Aberchirder, Aberdeenshire

Turriff, Aberdeenshire 1851

My great-great-grandparents show up, at Turriff, in the Scotland Census of 1851 :-
Address: Bridgend of Gask (I wonder where this place/croft was?).
The Head of the Household was James Urquhart ,'Farmer of 4 acres and Day Labourer.' He had been born at Turriff. His wife was Margaret Urquhart (nee Dey). She had been born in the Parish of Bellie, Banffshire.... [more]

Urquharts at Grange, Banffshire, Scotland

Robert (Bob) and Margaret (Maggie) Urquhart left the Parish of Boharm for the Parish of Grange, about 1916. They possibly had more than one address in the Parish, according to what I have learned. The couple's last child Catherine (Kathleen) was born at Garrowood, Grange, 25 June, 1917. This unfortunate child died 31 January, 1918. She was buried in Grange churchyard.... [more]

Keith Grammar School

While living at Mulben, in the Parish of Boharm, some members of the Urquhart family attended Keith Grammar School, about the time of the First World War. One of those Urquhart boys was Robert William Urquhart. He went on to eventually become Sir Robert. As a distinguished ex-pupil he is remembered by a plaque near the school gates.

Tarrymount Farm south of Clochan

Tarrymount is/was a farm of about 75 acres, situated in the Braes of Enzie. My grandfather, Robert Urquhart, was Grieve on the farm. In April 1941 a German aircraft dropped a bomb which exploded  on the farmland. A cousin of mine remembered visiting the farm, as a child, and souveniring a piece of shrapnel.

Birth

I was born in the Station Cottages 1938. I have been to see them. They have been turned into one house.

Camping by the Ythan

In my last two years at the High School six  of us girls from there camped by the Ythan river at Gight Castle, they were Jeannie Smith, Doreen Ruddiman, Nora Henderson, Isobel Argo, my sister and I, Margaret Argo. We had two tents and took turns of cooking, shopping in Methlick, and drawing water from the Ythan to boil for drinking.... [more]

DRUMMUIR  STATION

I believe that Drummuir Station, Parish of Botriphnie, County of Banff, Scotland, was the starting point, in 1926, of a  very long, life-changing journey:
My teen-age father, along with an older brother,  headed for Southampton, England. There they boarded the ship SS 'Corinthic' and 'set sail ' for New Zealand, 26th Feb.
Their emigration had begun ...

Botriphnie, Banffshire

Robert (Bob) and Margaret (Maggie) Urquhart, and family, occupied a croft named Drywells, at Bodinfinnoch, Parish of Botriphnie, County of Banffshire.
One of the Urquhart boys later described Drywells as: 'The most miserable croft that anyone could imagine... It was inaccessible; buried deep in the hills; surrounded by heather. The buildings were cramped and built in one long line, with sheet... [more]