perthshire, 1859-1862, Perthshire volume 08, OS1/25/8/53. 

10. Census record for William Roy, aged 30, Colly, Auchtergaven, Scotland, 1841 Scotland Census, National Records of Scotland, scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

11. Ordinance Survey Map, Perthshire, Sheet LXXIII, Survey date: 1864,  Publication date: 1867, National Library of Scotland. 

12. Robert Glen, 'Reviewed Work: The Scottish Country Miller 1700-1900: A History of Water-Powered Meal Milling in Scotland by Enid Gauldie', Technology and Culture, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr., 1984), p. 336.

13. Marriage of William Roy and Margaret Campbell, married 4 March 1842, Old Parish Registers Marriages, 330/20 Auchtergaven, p.339.