Ayrshire | Telfordfamily

Hunter and Orr Families of Ayrshire

East Polquhirter homestead photographed in 2017.

Rev. Thomas Hunter was the Minister of the Gospel at New Cumnock for 50 years from 1710 to 1760.

Mr.Thomas Hunter ( later Rev.) was married to Christian Kerr at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh while a student there in 1693. They had (at least) 2 children, Joseph in 1696 and Mary in 1697, both baptised in Kilmadock parish, Perthshire, which includes Doune and is adjacent to the parish of Dunblane. He was first licensed by the presbytery of Dunblane in 1702 and was assistant minister at Sanquhar ( a few Km east of New Cumnock in Dumfriesshire) until being called and ordained to the ministry at New Cumnock in 1706.

His wife, Christian Kerr was the daughter of George Kerr, sometime Provost of Sanquhar. There are numerous graves at Sanquhar with the name of Kerr and a few of Hunter. In 1606 "the lands of Cleughhead in the barony of Tibbers were acquired by the Queensberry family from Rev.Robert Hunter of Sanquhar and his wife Marguerite Hamilton" ( History of Sanquhar). I wonder whether this Rev. Robert is a forebear of Rev. Thomas ?

Rev. Thomas is buried in the kirkyard of the Auld Kirk with the following inscription:

REV MR THOMAS HUNTER LATE MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT NEU CUMNOCK FOR FIFTY YEARS WHO DYED ON JAN 5TH 1760 AGED 95 YEARS AND CHRISTIAN KER HIS FIRST SPOUSE WHO DYED THE 9TH FEB 1745 AGED 84 YEARS AS IS ALSO THE BURIAL PLACE OF JOSEPH HUNTER HIS SON 1762

and on the adjacent gravestone:

ERECTED by THOMAS HUNTER M D in memory of his Father

THOMAS HUNTER of Polquhirter

who died 15th April 1836 aged 78 years

and JANE his daughter who died 23d Aug 1842 aged 18 months and

JANE HUNTER his niece who died 10th Sept 1834 aged 12 years

and of the above THOMAS HUNTER M D who died 10th August 1870

William Orr and Jean Hunter and Family

William Orr and his wife Jean Hunter both came from a farming tradition in the region of Ayrshire in Scotland.

They continued that tradition when they bought land near Rockhampton, Queensland in 1859 and William Orr became recognized as a highly successful and innovative proprietor of a cattle station.

The photo above shows the property of High Polquhirter, New Cumnock, Ayrshire where Jean Hunter and her 3 siblings were raised. ( photo courtesy of Robert Guthrie's New Cumnock website )

Jean was the youngest child of Thomas Hunter and Jean Key, born December 1812. There is a record of the marriage of Thomas Hunter of Polquhirter in the parish of New Cumnock and Jean Key daughter of Wm Key, farmer at Garlaff ( in Old Cumnock a few miles up the road from New Cumnock) on 9th November 1794. ( see scotlandspeople.gov.uk )

Also on the scotlandspeople website there are records of HIstorical Tax Rolls. These include taxes on horses and dogs. In 1797-8 William Key of Garlaff (Ayrshire) paid 5 shillings tax for 1 dog and 8 shillings for 5 horses ( 4 horses at 2 shillings each and 1 horse not taxed - why?).

William Key was married to Nicholas, daughter of Andrew Campbell and Helen Mitchell.

Thomas Hunter (father of Jean) died in April 1836 and left a will in which he names two parcels of land - Nether Polquhirter which he had inherited from his “grandfather Thomas Hunter, Minister of the Gospel at New Cumnock” and which he leaves to his eldest son William ( b. 1795), and HIgh Polquhirter ( or Over Polquhirter) which was originally owned by “grandfather” Thomas but which the present Thomas had repurchased from a third party; this he left to second son Thomas ( b. 1801). In fact Rev. Thomas was almost certainly the great grandfather of this Thomas rather than grandfather.

The widow, Jean Key was granted an acre of land, "one of the best cows", use of a designated living space and an annuity of 20 pounds a year for life. We might suppose that it would have been an Ayrshire cow as in the photo at left.

Jean ( sister of William and Thomas) Hunter received a bequest of 300 pounds and her sister Margaret's daughter the much smaller amount of 10 pounds, Margaret (b. 1808) having predeceased her father.

East, West and High Polquhirter are shown on the map at left. I am advised by Robert Guthrie of the New Cumnock Heritage project that East Polquhirter is the modern name for Nether Polquhirter.

From the inscription it can be seen that Thomas Hunter M.D. is the son of Thomas Hunter of Polquhirter and is the brother of Jane who became Mrs Wm Orr. Thomas Hunter M.D. of East Polquhorter is listed in the 1862 Ayrshire Post Office Directory. He graduated from Glasgow University in 1831 and subsequently practised in Glasgow. He is pictured at right.

His son, also Thomas qualified as a physician and surgeon at Edinburgh and Glasgow and died in 1917 survived by 10 children.

Joseph Hunter ( son of Rev Thomas) married Mary Kirkwood and they had 7 children at New Cumnock including their first born Thomas whose birth record shows he was born at Nether Polquhirter in December 1721. The others were Jean, Isabella, Robert, James, Christian and Lucia born between 1723 and 1734.

The Old Parish Records which are available online at scotlandspeople.gov.au can be considered generally reliable but not all births and marriages have been recorded. As a result it cannot be established with certainty the detailed genealogy linking Joseph Hunter to the Thomas who died in 1836 leaving a will (above). However from the information that is available the following is the likely scenario:

Thomas, son of Joseph, married Mary Henry about 1745 ( aged 23) and had 5 children - 4 girls, Jean, Mary, Isabell and Marjory for whom there are records of their births at New Cumnock over the period 1746 and 1755 and then Thomas in 1758 for whom there is no record.

Thomas, son of Thomas and grandson of Joseph, marries Jean Key in 1794 at New Cumnock and have offspring -

William Dec 1795, Thomas Sept 1801, Margaret Aug 1806, Jean 07 Dec 1812 (who marries William Orr).

In the “First Statistical Account of Scotland” completed in 1790, it was reported:

The parish ( of New Cumnock) produces chiefly bear and oats. Abundance of potatoes are raised, and mostly used for the support of the inhabitants. Quantities of bear, cheese, and butter, are exported, and with them the farmers make up their rents. The crops are liable to several accidents when the harvest is late, and suffer much by early frosts, mildews, and shaking winds, especially in the marshy and fluid grounds. ( “bear” is a type of barley ) At the church the dale country terminates, and southwards the parish is generally a pasture country for sheep. The soil is generally good and rough, and the hills are covered with green. The air is generally healthful, witness the long lives of many who have died above 90, or near it, and some now in the parish have reached that period.

Jean Hunter ( or Jane ) married William Orr at Kilmarnock on 24 June 1833 as shown in the record above from the Old Parish Records shows that Jane was married in 1833 She was 22 years and living at Kilmarnock where presumably she had relatives - there were 95 Hunter marriages at Kilmarnock over the period 1780 to 1840. .Kilmarnock is about 30 Km from New Cumnock and 8 Km from Towerlands, Bourtree Hill. where William was living.

Jane is identified as being of the "Low Church Parish" in Kilmarnock. The Low Church had been rebuilt in 1817 and refers to the location of the church, on low ground as compared to the "High Church" ( not as in High / Low Anglican). It is "a large and handsome edifice, connected with the establishment, possessing accommodations for 1700 persons; the style of architecture is that which prevailed in England during the latter part of the fourteenth century; it is ornamented with an admirable Gothic tower, and cost £5,000" (from Genuki website) - pictured at right.

William Orr's birth was registered at Dundonald, Ayrshire, on 23rd April 1807.

It reads:

William, son to James Orr tenant in Plewland and Jean Galt, spouses was born the twentieth day of April and baptised the twenty-third of same month Eighteen hundred and Seven.

Dundonald is about 40 Km from new Cumnock and at the southern edge of the town of Irvine. Ploughlands Farm ( or "Plewland" ) is on Harperland (road) about 1Km north of Dundonald village and 4 Km from Irvine town centre in North Ayrshire.

In the 1841 census William Orr is listed as a farmer living at Bourtree Hill, Irvine, together with wife Jane and children Jane 6, Margaret 4, James 2 and Janet 2 months. Also James, agricultural labourer, 19, probably William's younger brother.

Bourtree Hill is close to the centre of Irvine and is now mostly a housing development but a small wooded area ( no doubt with some “Bour” Trees = Elder Tree) remains. In the early 1800s it was part of the estates of Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton.

The obituary for William Orr in The Capricornian (Rockhampton) of 5th February 1881 refers to The Eglinton tournament - described in the panel below from a contemporary report. This was an event that William was closely involved with and which he liked to recount to his friends and family. In the words of the obituary:

"In ploughing matches, cattle shows, curling etc, he took a great interest, and thus was brought in contact with Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, who .......... had a great regard for Mr. Orr, and at his lordship's request he acted as herald at the memorable Eglinton Tournament of 1839, and sustained his part well in that grand medieval display."

William was 32 years old at the time, just 5 years older than the Earl.

The obituary goes on to say: "Mr. Orr was an excellent agriculturist. His dairy stock was always of the best description, and his farm has long been famed for its dairy produce (butter and cheese) " This refers to his time in Queensland, Australia.

William Orr's antecedents and siblings

The parents of William Orr were James Orr and Jane Galt. Their marriage in 1796 was registered in the parish of Dundonald as follows:

James Orr junior in Plewland and Jean Galt in the Parish of Irvine were married at Towerlands the first day of August seventeen hundred and ninety six years.

In the Dreghorn cemetery there is a gravestone which reads:

Erected .... James Orr, Farmer ..... oughland in memory of his .... ..m.. Orr, late farmer in Ploughland who died June 20th 1797 aged 53 years.

Also Janet Galt his spouse who died March 3rd 1791 aged 53 years.

And John Orr, their Son who died March 8th 1793 aged 33 years.

Also Jean, Janet, Ann and George Orr, their children who all died in infancy.

I suspect the apparently indecipherable ..”m”.. is James i.e. the father of James junior".

Thus we have James Orr who married Jean Galt in 1796 and his father James born 1743/4 also married a Jean Galt born 1737/8. In fact we have a record from the parish of Dreghorn confirming that this marriage took place in 1759.

It may seem somewhat coincidental that we should have 2 related Orr-Galt marriages but there were 165 Galt births in Ayrshire in the period 1730 - 1780, 34 at Dreghorn, and 586 Orr births in Ayrshire, 27 at Dreghorn.

In the Old Statistical Account written around 1790, we have the following details about Dreghorn:

The ground is a gradual ascent from the west end of the parish to the east. The soil in that part of it, which lies nearest to the sea, is either sandy or gravelish. Above the village is a fine loam, and the rest of it clay. The whole of the parish is arable, except a few acres of marshy ground, which are used as meadow lands. It is also mostly inclosed, and there are a variety of clumps of planting upon the eminences of such lands, as are the property of the Earl of Eglinton. There is also a number of verges of planting upon the estates of the other heritors, all which have a very fine effect in beautifying the country.

The usual crops are oats, bear, and rye–grass. Besides these, there are some small quantities of wheat raised, and two farmers in the parish have several times sown a few acres of turnip. There is very little black victual sown. The method of culture which has been generally followed here for upwards of 30 years is the following. Every farm is now divided into three parts, each of these is ploughed for 3 years in its turn, while the other 2 remain in grass. Grass–seeds are sown with the third year's crop, and the tenant is allowed to cut his hay field for one season, and sometimes for two.

In the west end of the parish there is a colliery, yielding, according to the information I received from one of the proprietors, above 11,000 tons yearly. The greatest part of these coals is exported to Ireland from the port of Irvine.

The inhabitants both in the village and parish are in general sober, attentive, and industrious. There are at present 3 ale–houses in the village, and one in another part of the parish; but the business they have is very inconsiderable, the principal part of it arising from travellers.

From the parish of Kilwinning ( just north of Dreghorn) we have the following entry:

Small PoxThis disease, it must be acknowledged, is a melancholy exception to these facts. It rages here, at times, with the utmost violence, and is often extremely fatal. In the summer and autumn of 1791, upwards of 90 children had the natural small pox, and more than one half of them died. The chin–cough and natural small pox not unfrequently prevail at the same time. When this happens, as was the case at the above period, the ravages committed by this last disease, are truly dreadful.

The family of Jean Hunter and William Orr was:

Jane Hunter Galt (Jeannie) born October 1834 at Irvine, Ayrshire;

Margaret born Sept. 1836 at Irvine;

James Galt born Dec. 1838 at Irvine;

Janet ( Jessie) born March 1841 at Irvine;

Thomas Hunter born Feb. 1843 at Irvine;

William, twin to Thomas, at Irvine;

John born March 1845 at Traquhair, Peeblesshire;

Juliana born 1850 at Abersychan, Pontypool, Wales

George Henry Hunter 1855 born at Prahran, Victoria

The Irvine birth records give no further detail but they were probably all while the family were living at Bourtree Hill.

Some time before 1845 the Orr family moved from Bourtree Hill to Traquair, Peeblesshire, Scotland where William was Land Steward to Col. Allan of “The Glen”. John Orr was born there in March 1845.

By 1851 the family was living at Abersychan near Pontypool ( pictured below) , Monmouthshire, Wales where William was a “Farm Agent”.

At Pontypool another addition to the family was Juliana, born around November 1850.

In April 1852 they embarked on the 531 ton “Gloucester”, at Plymouth, arriving at Port Adelaide, South Australia on 13th August 1852. ( William was listed as a Farm Bailiff). William was 45 when he arrived in Australia and so well-experienced in farm management. Jeannie was 18 years old.

After a few months in Adelaide William took the family to Victoria and in 1855 the last child, George, was born at Prahran ( Melbourne). Thus the family was complete - Jane, Margaret, James, Janet, Thomas, William, John, Juliana and George.

To follow the story of their life in Australia, click here:

Australia

Plymouth Sound in the 1800s - painting by J T Serres

The coincidence of these diseases might, in a great measure, be prevented by inoculation. But though in this, and in every other respect, inoculation is attended with the happiest consequences, it is only practised here in two or three families. From ignorance, and the most superstitious prejudices, the parents, regardless, or insensible of consequences, instead of inoculating their children, crowd into those houses in which the disease is of the most malignant nature, and at a time when it is the most infectious. The very worst kind of this dangerous and loathsome disease is, in this manner, communicated and spread, and thousands of valuable lives are lost to the community.

( does this remind you of some present day behaviours ? )

James Orr junior and wife Jean had the following children:

James 1797, Janet 1801, George 1805, William 1807, John 1809, Jean 1811, George 1813, all registered at Dundonald. Janet is later identified as their second daughter so there must have been another one about 1799. Also James born 1821 to James Orr and Jean Galt registered at Irvine is probably the same family ( assuming the first born James had died young) and probably Juliana registered at Irvine 1821 to James Orr and Jane Galt given that Juliana occurs again in a later generation. In fact, as with many of the families around this time, most of the names recur in later generations and mothers’ surnames are given as a second name - e.g. Galt in the Orr family in Australia.

Presumably the first George also died in infancy.

George ( born 1813) became a minister initially in the Church of Scotland at Symington, a few Km southeast of Dundonald, in 1840 and then in the Free Church.

Janet Orr ( born 1801), William's sister, married John Orr ( cousin ? ) in Irvine, Ayrshire and emigrated with their 8 children who on arrival at Port Jackson on 1st April 1839 were aged Jane 16, John 15, James 12, William 10, Margaret 7, Jessie 4, Mary Mayne 6 months. They came on the 482 ton "Hero of Malown" from Liverpool over a period of 4 months.

So when William and Jean Orr emigrated with their offspring in 1852 William and Jane Orr were following in the footsteps of close relatives already living in Australia - similar to many other families mentioned in this family history.