THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE ROTTENSLOUGH IN 1731, WITH MARRIAGE DATES AND NOTES

Notes:

N1....Alexander McKenzie and Mary Sutherland were natives of the parish and were recorded living in the Rottenslough area before the fishing station was established. Kenneth McKenzie was first recorded in Portessie in 1741, but there is no direct evidence to suggest that he was their son. He possibly was an incomer and his origins, like the McKenzie families who had settled in the Broadhyth of Findochcty remain an open question.

N2....Robert Hasbane was born in Duffus parish in 1689. His parents were probably Alex Hasbane and Elspet Robertson. Janet Stronach was probably the daughter of Peter Stronach and Helen Hay. Earlier offspring, John and Margaret Hesbane, were not recorded in Rathven records and may not have survived. Janet Stronach died in 1732 and Robert then married Isabel Sutherland in the following year which suggests that a step-mother was required for the youngest children and so at least one of them probably survived.

N3....John Farquhar was recorded as the skipper and so must have had previous seamanship experience, possibly at Burghead, but he has not been identified. In 1719 there were John Farquhar elder and younger in the Burghead community. Jean Matheson was born in Duffus in 1699, the daughter of George Matheson and Margaret Forsyth. The youngest son born in Portessie was not named in the Rathven OPR and may not have survived. John was followed only twelve months later by twins Charles and Alex who may also not have survived.

N4....William Neilson may have been the son of John Neilson born at Alves in Duffus Parish in 1684. He was elected as an elder, the first no doubt from Portessie on 8.1.1727, which suggests that the Rottenslough was established earlier than this date. He died in Portessie in 1737. Elspet Farquhar was likely the daughter of Alex Farquhar and Isobel Shiach, born in Duffus in 1688. It is assumed that William Neilson was William senior's son. Apart from young William, none of the listed Neilson children appears in the records and may not have survived or moved away.

N5....William Sharp died in January 1731. He was presumably a widower and, it is assumed, the aged parent of John. John Sharp was born to William Sharp and Janet Christie at Grange in 1704 while a daughter Margaret was born in 1702 who has been tentatively identified as she who married John Flett in Broadhyth of Findochty in 1724. A daughter Elspet, born in 1712 in Grange was probably she who married Robert McCulloch in 1737. If this is correct it is an early example of migration from a rural community to a fishing village. John's wife, Janet Smith, was possibly the sister of Margaret Smith.

N6....John Miller was a widower, his wife Margaret Forbes was the first recorded fatality of the new village; she died in January, 1730. From later burial records Robert Miller is presumed to have been John and Margaret's son. John remarried Elspet MacKay in 1736.

N7....This family was not recorded after 1730 and probably moved out of the area.

N8....Donald Sutherland and Ann Ross had a son Alexander born in 1732 but seemed to have left the area.

N9....Alexander Smith was first recorded in Portessie in 1729 and married Margaret Smith in 1732 and so he was likely in his early twenties in 1731. He seems to be the Alex Smith,Laird who died in 1790.

N10...Due to the paucity of the evidence so far discovered, the composition of the Smith family or families remains speculative. Individuals named here were involved in later marriages.

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