Introduction / Westray Grays / George Gray and Margaret Seatter / George Gray and Jean Reid

Robert Gray and Christian Harcus

Robert Gray, born in 1779 to George Gray and Jean Reid, married Christian Harcus on 28th February 1806 in Westray. Despite the large number of daughters, the descendants of Robert Gray and Christian Harcus formed most of the subsequent Grays in Westray

Their children were:

• Jean Gray (c. 15th June 1808)

• George Gray (c. 19th March 1811) who married Ann Thomson

• William Gray (c. 26th April 1813) who married Margaret Hewison

• Barbara Gray (c. 18th April 1815) who married John Rendall

• Christina Gray (c. 28th March 1817) who married James Drever

• Ann Gray (c. 11th September 1819) who married Thomas Drever and William Pottinger

• Jean Gray (c. 16th October 1821)

• Jessie Gray (b. about 1823) who died unmarried on 11th July 1907 aged 84 years. Her occupation was given as dressmaker.

• Mary Gray (c. 17th March 1825) who died on 27th January 1857

Robert Gray worked as a blacksmith and can be seen at Gretnagreen in the 1841 census with his wife and their daughters, Jean and Mary Gray. Interestingly, Jean's age is given as 30 years, with the rounding down to the nearest multiple of five years as occurred in that census. This would indicate that the daughter born around 1808.

He lived to an old age, moving from Getnagreen to North Tuan between the 1861 and 1871 census, where he lived with his daughter Christina Gray, her husband and their family. In 1861, he is still described as a blacksmith and the census also indicates that he is a farmer of 19 acres. The other household at Gretnagreen at that time is that of daughter Ann Gray, who had been widowed and lived with her two daughters.

Christina, as Robert Gray's wife is called in the death register for Westray, died on 20th October 1858 at Gretnagreen. Robert died at North Tuan in 1871 at the age of 94 years.