 1786 - 1873
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| Born |
1786 |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
1873 |
Forres, Murrayshire  |
| Person ID |
I273 |
My Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
28 Sep 2013 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Died - 1873 - Forres, Murrayshire |
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 | Forres high st.
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 | cows in Morayshire today
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 | 1905 record of death, Helen Watson
Helen MacRae, widow of William MacRae, Plumber, died at 6:30pm August 18th 1905, at 17 Hartfield St. She was 75 years old. Cause of death Carcinoma(?) and exhaustion. Her son James R MacRae was present.
Her father was John Watson, a farmer, and her mother Helen Watson (maiden name unknown).
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 | 1821 birth record for Helen Watson, Parish of Dyke
"Helen lawful daughter to John Watson and Janet Ruface /Rusale(?)born at Moy Corse 18th Nov and baptised 1st December"
(Dyke and Moy is a Parish nr Forres)
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 | 1873 death record for John Watson
John Watson, retired farmer, widower of Janet Russell
4:20pm September 5th, 1873, North Back st Forres
age 87 years.
Father, William Watson, farmer, deceased
Mother, Ann Watson, maiden name McKenzie, deceased
cause of death diarrhia + old age.
Barbara Miller, granddaughter present. |
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| Notes |
- Described as 'late farmer in the parish of Forres' on the marriage record of his daughter Helen, and as a 'farmer' on her death record, John was not just a crofter but obviously a man of some means, probably a tenant farmer for a landlord.
Scottish farming had undergone its own agricultural revolution in the 18th century as more scientific approaches were tried and tested by landowners, so he was farming at a time when a burgeoning population was being fed by cutting edge farming practices...
"In Scottish agriculture, as elsewhere, the 18th century was the great 'age of improvement'. There were wealthy pioneer farmers - the 'evangelists' of improvement - such as Grant of Monymusk, Cockburn of Ormiston, Fletcher of Saltoun, Mackintosh of Borlum, and the 6th Earl of Haddington, a tree-planter at Tyninghame.
The work of these leading-edge practitioners was copied widely and thus rolled out across the countryside. A scientific approach to best practice was common. Many books were written on the subject: from Lord Belhaven's "The Countrey-man's Rudiments" (1699) to Haddington's "Short Treatise on Forest Trees" (1756) and James Donaldson's four-volume "Husbandry Anatomiz'd" (1795/6).
In the first half of the 18th century, liming of the outfield was introduced: this enriched the soil and improved grazings. Enclosure by stonewalling and dyking between neighbours (as well as within farms) also improved arable conditions, with fewer beasts going astray. Huge and widespread drainage schemes were undertaken, so that croplands were improved as well as extended. A scientific approach to crop rotation was introduced. The breeding of improved bloodstocks was beginning.
Mechanisation arrived in the shape of swing ploughs, reaping, binding and threshing machines. The layout of farm buildings was also carefully studied and improved; farm buildings arranged around a central square with central midden were favoured.
Specialisms began to be recognised in the early 19th century: dairying in Ayrshire and Galloway, beef in Aberdeenshire and Angus, root crops in Fife, market gardening in the Clyde valley and on Tayside, grain crops in East Lothian and Moray."
source: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/jacobitesenlightenmentclearances/agriculturalchanges/index.asp
"The old 'touns and clachans' of Scotland, which worked the land communally, were ingenious adaptations to Scotland's natural farming conditions; they were also relatively profitable, but the fundamental system of farming had changed little since the Middle Ages. Crops were grown in the runrig system: elongated s-shaped plots that were divided between the local community around the farm settlement in an intensively cultivated area known as the infield. Beyond this area was the less-intensively cultivated outfield, where livestock could be grazed on pastures. They were effectively islands of cultivation, surrounded by more infertile areas that were never tilled.
The onset of the Enlightenment brought dramatic changes in land management. Landlords introduced 'improving' leases to larger, single-tenant farmers in return for cash rents. The old system was swept away as fields enclosed by windbreaking hedgerows and trees were introduced. New principles of farming developed as the latest scientific knowledge was applied. Crop rotation rejuvenated the soil, and larger expanses of land were brought into production through the drainage of marshes and clearing of peat bogs. The profitability and productivity of the land soared, but within the actual farming communities (basically the majority of the population) there was greater stratification. For those who succeeded, the rewards were great, but many failed to meet their landlords' demands and the landless Cottar class was slowly squeezed out of existence. Agricultural improvement had an enormous social impact."
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/enlightenment/intro_enlightenment2.shtml
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There are 2 records of his daughter which refer to John, and there's also this death certificate which matches:
1873 record of death
John Watson, retired farmer, widower of Janet Russell
4:20pm September 5th, 1873, North Back st Forres
age 87 years.
Father, William Watson, farmer, deceased
Mother, Ann Watson, maiden name McKenzie, deceased
cause of death diarrhia + old age.
Barbara Miller, granddaughter present.
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