Anyone here aquainted with Perth?

[sheilajim]

Hi All

I would like some info on Perthshire.

On the 1851 Census my GGGGrandfather William Kay/Key iliving in Denny is listed as 81 years old. His birthplace is listed as Monivaird, Perth. His second eldest daughter is named Catherine.

When I did a search on SP for his birth, I found one that is a possible. A William Key is listed as being born to parents William Key and Catherine Mellish, in August 1768. This could be him but for two facts. One the age would be 1 year off, and the place of birth is Monzievaird and Strowan.
I was thinking that Monivaird and Monzievaird sound very much alike, but I don't know enough about Perth to know for sure if this is the same place.

Is anyone here aquainted with Perthshire?

Regards,

Sheila

Researching: Stirlingshire-Dun, Edmond, Key/Kay, Watson, McDonald.
Renfrewshire-McLaren, McDonald, Kennedy, Boyd.
Northern Ireland-Boyd, Kennedy, McKee
Mull- McKinnon, Campbell

[Anne H]

Hi Shiela,

I don't know anything about Perth but it sounds like you have a good BC for William.

Monivaird and Monzievaird and Strowan look like one and the same place according to this:

http://vision.edina.ac.uk:8698/unit_pag ... d=10215924

"Monzievaird and Strowan was a parish in the county of Perthshire, in Scotland. It was created in 1845 and abolished in 1975. It was also known as Monivaird and Strowan. It was part of Upper Strathearn".

You might also like to have a look at the Statistical Accounts to fill you in on what life was like...I love the information that can be gleaned from these accounts. http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk//sas/s ... lic#search


Regards,
Anne H

[Lorna Allison]

Hello Sheila

I live just about 6 miles from Monzievaird. It is pronounced "Munnyvaird" which would help explain the lack of "z" in your 1851 census entry. Also, the old church at Monzievaird, (now dismantled, although the churchyard in which it stood is kept in quite good nick) served the parish of Monzievaird and Strowan.

Monzievaird is about 3 miles west of Crieff and Monzie (Munnee) is about 3 miles to the east. Crieff is 17 miles west of the city of Perth.

Crieff, Monzievaird and Comrie form part of Strathearn. It is a very pretty area on the edge of the National Park and Kay is a name that figures largely in Crieff/Comrie. The electrician we have used since he was a lad of 18 (now in his 50s!) is one William Kay!

Hope this helps

Lorna

[sheilajim]

Hi Lorna & Anne,

Thank you both very much for the info. I will put this birth record that I found as a definite possibility.

Thank you Anne especially for that link to Britain. I will be checking into that site often.

Thank you Lorna for explaining about Monzievaird and Monivaird. It is nice to know that there are still Kays in Perth. Maybe your electrician is a long lost distant relative.

Cheers

[Rach]

Sorry for butting in on your post, Sheila, but I have question I would like to ask Lorna.

Lorna - you say that the churchyard is kept in 'quite good nick'. I have been up in the area to search Fowlis Wester and Monzie graveyards for ancestors and did find two which was great. However there seemed a lack of any others - mid 19C and before. As the ancestors I am looking for were born in M & S I now wonder if they were buried there. Are most of the gravestones reasonably legible and upright? If so I may take a run up there later in the summer.
Rae

[Mairi]

Hi Sheila and Lorna,

I too have been been researching this area through net research on McRorys/McRories and McLarens. Have not yet got around to ordering the book of MIs in Upper Strathearn. Would also be interested in the range of graveyards and the state of the headstones.
Sheila, I got pictures from the SCRAN site and information through googling Upper Strathearn.
I am curious about your Catherine Mellish. In the line I was investigating there was a Janet Malish who was difficult to track. Have an idea that this surname was a derivation of McLeish having learned this clan sept was in the area and having seen the writing on the MC. Have a post on this somewhere here.
Mairi.

[sheilajim]

Hi Mairi,

I noticed that when I was looking for brothers and sisters of this William Key, that the mother's name could be spelled Malish, Mallish of Mellish. It doesn't seem to be that common a name. I wouldn't be at all surprised that the name is a derivation of McLeish.

Of course I am only assuming that this is my William Kay. I don't know for certain, and there is the fact that the birth date is off by one year. There could be another William Kay/Key born in 1769 (the correct year according to the 1851 census) that was not baptized, or was baptized in another parish or church.

I didn't know that the SCRAN site had pictures too.

Regards

[Mairi]

Hi, Sheila,
The Scran site has a wide range of images. I found old photos of St. Andrews, villages in West Lothian, Glasgow, districts of Argyll, pictures of weavers, farmers, old factories, fishing communities, churches and so on to complement my paper copies of records. There are old maps too.
Mairi.

[sheilajim]

Hi Mairi,

Thanks for that info. It looks like I will be visiting the SCRAN Site often. I also want to put pictures beside my certificates, and write about the times and geography. I haven't decided yet whether to put them all together in a large scrapbook or on a disc. I will probably do both.

Cheers

[bleckie]

Hi Shiela

Monivaird is a small village in the parish of Monzievaird and Strowan it lies between Crieff and Comrie

yours

bruce leckie