35) GEDDES/GRAYGEDDES from Fordyce, Banffshire, Scotland "Peter GEDDES and Jean GRAY both of this parish contracted in order to marrie, consigned pledges viz 2 Crowns which after their marriage were." - Fordyce Parish Register, Banffshire, Scotland. Peter GEDDES was very likely baptised 19-Apr-1704 as Patrick GEDDES, father Alexander GEDDES mother not recorded. We do not know the identity if Alexander GEDDES: what we do know is that these GEDDESes worked on the land ('fairm-folk') rather than the sea ('fisher-folk') - the two rarely if ever mixed. We also know that, as with most other families along the Moray Firth, they gradually moved eastwards along the coast and its hinterland. Therefore, it is thought that this family line's historic origins are in Invernessshire in the Lands Of Geddes, which name and location first appears with certainty in still-surviving documentation relating to the foundation of Beaulieu Priory (in southern England) in 1219.
Be that as it may, Peter GEDDES and Jean GRAY had eight known children between 1731 and 1749 in Mains of Birkenbog, where he was either a farm servant or tenant farmer on the Abercromby Estates: Isabel 1731, Alexander 1733, Margaret 1734, Marjory 1736, Helen 1740, Anne 1743, Jean 1746, Peter 1749. The family must have been well thought of, for a witness to Helen's baptism was Dame Helen Abercromby of Birkenbog, the "boss's wife". It's not clear where Jean GRAY came from - Gray is a widespread name - a possibility is she came from Muirake Farm in the southern part of Fordyce Parish.
I only know about 1749 Peter. He married (as Patrick GEDDES) Ann YOUNG in 1782. They lived at Yondertown of Birkenbog, next door to his father, and eventually moved to Slogmahole, still in Fordyce parish, which he farmed. Slogmahole has been in the ownership of direct descendants ever since. The couple had six known children: Jean 1782 baptised the day her parents married, Ann 1784, Alexander 1787, Peter 1789, John 1792, James 1794, of whom the lives of three are known. It's not clear where Ann YOUNG came from either - Young is also a widespread name - a possibility is she came from Burncrunach, Gartly, Aberdeenshire the daughter of Alexander YOUNG and Elizabeth GORDON.
Jean died unmarried in 1841. Alexander led a long and fecund life - at least 14 children by two wives - and died age 84 a farmer at nearby Craibstone, Deskford in 1871. A fair amount is known about the children. Peter carried on with the farm, having 12 children by his wife Margaret REID, dying in 1866 age 76 at Newton (of Slogmahole). Margaret REID was born in Ramore, Deskford parish to James REID and Janet CLARK, many Reids being firmly based there, a mere stone's throw from Slogmahole.
Much is known about Peter's children. They all stayed locally, all the men bar one farmers or farm labourers, maybe one child - Alexander - died age 16 and maybe another - Janet - emigrated (for there is no record of her, her husband and family after 1861 by which time she was 29). It was only on occasion in later generations that anyone bothered to drift away, always to Commonwealth countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand.
John Geddes, my great-great-grandfather, was one who stayed. He married Margaret SMITH in 1838. A shoemaker, he set up less than half a mile away from Newton, at Cotton Croft. His 'shoppie' is still there today, in use as an outbuilding. Margaret SMITH lived until 104, having the distinction of being the oldest woman in Scotland when she died in 1920. The Geddeses were a healthy bunch, and the Smiths in neighbouring-parish Grange were long-lived: a combination that I hope I have inherited! Although Margaret SMITH was born in Barrons Mills, Fordyce to James SMITH and Janet ALLAN, their respective Smith and Allan families, and related families of Bruce and Gordon, are all based in Grange parish, guess where - adjacent to both Deskford and Fordyce, all a pleasant walk away from Slogmahole.
Still most of the family of seven of Peter GEDDES and Margaret SMITH hung around the area, but my great-grandfather went to Glasgow and set up as a Sporran-maker, which business lasted until the recession in the 1920s, my grandfather carrying on as a leather-worker until his retirement in the 1950s.
Contact for this family line:
Howard Geddes - [email protected]
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