Castle Of Mey

[Barnowl]

As for Castle Mey.....I've been trying to determine when the name was changed. It sounds like in 1952 when the Queen came to own it it was in a semi-derelict state but I'm not sure if it was being called Castle Mey then. We can see from the 1881 Scottish Census that at that time it was still being called Barrogill

It looks like the Castle of Mey was the original title, then one of its owners changed it to Barogill Castle in 1789, and that the Queen Mother changed it back to the Castle of Mey in 1952.

http://www.castleofmey.org.uk/index.html
http://www.castleofmey.org.uk/castle-history.html

All the best,

AndrewP

Well I wonder if people just always called it Castle Of Mey-despite the change and the name stuck!

[JustJean]

I wonder too about the name....so I've continued to dig some more....

From ancestry.com indexes we're able to uncover several folks either at Barrogill Castle or Barrogill Mains but all seem to be servant/farmer/housemaid/gardener types. I'm not yet finding who the "laird of the castle" might have been for that census!!!

Here is for example the Gardener and his family and you'll note that in 1891 it was still Barrogill....

Name: George Heggie
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1846
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Catherine W
Gender: Male
Where born: St Andrews, Fifeshire
Registration Number: 35
Registration district: Canisbay
Civil parish: Canisbay
County: Caithness
Address: Barrogill Castle
Occupation: Gardener Domestic Serv

Household Members: Name Age
Agnus E Heggie 12
Catherine Heggie 10
Catherine W Heggie 40
David W Heggie 8
George Heggie 45
Georgina Heggie 4
Jessie M Heggie 16
Mary Heggie 2
Robert Heggie 14

And by some good luck George Heggie lives another decade and doesn't change occupations!! A search for him on SP in the 1901 census and you get this:

1901 HEGGIE GEORGE M 55 CANISBAY /CAITHNESS 035/00 005/00 012

and upon viewing the image you learn that it is still being called Barrogill Castle. When clicking back another page you'll see that in 1901 the Coachman's house was uninhabited.

So no closer to finding good clues. Actually I was really hoping to find a family resident there in 1901 who might have had a daughter named Jean who might have stayed on to become head maid.

I really think the best thing to try and do is find their death certificates in England and hope that there is a way to track them backwards.

Best wishes
Jean

[Barnowl]

I wonder too about the name....so I've continued to dig some more....

From ancestry.com indexes we're able to uncover several folks either at Barrogill Castle or Barrogill Mains but all seem to be servant/farmer/housemaid/gardener types. I'm not yet finding who the "laird of the castle" might have been for that census!!!

Here is for example the Gardener and his family and you'll note that in 1891 it was still Barrogill....

Name: George Heggie
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1846
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Catherine W
Gender: Male
Where born: St Andrews, Fifeshire
Registration Number: 35
Registration district: Canisbay
Civil parish: Canisbay
County: Caithness
Address: Barrogill Castle
Occupation: Gardener Domestic Serv

Household Members: Name Age
Agnus E Heggie 12
Catherine Heggie 10
Catherine W Heggie 40
David W Heggie 8
George Heggie 45
Georgina Heggie 4
Jessie M Heggie 16
Mary Heggie 2
Robert Heggie 14

And by some good luck George Heggie lives another decade and doesn't change occupations!! A search for him on SP in the 1901 census and you get this:

1901 HEGGIE GEORGE M 55 CANISBAY /CAITHNESS 035/00 005/00 012

and upon viewing the image you learn that it is still being called Barrogill Castle. When clicking back another page you'll see that in 1901 the Coachman's house was uninhabited.

So no closer to finding good clues. Actually I was really hoping to find a family resident there in 1901 who might have had a daughter named Jean who might have stayed on to become head maid. :roll:

I really think the best thing to try and do is find their death certificates in England and hope that there is a way to track them backwards.

Best wishes
Jean

Well it looks as if the time period that concerns the Williams must be between 1901(when he was a Carter at 15 years old) and 1920. Walter was a frightening man to me as a child.He was very stern-but also very generous as he always gave me 2/6d when he visited which was 5 times as much as anyone else!This stern attitude fits the career that he was supposed to have ended up in!! Tom on the other hand was great fun, and the life and soul of any party!Jessie was born(unfortunately for your theory) 10 years before Walter so that doesn't seem likely as you said.I think I shall have to go into Bham Archives and try and find their death certs if they are available on microfiche or film- as you have suggested.By the way I was told Jean couldn't have children and that she actually adored them and always cooked little treats for the children-even in war years!