Gairloch Museum Research Project
Post 3
[family tree – image courtesy of Gairloch Museum]
Last week we met Catherine “Kate” Williamson, whose first son William Miller married Margaret “Maggie” Wilson in Gairloch. This week we’re following William and Maggie as they make several areas of the Gairloch Parish their home. We want to extend our thanks to Nathalie Stevenson, Brian Wilson, Catherine Laing and Dorothy Malone for their time and research in creating these posts.
Margaret “Maggie” Wilson is the daughter of James Wilson and Martha Clark. Martha also goes by the names Mattie, Murphy or Margaret in records. James and Martha were said to have married in Inverness in 1851 and are hawkers and travelling tinsmiths, meaning they travelled across the north and west Highlands mending and making domestic metal items for the remote communities. They also hawk (swap or sell) diverse items including ceramics, fabrics and small household goods. These trades were essential to remote communities in the Highlands and as well as bringing their wares, Traveller families could also be relied upon to convey news along their routes.
Although James and Martha’s link to Gairloch seems limited, their summer travelling route can be traced through the west and central Highlands, including stops at Lairg, Urray near Muir of Ord, Bonar Bridge and Kylesku. Their first son William Wilson is born in the Black Isle in 1865, and their first connection we can find to the parish of Gairloch comes in August 1867 when their daughter Margaret “Maggie” Wilson is born in Culconich, Aultbea.
As a young girl Maggie follows her family north for the birth of several siblings in Sutherland and back to the Black Isle, but she returns to Gairloch in 1887 at the age of 18 and marries 18-year-old William Millar, a licensed hawker from another Traveller family. Their marriage took place on 19 May 1887 in Achtercairn School, which today is still the building of Gairloch Primary School and it was overseen by Duncan S. McKenzie, the Minister of Gairloch who lived within the manse.
Newly married William Miller and Maggie Wilson maintain close links with the west coast. Although their first son Thomas Miller is born in Urray in 1888, just outside of Muir of Ord, their second son James Miller is born in 1889 in a tent at Talladale, on Loch Maree side. Their third son John Miller is born in 1890 in a tent at Aird, Badachro, and our museum team believe this to be Aird Farm which is just beyond the modern-day Badachro Distillery. This probably means that the family had connections to the crofters in this area, and were given a place to camp in exchange for labour within farms and crofts.
After this the family can be found in Kerrysdale during the 1891 census, and at Inverasdale in 1892 for the birth of their daughter Martha. 1895 sees the family back at Talladale on loch Maree side for the birth of George Miller, and then in Cromasaig, Kinlochewe for the birth of William Miller in 1900. He dies young in Muir of Ord on the 5th of September 1900. Our final glimpse of the family in the Gairloch-area census records is in 1901 in a tent in the Applecross peninsula, probably camping in a well-known Traveller campsite called the Caman, an area of land between Toscaig and Culduie.
Unfortunately, the next records about this family aren’t as positive, as we find that sons Thomas, John and George all enlisted in Gairloch to become part of the Seaforth Highlanders. John and Thomas, within the 4th and 6th Battalions respectively, die a month apart in 1917 after the Battle of Arras in France. The Miller’s weren’t unusual in this – 14 men from the Gairloch Parish lost their lives at Arras or were injured or buried there. George survived the war and went on to marry his first cousin, Mary Wilson, at Gairloch Manse in 1921.
And for Martha Wilson, the sister of these fallen soldiers, her heartbreak continued as in 1918 her husband James Wilson, a Traveller born in Badfearn, Aultbea, was also killed in France. The couple had only been married for 10 years, having tied the knot in Poolewe in August 1908. After WW1 many of the family settled in either Lochcarron or near Dingwall, and it’s been an honour to speak with some living relatives during the research for these posts.
Each of these posts have left us with more questions than answers – can you help?
Do you know of any stories of Travellers camping within Badachro?
Have you any memories of where Travellers stayed in Culchonich, Aultbea?
[Aird Farm in Badachro, from the collection of Gairloch Museum GARHM IMG963]
[Members of the 4th Battalion Seaforths, the company of John Miller. From the collection of Gairloch Museum, GARHM IMG233]