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Tag Archives: Mount Oliphant Farm

WATSON, Janet (1856-1935)

28 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Gilbert SPIERS (1858-1941), Isabella WATSON (1858-1904), Janet WATSON (1856-1935), Mary HUNTER (1827-1907), Mount Oliphant Farm, Thomas WATSON (1827-1878), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932)

[see WATSON Family under heading ‘WATSON’]

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

Janet WATSON was born on 7 February 1856 on Peebles Street, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland to Thomas WATSON and his wife Mary HUNTER. Thomas and Mary were tenant farmers on Mosshill Farm, Dallmellington Road, outside Ayr. Thomas also worked as a ‘carter’, probably to supplement the family income, and he was not present at the time of Janet’s birth. Perhaps he was away on a carting job. Or perhaps, as a farmer, Thomas may have had a strong “draught” horse which, when it wasn’t used for ploughing would be hired out. Thomas may have been away delivering or picking up the horse.

Whatever the situation, since her husband was away, Mary went into Ayr, to a home on Peebles Street to have her baby. She may have gone to the home of her in-laws William and Isabella (McCREATH) WATSON who lived on Peebles Street. Mary’s own parents, William and Janet (McCALL) HUNTER, also lived in Ayr, likely on Clunes Street. Perhaps the Hunter home was not large enough to accommodate Mary and the new baby, or perhaps Mary’s father, who worked as a weaver, needed the available space for his weaving equipment and looms. Weavers cottages were  basically just ‘but an’ bens” so likely there would be no place or  privacy for a visitor in labour. [A ‘but an’ bens’ is a class of worker’s house which had a main room where work and daily life went on and then through to a bedroom. This type of home was a step up from a single room, but had no place for cattle or barn for storage. No kitchen or bathroom either! The word ‘ben’ still exists in Scots today and is used to refer to other rooms in the house e.g. “working at the computer Ben the house”.]

WATSON1930-000aPhoto: Janet, about 1930 in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo from the author’s collection.

At Mosshill Farm baby Janet joined two older brothers, a half-brother William [William WATSON] born in 1847 and a brother Thomas [Thomas WATSON] born in 1854. A sister Isabella [Isabella WATSON] born in 1858, completed the family. In an age of large families the Watson family of four children would be considered small. In 1861 Janet, 5, was a ‘scholar’ the term used for children who attended school. The census that year also tells us that Mosshill Farm had ’60 acres’.

Sometime after the 1861 and before 1871 census, the Watson family moved to Mount Oliphant Farm just outside Ayr. The farm had some renown as the previous home of Robbie Burns during the poet’s childhood. Mount Oliphant was a larger farm, here Thomas was able to rent 71 acres.

The 1871 census showed the Watsons as a farming family; as well as her farmer father Thomas, Janet’s mother Mary also listed her occupation as ‘farmer’. As was done from all the working farms in the area, Mary and possibly her daughters drove  the ‘jig’ [horse and cart] into Ayr to a market where she sold her butter and cream to the townspeople. Janet’s 16 year old brother Thomas is listed as ‘farmer’s son’. Her half brother, William, was away from home. Janet, 15 years old, who would have finished school, gave her occupation as a ‘general servant’ an indication that she may have been employed elsewhere, likely to bring in some money and supplement the family income.  If she had been working on the farm her occupation would normally be described as ‘farmer’s daughter’ or ‘farm servant. Perhaps she worked at a nearby farm, walked to work each day, and returned home in the evenings. The day of the census she was at home with her parents, brother Thomas and sister Isabella. A 14 year old ‘farm servant’, Charles Blackley also lived and worked on the farm.

On 2 Mar. 1878, Janet’s life changed dramatically when her father Thomas, only 50, died of ‘paralysis of the brain’ at Mount Oliphant Farm.WATSON1878-000c Janet’s mother Mary, herself only 50, was left a widow with three children and together the family helped run the farm. The 1881 census shows that Thomas’ son Thomas had taken over the rental of Mount Oliphant, and his mother Mary and sisters Janet and Isabella continued to live on the farm. (Right: Death memorial card from the collection May Wood, of a descendant of Thomas Watson who still lives in Ayrshire)

Two years after her father’s death, on 22 November 1880 Janet, 24 years old, married Gilbert SPEIRS, aged 22. The wedding took place at Janet’s home of Mount Oliphant farm; Janet listed her occupation as ‘dairy maid’ and her usual residence as Mount Oliphant Farm. Gilbert, a farm servant, listed his address as Mount Ferguson Farm which is the farm next to Mount Oliphant. It is likely that Gilbert and Janet met as they were neighbours, or Janet may have even been a dairy maid at Mount Ferguson; the farms still exist and are within easy walking distance of each other. Gilbert was born on 10 October 1858 in Balichmorrey, Barr by Girvan, Scotland, a son to Ivie Alexander SPEIRS, a ploughman, and his wife Euphemia SIMPSON. WATSON1930-000b

Photo: Gilbert, about 1930 in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo from the author’s collection. Family stories recount that Gilbert “Always had a corn cob pipe in his mouth.”

Janet and Gilbert did not stay long in the Mount Oliphant Farm / Mount Ferguson Farm area; perhaps there was not work or accommodation for a young married couple. Within six months, by the April 1881 census Janet, 25, and Gilbert, 28, were on the Rankinson Farm in the parish of Coylton, where Gilbert worked as a dairyman. In this census Janet has become 3 years younger than Gilbert; perhaps this was more socially acceptable? Mary Thomson, 14, lived with them as a servant. Perhaps Janet and Gilbert had ambitions of running a dairy together, as dairyman he may have had a little  autonomy, and the reason for the servant was to assist in the dairy (unskilled) as well as their house?

That same 1881 census showed Janet’s brother Thomas (26) had taken over responsibility for renting Mount Oliphant Farm, and her mother Mary (53), sister Isabella (23) also lived and worked there; perhaps Janet visited whenever she could as Rankinson Farm was not far away. The siblings and their mother stayed close all their lives; a bond that would support them over the years and the three countries of Scotland, Canada and USA.

One trip that Janet may have made to her family home of Mount Oliphant was for the marriage of her sister Isabella, 24, to John McCONNELL on 5 October 1882. John was a 27 year old gamekeeper, the son of quarry master John McConnell and his wife Mary MORTON. At the time neither Janet nor her family had any idea of how much support the future McConnell family would need from the extended Watson family. [see posts 19 April  – 28 April 2013 for story of Isabella and John’s family]

The Watson family extended again when, on 20 January 1887 Janet’s brother Thomas married Jane MUIR, the daughter of James MUIR and Helen McNAB. Thomas and Jane continued to live at Mount Oliphant for some years, before moving to several other farms in Scotland and eventually immigrating to Saskatchewan. Their immigration and the start of a new life were also to change that of Janet and her family. [see posts 14 May – 22 May 2012 for story of Thomas and Jane’s family]

In 1888, Janet’s and Gilbert’s only child, Janet, was born. Although I have not been able to locate her birth registration her Saskatchewan death registration listed her birth as 22 December 1888. Scottish census records indicated that she was born either in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland (1891 census), or Kingarth, Buteshire, Scotland (1901 census). The 1911 census adds to the confusion as Janet, 22, listed her birth place as ‘Argylshire Inellan’. Whichever is correct it appears that Gilbert and Janet frequently moved, itinerant tenant labourers always looking for work or a better opportunity.

By 1891 Gilbert, 33, was a shepherd and Janet, 35, a housekeeper for a farmer named Mitchell, on Overton Farm, Killearn, Stirling. As was the practice, Gilbert likely had taken a year’s contract to work as a shepherd on the understanding that his wife Janet would keep house for the combined household of the Speirs family, plus the farmer Mitchell and a 39 year old ploughman James Ewing. Janet, their daughter, was two years old in this census.

By 1901 Janet and Gilbert had moved again (and there may have been several moves in between census years); Gilbert was a farm servant and Janet worked as a dairymaid at Rankinston Farm, Ayrshire. Their daughter Janet attended school in the area. Rankinston Farm is where they had lived in twenty years earlier in 1881.

In the early 1900s Watson family experienced many changes. In 1904 the tragic and unexpected death of Janet’s younger sister Isabella  left a family of young children motherless. Janet’s brother-in-law John McConnell was not able to look after all the children by himself. Isabella and Gilbert lived in the area and no doubt spent time helping the McConnell family cope. Around this time, Janet and Gilbert moved to Chapeldonan Farm, near Girvan in Ayrshire which was not far from the McConnell family.

The extended Watson family had grown: Janet and Gilbert Speirs and their daughter Janet; Isabella and John McConnell’s seven children; and Thomas and Jane’s seven children. The period in Scotland from 1904 to 1913 for the extended family is not clear. What is clear from the postcards, shared photographs and existing records is that the three families were in close contact, visited when possible and continued to help and support one another.

In the early 1900s the Canadian government mounted an advertising campaign to attract settlers to western Canada. Land agents, who traveled throughout England and Scotland, extolled the virtues of emigration with the promise of free land and the opportunity for advancement. Newspapers carried advertisements, and in some cases letters from those who had already emigrated who encouraged others to follow. It was a lure that many young men could not resist.

In 1906 the extended Watson family began to move to the ‘new world’. The first of Janet’s nephews to leave Scotland was 17 year old Jim [James Muir WATSON], second eldest son of Janet’s brother Thomas and his wife Jane. After Jim arrived in Montreal in June of 1906 he travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba by train and worked for a farmer as an agricultural labourer.

In 1907 an important family tie to Scotland was broken with the death of Janet’s mother Mary, age 81. Mary died on 07 July 1907, of bronchitis, at Chapeldonan Farm, Scotland. Gilbert was the informant of her death which suggests that Mary lived with her daughter Janet and son-in-law before her death.

In June 1909 another of Janet’s nephews, John McCONNELL, son of Janet’s deceased sister Isabella emigrated to the United States; his ship docked in New York City on June 21, 1909. John was a carpenter and may have been attracted to the opportunity to use his trade in the building boom on the eastern coast of the United States. He eventually settled in New Jersey, however he may have made at least one trip to Saskatchewan, perhaps with a thought of moving to Canada and farming.

The summer of 1909 saw another of Janet’s nephews leave Scotland. Bill [William Watson Muir WATSON], 17 years old, third eldest son of Janet’s brother Thomas and his wife Jane, sailed from Glasgow on the ship ‘S. S. Hesperian’ and arrived in Quebec City on 19 July 1909. Like his brother Jim, Bill’s eventual destination was Manitoba to work as an agricultural labourer.

By 1909 Janet’s brother Thomas and his wife Jane had decided to join their sons in Western Canada. In Janet’s Christmas post card to her nephew Bill that year indicated their decision. The post card below, in Janet’s handwriting was mailed to her nephew William [Bill] Watson who worked on a farm near Stockton, Manitoba. The post card was mailed 9 December 1909, and delivered in Canada 23 December 1909. The postcard is from the author’s collection.

WATSON1909-030WATSON1909-030a

Chapeldonan

 Wishing you a Merry Xmas all well hoping you are well had a letter from your father they were all well you will be having them out next will write about the New Year Aunt Janet

As Janet predicted in her Chritmas post card, on 2 April 1910 her brother Thomas (56 years old), sister-in-law Jane (45 years old), and four of their children left Glasgow, Scotland on the ship ‘S. S. Hesperian’. The ship docked in Halifax on 11 April 1910. The Watson children that accompanied their parents were Nell [Helen McNab WATSON], (20 years old), Alex [Alexander Hunter WATSON] (15 years old), Jean [Jane Muir WATSON] (11 years old), and John [John McConnell Muir WATSON] (7 years old).

Janet had misgivings about moving to Canada, as can be seen by a postcard  [not shown here, see post 12 May 2013] sent 9 September 1910, by her daughter Janet to Janet’s cousin Nell (“Write and give me all the news about the paces you can. I am still on the notion to go our but mother thinks I am just as well where I am but I will see“). However, perhaps jobs were becoming scarce for Janet and Gilbert, or family were encouraging them to come to the ‘new world’ which had opportunities for advancement.

On 2 November 1912, Janet, her husband Gilbert and their daughter Janet boarded the ship S.S. Cassandra in Glasgow. With them was Elizabeth Wyllie McCONNELL, 17, Janet’s niece [see post 26 April 2013]. The group disembarked in Montreal, Quebec on the 12th of November. The ship’s passenger list showed that their destination was Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Gilbert gave his age as 57 and his occupation as ‘labourer’, Janet, 54 (who continued to shave a couple years off her age) was a ‘housewife’ and Janet, (their daughter), 23, was a ‘domestic servant’.

A train journey took them to Wolseley, Saskatchewan, where no doubt they were met at the railway station by members of the Thomas and Jane Watson family. Christmas 1912 Janet, her husband and daughter would spend with her brother Thomas and his family.

WATSON1918-007Photo: Left to right – Thomas Watson, his sister Janet (Watson) Speirs, his brother-in-law Gilbert Speirs (with the ever-present corn cob pipe). Taken about 1918 in Saskatchewan, Canada, photo is from author’s collection.

[‘Life in Saskatchewan’ a story yet to be posted.]

Janet and Gilbert lived on and rented several farms in the Rosewood – Ellisboro area. WATSON1930-000For their last few years, during the first half of the 1930s they lived in Ellisboro in a rented home. This was the time of the Depression and a family story relates how, “while everyone was poor and in experiencing desperate times, the Speirs lived in extreme poverty. The story teller went on to say, “I don’t know what they lived on, or how they ate.”

Photo right; Janet and Gilbert Speirs, at their home in Ellisboro, about 1930. From the author’s collection.

Some time before her death Janet moved the home of their daughter Janet who had married John INGLIS. [see post 12 May 2013] where she died McConnell1-0002on 19 February 1935.

Death memorial card right was sent by Janet’s daughter Janet (Speirs) Inglis to her cousin William Watson McConnell in the United States. This card is now (in 2013) in the collection of William McConnell’s daughter, Mary Smith, who lives in Tennessee, USA.

Ellisboro, Saskatchewan Feb 21 – Tuesday morning, Mrs. Janet Spiers, 79, died at the  home of her daughter Mrs. John Inglis of Abernethy. Mrs. Spiers was born in Ayr, Scotland and with her husband, Gilbert Spiers, and her daughter came to Canada in 1912 and until the past few months had made their home in Ellisboro. The remains were interred in the cemetery here Friday afternoon in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends. The service was conducted by Rev. E. C. Cuming. The pallbearers were James, William and John Watson, Joseph Acton, J. W. Tubman ; and Kenneth Campbell. (Source: Regina Leader Post, Feb 21, 1935, Evening Edition, p. 20)

For the next while Gilbert lived with his nephew James (Jim) WATSON and his wife Agnes (Nancy) ACTON on their farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley. Jim Watson’s son Samuel Acton WATSON remembered that, as a boy growing up on the farm, one of his jobs was to take a plate of supper out to the shed or shack that had been fixed up for Gilbert to live in.

Gilbert died, at the home of his daughter Janet and son-in-law John Inglis on 19 April 1941. McConnell1-0003Gilbert’s daughter Janet also sent notice of her father’s death to her cousin William Watson McConnell in the United States. As with Janet’s death memorial card, this card is now (in 2013) in the collection of Mary Smith, William McConnell’s daughter.

IMG_1625Janet and Gilbert were buried in the Ellisboro Cemetery, beside the grave of Janet’s brother Thomas Watson and his wife Jane Muir. Photo from the author’s collection.

WATSON, William Watson Muir (1892-1973)

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Agnes (Nancy) Elizabeth ACTON (1892-1981), Alexander Hunter WATSON (1895-1934), Helen McNab WATSON (1890-1967), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Janet WALKER (1859-1948), Mount Oliphant Farm, Samuel ACTON (1857-1927), Sarah May (May) ACTON (1898-1982), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), William Watson Muir WATSON (1892-1973)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ , for photograph of WATSON family see post 29 April 2012)

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

William (Bill) Watson Muir WATSON was born 24 August 1892 at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland to tenant farmers Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (MUIR) WATSON.  Bill, the fourth child and third son born to Thomas and Jane, was the last of their children to be born at Mount Oliphant Farm. Sometime between 1892 and 1895 the family left Mount Oliphant in search of a better living, a search that would lead them to seven farms throughout Scotland before the family immigrated to Canada in 1910.

Photo above: William Watson Muir Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

At Bill’s birth his name was registered as ‘William Watson Muir Watson’, although in later years Bill sensibly eliminated the redundant ‘Watson’ as a middle name. No explanation has ever been found for the extra ‘Watson’, perhaps the registrar was hard of hearing, or had partaken too much of Robbie Burns favourite spirit.

As were all the Watson children, Bill would have been expected to work on the farms the family lived on, as well as attend school. In the 1901 census William (as he was called on official documents) was an 8 year old ‘scholar’, the normal term for school children in the census records of the time.

In 1906 when Bill was 14, his 17 year old brother Jim [James Muir WATSON] left home and immigrated to Canada. Bill wanted to follow him and did so three years later. After he completed school, Bill sailed from Glasgow on the ship “S. S. Hesperian” and arrived in Quebec City on 19 July 1909. Passenger records show that he still used his full legal name as the ship’s register listed him as ‘Wm. W. M. Watson, 17′, His destination was Rapid City, Manitoba.

A postcard has survived from this time. Bill’s sister Nell [Helen McNab (WATSON) ACTON], who addressed the card to: Mr. Wm Watson, C/O S. L. Henry, Stockton, Manitoba wrote:

Aye “haudin the haunles” yet Will[?] What do you think of Canada then, now that you have got there [?] How is harvest getting on[?] Saltcoats have most of theirs cut now but they are first here about. I will stop now. Hope you are not feeling home sick. Had any reels yet [?] Address this postcard and send it to Jim as we have not got his address yet. Nellie

Bill worked as a farm labourer in Manitoba for about a year until the rest of his family immigrated in 1910, when he moved to the Ellisboro area of Saskatchewan. He was with the rest of the family on 10 June 1914 when his brother Jim married Agnes (Nancy) Elizabeth ACTON. [see post 29 April 2012 for photograph of Jim and Agnes’ wedding]. Two months later, in August 1914, WWI broke out and on 14 December 1914 in Winnipeg, Bill enlisted.

WATSON1914-040

Photo right: Bill is sitting down, second from the right

He served with the Canadian army (10th Canadian Infantry Battalion) in France from 1914 until the end of the war in 1919 and was involved in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He rarely, if ever, talked about his horrific experiences in the trenches. Amazingly, he lived through the experience without suffering any physical wound or injury.

His military file gave a physical description of Bill: 5 foot 7 ½ inches tall, grey eyes, dark brown hair. He weighed 140 pounds when he returned from the war.

After he was demobilized in 1919 he returned to farm in the Lemberg area.

On 22 July 1919, Bill, his brother Alexander Hunter WATSON and other fellow soldiers from the Rosewood District of Saskatchewan were honoured by their neighbours. The newpaper The Lemberg Star, Friday, July 25, 1919 reported:

“A social evening was held at the home of Mrs. S. ACTON [Janet WALKER married to Samuel ACTON]on Tuesday, July 22. The objective was to present each of the following soldiers with gold watches: Pte. W. M. WATSON, Pte. Fred OBLEMAN, Pte. Tobert CLARKE; Gnr [gunner] Neil BONGARD, Gnr. R. A. ACTON, Gnr. H. BANTRUM; Trpe. William BARTON, Trpe. Alex WATSON.

The above are all soldiers of the Rosewood District. Mr. Jamieson said a few words of welcome: also Mrs. Acton exressed her joy at seeing the boys home again. On behalf of his associates Mr. Dick Acton thanked the people of Rosewood for all the kindnesses bestowed upon them while overseas and particularly made mention of the numerous boxes of good things, which were so highly appreciated.

After singing ‘They are jolly good fellows’ the pleasant evening was brought to a close”

On 15 October 1940 Bill married Sarah May (May) ACTON. Mae was the widow of Bill`s younger brother Alex. (See post 19 May 2012 on Alexander Hunter WATSON). Bill and Mae had one son. Bill and Mae had a blended family as Mae`s three children Janet, [living son] and Margaret, from her marriage to Alex also lived and grew up with them.

Bill and Mae lived and farmed in the Lemberg area. Bill died on 7 December 1973, and Mae on 4 December 1982; they are both buried in the Ellisboro Cemetery in the Qu`Appelle Valley.

WATSON, Helen McNab (1890-1967)

17 Thursday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Alexander Hunter WATSON (1895-1934), Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen McNab WATSON (1890-1967), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Jane Muir WATSON (1899-1988), John McConnell Muir WATSON (1903-1994), Joseph Francis ACTON (1886-1972), Mount Oliphant Farm, Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), William Watson Muir WATSON (1892-1973)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ )

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Helen McNab WATSON (always known as Nell) was the third child and first daughter born to tenant farmers Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (MUIR) WATSON. Her birth on 10 September 1890 occurred while her parents were still trying to earn a living at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. Within about three years the family started the many moves throughout the Lowlands of Scotland that would characterize the next twenty years of her life before she immigrated to Saskatchewan in 1910.

Photo above: Helen (Nell) McNab Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

Nell was named after the Scottish naming pattern for children; as the first daughter she was named after her mother’s mother Helen McNAB. What do we know of Nell’s first years? As the eldest daughter she would have been expected to help her mother with the five younger children, cook, clean for the whole family and do farm work such as feed the chickens, milk cows as well as attend school. She also learned to shoot and hunt; perhaps rabbit stew featured on the Watson family menu. In later years she was an avid reader and enjoyed gardening, activities than must have had a genesis in her early years.

As soon as she had completed school, about age 15, she would have been expected to work away from home as a domestic servant to help augment the family’s income. We know this as she sent a postcard (below) from Ayr to her father in Kiersbeath, Dunfermline, Scotland on 22 September 1905, the message on the postcard “Down here at the races for three days, N.W”.

(The post card sent by Nell, to her father at Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Nell had just turned 16 twelve days before this postcard was sent. The owner of the ‘Wm. N. WATSON’ store in the postcard was Nell’s half 1st cousin – but that is a story for another time.)

In June 1906 when Nell was 16, her older brother Jim, 17, immigrated to Canada. Three years later her brother William (Bill) also immigrated. This changed Nell’s perception of the world. Postcards from the time show that the family was in constant contact and sent newspapers to Jim and Bill now working as farm labourers in Manitoba. No doubt conversations had started to convince the parents Tom and Jane to immigrate to Canada as well.

In March 1910. Nell, with her parents and siblings Alex, Jane and John boarded a ship in Glasgow and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 6 April 1910. Near Wolseley, Saskatchewan Nell found work with the Campbell family, and with Mrs. George Page Campbell, formed a happy work-friendship relationship as Mrs. Campbell shared Nell’s interest in reading, gardening and issues of the day such as women’s suffrage. [Women in Saskatchewan were granted the right to vote in 1916.]

On 10 March 1915 Nell married Joseph (Joe) Francis ACTON, a local farmer. The marriage took place at the farm home of her parents. For this photo, which appears to have been taken at a photographer’s studio, the young couple probably travelled by horse and cart to Wolseley and dressed in their wedding finery once they got to the studio.

scan0007

A receipt from about this time may be the list of items the young couple needed to set up house:

(Story to be continued)

WATSON, James Muir (1888-1965)

16 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Agnes (Nancy) Elizabeth ACTON (1892-1981), James MUIR (1843-1924), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Mount Oliphant Farm, Samuel ACTON (1857-1927), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), Thomas WATSON (1887-1951), William Watson Muir WATSON (1892-1973)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ , for photograph of WATSON family see post 29 April 2012)

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

James (Jim) Muir WATSON [left on 10 June 1914] was born on 20 November 1888 at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland, second son and child to Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (Jean) (MUIR) WATSON. James was named according to the Scottish ‘naming pattern’; as the second son he was named after his mother’s father James MUIR.

Unlike his older brother Tom [Thomas WATSON], Jim did follow in his father’s farming footsteps. He would have been expected to work on the farm as he grew up, helping with the work when not in school. As he grew up, Jim saw firsthand from his father’s experience as a tenant farmer that there was no future in Scotland. Land ownership was tied up with a few individuals and he could never hope to rise above a tenant. Canada was a different proposition. The Canadian West was being settled and the newspapers were filled with reports of free land, rosy conditions and healthy life style. Hardy agricultural workers in Scotland were wanted and immigration agents travelled throughout the country, distributing posters and pamphlets extolling the benefits of life in Canada.

Jim did not resist the lure and on the 19 June 1906 he arrived at the Port of Montreal on the ship ‘S. S. Corinthian’. He was not yet 18 years old. After his arrival in Winnipeg he worked for a local farmer as an agricutural labourer. It is likely that he saved what money he could to send home to his family, possibly first to help his brother Bill [William Watson Muir WATSON] immigrate, and to eventually bring the whole family.

Sometime after the Watson family arrived in Saskatchewan in 1910, Jim left his farm labouring job in Manitoba and moved to the Ellisboro / Rosewood area of Saskatchewan to be with his family. It was here that he met Agnes Elizabeth ACTON, always known as Nancy. Jim, 26, and 22 year old Nancy were married at her father Samuel ACTON’s farm on 10 June 1914 (photo below).

A local newspaper reported on Jim and Nancy’s marriage in a column entitled WEDDING AT ROSEWOOD.

On Wednesday of last week one of the most popular young ladies in the district, Miss Nancy Acton, entered into the married estate, the happy bridegroom beng Mr. James Watson, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Watson who, since they came out from Scotland some four years ago, have been farming north of the valley. The wedding took place at the beautiful home of the bride’s father, Mr. S. Acton. A large company of friends and neighbors gathered on the verandah of the house which was gaily festooned with branches of trees, with the guests grouped around on the lawn.

Rev. D. B. Millard officiated, Mr. Thos Watson, of Winnipeg, brother of the bridegroom, acted as best man, Miss May Acton supported her sister as bridesmaid WATSON1914-006and Mrs. W. S. Oliver played the wedding march and accompanied the singing. The bride looked lovely in a gown of lace over white satin, with a prettily embroidered veil fastened to her hair with a wreath of white carnations, a bouquet of which she also carried in her hand. The bridesmaid was becomingly dressed in embroidered voile with a pink sash and pink carnations.

After the ceremony a sumptuous wedding breakfast was served on prettily decorated tables set out on the lawn under arches of trees and shade with foliage.

WATSON1914-003Many useful and handsome wedding presents were showered on the bride, including a gold watch and chain from the bridegroom and a cheque from Rosewood congregation, where for several years past she has acted as organist. The bridegroom’s present to the bridesmaid was a gold bracelet.

 Amid a shower of rice and confetti the happy couple, the bride attired in a suit of Alice blue and a white hat, left by automobile for Wolseley en route for a short honeymoon in Regina.

The family wedding photograph [see photo in post Sunday 29 April 2012] shows the whole family reunited in Canada. Aside from documenting the happy occasion, I have always believed that this photograph illustrated to the Watson family the opportunities that could be gained by immigration. By 1914 Jim had acquired some land which he would eventually own, and his bride Nancy was the daughter of Samuel Acton, one of the original pioneers in the area, a major land holder and member of the Rosewood school board. The large and industrious Acton family figured prominently in the district. Jim could never have married the daughter of a land owner in Scotland, nor hoped to own his own land. Canada was indeed the land of opportunity.

After their marriage Jim and Nancy lived from 1914 until 1945 on their farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley. A rough lumber shack was their first home for about ten years until the ‘new house’ could be afforded.

In 1945 after their son Richard William (Bill) WATSON returned from WWII military service, Jim and Nancy moved to Vancouver Island where they bought a small farm in the Saanich Peninsula area north of Victoria. They lived there for several years before moving into Victoria. Their son Bill continued to farm ‘the home farm’ in Saskatchewan.

Nancy and Jim Watson, on their 50th wedding anniversary

10 June 1964, Victoria, British Columbia

Jim and Nancy both died in Victoria; Jim on 17 October 1965 as the result of a car accident, and Nancy on 19 August 1981. They are both buried in the Ellisboro Cemetery in the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, close to where they lived and farmed for many years.

WATSON, Thomas (1887-1951)

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Agnes (Nancy) Elizabeth ACTON (1892-1981), Alexander Hunter WATSON (1895-1934), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Mary Copeland BELL (1894-1971), Mount Oliphant Farm, Sarah May (May) ACTON (1898-1982), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), Thomas WATSON (1887-1951)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’, for photograph of WATSON family see post 29 April 2012)

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Thomas (Tom) WATSON, born 5 April 1887 at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland, was the eldest child and son born to Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (Jean) MUIR. His first years were spent at Mount Oliphant Farm and he then moved with the family and attended local schools in each location.

Photo left: Thomas Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

Tom never wanted to be a farmer. Although his family had been tenant farmers, ploughmen, cattle men and labourers at least for the previous 100 years, Tom had other ideas. His family tells stories of him being very mechanically oriented from an early age. And he was always fascinated by cars. In 1901 at age 13 he lived with his family on Camilla Farm in West Fife. 1901 was also the year that American Charles Duryea produced the first Stevens-Duryea automobiles, the first vehicle was shown in November of 1901 and on sale in March of 1902.

Tom was likely enthused about all the excitement generated around the development of the motor car. How did he learn to drive? While his father did not own a car, he would have gravitated to anyone in the neighbourhood who owned a car and took every opportunity to tinker with the mechanics and drive on the country roads. It is also possible to imagine that Tom’s interest in the motor car may have led to disagreements with his father who had no time for these “new fangled inventions” and was upset at Tom not spending his proper time behind a horse and plow. Tom was later heard to remark that he determined at an early age that he did not intend to spend his life behind a horse and plow.

By 1905, four years later, 17 year old Tom, worked as a chauffeur. Due to his habit of sending postcards, and of his mother’s habit of saving them, we have an idea of Tom’s life in the United Kingdom as a chauffeur. We know that the Watson family lived in Fife from at least 1901 to 1905. It is likely that Tom’s first driving jobs were in the area. Cowdenbeath, the location of the photographer’s studio in the photograph below right, is a town 5 miles north-east of Dunfermline in Fife where the family lived.

Left is another postcard (and the message on the reverse below) dated 1905 from Tom. It is not known to whom he wrote this card, but it sounds like it might be one of his brothers, who still lived in Scotland (Jim until 1906, William until 1909).

 “What do you think of this old dial. It is taken in my livery suit which consists of a plain blue suit, with a motor coat and cap of heavy dark tweed and a dust coat for summer 2 pairs of gloves and some underclothing. About £10 – 10/ for the lot. See and get yours taken the first chance you get and don’t forget to write.”

His message (above) is not likely the tone he would use if written to his parents (“See you get yours taken”) and the card confirms that either Tom or his recipient brother, were already living away from home (“don’t forget to write”).

About this time Tom changed employers [name unknown] and started to work in England. He may have done so by the time he sent the postcard (below) of Lumley Castle located in Durham County near Newcastle.

Postcard above: Lumley Castle, Chester-le-Street

Message: Staying here for the weekend with the car Lord Scarborough’s place. Enjoying myself [It’s not known whether Tom worked for Lord Scarborough, or whether Tom and his employer were visiting Lumley Castle.]

On 3 March 1910 from London, in another postcard (not shown) Tom wrote to his mother, who lived in Gullane, Scotland, that he had “Arrived here safely at 12 o’clock last night (Tues) Will write soon. Haven’t got lost yet. T. W.” The address was in a posh area of London: “C/O Pease, 8 Hertford, Mayfair, London W.”

In early April 1910, shortly after Tom wrote this postcard, his parents and siblings Alex, Nell, Jean and John immigrated to Saskatchewan. Tom decided to stay in London; the April 1911 census listed him as a 23 year old ‘domestic chauffeur’, who lived as a boarder at 12a Little Grosvenor St. in the heart of London. Family stories indicate that Tom decided not to go as he had an opportunity to drive a ‘lord’s’ car in the coronation procession of George V which occurred 2 Jun 1911. Perhaps Tom believed that having reached this level of work as a chauffeur in London would give him more opportunities to find a job in Canada?

A year later, on 17 June 1912, Tom sailed from Glasgow on the ship ‘S.S. Pretorian’. He disembarked in Montreal; from there he made his way to Winnipeg, the date of his arrival in Winnipeg is not known. We do know that he was in Lemberg, Saskatchewan to act as best man at the marriage of his brother James (Jim) Muir WATSON to Agnes (Nancy) Elizabeth ACTON on 10 June 1914 (photograph below, also see post 29 April 2012). Tom would have been the driver of the car that took Jim and Nancy to Wolseley, Saskatchewan  to start their honeymoon.

Left to right: Tom, his brother
James (Jim) Muir WATSON, Agnes (Nancy) Elizabeth ACTON, Nancy’s sister Sarah May (May) ACTON

One of Tom’s first jobs in Winnipeg may have been driving an oil delivery truck. In an undated photograph (below) he is standing beside a Premier Gasoline truck. The wooden houses in the background appear to be the type of buildings that would be found in Winnipeg, not the stone structures of Britain or the typical buildings in Montreal.

It is not known when Tom starting working as a chauffeur and handy man for George Montegu Black, a wealthy Winnipeg businessman.

On 23 June 1923 in Winnipeg Tom married Mary Copeland BELL. The Black home, 59 Wilmot Place, Winnipeg, was the Watson family address for many years as the family had an apartment over the garage.

Above: Mary Copeland BELL about the time of her marriage to Tom WATSON

Left to right: William BROWN, Best Man, Thomas WATSON, Mary Copeland BELL, Lily PALMER, Maid of Honour, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 23 June 1923

The happy couple: Mary and Tom WATSON

[For more Watson family photos, and photos of the BELL, WATERS, PALMER, BUCHANAN, McLACHLAN and other connected families, also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Tom and Mary had four children, Elsie (1924-1983), Helen (1926-2010), Thomas (deceased as young child) and [living child]. For many years the family made annual summer trips to Saskatchewan to see cousins, aunts and uncles. (photograph below)

Left to right: Baby Helen, Mary, Tom and Elsie, taken at the home of Tom’s brother Alexander (Alex) Hunter WATSON and his wife Sarah Mae (Mae) ACTON, Lemberg, Saskatchewan about 1928

In the 1940’s Tom’s health began to fail and, when he was no longer able to fulfill the physical demands of the chauffeuring, handy man and maintenance work for the Black family, he was dismissed. Unfortunately, there was no pension plan during this time and Tom was forced to look for work elsewhere. He did manage to get some work as a driver for a local woman, however financial worries plagued Tom and Mary’s later years.

Both Tom and Mary died in Winnipeg, Tom on 19 March 1951 and Mary 20 years later in February 1971. They are both buried in Winnipeg.

WATSON, Thomas (1854-1932)

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Alexander Hunter WATSON (1895-1934), Gilbert SPEIRS (1858-1941), Helen McNab WATSON (1890-1967), Isabella WATSON (1858-1904), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Jane Muir WATSON (1899-1988), Janet WATSON (1856-1935), John McConnell Muir WATSON (1903-1994), Joseph Francis ACTON (1886-1972), Mary HUNTER (1827-1907), Mount Oliphant Farm, Thomas WATSON (1827-1878), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), William WATSON (1847-1878), William Watson Muir WATSON (1892-1973)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ , for photograph of WATSON family see post 29 April 2012)

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Thomas WATSON was born on 2 May 1854 in York Street, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland to Thomas WATSON  and his wife Mary HUNTER, tenant farmers. By 1858 the family had grown to four children, Thomas’ older half-brother William WATSON (1847-1878) and younger sisters Janet WATSON  (1856-1935) and Isabella WATSON (1858-1904).

Photo left: Thomas Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

The Watson family lived on several farms in the Ayr area. In 1861 The family lived on Mosshill Farm in Alloway Parish, Ayrshire, Thomas (the father) was a “farmer of 60 acres” and both a farm servant and domestic servant were employed.

By 1878 the family lived on Mount Oliphant Farm just outside Ayr. That year Thomas’ father Thomas died of “paralysis of the brain”. Thomas registered his father’s death and took over running Mt. Oliphant. By 1881 the farm has increased in size and Thomas was “farmer of 70 acres” and two farm servants, and a domestic servant were employed. A boarder also lived at the farm, probably to help with the family income.

On 20 January 1887 Thomas, 33, married local girl Jane MUIR. They lived at Mount Oliphant Farm for the next five years, the first three of their children were born there. Although Mount Oliphant was considered to be a poor farm the family managed to scrape out a living. Thomas also worked as a carter to augment the family income.

Photo right: Thomas Watson, carter, Scotland, about 1890

By 1895 the family had left Mount Oliphant and for the next fifteen years lived and worked in at least seven different farms throughout the Scottish Lowlands. The last farm before emigrating to Canada in 1910 was Clark’s farm in Gullane, Scotland. Thomas took on different farm related occupations to support his growing family: dairyman (1897), ploughman (1899) and again dairyman (1903).

Family stories indicate that Thomas enjoyed music; descendants of Thomas have a fiddle as a family heirloom that it is believed belonged to Thomas. This is supported by an old photograph (left). WATSON finalThe man with the fiddle looks like Thomas with his bushy sideburns. The photographer’s name place the photograph in Scotland, however more specific date and location are unknown. If it is Thomas in the photo it seems likely that his wife Jane is one of the women seated in front.

violinist final

Photo right: enlargement of man with fiddle. Bushy sideburns and mustache identify Thomas.

In 1910, at the relatively advanced age (for those times) of 56, Thomas, his wife Jane and children Alexander, Helen (Nell), Jean and John sailed for Canada. Two sons, James and William, had emigrated previously. The move was successful; although he never owned land himself he lived to see four of his sons become landowners. In later years he told his family that he wished he had moved to Canada twenty years earlier.

[see posts from May 2012 for the story of Thomas’ children, life in Scotland and the family’s move to Canada]

Photo left and below: The Watson family in Saskatchewan, about 1918, taking a break from harvesting. In the photo below, Thomas is the man on the far right, with the brimmed hat, his prominent side burns can be seen. Other people in the photograph unidentified.

Photo below: Thomas with his sister Janet (WATSON) SPIERS and his brother-in-law Gilbert SPEIRS, photo probably from the 1920s, on the Campbell farm in the Rosewood district of Sakatchewan. Gilbert always had his corncob pipe.

According to family stories, Thomas was a ‘dour’ Scot, some would say “an ornery old cuss“. His memory may have become confused in his later years, although this perception may have been also due to his opinionated personality which sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.

Forty years later, his grandson Tom related the story: “I remember one time a remark, something had come up, Grandpa Watson had some shares in, I think, the United Grain Growers or something. There was an annoucement that came out in the newspaper that they were going to do something with these shares. And it was the only time I remember grandpa getting on the phone. But he got on the phone and he phoned his son-in-law Joe Acton and asked about these shares, probably asked what he should do with them. And whatever remark he made was quite ridiculous and someone’s comment was “I think Grandpa is getting into his second childhood.” Of course, at the time, that was often said, you got old and you went into your second childhood. And someone else made the comment “he’s been in his second childhood ever since I have known him”.” At the time, Thomas was probably in his late 70s and possibly was becoming confused, or at least more inflexible in his outlook on life.

Thomas died on the 6 March 1932 from complications of diabetes. My father, who was 15 at the time, later remembered his grandfather:

He died as a result of diabetes that he didn’t take care of. I can remember him making a remark several times saying “well, I’m ready for my hole in the ground”. He more or less said that he would welcome death because he was not going to put up with these damned needles and eating bread that was cooked with no-starch flour and that sort of stuff. In those days you had to cut out all starch. I remember going one evening with my mother [Helen (Nell) WATSON] and Grandma Watson [Jane MUIR] was pretty discouraged. My grandfather had just been told by the doctor that he had diabetes and told how he had to change his diet. He had been given this flour as in those days you weren’t supposed to eat starch or sugar. You were supposed to bake bread with this flour that had no starch in it. Well you can imagine baking bread with no starch.

Grandma Watson showed us what she had just baked, they were supposed to be buns but they were as flat as pancakes and hard as a rock. Grandma showed this to my mother with the comment “you may see what it’s like …”. And poor Grandma, I felt sorry for her even as a young boy. She was so discouraged. And of course there was no way he was going to eat that crap. He never did. He wanted his porridge and his sugar – even if it killed him that’s what he wanted.

He went into a coma March 1933. And died. They had a doctor out [from the town of Lemberg] and the doctor said” there’s nothing I can do, it’s inevitable” And he died within 24 hours.

He was buried in Ellisboro Cemetery on 9 March 1932, fifty years later my father still remembered “that it was a cold bloody day that he was buried.”

[Obituary from Lemberg Star, Mar 11, 1932, Vol 14, #32]     A highly respected and aged citizen of Rosewood district, passed away at his home on Sunday, March 6th, in the person of Thomas Watson, aged 78 years. The late Mr. Watson was born near the town of Ayr, Scotland and with his family, settled here in 1910, where he has since engaged in farming with a fair measure of success. He is survived by his widow, two daughters, Mrs. Jos. Acton, Lemberg and Miss Jean, Regina, also five sons: Thomas, Winnipeg; James, William, Alex and John of this community. One sister, Mrs. G. Spiers [Janet WATSON, married to Gilbert SPIERS] who resides in Ellisboro. The funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon, following service at the late home, burial being made in Ellisboro cemetery, conducted by Rev. H. Cobb of Wolseley. The pallbearers were his five sons, Thomas, James, William, Alex, John and son-in-law Joseph Acton.

Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland

01 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Ayr, Mount Oliphant Farm, Scotland, Thomas WATSON (1854-1932)

 

(this post was last edited 21 July 2016)

Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayrshire

The drawing below is alleged to date from 1885 – the middle of the period when the Thomas WATSON family lived there as tenant farmers.

Mount Oliphant

Thomas WATSON, the father in the wedding photo below (white mustache, centre left), lived on Mt. Oliphant Farm from at least 1878 until 1892Thomas and Jane WATSON family 1914 (for more information on this family see the post  on this blog Sunday, April 29, 2012)

1 Thomas WATSON b: 28 April 1827 in Newton On Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 02 March 1878 in Mt. Oliphant, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland …+(1) Mary KERR b: Abt. 08 February 1829 in St. Quivox & Newton, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: Bef. April 1851 in ? Newton On Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland +(2) Mary HUNTER b: 30 March 1827 in Newton On Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, m: 17 February 1854 in St. Quivox and Newton, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 04 July 1907 in Chapeldonan, Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland

……2 Thomas WATSON b: 02 May 1854 in York Street, Newton On Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 06 March 1932 in Ellisboro, Wolseley Municipality, Saskatchewan, Canada  + Jane MUIR b: 19 December 1865 in Crosshill Village, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, Scotland, m: 20 January 1887 in Robbsland, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 29 July 1933 in Ellisboro, Wolseley Municipality, Saskatchewan, Canad

………3 Thomas (Tom) WATSON b: 05 April 1887 in Mt. Oliphant, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 19 March 1951 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

………3 James (Jim) Muir WATSON b: 20 November 1888 in Mt. Oliphant, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 17 October 1965 in Victoria, , British Columbia, Canada

………3 Helen (Nell) McNab WATSON b: 10 September 1890 in Mt. Oliphant, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 26 September 1967 in Balcarres Union Hospital, Balcarres, [–?–] Municipality, Saskatchewan, Canada

………3 William (Bill) Watson Muir WATSON b: 24 August 1892 in Mt. Oliphant, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 07 December 1973 in Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

………3 Alexander (Alex) Hunter WATSON b: 21 June 1895 in Cloncaird Mains, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 15 August 1934 in Lemberg, McLeod Municipality, Saskatchewan, Canada

………3 Mary Hunter WATSON b: 12 July 1897 in 14 High Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, d: 23 May 1900 in Newton Farm Cottages, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland

………3 Jane (Jean) Muir WATSON b: 10 January 1899 in Newton Farm, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland, d: Abt. 27 June 1988 in Balcarres, , Saskatchewan, Canada

………3 John McConnell Muir WATSON b: 31 December 1903 in Knockhouse, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, d: Abt. 19 April 1994 in Lemberg (Balcarres Hospital), Saskatchewan, Canada

……2 Janet WATSON b: 07 February 1856 in Peebles Street, Newton On Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 12 February 1935 in Abernethy, , Saskatchewan, Canada + Gilbert SPEIRS b: 10 October 1858 in Balichmorrey, (Ayrshire?), Scotland, m: 22 November 1880 in Mount Oliphant by Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 19 April 1941 in James Watson’s Farm, Ellisboro, McLeod Municipality, Saskatchewan, Canada

……2 Isabella WATSON b: 18 March 1858 in Moss Hill by Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 11 June 1904 in Western Infirmary Glasgow Residence, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland + John MCCONNELL b: 25 August 1855 in Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland, m: 05 October 1882 in Mt. Oliphant, Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, d: 11 January 1913 in Highfield Farm, Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland

>>>>>>>>>>

Mount Oliphant, according to the British Listed Buildings Site (http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-999-mount-oliphant-ayr#.V5CCxPkrKUk) (website accessed July 21, 2016, notes have been edited from those on the official website)

Mid 18th century; later additions and alterations. Single storey and attic, 3-bay house with adjoining outbuilding wings forming open courtyard. Predominantly whitewashed rubble.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; 3-bay house; modern timber door flanked to left by modern window to centre bay of ground floor, windows to flanking bays to left and right; 2 modern rectangular dormers to attic floor. Single bay links to outbuilding wings to left and right, glazed boarded timber door to left, window to right; wings advanced to outer left and right; ….

>>>>>>>>>>

While Mt. Oliphant is famous as the farm where Robbie Burns lived from 1766 to 1777, it was, even in Burn’s day, known as a “ruinous bargain”.

“The Burnes [sic] family moved …to Mount Oliphant at Whitsun, 1766 when the poet’s father, William Burnes, rented the farm from Doctor William Ferguson of Doonholm, Alloway, Provost of Ayr. At the time of the move, the poet was 7 years of age.

The farm proved to be infertile and the Burnes family are close to poverty. As the eldest of the family, the poet had to labour in the fields in all weathers, adversely affecting his health for the rest of his life. In an autobiographical letter written many years later, the poet called the farm ‘a ruinous bargain’.

…this land saw the formation of Robert Burns. Here he ‘padl’d in the burn’, and ‘pou’d the gowans fine’ from here he explored the wooded ‘banks and braes o’ bonie Doon’ and it is here that he dreamt his first dreams of young love. This land may have shown the Burnes family the misery of poverty and drudgery but it nurtured the God-given genius of an embryo poet”. (Source: The Ayrshire Book of Burns-Lore, by A. M. Boyle, Alloway Publishing, Darvel, Scotland, 1985, pp. 114-115. )

>>>>>>>>>>

It seems unlikely that the Watson family saw the romance in Mt. Oliphant farm, however they did live there as tenant farmers for many years. Why did the WATSON family stay so long? The answers are still elusive.

(For more information on the WATSON family see page ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ top of screen)

Mount Oliphant farm, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. This photos, taken in 2003 by the author, shows that the basic structure of the farm buildings has remained the same.

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