STEPHEN family late 1700's Stonehaven

[sparkle60]

Seeking the origins of John STEPHEN b abt 1751.
Several of his children were baptized 1792 - 1803 in the parish of Fetteresso
at Links of Arduthie in Stonehaven and at Cowie (Old Parish Records).

But their father John b abt 1751 who died after the 1841 census
was recorded as born out of county - not Kincardine. No death record found.
His wife (and mother to his children, confirmed through their later death certs)
was Jane FOTHERINGHAM. Cannot find her birth, marriage or death record.

Links of Arduthie I am told was the high ground to the west of Market Square.
Years later I’ve found descendants in Ann Street and Barclay Street.

But note -  there  seems to be a separate cluster of Old Parish Record
baptisms for another Stephen family at Burntholes, Stonehaven.
Burntholes seems to be nearer to the railway line and Slug Road.
Anyone know if, or how these clusters may have been related?

Possibly this topic is for researchers who like myself have downloaded
some of these OPRs so we can compare and unangle these families?
Thanks

[HeatherConnie]

Hi, I have Stephens from Catterline and Fetteresso. The Stephens families are unbelievably tangled and I'd be happy to share my own research so that you can compare it with your Stephens. Heather

[EileenA]

Hi HeatherConnie -
I am researching my mother's tree and her Stephen ancestors are all from the North East coast of Scotland and have got back, for definite, to a James Stephen who was christened in Catterline on 26/8/1644.  I would be grateful if you could help me get them back any further as I am not sure whether they originated in Arbuthnott or Stonehaven (Fetteresso).  Family lore had it that the Stephens originated in Peterhead and came down the coast in the early 1600s but whether this is accurate or not, I don't know.  Certainly there have been Stephens involved in the fishing in Peterhead for generations so it may well be true.
I would be really grateful for any additional information you may have.
Kindest regards,
Eileen.

[HeatherConnie]

Hello Eilleen,
wow, 1644 is really early, well done. I'm at the stage where I have traced all of my 4 times great grandparents with not too much yet before the 1841 census. My Stephens are Fanny Stephen my great-great grandmother who was born in Catterline in 1843, and her parents Alexander and Elspat who were both Stephens and both born in Fetteresso parish. Alexander's parents were Isabella Craig and Andrew Stephen. Elspat's parents were Helen Craig and James Stephen. Another Alexander and Elspet Stephen at Catterline in 1841 were Elspat's brother and his family with their mother Helen. I think my Alexander and Elspat may have both been born at Skateraw further up the coast, but I don't have definite proof of that yet. There are a lot of gaps in the Fetteresso OPRs. Do any of my folk fit with yours?
All the best, Heather

[EileenA]

Hi HeatherConnie -

Many thanks for your speedy response and my sincere apologies for not getting back sooner.  We've been at our holiday home in Kenmore on Loch Tay for most of the past week and I forgot to take my laptop with me.

I've got no doubt we come from the same line of Stephens originally but, sadly, your Fetteresso/Skateraw branch and my Catterline branch are not the same.  My branch so far goes back to James Stephen and Elisabeth Lyndsey living in Catterline in the mid 1600s and there were several Stephen families living in Catterline then.  My branch then moved to Arbuthnott, then Gourdon, ending up in the early 1800s in Johnshaven where we have now retired to and my mother's side of the family (the Stephens) come from.

What we know through family lore is that the Stephens, along with many other young fishermen from the fishing villages of Buchan and the Moray Firth came down the coast from the mid 1600s to the late 1700s for a better living, married local girls and stayed.  The harbours and fishing down here were regarded as more profitable than those of the likes of Banffshire, in particular.  If family lore is to believed, the Stephens came from around Peterhead in the 1600s, while other ancestors such as the McBey/McBays came from the parish of Rathven in Banff.

By the way, Heather, I have also got McBays and Blueses on my family tree and have got them back to the 1600s so if I can be of any help to you with them I'll gladly try.

Best wishes,

Eileen.

 

[HeatherConnie]

Thanks for your reply Eileen. You will know from your own family research just how tangled these fishing families can be. My Fanny Stephen was married to James Hamilton McBay. Their daughter was my great grandmother Margaret Mcbay. (She was married first to Alexander Brodie, and then to George Moir) James Hamilton was the son of Alexander McBay and Mary Ann Pike (a Devonshire lass). In the 1841 census he can be found up at Skirza in Caithness where his father was stationed as a coastguard. His grandfather James McBay, grandmother Mary McDonald, uncle James and aunt Elizabeth were at Catterline coastguard station the same year.
I would be very interested to see how your family fit with mine.
All the best Heather

[EileenA]

Good to hear from you, Heather.  For some reason I have great difficulty accessing your replies through Roots Chat.  Could we correspond in future via our normal email addresses?  It would be much easier.  Mine is eileentownsend@btinternet.com.

I'll start with our McBey/McBay line first. 
The first McBey to arrive in this area was James McBey who was chris.  31/8/1729 in the parish of Rathven, Banff, (parents Alexander McBey and Janet Anderson married Banff/Rathven 24/22/1726).  He was a seaman and was put off his ship for disobedience in 1756 at the small fishing village of Miltonhaven, three miles down the coast from Johnshaven.   He married a Margaret Blews from Miltonhaven in 1770 and was joined a few years later by his elder brother John, our ancestor, born Banff/ Rathven on 19/9/1727.  John married Margaret's cousin Barbara Blews/Blues in 1787 in Miltonhaven and their eldest son, your ancestor, James McBey was christ. in Miltonhaven on 4/11/1778.  He died in Johnshaven 13/8/1858 and is buried at St Cyrus.  My ancestor is their second son Alexander chris. Miltonhaven 30/11/1783, who was press-ganged for over 20 years and died in Johnshaven aged 92.
James married Mary/Marion McDonald  and they had three children James ,born 1808, Charles born 1815 and Elizabeth/Betty (actually christened Betty) born 1818.  Betty was the one who erected a gravestone for their parents in St Cyrus kirkyard.  It says   "Erected by Elizabeth McBay in memory of her father James McBay, late of the Coastguard, died Johnshaven 13 August 1858 aged 83 (sic).  Her mother Mary McDonald died 5 July 1857 aged 79.  The above Elizabeth McBay died 20 August 1865 aged 47.  Her brother James died 25 July 1869 aged 61."   James actually died in Sunnyside Royal Hospital (the asylum at Hillside just outside of Montrose). 

James and Mary (McDonald) McBay and their family lived at Tangleha' - a beautiful but very tiny fishing hamlet about a mile north of Miltonhaven built by the fishermen's own hands from the retrieved stones of their village of Miltonhaven which was washed away in a terrible storm in December, 1793.  ( I wrote an article about the tragedy for the "Scots Magazine" some years back.) Eventually they all moved into Johnshaven.

My great granny Mary McDonald McBay of Johnshaven (Mrs Joseph Stephen) was named after her great aunt - your ancestor.

Must dash as we're going up to Kenmore for a few days tomorrow and I've a million things to do this evening.

Hope this has been of some interest.

Best wishes from your cousin,

Eileen.

[Cowiedavid]

Hi ladies in this thread.
I am intrigued by the all the different information that you have about the Stephen families around Stonehaven.
I have been researching since 1990 on my different Stephen family lines from Catterline, Fetteresso
 and Bervie not got beyond 1729.
I am descended from two distinct lines that were both in Catterline at the same time.
My direct male line is: John (b1924 in Catterline), George (b1894 in Catterline), James Lees (b 1868 in Catterline), Andrew (b1826 in Catterline), Andrew (b1794 in Fetteresso,most likely Cowie), Andrew (b abt 1773 in Fetteresso, most likely Cowie), Andrew (b 1729 in Benholm, Johnshaven).

The other Stephen line is through James Lees Stephen's wife, Catherine Douglas Gove (b1870 in Catterline), her mother Mary Ann Stephen (b Catterline abt 1843), father William Stephen (b abt 1811 in Catterline), father James Stephen ( b 1774 in Bervie), father James Stephen (b 1749 in Bervie) and father John Stephen (b abt 1708 in Bervie).

William Stephen was the first publican of the Creel Inn in Catterline, where I celebrated my 60th with my 4 brothers, all of us from Australia.

As noted in the thread the Stephen's are intertwined all around the north east coast but another
 Stephen contact has them in Fordoun parish eventually moving to Benholm parish.

I am now wondering how we may be related to each other.

 Bye for now, David Stephen in Australia
 

[sparkle60]

Hi David, also HeatherConnie and EileenA...
Have you done a dna test? Then we can discover if we are related.
If you use Ancestry search your DNA Match Lists for me, user name  JasStephen.
I've also downloaded my raw dna data from Ancestry, and uploaded it to Gedmatch.
They accept dna tests from several different companies, it's free.
You register, upload your dna files and are assigned a Kit Number.
Then you can see matches  www gedmatch dot com
I have several other Stephen relatives on there too.
My Kit Number is A118051