John Ross (abt. 1764 - bef. 1835)

Husband of Catherine (Sutherland) Ross — married 17 Feb 1820 in Clyne

Descendants

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Biography

John ROSS was born about 1764. His first marriage was to Margaret ROSS with whom he had 2 sons when he was in his fifties; Alexander born 1815 and David born 1817. At the time of their birth John was a labourer living in Auldririe. Two years later at Martinmas 1819 John was renting the croft, Peatmoss, in Altcraggie, part of Auldririe for about 10 shillings a year. The reason the croft rent was not in the records before 1819 may be due to the fact that John rented it from a tacksman and not directly from the estate until the estate re-organisation apparent from the records about this time. Peatmoss was to stay in the family until 1941.

In 1820 he married Catherine SUTHERLAND who was about 30 years old. John would have been about 56. Catherine was born about 1790 in the neighbouring parish of Rogart. Her parents were William and Christy SUTHERLAND and she had a sister Ann born in 1796 and a brother Hector born in 1800. The family lived in ‘Knockentian’ in Meikle Rogart at the time. In 1991 I visited this croft called in gaelic ‘Cnoc-an-t-sithean’ or ’Hill of the Little People’. As was the custom, two rowans were planted well away from the house to keep the little people away. The current owner showed us the level of stones in the wall marking the original house height. (See photo)

Birth

ABT 1764^[1]

Note

Rent Receipt Book: 1st entry 1819 then up to 1834 when 'dead now Catherine Sutherland'^[2]

1st Marriage

John Ross to Margaret Ross. No trace of marriage but 2 sons born. (1815 and 1817)

2nd Marriage

17 Feb 1820 Clyne. John was 'of Brora'^[3]

Rent Receipt Book

1819 Oultcraggie 5/-Martinmasonly

1820 Auldcraggie Peatmoss 5/-

1821 Aultcraggie Peatmoss 5/-

1825 Aultcraggie 5/-

1828 Aultcraggie Peatmoss 10/-

1834 Aldcraggy John Ross Peatmoss 10/- (In Remarks: dead, now Catherine Sutherland^[4]

Note

John was too old in 1826 to appear in the Militia List.

Research Note

see comment below about his son John and daughter Catherine

Death

Jan 1834^[5]

Dead by Whitsun 1834 in rent rolls.

Burial

Clynekirkton Old Cemetery gravestone indistinct.

• In Memory of John Ross who died at Altcraggy died at Altcraggy Jan (1) aged (76)(70) yrs. Also Catherine Ross his wife who died March (1) 17 ( ) age 81 years.^[6]

Biography compiled by Sarah Jordan for her website in 2000

JOHN ROSS AND CATHERINE SUTHERLAND

John ROSS was born about 1764. His first marriage was to Margaret ROSS with whom he had 2 sons when he was in his fifties; Alexander born 1815 and David born 1817. At the time of their birth John was a labourer living in Auldririe. Two years later at Martinmas 1819 John was renting the croft, Peatmoss, in Altcraggie, part of Auldririe for about 10 shillings a year. The reason the croft rent was not in the records before 1819 may be due to the fact that John rented it from a tacksman and not directly from the estate until the estate re-organisation apparent from the records about this time. Peatmoss was to stay in the family until 1941.

In 1820 he married Catherine SUTHERLAND who was about 30 years old. John would have been about 56. Catherine was born about 1790 in the neighbouring parish of Rogart. Her parents were William and Christy SUTHERLAND and she had a sister Ann born in 1796 and a brother Hector born in 1800. The family lived in ‘Knockentian’ in Meikle Rogart at the time. In 1991 I visited this croft called in Gaelic ‘Cnoc-an-t-sithean’ or ’Hill of the Little People’. As was the custom, two rowans were planted well away from the house to keep the little people away. The current owner showed us the level of stones in the wall marking the original house height.

PHOTO Cnoc –an-t sithian

As Catherine's parents and brother Hector all ended up living in Clyne parish it is likely that they were moved there as part of the Clearances early in the 1800's. This would fit in with the family legend that some of our ancestors were involved with this forcible movement of people to the coast to make way for large sheep farms. These stories were probably passed from Catherine to her daughter Williamina, who lived with her who passed them to her granddaughter Williamina Kidd, my aunt, who often stayed with her.

Catherine's father died in 1828 age 67 and her mother in 1834 age 77. They were buried in Clynekirkton and their gravestone can still be seen. It was erected by their son Hector whose descendants lived in Brora and one of them, Elsie MACDONALD, was a friend of my grandmother's. There is no trace of Catherine's sister Ann.

GRAVE OF WILLIAM AND CHRISTY SUTHERLAND

John ROSS and Catherine Sutherland had 7 children starting the first year of their fourteen year marriage and ending the year before John died in 1834. When John died Catherine took over as tenant of Peatmoss until she died in 1870 age 81 of asthma which she had had for several years. They were both buried in Clynekirkton and their gravestone is still there.

GRAVE OF JOHN AND CATHERINE ROSS

John and Catherine had 5 daughters and 2 sons of whom 1 daughter and 1 son probably died young as there is no further trace of them. The eldest child, Marion, married Donald MacKAY of Clyne when they were both 26. He was a blacksmith and they went to live in Berriedale in Latheron parish. They had 9 children, including twins, who all survived past infancy.

The second daughter of John and Catherine, Christian, married Robert SUTHERLAND of Clyneleish when she was 23. He was born in Rogart and the son of William SUTHERLAND and Isobel MACKAY. His father, a basketmaker, was born in Clyne and for a while lived next door to Robert and Christian. Robert's brother Alex, described as an 'idler', lived with Robert and his family in West Clyneleish for a while. Robert was an agricultural labourer and the family were pretty poor as he was described as a pauper in 1861.In 1851 he was away from home and staying with Christian's sister Marion in Berriedale, probably looking for work. They had at least 8 children in the 22 years of their marriage the last being twins one of whom died at birth when Christian was 43. Two years later Robert died age 48 of the epileptic fits that he'd suffered from for 14 years. I have yet to find when Christian died.

The third surviving daughter was Williamina, probably named after her maternal grandfather as her sister Christian would have been named after her maternal grandmother. Williamina stayed at home with her parents and when she married at the age of 26 she was described as a domestic servant. She married John MACKAY who lived next door and he moved in with the family. John may have already been working at the croft as there were no sons at home to do the work. Catherine was a widow age 68 and could hardly have done all the work herself. Anyway it must have been very useful for Williamina to bring home a husband to do the heavy work on the croft. John and Williamina had 9 children, 4 boys and 5 girls, one boy dying when a few weeks old. Another son, Wi11lam was my grandfather.

The only son of John and Catherine who survived childhood was John, born in 1834. In 1851 he was living with his sister Marion's family in Berriedale and was an apprentice blacksmith.

The youngest child was Catherine born in 1833 when her mother was about 43. When she was 18 she was living with her mother.

Sources

1. ↑ Rent Rolls says died 1834 and MI says age 70
2. ↑ SutherlandRent Rolls, Edinburgh
3. ↑ Clyne Parish Register
4. ↑ Sutherland Rent Rolls seen in Edinburgh
5. ↑ Sutherland Rent Rolls seen in Edinburgh
6. ↑ My best attempt at reading the inscription in 1991