Aspects of the Career of Alexander Berry, 1781-1873 Barry John Bridges University of Wollongong
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University of Wollongong Thesis Collections University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Year Aspects of the career of Alexander Berry, 1781-1873 Barry John Bridges University of Wollongong Bridges, Barry John, Aspects of the career of Alexander Berry, 1781-1873, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Department of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 1992. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/1432 This paper is posted at Research Online. Chapter 1 BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION Alexander Berry, the future squire of Crows Nest and laird of the Shoalhaven, was born in Hilltarvit farmhouse overlooking Cupar, the county town of Fife, Scotland, on St Andrew's day 30 November 1781. He was the first child of thirty-one year-old tenant farmer James Berrie and twenty- five year-old Isabel (Bell) Tod-'^. The Berry family in its most extended form was numerous in the north-eastern parishes of Fife and particularly strong in the parish of Leuchars, where the name was perhaps more common than any other.^ It is from this parish that the Berries or Berrys with whom we are concerned derive. Alexander's father and forebears used the name Berrie, he invariably signed Berry, his brothers and sisters were not consistent.^ The Berries of Alexander's line of descent were ancestral tenants of Lucklaw farm, just inside the boundary of Leuchars parish but geographically part of the adjoining parish of Logie- Murdoch.^ The latter was about two and a half miles in lenCfthr east to west and one mile in breadth north to south, consisting of one mountain, Lucklaw Hill, and rolling hills wedged between Cupar and Dundee Ferry, each about three Cupar Parish Register Bapt:|.^)nas/Marriages/Deaths 1778- 1819 (SRO OPR 420/3). Parish registers for Leuchars and adjacent parishes; John Fowler Mitchell and Sheila Mitchell, Monumental Inscriptions (pre 1855) in East Fife, n.p. 1971. For example, David signed himself 'Berry' in a letter published in the Empire, 4 Sep. 1855 but 'Berry' in his will of 1886. Newspaper reports from the Shoalhaven used both spellings. Alexander Martin, Robert Drysdale and William Johnson, Map. East Part of Fife - Sh., Edinburgh 1828 (University of St Andrews Library Map DA880. 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The rich land produced excellent crops of all kinds of grain cind considerable quantities of grass and turnips. Sheep grazed the hills and most of the tenant farmers paid a goodly part of their rents by raising young cattle. The hamlet of Logie clustered arotind the church, situated in a central location to the farms and the focus of community life. There was no centre of business and it was natural that the Berries should go in both directions to the towns of Leuchars and Cupar. Lucklaw farm is situated a short distance behind Logie church at the top of the steep rise from flat lands around Leuchars. It slopes down from the crest with the farm house and offices just below the brow, looking out on a panoramic view over Balmullo village in the middle distance to Leuchars and the sea beyond-^ As head of a household employing servants the tenant of Lucklaw occupied a middling status in a society where there was still a wide gap between landowner and tenant- From the frequency with which Alexander Berrie, great grandfather of Alexander of Crows Nest, is named as a witness at baptisms and weddings around the seventeen twenties the impression is gained that he was a central figure in the small community of Logie. ° Use of the more expensive of Leuchar's parish's two mortcloths at his funeral in 1741 indicates that the family regarded itself as being of substance and respectability some degree above the ordinary.' His son, another Alexander, father of ^ Rev. Robert Bogie, 'Parish of Logie', in Sir John Sinclair, ed. , The Statistical Account of Scotland 1791-1799, vX, Fife, East Ardley, Wakefield 2nd edn 1978, 616-619; A.H.Millar, Fife: Pictorial and Historical; its People, Burghs, Castles and Mansions, Cupar - Fife 1895, vl, 177-178, 180; Personal observation. ^ Logie Parish Register (SRO OPR 446/1). ^ Leuchars Parish Register of Mortcloth Money 1720-1765 (SRO OPR 445/2). Hire of the mortcloth or pall was a James, was tenant for the next thirty-five years. James, the eldest son, reached maturity while his father was still in possession and was probably assisted by him to become tenant of Hilltarvit. Tarvit or Wemysshall Hill is a prominence one and three quarter miles south of Cupar," the peak of which affords a magnificent view of the whole Howe of Fife." The extent of Hilltarvit farm has not been ascertained. Farms in the Cupar district ranged from about a hundred to three hundred acres.^^ From generally being mentioned in accounts of the district Hilltarvit appears to have been one of the larger holdings. Isabel Tod was born on 26 April 1756, the third daughter and fifth child of Alexander Tod, tenant of Claremont-'^-'^ in the parish of St Andrews and St Leonards, and his wife Janet Armit.-'^^ When Isabel was about six years old the family moved,^ becoming tenants of Cowbakie in Leuchars parish. Alexander Tod was still tenant there at means of raising funds for the relief of the poor. Social distinctions were preserved and receipts increased by having one cloth more elaborate and a good deal more expensive than the other. 8 Francis H.Groome, ed., Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Edinburgh 1901 edn, 329. John M. Leighton, History of the County of Fife, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Glasgow 1840, vll, 4; George Innes, Historical Notes and Reminiscences of Cupar, Cupar-Fife 1884,27. 10 Rev.George Campbell, 'Parish of Cupar of Fife', in Sinclair, ed.. The Statistical Account of Scotland 1791-1797, vX, 225; Leighton, op.cit., vll, 44. ^^ Sometimes rendered 'Clearmount' in old records 12 St Andrews and St Leonards Parish Register Births (SRO OPR 453/3). 13 Alexander, born Nov. 1761, was the last child born at 10 o eg r-co 6 -:1- CT\ o . J: ir\co CT- CM p M j3 -a r- CO • T- CO • • CM O . C CM-* c •< XI -a vo CO M T- • HI • O Q • • ' O O CM C T- CM < .O -o VO e\ •o b •"t- 3 B O •T» •O T-* • C T- 0\ d • • CO CM X c^u\ « r* T* •o < J3 -O b J3 d •p -a C\CM a E „o +> • .