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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Inverness => Topic started by: Rol on Saturday 16 January 10 19:08 GMT (UK)
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I have come across a newspaper announcement for the wedding at Preston, Lancs., on 2 April 1832, of
Mr. Roger Owen, formerly of the Marine Terrace, Aberystwyth, to Anne, daughter of Thomas Davies, Esq. of Davies Place, Inverness
I am curious about who this Thomas Davies really was and what he was doing in Inverness. I can find no reference to a "Davies Place" in the one contemporary local directory to which I have access, and I am beginning to wonder whether it was one of those aggrandised addresses intended to look good in the BMD columns. Google and the archives of RootsChat and RootsWeb seem to offer little reliable assistance.
Nor is it yet clear to me why a woman whose father was based at Inverness (and likely a native of Wales) decided to celebrate her marriage at Preston. I have failed to spot any Roger Owen(s) in the Preston section of Pigot's National Commercial Directory for 1828-29.
I harbour a faint suspicion, based on very little evidence, that Thomas Davies may have been one of the team of engineers who came north to work on the Caledonian Canal project.
He seems to have had a son working as a doctor in Notts.
I would be most grateful to hear, should anyone know or discover any hard evidence about his activities or origins.
Rol
ADDED 15 May 2010: Thanks to the PR transcription programme run by excellent Lancashire Online Parish Clerks, it is now possible to confirm that the Owen-Davies wedding was indeed duly solemnised. The only significant new evidence that seems to emerge is that the groom was a widower, but for the record this is the entry (currently to be found in the "What's New" section of the Lancs. OPC website):
Marriage: 2 Apr 1832 St John, Preston, Lancashire, England
Roger Owen - Widower of this Parish
Ann Davies - Spinster of this Parish
Witness: Rd. ? Burnet; Jane Kennedy
Married by Banns by: Roger Carus Wilson. Vicar
Register: Marriages 1829 - 1833, Page 18, Entry 52
Source: LDS Film 94014
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Well, a couple of months on I think it is safe to conclude that no Thomas Davies of that or similar description has yet captured the attention of readers of the Inverness board. His pretentious-sounding address looks destined to remain a puzzle. Perhaps in reality "Davies Place" was the locally used name for his "builder's yard", a relatively temporary base adjoining his dwelling where construction materials and equipment were assembled and stored -- but also a description capable of generating a gratifyingly grander impression in the minds of distant newspaper readers down south.
Anyway, that aside -- it is evidently time to scatter more bread on the (canal) water. I have done some supplementary research on the Thomas Davies (TD) who is known to have been involved with the construction of the Caledonian Canal. I am becoming increasingly confident that it was the same man. There are some useful mentions in A D Cameron's The Caledonian Canal (4th ed., 2005). On p.29 the author names three men, one of them being TD, who
came north with [Thomas Telford ... and] proved to be formidable contractors.
On p.42 we are told that construction preparations were completed during 1804 and
Soon cutting on the line of the canal began. Thomas Davies started in September on a stretch at Kinmylies with ten men and by December he had one hundred and twenty-three.
In 1808 TD was still at work nearby, carrying on the excavation of the Torvaen and Bught sections (p.50). But by 1811 (p.74) TD and his business partner,
the contractors who had been responsible for most of the cutting at the east end [of the canal], had men to spare ... and set them on excavation in the centre.
In 1813 TD was at work along the line of the River Oich between Loch Oich and Loch Ness (p.77). For part of this stretch
the River Oich was to be diverted into a new channel for nearly a mile. [This was] slower because it required far more barrowing by Thomas Davies's men. ... Between them the two gangs [TD's and his partner's] had completed four miles of the Canal in this area by 1815.
As the demands of work on the Caledonian Canal started to wind down, it seems that the contractors wished to remain in the Highlands and to extend their operations to other projects -- which would explain TD's later continuing presence in and around Inverness: as the author puts it (p.92), during the final phase of construction
the main contractors on the Canal were undertaking other commitments over a wide area.
I can find no references that clearly relate to a different person of the same name in the Highlands during the first third of the 19th c., which is helping to buttress my belief that the bride's father in the 1832 wedding announcement was indeed the canal builder. There are just a couple of NAS online refs., while the IGI seems to have only one TD in its Inverness-shire records for the year range 1790-1840. That directed me to the OPR image for the marriage at Inverness, on 16 September 1809, of Isabella Matthews and "Tho's: Davies of the Canal".
It would be very interesting to hear, should any of these details remind anybody of past "sightings" of TD.
Rol
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This proves nothing and may just be a coincidence but in Chapel Yard Graveyard the following stones are right next to each other.
Under this stone lie the remains of Margaret Davies, wife of Thomas Davies who departed this life on the 24th of Jan 1809 in the 49th year of her age. She left a husband and numerous family to lament her loss.
The next stone along reads
Beneath are deposited the remains of Mr Matthew Davidson, who for many years held the Office of Resident Engineer upon the Caledonian Canal. He died at Clachnaharry on the VIIIth day of Feb MDCCCXIX aged 64 years. Also of his wife Mrs Janet Davidson who died at the same place on the XIIth day of Dec MDCCCXXV aged 68 years.
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Thank you very much for that info, GW -- I think your instinct was spot on!
I have found a 19th c. pedigree purporting to be about TD, but which looks to me like a mostly fanciful waste of time -- with the exception of a reticent and very edited section about his own immediate family. That section does indeed state that TD had a wife called Margaret who died on the very same date and at the same age as your Chapel Yard MI specifies, although it makes no mention at all of her place of death or of any second wife called Isabella. My problem in even trusting that little part was that I had failed to find a likely burial entry for Margaret in the OPRs. Maybe I failed to search properly? My understanding is that the Chapel Yard was under Church of Scotland control; but I suppose that if nonconformist interments happened there too, that could explain Margaret being absent from the OPRs(?).
The fact that Matthew Davidson was buried ten years later right next to Margaret Davies is also thoroughly intriguing. Davidson was born in the same part of Dumfriesshire as Thomas Telford and was one of his oldest friends and colleagues. He was involved in a great number of Telford's projects and deputised for him as supervising engineer for the Caledonian Canal. In the Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers Davidson's entry -- written by Mike Chrimes -- states that
Davidson had an important role in selecting the masonry contractors for the Caledonian Canal ... and possibly the earthworks contractors ... [including -- first named] Thomas Davies ... based on experience on Shropshire bridges and the Ellesmere Canal.
It is ironic that Davidson now lies beneath Highland soil, because he seems to have been a diligent exponent of Highland-Lowland rivalry. As Chrimes writes elsewhere in the article
Davidson had fallen in love with Wales, as well as the Welsh girl he married [query her true origins, as he later names her as "Janet Irvine"], and when he was sent to the Scottish Highlands he made no secret of his low opinion of the country and its inhabitants. He persuaded many who worked for him to follow him north from Wales. ... He had no love for his fellow countrymen from the Highlands and was described by Southey as 'a strange cynical humorist'.
His son James seems to have risen above all that to follow in his father's footsteps as resident engineer for the canal; but his other two sons apparently chose to stay south of the border: both pursued medical careers, Thomas the eldest having trained as a doctor at Oswestry.
So was the proximity of those two Chapel Yard graves just coincidence; was there an informal "canal company plot", where refugees from further south could huddle together; or could Isabella's surname "Matthews" betoken some acknowledged illegitimate link with Davidson, or even be a legitimate (albeit by that date highly unconventional) late example of the Celtic patronymic naming system? As ever, the solution to one puzzle throws up at least two more! And I wonder whether there are also some junior Davieses lying elsewhere in the same burial ground.
Rol
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There are no other Davies stones but there are the following 2 Davis stones
Erected by William McKenzie, Horse Hirer, Inverness in memory of his beloved wife Elizabeth Davis who died 29th April 1861 aged 41 years.
Erected by John Davis in memory of his parents George Davis who died on the 6th July 1832 aged 44 years and Marjory MacIntosh who died on the 19th Oct 1836 aged 51 years. And of his children George who died in 1841 in infancy and John who died on the 4th May 1849 aged 6 years
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There are no other Davies stones ...
OK -- much appreciate your checking, anyway. I suspect that the Davis ones do not quite fit, but will bear them in mind.
On the subject of TD's children, there is in fact more to report, because after finding that info in the A D Cameron book, I made another and equally important breakthrough, which shows that TD had many more children than the Dubious Pedigree discloses -- and several married within the local community.
The pedigree states that TD's eldest son, also a Thomas, joined the East India Company army as a military engineer and was killed at a siege during the Third Mahratta War. He wrote a will leaving substantially all his property to his brothers and sisters in equal shares; but he omitted to appoint an executor, so the Madras supreme court sent letters testimonial with the details to the PCC, and in 1822 that court granted admon with will annexed to his brother Owen, the Notts. medic mentioned in my original post.
While all interesting enough, that did little to tell me any more about the other siblings. But then came a stroke of luck. I was searching the NAS online index and came upon a reference to Thomas the Soldier's estate among some testamentary papers in a private collection originating from Inverness. I have now received a photocopy of that document, and it turns out to be an agreement among all the surviving siblings to appoint a lawyer to act on their behalf in collecting in the estate and appointing agents in India. They seem to be listed by seniority of age. The eldest, Elizabeth, had evidently married before the family came north, but several of the others had put down local roots and therefore seem worth listing here on the Inverness board, in case anyone can spot a connection. TD himself is also a party to the agreement in his capacity as guardian to his two youngest children -- and is given an interesting former place of (Scottish) residence. So, here is the list (dated 9 Feb. 1822, in NAS GD23/7/49; words as original, format mine):
-- Sarah Davies or McDonald [sic] spouse of William Macdonald [sic] plasterer in Inverness
-- Margaret Davies or Mackay spouse of Lachlan Mackay sometime Tacksman of Milltown of Conage presently residing at Culloden
-- Mary Davies spouse of Archibald Taylor residing in Inverness
-- Owen Davies Doctor of Medicine presently residing in Inverness
-- John Davies
-- Anne Davies and
-- Joseph Davies all residing in Inverness
-- Jane Davies and
-- Edward Davies also residing there with advice and consent of Thomas Davies sometime Tacksman of Conage now residing in Inverness their Father . . . as natural Guardian taking burden on him for his said children Jane Davies and Edward Davies who are at present in Minority . . .
Of all these, only Elisabeth the eldest, Thomas the soldier and Owen the doctor obtained a mention in the Dubious Pedigree. At least the wedding announcement in my opening post serves to fill in some of Anne's later story. But I wonder what became of the rest. I have identified more or less speculative baptisms in and around Shropshire for the earlier children, but in that respect Joseph, Jane and Edward are a blank sheet (quite possibly born in Inverness-shire -- and children of the second marriage?).
Also, it would be excellent to confirm which of the several Connages in the Inverness and Moray region was the one TD was previously renting -- and from whom (rentals?). Perhaps Lachlan Mackay was at the Connage out beyond Culloden near the present airport, but it seems a bit hasty to assume that either he or his father-in-law lived there without more evidence.
Rol
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GW -- Motivated by your post reproducing Matthew Davidson's MI, I have been tempted into another scan through L T C Rolt's Thomas Telford (Longmans, 1958). Although Davidson is not really my intended focus, I think that his forename and the exact position of his final resting place are sufficient pretext for a little more digression in his direction (the more so if entertaining!). I hope you will agree that Rolt (pp.82-3) discovered some pretty spicy material about him that deserves sharing.
On politics (still in the shadow of the French Revolution, the Terror and Bonaparte, of course):
Davidson ... remained throughout his life a staunch advocate of the established order. Extremists, demagogues or absolutism in any form could always be relied upon to provoke a retort such as this (in 1809): 'England these 120 years has been the best governed nation ever existed on this Globe and yet the factious barbarians are never content. Hang the ringleaders and banish the rebel mob to the Highlands of Scotland -- this would tame them if anything would.' And when one of his sons suggested that he seemed to disapprove of any opposition whatever to established power he replied: 'I am equally hostile to unbridled power whether exercised by the head or the tail of Society. The last is the most hideous and most to be dreaded in these times.'
On staying healthy:
One of his more picturesque eccentricities was his belief in what he called 'that elegant and classical medicine, Bathing in cold water' as a cure for every mortal ill. He would astound all beholders by bathing in Beauly Firth in the most inclement weather, and when his son John was dangerously ill with typhus he was only narrowly dissuaded from plunging the unfortunate boy into a bath filled with cold seawater. On another occasion he threw two bucketfuls of his infallible specific over the Davidsons' serving maid when she complained of a fever. He claimed an instantaneous cure.
On the Highlands and the citizenry of Inverness:
Being a Lowland Scot, Davidson affected a fine contempt for the Highlands and its people. ... [The poet] Southey quoted him as saying that if justice were done to the inhabitants of Inverness, in twenty years there would be no one left there but the Provost and the hangman.
On Wales -- and the "Welsh Colony" at Clachnaharry:
When he came south to join Telford he had soon learned to love the people of Wales and married a Welsh wife who bore him his three sons before he left for the Highlands. ... He often remembered with regret his old home from whose windows he had watched the great stone piers of Pont Cysyllte [the canal aqueduct over the Dee] slowly rising in the valley below. ... He brought with him to Clachnaharry so many of the Welsh masons who had worked under him at Pont Cysyllte that his house became the centre of a colony of exiles; indeed he always referred to them as 'the colony' as though they were some outpost in darkest Africa. 'There is such a noise of Welshmen in the kitchen -- the Battle of Borodino was nothing to it', he once wrote.
(As mentioned previously, the "Welsh wife" theory is very probably erroneous. Davidson and Telford were fellow stonemasons in Langholm in the 1770s, and the IGI has an extracted marriage there dated 26 December 1780 between a Matthew Davidson and a Janet Irving [correction, submitted, so normally much less trustworthy; but the wedding is shown in the OPR index on the SP site]. The Chapel Yard MI's description of Davidson's widow Janet seems unlikely to relate to a second wife. The IGI also lists a broadly matching baptism for a Janet Irving at Langholm on 15 January 1758.)
Southey's line about Davidson having been "a strange cynical humorist" (Reply 3 above) sounds as though it cannot have been too far off the mark . . .
It is interesting to note that Rolt came across a letter (cited on p.85) written by Davidson to his son Thomas in June 1818, by which date Thomas was "a fully fledged surgeon at Nottingham" -- whither Davidson's graveyard neighbour's medical son Owen Davies was soon to follow and start in practice himself. The two doctors must at the least have known each other, and Owen's decision seems unlikely to have been mere coincidence.
Rol
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Back to Thomas Davies and his family.
In the hope of enabling others to find connections with these people, I am posting the results of some further research. Initially I have focused on the softest target, i.e. -- because the NAS agreement of 1822 accords them the most distinctive name and address -- Lachlan Mackay and his wife Margaret Davies.
I think that there is enough Mackay-oriented material to justify their entitlement to a separate topic heading, so here is the link to a new "daughter thread" (in both senses!):
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,458338.0.html
As set out there more fully, the evidence that records the couple's marriage includes the very helpful words
Lieutenant Lachlan McKay of the 42nd Regiment of Foot was Married ... on the 17th of November 1812, to Margaret Davis Daughter of Thomas Davis Esqr Engineer
Lachlan Mackay turns out to have been with the Black Watch in the Peninsular campaign. His and his wife's progeny include descendants in Canada. One of them was a copiously documented grandson who had a brief but distinguished career in Africa as a sapper officer.
Rol
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There are no other Davies stones ...
-- Sarah Davies or McDonald [sic] spouse of William Macdonald [sic] plasterer in Inverness
-- Margaret Davies or Mackay spouse of Lachlan Mackay sometime Tacksman of Milltown of Conage presently residing at Culloden
Can someone tell me where Milltown of Conage is please? I have this record, and am trying to understand the place names and their location.
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1797 Hugh son to John 'Mc'Mitchell and Katherine McDonald at Ouchneem (sp?) [Nairn] was born the 15th current [Sept] and baptized the 17th. Witnesses Hugh 'Mc'Mitchell of Newtown of Budgate & Hugh McDonald at Milltown of Conage.
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I searched the interent, and this was the only page that had Milltown of Conage on it.
If you can comment on Newtown of Budgate, I would appreciate that too.
Thank you
Tammy
BC Canada
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Milton Of Connage Farm
Ardersier, Inverness, Inverness-Shire IV2 7SX
Newton of Budgate Farm
Cawdor
Nairn
Inverness-shire
www.budgate.co.uk
Tel: 01667 404256
It is a Bead and Breakfast establishment.
Regards
Malky
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Hi Tammy,
Thanks to Malky for answering so promptly!
I have nothing to add on Budgate, but might mention that there is in fact one other page on RootsChat mentioning Milltown of Conage: it appears about halfway through the opening post in the "daughter thread" mentioned in the post just above yours in this thread, and demonstrates that Malky and I share the same opinion. You will find the place easily enough on the Ordnance Survey large scale map -- e.g. via Streetmap.
As to any McDonald connection, I am afraid I cannot spot anything. The OPRs show that William M:Donald married Sarah Davis (da. of Thomas Davies the engineer, per me) at Inverness on 6 January 1806; and the IGI mentions two probable sons -- Thomas (bapt. 14 Apr. 1806 -- bit close!) and Duncan (bapt. 27 Jan. 1808), both christened at Inverness. I know of nothing to connect William McDonald himself with Miltown of Conage, beyond his father-in-law's one-time tenancy there as recorded in the NAS agreement. At the time of the couple's marriage, Thomas Davies's canal work would have kept him very close to Inverness; but I suppose his wife and children could have spent some -- or a lot -- of their time at Miltown, assuming the tenancy already existed, and was retained.
So any link between William McDonald and your Katherine and Hugh McDonald would (on present knowledge) be very conjectural.
Rol
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Here's another connection for you. Archibald Dunbar Taylor who married Mary Davies was, according to a family tree, "... a civil engineer under Sir Thomas Telford in the construction of the Caledonian Canal. He lived at Inverness and Shrewsbury and later went with his wife and family to Canada as an engineer on the construction of the Rideon Canal."
Jan
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SATURDAY, 7 APRIL 1832 – Preston Chronicle Issue 1023,
On Monday last, at our Parish Church, by the Rev. R.C. WILSON, vicar; Mr Roger OWEN, formerly of the Maria Terrace, Aberystwyth, to Ann, daughter of Thomas DAVIES Esq, of Davies Place, Inverness, and sister of Owen DAVIES Esq, M.D. of Chilwell Hall-Notts.
This would seem to indicate he had a house called or at Davies Place.
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Hi, Pastmagic
The original poster (Rol) offers some thoughts upon the marriage entry you refer to at the very beginning of this long (but very thorough and fascinating) post.
CELTIC ANNIE -- great great grandaughter of the said Roger Owen and Ann Davies!
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That is so funny! I must have skipped through too fast - my brain is dysfunctional today! Hope the mystery does get solved....Often wonder how those ancestors would feel if they watched our efforts to unravel where they lived and what they did....
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;D I'm sure they'd think we're all mad, Pastmagic!
CELTIC ANNIE
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I can add information based on family notes on two descendants of Thomas Davies .
Jane Davies married a Dr. Foster and subsequently James Barnard by whom she had two sons both of whom died in infancy. She was a widow by 1860 when together with her nephew Thomas Malligaum Taylor she purchased a property at Upper Melbourne in the Province of Quebec. She died during the 1860s and the property passed to her nephew. Initially it was just a summer residence but some time after 1905 it was taken over by Arthur Robinson and his wife Mary Beatrice Taylor who invested heavily in it. It was sold in the 1940s to the Roman Catholic Church.
Edward Davies was a naval doctor who at one time lived in Bideford in Devon. He died on June 4 1874 at Shooters Hill, Woolwich. He had no offspring.
Jan
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I think the location Davies Square has over time become:
Davis Square
Muirtown St, Inverness, Inverness-Shire IV3 5JH, UK
There were/are several lanes/squares/courts off Muirtown Street/Wells Street.
Nowadays that whole area has been redeveloped as terraced housing - as a kid (50 years ago?) I recall the area was a mix of old housing in various states of repair. It is about 200 yards from the very fancy block of apartments (Telford Villa?) in Telford Street which I was told was built for the managerial staff involved in constructing the Caledonian Canal.
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Ah so that's where it is - I've been by many a time :D
I was sure that I'd put up the link to the Denbighshire thread but I can't see it here so:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,548211.0.html
I'm wondering what's happened to Rol :-\
gnu
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Thanks so much for that, Connor395. Fascinating! So I would imagine there's a good chance my ggggrandpa, Thomas Davies, lived in that house at least some of the time whilst the Caledonian was being built, then. How exciting -- I so wish I could see it, and I'd certainly love to hear more about it! (For example, how big is it?) Well, what I'd really love, of course, is to jump on the next available airplane and go see it (and its setting) for myself; but since I live in Texas, I don't think that can happen! :'( Still, hopefully it's not going anywhere, and I'll get to see it and its environs one day!
Hi, Gnu! Yes, I too am extremely eager to have poor Rol return and finish off that tale on the other thread for us! ! :-\ :-\ Will PM you shortly.
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I have some information re Thomas's son Joseph as he married Margaret Hay Mackenzie, a cousin of my great, great grandfather. This is an excerpt from a book called "The Chronicles of the Ardcronie Children" written in 1893 by some of Margaret's siblings.
"MARGARET HAY MACKENZIE, is said by by sister Catherine (Mrs Forbes) to have married Joseph Davis, son of Mr Davis, a contractor on the Caledonian Canal. Her husband was a civil engineer, and she went with him to America. They may have gone to Nova Scotia in the first place, but they lived for some time in Montreal, and Margaret died there leaving two sons, JOSEPH and JAMES, who I think accompanied their father to the West Indies, where he had a Government appointment."
I know Joseph and Margaret married in Inverness on 9/1/1822 but have not found any birth record for their sons. Of course they may not have been born in Scotland, especially if Joseph was moving around with his job.
If anyone knows what became of Joseph and his 2 sons I would appreciate any information.
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Hello jonnyeurostar!
Welcome to Rootschat!
Well, I am the lady (going by a different 'tag' name on here) who messaged you earlier today on Ancestry about this couple, Joseph and Margaret. Read you reply to that message and now your post on this long-running thread with much interest.
Some of us descendants of Thomas Davies had been aware of the Joseph Davis/Margaret McKenzie marriage in Inverness for a while; but we were never sure before that this was "our" Joseph. However, the extract from your book appears to confirm that it is. Great news!
Another researcher has just uncovered (only a couple of days ago, in fact) baptismal details in relation to two children being born to this couple in Canada. You can find them in the Drouin records on Ancestry; but I transcribe them, for your information, below:
"St Andrews, Presbyterian, Montreal: Joseph Davis, a son of Joseph Davis of Montreal, gentleman, and Margaret Hay Mckenzie Davis, his wife, was born on the 22nd day of October in the year of our Lord 1822 and baptized on the 8th November 1822".
"Louisville Protestant Episcopalian: Thomas Alston, son of Mr Joseph Davies, schoolmaster at Riviere du Loup and Margaret his wife deceased was born on the 22nd day of February 1824 and baptised the 15th day of November 1824."
So: we have a Thomas, rather than a James; and it looks like Joseph snr and Margaret set sail for Canada pretty soon after their wedding, and that Joseph jnr was a honeymoon baby!
As to what happened to Joseph after Margaret's very early death: well, our researches suggest a very different outcome for him from that recalled by the book authors -- namely, a re-marriage and second family in Canada. But we have no record of what happened to the two boys of the first marriage, unfortunately -- indeed, we did wonder if they might have been taken in by Mckenzie relatives in Canada? This book you tell us about, however, would appear to suggest not.
I am off to reply to your message on Ancestry, now! :D
CELTIC ANNIE
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Thought I would drag this thread out of its mothballs :) give it a shake, and post an update on research into "Thomas Davies of the Canal" post the construction of the canal. Plus discovery of a new piece of material relating to him has got me rather scratching my head now; so I thought I might post it here to see what other kind Roots-chatters might make of it.
First, we have now uncovered have a date and place of death for Thomas Davies. An entry in the deaths column of the John of Groat Journal Friday January 31, 1840 and in the Inverness Courier January 29, 1840 reads as follows: "At Inverness, on the 17th inst., Mr Thomas. Davies, Civil Engineer, late of the Caledonian Canal."
So this, plus the 1832 marriage announcement and baptisms in Inverness of two grandchildren for which he was around to stand as witness in 1824 and 1826 all suggest that, for whatever reason, whilst other contractors involved in the canal's construction moved away from the area and on to other projects upon its completion, Tom saw out the rest of his days in Inverness. He would have been in his mid-60s when the canal was completed (in 1822) -- perhaps felt that his body had had enough of this physically demanding (even for a contractor, one would imagine) work; plus by then he had married daughters settled and raising families in the area; so it would be perfectly understandable if he saw few temptations in moving on.
Now to the new piece of material -- unearthed on britishnewspaperarchive.com (and what a great resource that is!). This is the text of an advertisement that appeared in the Inverness Chronicle on Thursday, March 18, 1824:
"Houses, Gardens and Stables to Let.
In the close vicinity of the Caledonian Canal.
The Commodious HOUSE and large and excellent stables, lying contigious to the Road leading from Huntly Place to Telford Street, presently occupied by Mr Donald McKay, Horse-dealer. The House could be made sufficiently commodious to answer the purposes of an Inn, and the stables are, perhaps, the most extensive and complete in the Country. From the contiguity of these Premises to the Canal, on which Steam Boats and other Vessels regularly ply betwixt Inverness and Fort-William, such an Inn would be a convenient resting place to Passengers, which, with other advantages, would afford every encouragement to an eligible Tenant as an Innkeeper.
ALSO
Several other neat HOUSES with Gardens attached, which having a country exposure, are very desirable Residences.
Apply to Mr Thomas Davies, the Proprietor."
My guess is that all these properties were originally built for and used by middle-management involved in construction of the Canal (in addition to the apartments in Telford Street previously mentioned in this post, which I have now been able to pay a personal visit to! :D) -- not to mention some also for the horses that provided the (literal) horsepower needed in the construction!
What I am completely bewildered about is how/why Thomas Davies, earthworks contractor on the canal, came to be their Proprietor (which I assume means 'owner'). Planning on remaining in Inverness when others moved on, did he perhaps do some sort of financial deal which left him with possession of these properties once the canal was finished, hoping to use rental income as, effectively, an early 19th century Old Age Pension?!!
Thomas Davies: canal-builder -- and property magnate?!!
What would have been alternative means of disposing of such properties? (And who originally had legal ownership of them, if constructed in the circumstances I suggest?!) Am I right in thinking that there would have been very few owner-occupiers in Inverness (and indeed other cities) at this time, and that people generally rented homes there, so that there simply would have been no market to offer these properties up individually for sale rather than rent?
I should be very grateful to have anyone's input as to what was likely going on here! ???
Many thanks. :)
CELTIC ANNIE