Tag Archives: John ORMSBY (1856-1927)

MUIR, James (1842-1924)

09 Friday Aug 2013

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WATSON1900-006a

James MUIR b: 26 January 1843 in Maybole, Ayrshire, d: 26 December 1924 in Dean Cottage, 11 Maybole Road, Ayr, Ayrshire. (Photo from the author’s collection)

Places lived:

  • 1843 January 26 born in Craigokean /Craigenroy [?], Maybole, Ayshire
  • 1865, November 21 in Tunnoch, Maybole, Ayrshire – Farm Servant, (married Helen McNAB b: 1844 October 21, in Glenhouse (Glenluie), Kirkoswald, Ayrshire)
  • 1865 December 19, in Crosshill, Kikmichael, Ayrshire – Farm Steward, (daughter Jane MUIR born here)
  • 1867 February 28 – grandfather James MUIR died at Craigenroy, Maybole, Ayrshire (family lived there since James birth in 1843?)
  • 1868 June 06, in Damside, Sorn, Ayrshire – Coachman (Domestic) (son William MUIR born here)
  • 1870-1872 in Beoch, Maybole, Ayrshire – Farm Overseer, (1870 June 13, son James MUIR born here), (1872 April 30, son John MUIR born here)
  • 1874 February 19, in Knockton Cottage, Maybole, Ayrshire – Shepherd (daughter Helen Ramsay MUIR born here)
  • 1876 June 03, in Low Milton, Maybole, Ayrshire – Bower, (son David MUIR born here)
  • 1878 – 1882 in Slaphouse by Ayr, Ayrshire – Dairyman (1878 May 18, daughter Mary MUIR born here)  (1880 August 6, son George Kennedy MUIR born here)  (1882 October 23, son Gilbert MUIR born here)
  • 1882 – 1886 in Slaphouse or Robbsland?
  • 1886 – 1889 in Robbsland by Ayr, Ayrshire – Dairyman  (1886 January 7, son Thomas MUIR born here)  (1887 January 20, daughter Jane married Thomas WATSON here) (1889 June 03, father William MUIR died here)
  • 1890 – 1906 in Mainholm Farm, St. Quivox – Farmer,  (1890 May 05 – mother Elizabeth MANSON died here)  (1894 December 12, daughter Helen married John ORMSBY here)  (1902 December 12, son John married Agnes RUSSELL, John’s address Mainholm)  (1903 August 27, daughter Mary married Duncan GRANT here)  (1906 December 04, son George Kennedy married Helen DICKSON, George’s address Mainholm)
  • 1907–1924 in Mainholm Farm or Dean Cottage?
    (1907 February 8, son Gilbert married Alison GILMOUR, Gilbert’s address Beresford Lane, Ayr)
  • 1924 December 26, died at Dean Cottage, 11 Maybole Road, Ayr, Ayrshire – Farmer (Retired)

Photos from the author’s collectionIMG_0081

  • IMG_0075IMG_0076
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ORMSBY, Henry (Harry) (1911-1983)

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Ayr, Brickrow Farm, Ormsby Family, Scotland

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[for Harry’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information added and / or images added  02 December 2014]

Henry (Harry) ORMSBY was born on 10 June 1911 in Brickrow Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland, the eighth and youngest child of John ORSMBY and his wife Helen Ramsay MUIR. Harry, as he was always known, was named after his uncle Henry ORSMBY and was a benificary in his uncle’s will. Family events provide a glimpse of Harry’s life. Only 16 when his father died in 1927, responsibility for the farm and family fell to him as he was the only surviving son. Harry made the trip to the Registrar’s Office to register his father’s death. Three months later, Harry again made the trip to the Registrar’s office; this time to register the death, at Brickrow Farm, of his uncle Andrew Ormsby.

Harry lived with his mother Helen and sisters Helen (Nellie) McNab Steel ORMSBY and Margaret (Peggy) Wilson ORMSBY at Brickrow Farm. In 1929, two years after his father died, he was the informant of the death of his 85 year old grandmother Helen MUIR (maiden surname McNAB) at Brickrow Farm. Cause of her death was ‘senility’ and she had been cared for by the Ormsby family for some years.

Harry was close to his Muir cousins, the children of his uncles Gilbert MUIR and George Kennedy MUIR. On December 16, 1931 Harry, 20, was witness to the marriage of his cousin Annie Clement MUIR to James COLVILLE at 11 Maybole Road (‘Dean Cottage’) in Ayr. (for Muir family cousins see page ‘James and Helen (MCNAB) MUIR Family’ under heading ‘MUIR’ top of screen)

On January 3, 1940 Harry was again a witness to the marriage of a Muir cousin, this time when James Douglas (‘Douglas’) MUIR married Phyllis HEATH, at North Church in Prestwick, Ayrshire.

Harry and James appear to have been close cousins since, when Harry (36) married Annie Young SPROAT (40) on 29 January 1947 Douglas was a witness to their marriage.

Photo below: left to right; ________, Harry, Annie, and ‘Douglas’ Muir. Photo from the collection of E. H. of South Africa.

Henry Ormsby's Wedding

Annie was born on 27 December 1907 in Skerrington Mains, Hurlford, Ayrshire, Scotland to John SPROAT and Isabella NELSON. Annie’s father had a small land holding just across the road from Brickrow Farm so she and Harry had known each other for years. Annie moved to Brickrow Farm, where her rather formidable and domineering mother-in-law Helen lived. Peggy, Harry’s sister Margaret, took a housekeeping job in East Kilbride and took their mother Helen with her to give the newly married couple more space to themselves at Brickrow Farm.

Harry and Annie continued to farm at Brickrow until Harry’s retirement, aged 65, in 1976. Throughout this time, family from Canada stayed in touch and visited whenever they were in Scotland.

WATSON1977-000-Don-Slater

Photo left: Annie, Harry and Margaret Ormsby, taken Alloway, Ayrshire Scotland in 1977 by Elsie (Watson) Slater from Winnipeg. Brig’O’Doon in the background. See Donald Slater’s Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek for this an other family photographs.

WATSON1983-006-Annie-HarryPhoto left: Harry and Annie Ormsby in Ayr, about 1982

WATSON1984-004-Tom-Peggy-Annie WATSON1984-005-Annie

Photo left, L to R: Thomas (Tom) Watson ACTON, Margaret (Peggy) Wilson ORMSBY and Annie

Photo lower left: Annie, Both photos taken 1984 in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Harry and Annie continued to farm Brickrow until they retired when they moved to 18 Duchvay Place, Coylton in Ayrshire. After Harry’s death on 20 January 1983 in Heathfield Hospital, Ayr,
Ayrshire Annie contined to live in Coylton. She died July 8, 1993 in Ballochmyle Hospital, Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland.

ORMSBY, John (Johnnie) Muir (1906-1924)

03 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in Brickrow Farm, Ayr, Scotland, Ormsby Family

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[for John’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

John (Johnnie) Muir ORMSBY was born on 26 June 1906 in Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the seventh child and second son born to John ORMSBY and his wife Helen Ramsay (MUIR) ORMSBY. While not much is known about Johnnie, it is likely that great expectations were placed on him by his parents, who had already lost their first son James Muir ORMSBY [see post 23 November 2012] four years before Johnnie’s birth.

Unfortunately, their hopes were not to be realized. Johnnie, aged 17, died at Brickrow Farm of tuberculosis on 17 May 1924. He was the fourth child of John and Helen’s to die.

His death cast gloom over his sister Jane (Jean’s) Muir ORMSBY marriage to James (Jimmy) Crawford MCGUIRE five months later [see post 16 November 2012]. Family stories indicate that the wedding was conducted in a  ‘sombre fashion’ by the grieving Ormsby family.

There are no known pictures of Johnnie.

ORMSBY, Margaret (Peggy) Wilson (1904-1992)

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in Brickrow Farm, Ayr, Scotland, Ormsby Family

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[for Margaret’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 01 June 2013]

Margaret (Peggy) Wilson ORMSBY was born on 14 September 1904 in Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland, the sixth child and fifth daughter born to John ORMSBY and his wife Helen Ramsay MUIR. Two children had already died by the time Margaret arrived. I have not been able to determine the source of her middle name ‘Wilson’, although James WILSON was the parish minister at St. Quivox for at least thirty years and had married Margaret’s parents John and Helen Ormsby in 1894. It is possible that James Wilson was a close family friend as well since on October 24, 1924, he officiated at the marriage of Margaret’s sister Jane (Jean) Muir ORMSBY to James Crawford MCGUIRE. [see post 16 November 2012]. Margaret, 20, (photo below) was witness at the marriage.

The photo right [Margaret, October 24, 1924] was sent by Margaret’s mother Helen to her sister Jane (Jean) (MUIR) WATSON who lived in Saskatchewan, Canada. The photograph is now in the collection of an Ormsby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Margaret never married. She worked as a live-in housekeeper / cook for many years, primarily for a well-to-do elderly bachelor. Apparently it was a position that financially allowed her to indulge in her enjoyment of fashion as family stories indicate that she “had a sense of style and always wore lovely clothes”. When the elderly bachelor died he left Margaret a bequest sufficiently large that she was able to buy or build a small home for her retirement.

About 1947 when her brother Henry (Harry) ORMSBY married, Margaret decided that it would be best if Harry and his bride Annie Young SPROAT had Brickrow Farm to themselves without the presence of their mother Helen who had become domineering and overbearing woman. Margaret took a housekeeping job in East Kilbride and took her mother with her. After her mother’s death in 1951, Margaret continued to work as a housekeeper.

On her retirement Margaret lived at her home at 3 Allenfield Road in Ayr. Family ties were important to her and Margaret was a letter writer. From family photos and letters I know that, although she never travelled to Canada, she maintained contact with her Saskatchewan cousins [children of Jane MUIR and Thomas WATSON] and they visited her whenever possible. She may also have been in touch with her cousins in New Zealand (children of Richard Steele ORMSBY), and Australia (children of James Henry ORMSBY), unfortunately no records or letters have been found to indicate this was the case.

Family members from Canada did stay in touch and visited whenever they were in Scotland.

WATSON1977-000-Don-Slater

Photo left: Annie, Harry and Margaret Ormsby, taken Alloway, Ayrshire Scotland in 1977 by Elsie (Watson) Slater from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Brig’O’Doon in the background. See Donald Slater’s Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek for this an other family photographs.

Photo left: Margaret (left) and her sister Jean Muir (ORMSBY) McGUIRE (right) at 3 Allenfield Road, Ayr, with Canadian cousin Samuel Acton WATSON, from Victoria, British Columbia. Sam’s father, James Muir WATSON, was a 1st cousin of Margaret and Jean. This visit occurred about 1982. Photo above and below are from the author’s collection.

Photo left: Thomas (‘Tom’) Watson ACTON, from Saskatchewan, visited Margaret in 1984, the visit referred to in the letter below. Tom’s mother Helen (Nell) McNab (WATSON) ACTON and Margaret were 1st cousins.

3, Allenfield Rd., Ayr, 17.1.85

Dear Jean & Tom,

I am sure you must think I have departed this world! I am so late in saying ‘thank you’ for your lovely Christmas card and a previous letter.

I am only now starting to write. I had a week in hospital in early December, and had the cataract removed from my right eye. The op. has been a success, but on returning home I took a very lazy fit. They say “Some people sit and think”, but I just sat. I am told that I had left it too late having my first experience of an anesthetic at eighty!

I feel more active now but am plagued with a bad cold.

We are having our first snow of the winter and it is bitterly cold, though nothing like in the south of England.

[page 2 of the letter, not shown here, continued…]

It has been quite a year. This miners’ strike has caused such an upheaval. Luckily, I had decided to finish with my coal fire and will not use it again though I do miss it.

Ann [Annie ORMSBY, Harry ORMSBY’s widow] has had another spell of backache and confined to the house. I have not been able to visit her for two days but we have long chats on the phone. In late summer she had treatment from a specialist near Edinburgh and was happy to think she had been cured but alas! I think she will return for more treatment when the cold season ends. I do hope too that she can find a home in Ayr during the year.

I have nice kindly neighbours here and I would be tempted to go house hunting myself. I have no quarrel with my present house but the garden is just a bit too much nowadays. However will give it another summer and find out if I can manage.

I do hope you both keep well and you are coming to terms with retirement! Perhaps you will fancy another long holiday as you had last summer.

Sorry my writing is so poor – I have still to get new spectacles.

My thanks and good wishes to both.

Sincerely Margt

Letter above is now in the collection of an Ormsby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Margaret, 88 years old, died on 11 June 1992 in Biggart Hospital, Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland.

ORMSBY, James Muir (1901-1902)

23 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in Brickrow Farm, Ayr, Scotland, Ormsby Family

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[for James’ parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

James Muir ORMSBY, born on 06 June 1901 at Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayshire, Scotland was the fifth child and first son born to John ORMSBY and his wife Helen Ramsay MUIR.  The choice of the name ‘James’ easily satisfied Scottish naming traditions as the baby’s father’s father was James [James ORMSBY] as was his mother’s father [James MUIR]. Finally a son – the heir apparent!

Little less than a year before James’ birth, on 30 July 1900 at Brickrow Farm, his three (3) year old sister Mary Manson Muir ORMSBY died of scarlet fever, a contagious childhood disease.  At the time of James’ birth, the Ormsby household was filled with four young children under the age of six (6), likely the parents were concerned that more of their brood would be felled by the dread disease.

Unfortunately James’ life was cut short, although not by scarlet fever. He died on 26 July 1902 at Brickrow Farm when he was just over a year old. Cause of death was ‘tabes mesenterica’ (duration two months) and meningitis (duration three days). The Orsmby family was without an heir.

Right: Cause of death from James’ death registration.

Tabes mesenterica is a wasting disease of childhood, accompanied by fever, which can be caused by drinking milk from cows that have been infected by tuberculosis. Mandatory pasteurisation laws were not passed in Scotland until the 1980s.

Why had James died, probably from drinking infected cows milk, when the other Ormsby children escaped this fate? Was James the only one to drink cow’s milk? Or just from that particular cow, although it is highly unlikely that only one cow in a herd would be infected. Was James not being nursed by his mother? Perhaps his mother Helen was not able to nurse her baby James? This situation could have added the emotion of personal responsibility as well as grief to a young mother who in the space of two years had lost two babies.

ORMSBY, Jessie Ross (1899-1921)

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

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[for Jessie’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

Jessie Ross ORMSBY was born on 21 June 1899 in Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland, the fourth child and daughter born to John ORSMBY and his wife Helen Ramsay MUIR in the first five years of their marriage. I have not been able to determine the source of her middle name ‘Ross’.

She was born into the family during a tumultuous time. In 1900 Jessie’s sister Mary [Mary Manson Muir ORMSBY], not yet 4 years old, died of the contagious disease scarlet fever. In April 1901 a nurse lived with the family, to help the young mother Helen cope: with three young children under the age of 6; the aftermath of Mary’s death in 1900; and the impending birth of another child in June 1901.

Jessie became a beautiful young woman whose life was cut short tragically by tuberculosis at age 22 after a five month illness.

On the back of the photo below:
“On Loving Memory of Jessie Ross Ormsby,
Born June 21st 1899, Died December 11, 1921” in her mother Helen’s handwriting.

These photos of Jessie Ross were sent by her mother Helen to Helen’s sister Jean (MUIR) WATSON who lived in Saskatchewan, Canada. Both photographs are from the collection of an Orsmby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

ORMSBY, Jane (Jean) Muir (1897-1983)

16 Friday Nov 2012

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[for Jane’s (Jean’s) parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

Jane (Jean) Muir ORMSBY was born on 05 October 1897 in Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland, the third of John ORMSBY and Helen Ramsay MUIR’s children and daughters.

On 30 October 1924, at Brickrow Farm, 27 year old Jean married James (Jimmy) Crawford McGUIRE, 30, an engineer in the Merchant Marine. Family stories relate that the wedding was a relatively “sombre affair” as Jean’s brother Johnnie had died of consumption five months previously, and her uncle Henry ORMSBY had died the previous month.

Photo left: Jean, the bride seated, her husband James (Jimmy) McGUIRE in uniform. The witnesses of the marriage were Jane’s sister Margaret (Peggy) Wilson ORMSBY and Robert MUIR, a friend of Jimmy’s. Robert, although his surname was Muir does not appear to have been related to the Muir family of Jean’s mother. The photograph is from the collection of an Orsmby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Jimmy spent much of his career as the Chief Engineer of the ‘Queen of Bermuda’. This ship, completed in the early 1930s by the Furness Bermuda Line, sailed the lucrative New York to Bermuda route. The ‘Queen of Bermuda’, and her sister ship ‘Monarch of Bermuda’, were the elite luxury ships of that time. They were known as the ‘millionaires’ ships’, favourites of movie stars and other prominent people.

The weekly run between New York and Bermuda took only forty hours in each direction, which allowed four days to be spent on the island. For Jimmy, as a senior officer, it was a glamorous route and lifestyle on a luxurious ship.

Jimmy was seldom at home in Scotland with his family since his route lay between New York and Bermuda. Passenger records show that Jean had one opportunity to join Jimmy and they lived in Bermuda from 1952 to 1957. Jean returned to Scotland for a short visit in 1956. Jean loved tropical Bermuda, particularly the garden she grew.

In September 1957 both Jean and Jimmy returned to Scotland. Jimmy was 63 and perhaps he had retired?

Jean and Jimmy had a home in Mauchline (5 Weldon Road), Ayrshire where Jimmy died in 1969. After Jimmy died, Jean continued to live in Mauchline. She died in 1983, aged 86. She is remembered as a “lovely person, she looked after her sisters and never complained”.

ORMSBY, Mary Manson Muir (1896-1900)

15 Thursday Nov 2012

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[for Mary’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

Mary Manson Muir ORMSBY was born on 14 August 1896 in Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland. She was the second of John and Helen Ramsay [MUIR] ORMSBY’s children. Her given name Manson was after her maternal great-grandmother Jane MANSON who died six years previously at Mainholme Farm in Ayr where Helen’s parents [James MUIR and Helen McNAB] lived.

Mary died at age four on 30 July 1900 in Brickrow Farm. Cause of death was scarlet fever, a contagious childhood disease. Until vaccine was developed for scarlet fever in 1924, it was a major cause of death. Mary’s sisters Helen (Nelly) [Helen McNab Steel ORMSBY], Jane (Jean) [Jane Muir ORMSBY] and Jessie [Jessie Ross ORMSBY] were all young children at the time and there would have been concern that they would die of the disease as well.

Below, Mary’s father John ORMSBY signed her death registration on July 30th 1900.

ORMSBY, Helen (Nelly) McNab Steel (1895-1976)

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

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[for Helen’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 1 April 2013]

Helen (Nelly) McNab Steel ORMSBY was born on 26 February 1895 at Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first of John and Helen (Ramsay MUIR) ORMSBY’s children. She was named after both her maternal (Helen McNAB) and paternal (Helen STEEL) grandmothers, perhaps an indication that her parents had difficulty agreeing on a name.

Right is a photograph of Helen – on the back of photo “Helen Ormsby, 1914” in her mother Helen’s hand writing. Helen (the daughter) was 19 years old in 1914. This portrait was taken at the Studio of Henderson & Son, Prestwick and Ayr. The photograph is from the collection of an Orsmby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Helen (the mother) sent this photograph to her sister Jane (Jean) (MUIR) WATSON in Saskatchewan. Jean’s son James Muir WATSON had recently married Agnes  (‘Nancy’) Elizabeth ACTON in Saskatchewan and the two sisters may have exchanged photographs of their children at the time. [see posting 29 April 2012 for a description of the 1914 WATSON-ACTON marriage in Saskatchewan]

WATSON1911-ORMSBY familyPhoto left: standing, left to right is Nelly’s uncle Henry ORMSBY and her cousin Thomas WATSON. Nelly’s mother (Helen Ramsay (MUIR) ORMSBY) and Thomas’ mother (Jane (MUIR) WATSON) were sisters. Nelly is sitting on the left; to Nelly’s left is an unknown woman, possibly a MUIR cousin.  The photograph was likely taken in Ayr, Ayrshire as there is no record of Nelly having travelled. The date is prior to 1912 as Thomas Watson, a chauffeur, immigrated to Canada in 1912. Photo is from the collection of Donald Slater, (for Donald’s other family photos see www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek).

Known as ‘the cook’, Helen worked in Ayr as a cook and housekeeper. She never married and died, aged 81, on 26 August 1976 in Heathfield Hospital, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland of ‘pernicious anaemia’.

ORMSBY, John (1856-1927)

12 Monday Nov 2012

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[for John’s parents, siblings and children see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

John (Pa) ORMSBY was born on 14 May 1856 on Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the second son named John to be born to James ORMSBY and his wife Helen STEEL since a younger son of the same name died in infancy. Giving a second child the same name as a deceased infant sibling was a not uncommon practice at the time. This was done to ensure that grandparents’ names were carried down the line of descendants.

John was 15 when his father died in October 1871. John’s older brother Richard had already left home. If his older brother James was still at home he left shortly after, probably in November 1871 when he turned 21 and was able to claim the £100 endowment policy left to him by his father. Younger brother Henry was only 12 and still at school. Consequently it fell to John and his brother Andrew (23) to stay at home on Brickrow Farm and provide for the remaining family.

Photo above: John Ormsby on 30 October 1924, Brickrow Farm, at the marriage of his daughter Jean to James Crawford McGuire. The photograph is from the collection of an Ormsby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

For the twenty years between 1871 and 1891 John farmed and lived at the Ormsby home of Brickrow with his mother Helen and older siblings Helen and Andrew. Both the 1881 and 1891 census listed his mother Helen as the Head of the family. The family must have worked hard as Brickrow increased in size by 26 acres in the ten years after the death of John’s father in 1871. In 1881 the farming operation required a farm servant and a domestic servant, although by 1891 only one ‘general domestic servant’ was employed by the family.

In 1894 John, 38, married 20 year old Helen Ramsay MUIR at her home of Mainholm Farm, Ayrshire.

For more information on Helen Ramsay MUIR and on the family she had with John ORMSBY see posting (to be posted)