Brother's Keeper 6
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7 Apr 2011 Harrower descendants Generation One 1. BASE Harrower. The surname Harrower is believed to have originated in Scotland and to be derived from the gaelic language spoken by christian celts. Harrower is the Scottish (Fife) and English occupational name for someone who harrowed cultivated land, perhaps someone who did this as a feudal service on manorial land, from an agent derivative of Middle English harwen 'to rake' (of Scandinavian origin). An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857) indicates the etymology of the name, Harrower, comes from the subduer; from the French harrier, to harrass;--and this, perhaps, from the Anglo Saxon, hergian, to conquer or subdue;--one who harrows the ground. Notable people with the surname Harrower include: David Harrower (born 1966), Scottish playwright Elizabeth Harrower (actress) (1918-2003), American actress and screenwriter Elizabeth Harrower (writer) (born 1928), Australian novelist and short story writer Henry Harrower (1883-1934), American endocrinologist James Harrower (1935-2006), Scottish footballer John Douglas Harrower (born 1947), Anglican Bishop of Tasmania Kristi Harrower (born March 4, 1975), Australian basketball player Molly Harrower (1906-1999), South African clinical psychologist Pat Harrower (1860?), Scottish rugby player Surname Summary Data for HARROWER Frequency Comparisons Total Rank Frequency % Per million people Great Britain United Kingdom (current) 915 5634 0.002 20 United Kingdom (1881 census) 671 5435 0.002 22 Change since 1881 +244 -199 0 -2 Other Countries United States 42547026 less than 0.001 2 Australia 2546073 0.002 16 The Harrowers in this family tree hailed from Clackmannanshire in Scotland, which had 177 recorded Harrowers in the 1881 Census (i.e. over 1/4 of all Harrowers then in the UK, with Clackmannan, Tillicoultry and Alloa being the heaviest Harrower-populated towns). Clackmannanshire is the smallest county in Scotland being only 10 miles long from East to West and no more than 8 miles in extreme width. It contains the four parishes of Alloa , Clackmannan, Dollar and Tillicoultry . The parish of Tillicoultry formerly consisted of 3 villages, Westerton or Cairntown ; Earlston, Ellertown or Eastertown and Coalsnaughton. Cairntown is an earlier name than Westertown and relates to the Shillinghill area of the town - the name is preserved in the street name, Cairnton Place Eastertown was an area around the Tillicoultry Mains Farm and this name is preserved in the street name, Easterton A Short History of Tillicoultry c1750 - Present by George MacLeod The Tillicoultry estate was received on feudal tenure by Aleumus de Meser from King Alexander II. Aleumus de Meser the younger failed to render the feudal service due for his lands and they were consequently taken from him and granted to William Count of Mar in 1261 by King Alexander III in the - 1 - 7 Apr 2011 14th year of his reign. The estate was held by the the Earls of Mar till 1483 at which time it came into the possession of the ancestors of Lord Colvil of Culross who held the estate till 1634 when it was sold to William Alexander of Menstry (Menstrie), a noted poet who would later become the Earl of Stirling. The estate had a large number of owners over the next 200 years or so (see Table 1). The earliest map of Clackmannanshire which is still readily available is the manuscript produced by John Adair around 1681 (see Image 1, click on the image for a larger view). This map, whilst of interest shows very little detail and gives more of a general view of the county and depicts many of the grand houses of the time. On the other hand Roy's map of 1747-1755 (See Image 2) displays a much larger degree of detail. In this map the run-rig field systems can clearly be seen with the characteristic curves to the fields and the apparent random layout. The detailed section shown in image 2 also depicts three farm touns around Tillicoultry house, Easter Tillicoultry, Wester Tillicoultry and Bankhead. Table 1: Owners of the Tillicoultry Estate Estate Owner Aquired William Count of Mar 1261 ancestors of Lord Colvil of Culross 1483 William Alexander of Menstry 1634 Sir Alexander Rollo of Duncrub 1644 John Nicholson of Carnock 1659 Lord Tillicoultry 1701 Hon Charles Barclay Maitland of Lauderdale 1756 James Bruce Esq. Of Kinross1780 Duncan Glassfors Esq. 1806 James Erskine Esq. 1810 R. Downie Esq. 1813 R. Wardlaw Ramsay Esq. Succeeded to the estate 1837 Part of estate and the mansion house sold to Patrick Stirling Esq. 1837 R. Wardlaw Ramsay Esq. Bought back 1840 Wester toun would later develop into the village of Tillicoultry itself. There is also some detail of the grounds around Tillicoultry house showing a clearly planned layout with avenues, squared fields and hedgerows. A great deal of information regarding the parish in the latter stages of the 18th century can be gleaned from the first statistical account of Scotland which was conducted between 1791-1799. These records were usually written by the parish minister, in the case of Tillicoultry the Rev. Mr. William Osborne. Rev. Osborne writes that "the parish covers an area of approximately 6000 acres, 4000 of which lie in the Ochil hills and 2000 form the low arable ground at the foot of the hills." With regard to the soil and the surface of the land Rev. Osborne notes "the soil is generally rich in quality and quite fertile if properly take care of. The crofts appear to have an abundance of stones and great quantities have been gathered to make ploughing of the land easierThe land nearer the Dovan (Devon river <images/devon.txt>) however, seems of much better quality, with a deep loam mixed with sand. The land south of the river is regarded as much poorer to that of the north with a considerable part of it covered with heath", which Rev. Osborne notes "could not easily be improved". Rev. Osborne also comments with some degree of pride that the ploughs and ploughing methods used cannot be surpassed anywhere and in fact a ploughman from the parish was sent to Windsor to "give a proper specimen of plowing (sic) on his Majesty's farm". Rev. Osborne goes on to point out that the farmers of the area do not pretend to lead in the field of agricultural improvement but rather profit by the observations and practice of others. Two horse ploughs are become more widely use in the parish which is regarded as a great improvement in husbandry. The major crops at this time appear to be oats and barley with wheat apparently only being grown by one farmer, Mr. Johnson, possibly on the Gutters farm and each acre producing 8 to 10 bolls. Turnips seem to be rarely grown and cabbages are never grown. It also appears at this time most of the farmers were unsure of the acreage of their farms thus making an estimate of crop yields difficult. However, Rev. Osborne estimates that an acre of the best land, well manured will produce from 7 to 10 bolls of oats, each weighing 14 - 15 stone and yielding about 1 boll of meal (see appendix i). The whole parish appears to be made up of small farms with only 5 having a rent above £50 per annum. A large part of the parish is enclosed and laid to grass which is let for summer grazing. Two farmers in particular are - 2 - 7 Apr 2011 singled out for praise of their improvements, Mr. Barclay Maitland having created many enclosures and plantations and Mr. Tait of Harviestoun , which he has totally enclosed. Mr. Tait is noted to follow the practice of fallowing his fields, after which they are manured with dung, limed and then sown with barley and grass. By the time of the first statistical record much of the previous common hill land, some 300 acres were in the possession of Mr. Bruce. All of the feuers appear to have given up their rights to the common in exchange for more lower level land or a reduction in their feu duty. According to the first statistical account coal is abundant in the parish south of the Ochil hills, although it had not been exploited to any great extent. There appears to have been 4 seams but only two having been worked. It is also noted that some of the coal is of high enough quality to export, especially to Holland, with some 3000 chalders having been shipped annually from Alloa. The report also notes that the coal had not been worked for the last 4 years but there was clearly a great deal of profit to be had from it in the future. Rev. Osborne also makes quite a point of the Devon company having been the tacksmen (the middlemen between the laird and tenant) for the coal for over a year and a half but actually having produced no coal. Also pointing out that while coal reamains in the ground it is of no value to either the proprietor or the tacksmen. With regard to the transportation of the coal it is noted by Rev. Osborne that it is extraordinary that there is no public road from Tillicoultry to a public harbour , or to a market town in which there is a custom house (Alloa). In the year 1792 there were 853 people living in the parish (see Table 2), an increase of almost 150 since 1755, possibly attributable to the establishment of the Devon company in the area. Table 2: Occupations of population in 1792 Occupation number farmer 34 weaver 21 wright 6 mason 7 smith 3 shoemaker 3 tailor3 miner 4 labourer 51 gardener 1 miller 1 dancing master 1 male house servent 1 female house servent 12 male labouring servent 25 Female labouring servent 12 At this time most of the inhabitants of the parish lived in the three villages of Westertown, Earlstown (sometimes referred to as Eastertown) and Coalsnaughton with only 36 families residing outside the villages with 3 in the Ochils.