John MURRAY, Farmer in Hearthstanes
John MURRAY was born 28 January 1782, the youngest son of Alexander MURRAY and Mary
LAIDLAW. John married Margaret GRAY on 02 September 1809 and their marriage was recorded in the Lyne Parish Church Registers.
Margaret was the daughter of Alexander GRAY, Tacksman
of Lyne and was born about 1780 in the Lyne Parish.
Margaret died on 17 April 1855 at Hearthstanes. (shown at right)
John MURRAY was remembered by those you knew him as
"Old Mr. Murray of Hearthstanes" who had "a white face, a lang nose and a wig -
and he rode to the Tweedsmuir Kirk on a white pony." (From: TALES OF TWEEDSMUIR, by Sheila Scott, 1995)
Tom MURRAY, who has researched the MURRAYs of Tweedsmuir for
fifty years, remarked on John MURRAY, in Hearthstanes, and John's beloved Broad Law - the 840 foot hill (see left) that
towers behind Hearthstanes. In the book, THE FRUITFUL
SHEPHERD, Tom stated that John "had strenuous objections
to being buried in the (Tweedsmuir) cemetery, as he wished to be buried at the top of
Broad Law behind
Hearthstanes - perhaps to enjoy the solitude or even the view!"
John would point at Broad Law and declare, "If ye don't bury me there,
I'll kick and I'll kick 'till the stane falls doon." John died on 17 January 1872 and was buried instead down in the cemetery. "A short while after the burial,
the stone did fall over!" The stone was reset and to this day remains strongly braced to keep it that way. (Note bracing in photo at right)
Children of John MURRAY and Margaret GRAY are:
i. Alexander MURRAY was born about 12 September 1810 at Hearthstanes. Alexander spent his life helping out his
father
on the huge (3750 acres according to the 1861 Census) Hearthstanes farm. Alexander died at Hearthstane on 23 November 1864 and is buried in
the family plot in the Tweedsmuir Churchyard. (MURRAY Headstones shown at right)
ii. James MURRAY was born on the 1st of January 1813 at
Hearthstanes. James was employed by the American Fur Company and died on 09 November 1848 near
what is now Liberty, Saskatchewan.
iii. Janet MURRAY, was born about 04 December 1814 at Hearthstanes.
On 26 May 1839, Janet married Adam TAIT in the Newlands Parish Church.
iv. John MURRAY was born about 04 May 1817 and died 07
August 1847 at Salaghoil, Argyllshire. John fathered a female child
and the name of the child or the child's mother are not currently known. We only know
that the child left Scotland some years before 1867.
v. Mary Laidlaw MURRAY who was born on 12 September 1820 at Hearthstanes. She
married John PORTEOUS on 04 August 1855 at Hearthstanes. John was the son of James PORTEOUS and Janet FLEMING and he was
born about 05 October 1809 in the Coulter Parish of Lanarkshire.
John PORTEOUS was a farmer and he died on 29 March 1866 at the Whim Farm in the Newlands
Parish of Peeblesshire. Mary Laidlaw Murray PORTEOUS died on 08 January 1887 at 7 Annandale Street
in Edinburgh.
Children of John PORTEOUS and Mary L. MURRAY are:
1.
Margaret Gray PORTEOUS who was born about 10 March 1856 in the
Newlands Parish. Margaret never married and lived in Edinburgh at 7 Annandale
Street (see photo at right) with her cousin
Fanny Ann TAIT. Margaret Gray PORTEOUS
died on 03 July 1887 at 7 Annandale Street.
2. Mary Jessie Fleming PORTEOUS who was born about 31 July 1857 in Newlands
and died on 14 November 1859 at Whim in Newlands.
vi. Grace MURRAY who was born on 04 May 1823 at Hearthstanes. She
married David BIRD on 10 January 1851 in the Newlands Parish.
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