Esther Sutherland was the second daughter born to
Katherine and William Sutherland at Badbea. She was baptised on September 30,
1803.
Esther’s early life story is probably very similar to that
of her siblings - living at home with her family until the death of both her
parents about 1810. Esther would have been about seven years old when she was
orphaned. She was taken in and brought up by either her half-brother David or
her cousin John Badbea Sutherland.
The next record located of Esther is her 1831 marriage to James Gunn in Edinburgh.
James Gunn was a Latheron local, christened on 14 July in 1807 at Achastle, a village north of Badbea, on the Forse Estate.
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Map shows Achnacraig (near Badbea) on bottom to Forse near top.
Source: John Thomson's Atlas of Scotland 1832
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Whether James and Esther went off to Edinburgh together
before they married or met up there is not known.
The record does not say which church they were married in
but it was not the now famous Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh as that was not
built until after 1831. The Tolbooth Parish was not much better than an
overcrowded slum with a labyrinth of old Closes and houses. Conditions were
horrendous with no sewage system and poor water supply for the inhabitants
although apparently the many distilleries located good water. The countless
coal fires and smoky atmosphere earned it the name “auld reekie.”
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| Edinburgh-1830 Source: www.smithsonianmag.com |
At the time of their marriage, James was a Spirit Dealer. The wine and spirits trade had
long flourished in Edinburgh. Alcohol of various types was imported at the
Edinburgh port and also distilled locally. Spirit Dealers generally dealt in
wines, spirits and ales. They were sometimes also publicans.
James and Esther’s first
son Donald (birth record not located) was probably born in Edinburgh about 1832 even
though the 1841 Caithness census shows his birth as being Caithness. Their
second son’s birth record shows William Gunn born in Edinburgh City, Midlothian
on 1 December 1834 (this William is also shown in the 1841 census as being born
in Caithness).
Daughter Jane was born in 26 March 1838 in
Nottingham, Latheron, Caithness. Jane does not appear again in the family
census records so she may have died before the 1841 census. But we can figure
out that somewhere between 1834 and 1838 the family left Edinburgh and came back
home to Latheron where they settled for the rest of their lives on the Forse
Estate.
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| Detail of Forse. Source: John Thomson's Atlas of Scotland 1832. |
The fact that James Gunn
was born in Achastle on the Forse Estate would likely have made a significant
impact on the lives of his family. The Sutherlands of Forse were a ‘minor’ Scottish noble family and branch of the
Clan Sutherland. On the Estate of Forse, while there were some evictions, they
were not as severe as at the neighbouring Langwell Estate. So, going back home,
James and Esther were able to get stable work and shelter in Forse at the very
time when others were being cleared from nearby Langwell.
Forse Castle is
apparently of Norse origin and around 800 years old dating from approximately
1150-1250. The Castle came into the possession of the Sutherlands through
marriage and was abandoned in the 18th century.
© Copyright Peter Gamble and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence www.geograph.org.uk
© Copyright Peter Gamble and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence www.geograph.org.uk
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| Shoreline near Forse Castle © Copyright sylvia duckworth and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence www.geograph.org.uk. |
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| Remiggy Farm near Swiney shown on Google Earth |
The 1851 census shows the family still at Remiggy. There is
another son David who was born in on 23 May 1843. Again the baptism record says
the family abode was the Hill of Forse.
The 1861 census shows the family still at Remiggy. James is
shown as a farmer of six acres. William aged 22 is still living at home with
the occupation of cooper (so making and repairing barrels for the herring
industry).
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Ruin, Newlands of Latheron
Ruin on the slopes of Ben-a-chielt with Scaraben in the distance.
© Copyright Richard Webb and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
www.geograph.org.uk.
|
The 1871 census shows James and Esther living in the same Latheron
district but now shown as Newlands. They have Christina Ross living with them
as a domestic servant. Christina was the granddaughter of Esther’s sister Christina
McLeod. Her parents Mary and Donald Ross were living in Shetland at the time.
Christina Ross had long stayed with her grandparents and moved to Rangag with
them. Rangag, also on the Forse Estate was not far from where Esther lived so
the sisters obviously kept in touch. Their other sister Margaret also lived at Forse
so the three sisters probably saw each other from time to time.
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Loch Forse.
© Copyright Richard Webb and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
www.geograph.org.uk |
The 1881 census shows the Gunn family still in Latheron at a
place called Ashbig which was close to Newlands. James is shown as a crofter.
They have a grandchild Williamina Gunn aged 15 living in as a domestic servant.
They are shown to be Gaelic speakers.
Esther died on 10 September 1881 aged 77. She died at home, at the Hill of Forse, of old age. She had no doctor but James was present with her till the end. James has added ‘His mark’ rather than his signature to her death record indicating perhaps that he could not write.
+1881d+copy.tif)
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| This long-house at the Laidhay Museum near Forse is an example of a byre dwelling that was once a common feature of the Caithness landscape. It is likely that houses the Gunn family lived in were similar to this house. |
James remarried to a Catherine Ross in 1882.
James died 19 Dec 1887 still living in Latheron at Forse.
James died 19 Dec 1887 still living in Latheron at Forse.
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| Wild flowers at the shore-line near Forse |
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