Turner Hall - Ellon

[KSmith1981]

Hi there - my great, great grannie was the Irish cook to whom you refer !! Hannah’s mum was a White - Eliza White from Toem, County Tipperary. Any link?

[dumork]

That's interesting. Do you know when your gg granny Hannah Hansard left the post of cook at Turner Hall?

[KSmith1981]

I think Hannah probably left Turner Hall just before she had her first daughter, Jessie Davidson, in 1874 - or, when she got married to William Davidson from Ellon a few years previously. I’d love to know why she came to Turner Hall from Dundrum in County Tipperary, land of Cornwallis Maude, rather than head West to America like most of her siblings. One brother worked in London with Lord Hawarden.

[MelW66]

I have a census record for 1841, stating House of Turnerhall, with the overseer listed as George Brichen (should be Brechin) age 40 (but probably rounded down from 44) and his son George age 12. There is also a Jas. Thomson age 15, ag labourer and Jane Watt age 18, female servant.

So does this mean they were the only ones in the house at that time?

The people on either side of the census record are at Cookstown on one side and what looks like Elphincroft on the other side.

I'm trying to verify the identity of George Brechin circa 1829 parents George Brechin and Barbara Gordon. I think his mother may have died in 1840, so this is looking likely. George (circa 1829) was my GG grandfather.
Can anyone shed any more light on this?
thanks,
Melanie

[MonicaL]

Hi Melanie

Do you have George Jnr's marriage or death registrations to see what shows for him? His death is indexed as:

GEORGE GORDON BRECHIN
Age 83
Mother's maiden name GORDON
1912
275/ 92
Brechin

If you have access, there is a family tree here for George father www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/176458191/person/372290809691/facts

Are these George Jnr's details here www.bayanne.info/Shetland/getperson.php?personID=I493763&tree=ID1

Monica

[MonicaL]

The reference to Turner Hall in 1841 continues to connect with George Brechin, looking at the OS books for late 1860s https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnance-survey-name-books/aberdeenshire-os-name-books-1865-1871/aberdeenshire-volume-29/66

Kinhararrachy is showings as his residence in 1861: Kinhanachy Cottage Gamekeeper's House, Gamekeeper & Farmer Of 20 Acres.

Monica

[MelW66]

Thanks Monica. Yes those are George Jnrs details. There is no birth record for him, that I can locate, but that is his death record.

There are a few family trees on ancestry - all with different parents! So I don't think any of them are necessarily accurate. So, for example the one you gave the link to, the death record for that George with parents George and Margaret Adam, only lists Jane Todd as his wife. There is a marriage record for George marrying Jane Todd in 1843. But no children, unlike the Mary Jane Todd listed in that tree.

The list on Bayanne has Barbara Gordon being born in 1805. But there were quite a few Barbara Gordon's born around the time and I can't find anything that verifies that this is the same Barbara Gordon.

There were also a few George Brechin/Brichens, so it is hard to work out who is whom. But the death record for George Junior lists his father as a land steward. Could a land steward be the same as an overseer? What about a Master Gardener?

There are 2 census records in 1841 for a George Brechin aged 12. One is the one living at Turner Hall. The other is living in a large house as a male servant. Either way, the mother was not around so I suspect Barbara Gordon may have died in 1840 or earlier.

So I think it is still a tangled web at this stage, and I can't rely on those other trees. But I have hope that I will find more evidence and will untangle the web.

[MelW66]

Oh wow Monica, that record for the OS books is brilliant! I looked at a few pages, and George Brechin is listed as the authority for the spelling of names of a lot of them. Which would indicate to me that he is a land steward, wouldn't you think?
Oh gosh, it's after 3am, I need to go to bed.
Thanks Monica, those leads have been great.

[GR2]

A stone in the old kirkyard at Ellon has the inscription:

Erected by his widow in memory of her husband George Brichen late land steward Turnerhall who died at Kinharrachy 17th January 1881 aged 84 years. Also his wife Jane Todd who died 5th Dec. 1909 aged 86 years.

James Godsman, in his book on Ellon, lists amongst the tenants of East Kinharrachie, "Robert Breichen, 1740-1797, and his brother, Dr. George Breichen, 1744-1821."