Kininvie Mortlach

[Relative Stranger]

I am researching the Cobban family. Jane Cobban, who married first James Grant and then Hugh Craib, had at least 9 children. The birthplace on the civil registration certs is given as Backhill of Kininvie. I would really like to purchase a map of the area. Where exactly is Kininvie in relation to Dufftown?

[Forfarian]

Kininvie is a few miles north of Dufftown, on a minor road to Maggieknockater.
See https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ3144

However Backhill of Kininvie is up the hill a couple of miles north-east of Kininvie House. See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.8&lat=57.48461&lon=-3.09165&layers=6&b=ESRIWorld&o=100&marker=57.48097,-3.15238 (you may need to zoom in). You'll see that when this map was surveyed there were several crofts and small farms there.

Nowadays, there are none, though a few ruins remain. See
https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/nj3444

[Forfarian]

In the 1881 census, Hugh Craib and family are enumerated in Sunyknow, Mortlach. Here's the extract from the LDS transcription of the 1881 census.

Dwelling:   Sunyknow
   Census Place:   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland  GROS Ref    Volume 162    EnumDist 7    Page 6
   Marr   Age   Sex   Birthplace
Hugh CRAIB   M   46    M   Keith, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Head
   Occ:   Crofter
Jane CRAIB   M   39    F   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Wife
Hugh CRAIB       1    M   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Son
Isabella CRAIB       1    F   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Daur
Aney GRANT (CRAIB)   U   16    F   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Step Daur
   Occ:   Gen Domestic Serv
Margaret GRANT (CRAIB)       12    F   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Step Daur
   Occ:   Scholar
John GRANT (CRAIB)       10    M   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Stepson
   Occ:   Scholar
James GRANT (CRAIB)       8    M   Mortlach, Banff, Scotland
   Rel:   Stepson
   Occ:   Scholar

Sunnyknowe was one of the crofts in the area marked as Backhill of Kininvie. See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=57.48496&lon=-3.09861&layers=257&b=ESRIWorld&o=100&marker=57.48554,-3.14418 (zoom in if necessary).

No trace of it now remains. If it had still been there it would have been in this view https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/422207 - somewhere in the middle distance, left of centre.

[Relative Stranger]

Forfarian, thank you so much for all the info. I just like to have an idea of where people live. The ancestors are so much more than just names and dates.

[AlanBoyd]

@Relative Stranger

Apologies if this is obvious to you, but the NLS map link that Forfarian has posted in reply #2 is to a view where the old OS map is overlaid on top of a satellite view which you can reveal using the slider at the bottom left. (if no slider is visible there should be a 'layers' icon at the bottom left above the +/- zoom icons which, if clicked, will reveal the slider.)

The satellite image that is revealed is the default ESRI World Image. You should see this stated along the top of the map where it says "Change background". That is a drop down menu and I suggest that you switch to the Google Satellite view which is more interesting. There you will see:

1) a crop mark of some sort corresponding to the track that passed to the SE of Sunnyknowe; and

2) a more intriguing feature, namely a green island that maps to where the well is marked on the OS map. I wonder if this is a damp hollow or other obstacle that has been avoided during cultivation?

[AlanBoyd]

This comes from three decades later, but is perhaps still a useful insight into what life at Kininvie must have been like.

12 June 1914: Aberdeen Press and Journal

[Relative Stranger]

Alan Boyd thank you for sharing all that. I will apply all the map info to other maps as well. And the newspaper article is amazing. Do you know if there is a local history society for the area>

[AlanBoyd]

No, I have no information about local history societies. There is a lot of information about the Kininvie estate online, especially in relation to your ancestor’s landlord Major Leslie. In particular there is a newspaper account of a “complimentary dinner” held in December 1886 on the occasion of his leaving for a while on some military appointment. Some tenants are named, but I do not see the names Craib or Cobban mentioned specifically. If you are interested I’d be happy to send copies by email: just send me a personal message. Don’t post your email address here.

[Forfarian]

Do you know if there is a local history society for the area>

There's the Banffshire and Moray Branch of the Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society https://anesfhs.org.uk/guest-home.

Moray and Nairn Family History Society https://www.morayandnairnfhs.co.uk/

Although not a society as such, there's lots of information at libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainenu.asp

I'm not aware of a more general local history society, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.