The families of Christian Allan and John Gory, in Condocloich
There are two marriages of a John Gory with a Christian or Cristine Allen, the first in 1720, the second in 1730. Thomas was a child of the second of these marriages, baptised on 26th February 1734. with younger siblings Christian, William, John and Andrew. His baptism entry names both parents, ‘Thomas to John Gory & Christian Allan in Condocloich tenent.’
Some researchers have suggested that this Christian Allan’s parents were Donald Allan and Christian Cock, who were married in Comrie in 1702, but I have not found evidence to this effect, and there are several Allan families around Logiealmond, Monzie and Fowlis Wester. Indeed, there is evidence against it. There is a testament for a Donald Allan who died in 1713 (and his son John Allan in 1714) in the parish of Comrie, ‘faithfullie Made & given up by Janet Allan only Lau[fu]ll daughter’ of Donald (and sister of John) and her husband William Drummond, weaver in Perth, which identifies Christian Cock as ‘relict of the said Donnald’. From this is seems that Donald may have been married previously - but clearly Christian Allan, marrying in 1730, cannot be a daughter of this Donald Allan and Christian Cock.
The marriage entry dated 13th March 1730 states only ‘John Gory & Christian Allan both in this parish’. However the third proclamation, from Kirk Session minutes, states that ‘John Gory & Christian Allan were proclaimed for the third & last time & nothing was objected against their mariage, he having brought a [ ] testificate from the place of his last [ ] for the time he lived out of the parish'. This implies that John Gory had been out of the parish for some time, working, but was originally from the parish; and having returned, he soon became a tenant farmer.
The baptism of Christian Gory on 22 February 1736 gives only the father’s name, ‘John Gory Tenent in Condocloich’, as does the entry for Willam, 8 April 1739. John’s baptism, 10 May 1741, names both parents, while Andrew’s, 24 April 1743, names only the father, again as ‘Tenent’.
Several other Gorys, Thomas, William and Malcome, are also named as ‘Tenent’ in Condocloich around this time.
The parentage of this John Gory is not clear, but some researchers have suggested he may be the son of Humphray (or Umphrey) Gory, John born in 1707. I think not, for several reasons, chiefly that there is no Humphray among his children. Rather, I think he is a little older than the son of Humphrey, and is most probably the John Gory baptised on 7th February 1703, with a record among the Kirk Session minutes which states only ‘Don[ald] Gory had a child called John’. (There are no separate baptism records for this time, and the beginning of the baptism and marriage register in 1708 states that earlier entries are to be found in the Kirk Sessions minute book.)
For why there is no child named Donald among the children of John I think we must look to the earlier marriage of a John Gory and Cristine Allan, proclaimed in Fowlis Wester and taking place in Moneydie on 8th December 1720, and subsequent documents relating to this.
This marriage produced four children, named Malcome,11 Nov 1721, Daniel or Donald, 10 March 1723, Catharine, 31 October 1725 and Janet, 18 December 1726. On the baptism records, John is ‘in Condocloich’ and on the latter two he is ‘Elder of Session’. This John is likely to have been the son baptised on 19th September 1697 of Malcom (Calum) Gory (himself the son of Donald Mantach Gory, for whom there is a testament dative). John died in June 1728, and his executors dative were named as Malcom and William Gorries along with his widow, Christian Allan, who however could continue as executor on behalf of her children only during her ‘widowity’, meaning while she remained unmarried. Only two of the children were named in the testament dative, Donald and Janet, implying that the other two had died in infancy or young childhood.
My thinking is that there was no child named Donald among the children of the second marriage of a John Gory and Christian Allan because there is only one Christian Allan, married in 1720, widowed in 1728 and re-marrying in 1730, her second husband being a first or second cousin of the first.
To be continued…
Earlier Gorries in Condocloich and Logiealmond
The (1691-95) Hearth Tax records for Fowlis Wester parish, in Volume 1 of Perthshire Hearth Tax records, include several Gorries. On page 33, Jon Gorrie and Callom mclean have two hearths and are scheduled to pay £1 8s; their location is not specified on that page but ’The Laird of Abercairnie his interest’ is given as a designation two pages back, with no apparent changes in superior. The entry immediately above that for John Gorrie and Callom mclean is for ‘Alexander Menzies in Buthentie’ with six hearths, and this John Gorrie’s dwelling may also have been in Buchanty.
In ‘The Laird of Logiealmond’s interest’ (meaning land owned by Thomas Drummond, 2nd Laird) the house occupied by (the families of) Androw Smyth and Donald Gorrie, with 2 hearths, is likewise scheduled for £1 8s, and the same payment is made by Thomas gorrie and Androw Mccara, again with two hearths. It is tempting to conclude that these Logiealmond households are at Condocloich.
(Hearth Tax records are made available through scotlandsplaces.gov.uk by the National Records of Scotland, and page 33 of the Perthshire volume 1 is at https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/historical-tax-rolls/hearth-tax-records-1691-1695/hearth-tax-records-perthshire-volume-1/31 ).
(The McCara connection is interesting, as a decade later Humphray Gorrie was to marry Margaret McCara, though the McCara name is not uncommon in the area.)