Introduction / Margaret Gray and Thomas Reid / Ann Meil Reid and John Irvine

William Irvine and Margaret McKenzie

William Irvine, the youngest son of Ann Meil Reid and John Irvine, was born on Eday the 28th of December 1862. William's father, a fisherman, died in 1867, and by 1871, Ann and her sons were living at Croyhouse on Eday. By 1881 William was a farm servant for Thomas Marwick, living at the farm of Work outside of Kirkwall.

In 1889, William married, in Kirkwall, Margaret McKenzie, born on Sanday the 3rd of January 1864 to Murdoch McKenzie and Ann Peace. William and Margaret had two children:

• Margaret Ann Irvine, born about 1891 in Kirkwall

• Catherine Irvine, born about 1893 in Kirkwall

In 1891 and 1901 William and his family were living in a close at 34 Victoria Street in Kirkwall. William's occupation was given as "vanman" associated with a grocer. William reported his mother's death in Kirkwall in 1915.