Duncan MIs Fyvie

[KirstyG]

Good morning

I was hoping that someone might be able to let me know the details of the inscription on Stone 508 in Kirkyard of Fyvie (AA136 according to the ANESFHS website).

It should have Ann Duncan, Agnes Ferguson and Alexander Duncan mentioned.

I am hoping it will help me with my Duncan brick wall.

Kirsty

[GR2]

In
Memory of
AGNES FERGUSON
Spouse to ALEXANDER DUNCAN
Mason, Parkburn
who died 22d Novr. 1806
Aged 41 Years
And of their Daughter ANN
who died 30th Decr. 1804, aged 3 years.

Erected by their sons
ALEXANDER and JOHN DUNCAN

The above named ALEXANDER DUNCAN
in Parkburn, died on the 15th Day of May 1844
Aged 80 Years.

Alexander may have died on the 5th, rather than the 15th, as the burial register says he was buried on the 7th (aged 81).

Alexander Duncan is my 4 X great grandfather through his second wife, Elspet Ironside.
Alexander had the following children:

By Agnes: Alexander, James, John, Ann

By Elspet: Christian, George, (possibly Margaret), Jane, Peter, Agnes

[GR2]

Duncan gravestone.

[KirstyG]

Thank you Graham. I have been trying to corroborate George's parents for some time. It is lovely to have the picture too, very grateful.

I am fairly sure that Christian and Margaret are sisters of George but was hunting for evidence for the others. MI are very useful for that!

Thanks again.
Kirsty

[GR2]

I have sent you a personal message so I can get further information to you.

[GR2]

My file on Alexander Duncan minus the headings, maps, newspaper cutting and photographs. The system does not allow the whole file to be uploaded.

Alexander Duncan was a stonemason, born about 1764. He married Agnes
Ferguson, who was born about 1765, in Fyvie on Sunday 8th December 1793.
The entry in the register reads:

            Decemr 8th                         
Duncan   Alexander Duncan & Agnes Ferguson both in this Parish         
   &      were regularly married.

Alexander and Agnes had the following known children:

   Alexander, born about 1798,
   James, baptized Monday 19th August 1799,
   John, born about 1803,
   Ann, born 1801

When James was born, the Duncans were living in one of the small crofts at
Parkburn, Fyvie. The witnesses to the baptism were two neighbours, William
Urquhart junior and William Reid. There is no record of the birth or baptism of
the other children.

                                        [map of Parkburn crofts]

The Duncans’ daughter, Ann, died at Parkburn on Sunday 30th December 1804,
aged three. Agnes Ferguson died there on Saturday 22nd November 1806, aged 41. 

Alexander Duncan married for a second time, probably in 1807. His new wife
was Elspet, the daughter of James Ironside and Helen Gray. She was born at
Hillhead of Peterwell, Fyvie, in July 1776 and baptized on Thursday 11th. The
entry in the register reads:

            July 11 1776                        
James Ironside in hillhead had a Child bapd called Elspet

There is no surviving record of Alexander Duncan and Elspet Ironside’s marriage.
Alexander and Elspet had the following children:

   Christian, born about 1808,
   George, born about 1810,
   possibly a daughter, Margaret,
   Jane, born about 1815,
   Peter, born about 1818,
   Agnes, born about 1820

The Aberdeen Journal of Wednesday 18th March 1814 carried an
advertisement announcing farms and crofts to let on the Fyvie estate. They are
described as “newly arranged, so as to make them more convenient for tenants
than formerly, and are free of all multure and mill services. They are of an early
and grateful soil, and capable of much improvement… The Crofts are mostly
situated in the vicinity of the Church of Fyvie, in a populous and pleasant part of
the country and being well accommodated with fuel, are excellent situations
for tradesmen and labourers, to whom, if well recommended, a preference will
be given”.

The farms and crofts were to be let at Fyvie Castle on 15th April, with entry at
Whitsunday 1815. Included in the list are “Two Crofts on PARKBURN, A.
Duncan and J. Murray”.

Alexander Duncan must have applied for and been granted a renewal of his
lease.

The Aberdeen Journal of Wednesday 19th February 1834 again carried an
advertisement announcing farms and crofts to let on the Fyvie estate for
nineteen years from Whitsunday next. They include “PARKBURN CROFT –
occupied by Alex. Duncan.” Alexander’s lease was again renewed.   

The 1841 census shows the Duncans at Parkburn. Alexander is described as a
mason. The rest of the household consists of his wife, Elspet, and their
daughter, Agnes.

The following advertisement appeared in Aberdeen Journal on Wednesday 18th
October 1843:

               [newspaper advertisement about missing boy]

Presumably the boy was a son of John Jackson, but nobody of the right age
appears at Davo in the 1841 census. It is not clear what the connection is with
Alexander Duncan.

According to the inscription on the family gravestone, Alexander Duncan died
at Parkburn on Wednesday 15th May 1844, aged 80. The burial register says he
was 81 and was buried on Tuesday 7th May in row 33, grave 14. Perhaps he
died on the 5th rather than the 15th May.

Elspet Ironside “or Widow Duncan, Parkburn” died at the beginning of 1848,
aged 71. She was buried with her husband in row 33, grave 14 at Fyvie on
Wednesday 5th January. The inscription on the family gravestone reads:

                                              In
                                       Memory of
                                  AGNES FERGUSON
                         Spouse to ALEXANDER DUNCAN
                                   Mason, Parkburn
                             who died 22d Novr 1806
                                Aged 41 Years was
                            And of their Daughter ANN,
                  who died 30th Decr 1804, aged 3 years.

                              Erected by their sons
                       ALEXANDER and JOHN DUNCAN

                 The above named ALEXANDER DUNCAN
            in Parkburn, died on the 15th Day of May 1844
                               Aged 80 Years.

Elspet Ironside’s name is not on the stone, although she is buried there.
Presumably Agnes and Ann are in this lair, although there is no burial register
for that period.

The Duncans also had the two lairs to the left and one lair to the right of
that marked by the stone.

                  [two photographs of the gravestone]

[GR2]

George's file, minus headings and illustrations (part 1):

Alexander Duncan and Elspet Ironside’s son, George, was born at Parkburn,
Fyvie, about 1810. He became a shoemaker.

The 1841 census shows George at Keilhill, King Edward. He is described as a
shoemaker. The rest of the household consists of Margaret Duncan, described
as a female servant, eight year old Alexander Jackson, John Gall, who is a
journeyman shoemaker, and George Henry, an apprentice shoemaker.

Margaret Duncan, who was George’s housekeeper, may well have been his
sister. She married George Henry, the apprentice, in January 1842 and George
witnessed the baptism of their daughter, Margaret, the following December.

Margaret was probably replaced as housekeeper by George’s sister, Agnes. She
was certainly living in King Edward in May 1842, when she married John Gall,
who was working for George Duncan as a shoemaker at the time of the 1841
census.

                                   [map of Keilhill in 1826]

George Ironside and Jane Milne’s daughter, Jane, was born at Hillhead of
Peterwell, Fyvie, on Saturday 7th May 1825. The entry in the register reads:

               7th May                     
         Ironside   George Ironside in Peterwell had a Daur. By his wife            
                        Jane Milne named Jane.

Sometime after August 1828 the family moved to the Mill of Fintry in the
parish of Turriff.

The 1841 census shows “Jean” there with her family.

George Duncan and Jane Ironside, who were cousins, contracted marriage at
Turriff on Saturday 24th October and married at the Mill of Fintry on Saturday
7th November 1846. The entry in the Turriff register reads:

     Duncan        On the twenty fourth day of October eighteen hun              
        &        dred and forty six George Duncan in the parish         
     Ironside     of King Edward and Jane Ironside in this parish               
                      were contracted in order to be married and married                 
                      on the seventh day of November   
   
The entry in the King Edward register reads:

         October 25th George Duncan in                  
    Duncan           this Parish and Jane Ironside                     
       &      in the Parish of Turriff declared                  
    Ironside           their purpose of Marriage and                        
                        were married

George and Jane had the following children:

   Jane, born Tuesday 12th October 1847,
   Mary Ann born Saturday 17th February 1849,
   Margaret, born Tuesday 12th August 1851,
   George, born Tuesday 3rd January 1854,
        Helen, born Saturday 8th December 1855,
   Frances Scott, born Sunday 7th February 1858,
   William, born Monday 5th December 1859,
   Elspet, born Monday 13th May 1861,
   James Gellie, born Monday 8th December 1862,
   Alexander Anderson, born Thursday 19th January 1865,
   Christina, born Saturday 25th January 1868,
   Agnes Ann, born Wednesday 7th September 1870

Witnesses to the baptisms were Jane’s father and uncle, George and James
Ironside, Mill of Fintry, in 1847; George Andrew, Burnside, and William
McKenzie, Keilhill, in 1849; George Ironside, Mill of Fintry, and George Andrew,
Burnside, in 1851; George Ironside, Mill of Fintry, and Alexander Gray, Keilhill,
in 1854.

                        [mid 19th century map of Keilhill]









                                     

[GR2]

File on George Duncan (part 2):

The Duncans were still at Keilhill in January 1854, but by the end of 1855 they
had noved to Macduff and were living in Carny Street. In February 1858 they
were in Manor Street, Macduff. Shortly after, they moved to a small croft at
Gorrachie, King Edward.

The croft lay south of South Gorrachie, near the Gorrachie smithy.

                                           [map showing location of croft]

The Duncans’ croft is the one at the bottom of the map. The building to the
east is the house. The one to the west is the shoemaker’s workshop and the
croft buildings.

The 1861 census shows the Duncans at Gorrachie. The house has three rooms
with a window. George is described as a master shoemaker farming five acres.
The rest of the household consists of his wife, Jane, and their children, Jane,
Mary Ann, Margaret, George, Helen, Frances and William. Margaret and
George are at school.

The Duncans’ son, Alexander, died at Gorrachie on Sunday 25th March 1866.

The 1871 census shows the Duncans at Gorrachie. The house has four rooms
with a window. George is described as a shoemaker and crofter of six acres.
The rest of the household consists of his wife, “Jean”, and their children,
Margaret, who is a domestic servant, Frances, William, Elspet, James, Christina
and Agnes Ann. William, Elspet and James are at school.

Jane Ironside died at Gorrachie on Saturday 5th September 1874, aged 49. The
cause of death was haematemesis for five days and malaria for five days. The
death was registered by her husband.

The 1881 census shows the family at Gorrachie Croft. The house has two
rooms with a window. George is described as a shoemaker and crofter of five
acres. The rest of the household consists of his daughters, Mary, who is a
general domestic servant, and Agnes, who is at school.

George Duncan died at Gorrachie on Tuesday 15th October 1889, aged 79. The
cause of death was heart disease for many years and apoplexy for half a day.
The death was registered by his son-in-law, Alexander Porter, who described him
as a master shoemaker.

There is no entry for George’s burial in the King Edward register.

The inscription on the family gravestone at King Edward reads:

                                       IN
                                 MEMORY OF
                              GEORGE DUNCAN
                                  GORRACHIE
                         WHO DIED 25TH OCT. 1890       
                                AGED 80 YEARS
                          JEAN IRONSIDE HIS WIFE
                         WHO DIED 5TH SEPT. 1874
                                AGED 49 YEARS
                        ALSO THEIR SON ALEXANDER
                         WHO DIED 25TH MAR. 1866
                               AGED 14 MONTHS

The inscription gives the year of George’s death wrongly as 1890.

George’s son, George, later demolished the buildings at the croft and rebuilt
them on a new site. He also named the croft “Gowanlea”.

               [detailed map of the croft after rebuilding]




I'm not certain why gaps sometimes open up in these posts.

[KirstyG]

Thank you for such a comprehensive series of posts. I had a lot of that information but not in a well organised format as yet. I did not know that Gowanlea was on the site of the previous building, that might explain why I couldn't find it on maps.

Kirsty