Family Group Sheet

Husband         Magnus SWANIE

Born

About 1776. North Ronaldsay. 

Chr.

 

Married

? before 1802

Died

26 Nov 1862 West Lairo, Shapinsay, aged 86 years (D/1862/028-/15 Shapinsay) [NGR: HY 50119 18553]

Buried

 

Husband’s Father     Magnus SWANIE (farmer, d. bef. 1862)

Husband’s Mother       Mary MARTIN ?

Other wives

     

Notes:  thought to have gone to Eday with sons Peter, Thomas and Charles.  Death certificate (D/1862/028-/15 Shapinsay) states cause of death "Unknown".  No medical attendant. 

 

Wife                 Mary TULLOCH

Born

 Before 1785 ?

Chr.

 

Died

Predeceased her husband.  Was still alive in 1851 (Census, Eday); possibly died before 1855; had died by 1861 census. 

Buried

 

Wife’s Father         

Wife’s Mother     

Other husbands

     

Notes:  Not found a statutory death record of Mary SWANIE, SWANNY, SWANNEY, SWANEY, SWANAY aged 70 yrs or more from 1855 to 1862 inclusive in all Orkney ...

 

Children

Sex     Name

Born

Married

Died

1 F  Mary SWANIE

 

 

b. 23 Mar 1802, bap. 7 May 1802 North Ronaldsay

May have married John Tulloch, North Ronaldsay ? 

 

2 M  Peter SWANIE

 

 

b. 23 May 1802, bap 9 May 1802 North Ronaldsay

Maragaret Swanay (maiden surname)  ?, from North Ronaldsay, b. abt.1805.  Peter and Margaret were crofter and wife farming 3 acres at Goackhall, Eday in 1851 and farming 2 acres at Sandsend, Eday, 1861

6 May 1867 Eday

3 M  William SWANIE

 

 

b. 26 Feb 1808, bap. 7 Mar 1808 North Ronaldsay

 

 

4 M  Thomas SWANIE

 

 

b. 18 May 1812, bap. 4 June 1812 North Ronaldsay

Jane [Jean] Irvine, Fair Isle, Shetland (b. 1811-1812).    

27 Nov 1887

 

5 M  Charles SWANIE

b. 26 May 1817, bap. 7 June 1817 North Ronaldsay

Mary, from North Ronaldsay, by 1845?  Was living, aged about 20 years, with father Magnus (farmer, aged about 60 yrs), mother Mary (about 65 years), at Carpaquoy, Eday, 1841.

 

 

References:

 

After retiring from farming his 4 acre croft at Carpaquoy, Eday, by which time his wife Mary had possibly died, Magnus Swanny (variously spelt Swanie or Swanney or Swanay) moved into the household of his second youngest son,Thomas Swanny, who farmed 30 acres at West Lairo [or Laro], Shapinsay.  He was living there in 1861 and died there in 1862.  Thomas Swanny's house in 1861 had one room with windows.  Apart from his widowed father, Magnus, also living with Thomas and his wife Jane (from "Zetland, Fair Isle") were their two sons, Thomas (24) and John (20), both agricultural labourers, and their daughter, Ann, aged 14 years, all unmarried and all three children born on Eday.

 

By 1851, Charles the son (age 34) was described as "fisherman" and was living with wife Mary (34), daur Mary (6) and son William (4).  Probably occupying the same building or an adjacent one on father's croft Carpaquoy.  Father Magnus (73) and mother Mary (75) were farming 4 acres.  Charles's elder brother Peter farmed a 3 acre croft called Goackhall, close to Carpaquoy. Peter (49) was living with wife Margaret (46), daur Mary (15), no occupation, and five sons, the eldest three "scholars": Peter (12), William (9), Thomas (7), Andrew (4) and John (1).  The 4 acres croft between Peter and Magnus was farmed by John Tulloch (63), also from North Ronaldsay, possibly a brother of Magnus Swanie's wife Mary Tulloch, along with John's wife Jannet (6)), and two unmarried sons, fisherman Robert (26), and apprentice stonecutter John (19), all from North Ronaldsay.  

Carpoquoy, Eday, croft farmed by Magnus and Mary Swanie, 1840s and early 1850s, along with sons. OS 6 inch 1st series. Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Carpoquoy, Eday, croft farmed by Magnus and Mary Swanie, 1840s and early 1850s, along with sons. OS 6 inch 1st series. Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland.

One Peter Swanney, almost certainly a descendant of Magnus and Mary Swanney, probably a grandson or great-grandson, bought the farm at Carpaquoy in 1927.   The disposition by Harry Hamilton Hebden of Eday to Peter Swanney, farmer, Carpaquoy, Island of Eday, was dated 18 February 1927 and recorded in the Register of Sasines on 25 March 1927  (Book 263/40).  It comprised (i) The Farm and Lands of Carpaquoy, extending to 18 and 750/1000 acres; and (ii) The Croft and lands of Fersness Hill extending to 13 and 73/1000 acres.   The farm and croft and lands at Carpaquoy and Fers Ness Hill may well have been owned by the Hebden family since at least 1853, when one Robert James Hebden is recorded as having possession of them.  Title included "Teinds, Foreshores, Fishings, rights to Peats, Seaware ... under reservation of exclusive rights to Seaware from the Foreshores of said Farms and lands etc".  The market for kelp had of course collapsed many years earlier.

 

There still seems to be a building of some sort at Carpaquoy today; see satellite map below.

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West Leira, Shapinsay: Thomas Swanny's farm of 30 acres, where he moved to from Eday and where widower father Magnus died 1862. OS 6 inch 1st series. Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland.
West Leira, Shapinsay: Thomas Swanny's farm of 30 acres, where he moved to from Eday and where widower father Magnus died 1862. OS 6 inch 1st series. Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Recent photo of West Lairo, Shapinsay, where Magnus Swanie died, 1862, farm of son Thomas Swanie. Probaby a larger, later house. Photo courtesy of Maureen Hunter, Edinburgh / Karen Wood, South Ronaldsay.
Recent photo of West Lairo, Shapinsay, where Magnus Swanie died, 1862, farm of son Thomas Swanie. Probaby a larger, later house. Photo courtesy of Maureen Hunter, Edinburgh / Karen Wood, South Ronaldsay.