Isabella Kinnaird ^{2 3}

  General Notes:

John Duncan Gray (my great-grandfather 27/6/1828-6/2/1909) married (at Banff 30/5/1854) Isabella Kinnaird of Gamrie (21/11/1826-9/7/1878).
Isabella's grandparents (William Urquhart and Ann Clarke) had a daughter Ann (10/5/21795 at Pisligo) who married James Kinnaird (1/5/1791 son of James Kinnaird and Jean Leggat). Isabella is the fifth of eight children of Ann Urquhart and James Kinnaird (or Kenard) listed on a CD at LDSFHC in Lismore but not all confirmed by IGI.
In the 1841 census for Gamrie, Rob Beresford found Isabella (aged 14) working for a farmer named James Cowie at Silverside farm and her widowed mother Anna Kinaird living with Isabella's youngest sister Barbara (b.19/6/1834).
In the 1851 census Isabella was nursemaid to Edward Mortimer, 4-year-old son of a solicitor in Banff. Isabella later gave this name to her third child, my grandfather, Edward Mortimer Gray (1858-1931) who came to Australia in 1885 with his younger sister Isabella (Ella).
In 1888 he married Annie Paul Cowie (1861-1941) whose history I am now trying to unravel.

Her grandparents are James Cow (or Cowie) and Margaret Jamieson who married 11/3/1809. Their children baptised at Kildrummy are James (12/2/1811), Lewis (6/3/1813), Elizabeth (8/4/1815) and Alexander (4/7/1817). Ages for Alexander given elsewhere suggest be was born 1820, so he may be replacement for the one born 1817 who may have died.

Alexander Cow married Williamina Hay at Brechin, Angus, on 6/1/1844.
Williamina was born about 1822 "at sea", probably the daughter of John Hay and his wife Mary Maria McKenzie who married 2/1/1813 at Foddery, Ross and Cromarty parish.
Alexander and Williamina had five children: James (about 1845), Sophia (9/11/1848), William (about 1855), Alexander (4/2/1859) and Ann (9/2/1861).
The gaps between these children suggest there may gave been others who died without appearing in the IGI.
The 1861 census lists this family without the first son James.

Ann's mother Williamina died in Aberdeen on 5/8/1866. Her husband was then alive as he was the informant of her death.
Ann's sister Sophia died at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on 5/8/1869 The 1871 census lists only Ann, aged 10, among 23 girl students at North Lodge, King Street, Aberdeen. North Lodge at 161 King Street used to be the Aberdeen Female School of Industry. Such schools were charitable institutions for destitute and orphaned girls. This suggests that Ann was already an orphan at this time.
In 1881 Annie P Cowie aged 20 is an assistant teacher lodging with Catherine Edwards (aged 80) at 43 Whitehouse Street, Old Machar.
I am trying to find out why she chose the middle name Paul, which eventually came to me.
In 1883 Annie P Cowie emigrated to Australia, married my grandfather in 1888, lived in Ararat until he died in 1831. She then moved with her daughter Alison Gray to Portland to be near her son Euan Gray who had married into the Prescott family who ran Mac's Hotel.

(PTG 2008)

  Chronology:

She worked as an Ag. Lab. in 1841 and resided at Silverford farm, Gamrie, Banffshire. ⁶

She worked as a Nurse for Edward Mortimer in 1851 and resided at Banff, Scotland.

04/11/1838 MORTIMER EDWARD MARGARET JAMSON/ M BANFF 147/00 0010

Isabella married John Duncan Gray, son of James Gray and Anne Duncan (Or Scot), on 30 May 1854 in Banff, Scotland.¹ (John Duncan Gray was born on 27 Jun 1828 ^{7 8}, christened on 4 Jul 1828 in Cullen, Banff, Scotland and died on 6 Feb 1909.)