Chapter 3B:Findings from the Strathdon Censuses

The 3 censuses of Strathdon (District 7) of 1841, 1851 and 1861[1] were examined with care, these being reflective of the times leading up to John Glennie’s departure for the New World in 1870. Differences in classifications of some of the data recorded and modifications of the scope of the survey make some comparisons of interest questionable, but what seems reasonably sure is reported herein.

From the first of theses censuses, the Glennie family is shown with Lochrie as its homestead and farm and the Reids are at Tollafraick. In fact, from separate records, we know that the Reids had been at Tollafraick for “generations”[2] by the mid-19th century and the Glennies had been at Lochrie since the middle of the 18th century, having moved from “Rinnavohn”(also “Rinnavoan”), a farm also in Strathdon.[3]

From 1841 – 1851, Strathdon’s residents endured hard times. The population dropped from 209 to 177 and the number of homesteads from 39 to 31. Because these numbers rebounded to some extent in the following decade, serious hardship must have befallen local residents during this decade. A prime candidate is the potato blight that hit the Highlands in the late 1840s, at about the same time as it did Ireland with consequences that were severe although not as catastrophic as in its neighbor to the West. In addition, cattle prices were down during this period, causing higher than usual numbers of tenants to fall into arrears. [4] These factors, together, may explain at least some of this downturn in Strathdon’s population.

The decade ending in 1861 brought a lot of change to Strathdon, and the Glennies and Reids in particular. The size of the average farm had grown substantially, from about 27 acres to 42, with the largest farm in 1861 increasing to 140 acres from 90 a decade before. Smaller farms at this later date appear to be headed by older people or laborers than earlier, suggesting that small parcels may not have been sufficient to sustain growing families. At the same time, even though the population returned to close to the 1841 level, the percentage of the population listed as living on farms dropped from about 66% to 57%. Farming was becoming more efficient, a sign of the times.

The experiences at Lochrie and Tollafraick comported with the general picture, although these 2 farms seemed to do better than most. They comprised 48 and 40 acres, respectively, in 1851 and Lochrie grew to 60 by 1861 (There are no comparable data for 1841.), making them (particularly Lochrie, of course) among the largest holdings in the 7th district.[5]

While agriculture dominated Strathdon’s economy during these years, it was not the only economic activity there. A wool mill claiming 9 people in 1841 employed 14 in both 1851 and 1861, more than even the largest of the farms. A blacksmith is shown to be in residence at the time of all 3 censuses. But there were signs of downturn as well. By 1861, Strathdon (district 7) no longer was home to a surgeon. A school had closed and the schoolmaster had left.

The estate of the Strathdon gentry was apparently at Glenkendie, and there life was very different, indeed. Listed under several separate tracts, all called “Glenkendie,” occupations reported included masons, a stone finisher, a miller, tailor, gardener, and, in the 1851 census, a “retired advocate,” or attorney. This would be Alexander Leith, a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge and son of General Sir Alexander Leith, a peer. By 1861, Glenkendie was headed by Mary Anna Leith, described as “landed proprietor’s wife”, who resided with her 5 servants. Interestingly, in 1861 Ernest and Isobel Reid (gardener and gardener’s wife) are reported in residence in Glenkendie with their daughter, Ann, a dressmaker, although I know of no connection between these Reids and my grandmother’s family.

The decades of the 1850s – 1860s is also the time when many of those in the Glennie and Reid families who would emigrate to America were born, but more about that later.
[1] Insert source for Census.
[2] Source - Potter
[3] Glennie, Charles D., A Short History of the Glennie Family. Circa 1950, p.1. By the 1861 census, Rinnavoan, also in Strathdon’s 7th district, is a farm of 65 acres headed by the Dickson family, with whom there is no known connection.
[4] See Devine, pp. 413, 420
[5] When the last of the Glennies migrated in the late 1880s, these 2 farms were merged into one.