Introduction / Barbara Allan / Westray Allans / John Allan and Margaret Bews / William Allan

James Allan and Elizabeth Rendall

James Allan, son of William Allan and Ann Drever was baptised in the East parish of Westray, on 3rd March 1820. In 1841 he was living with his parents at Sponess. He married Elizabeth (Betsy) Rendall on 9th March 1844. Betsy, born about 1822, was the daughter of David Rendall and Catherine Davidson. They moved to Lacquoy where James was a farmer (of 11 acres in 1881). They lived there the rest of their lives and had four children:

• William Allan, c. 6th Jan 1845 (or 15th Dec 1845, there is a date discrepancy in the OPR). He married Isabella Moodie 13th Aug 1866, but died on 11th April 1869 at age 24 years, 3 months. William and Isabella had a daughter Jane Bremner Allan, c. 12th Nov 1868 who died on 13th Jan 1870, aged 14 months. William lived at Lacquoy and was a sailor.

• Catherine (Kate) Allan, c. 27th Jan 1847. She married, first, James Leslie, on 28th June 1867, and second, Thomas Stevenson, (a widower and farmer of over 150 acres at Garth, Westray), on 12th Feb 1875. Catherine and Thomas had a son, William Allan Stevenson (1882-1953) who married Helen Ann Groat. Their descendants lived on Westray and perhaps elsewhere. Catherine died in 1905.

• James Allan, c. 26th Mar 1856 and married Betsy Burgher (b. 1852), the daughter of Henry Burgar and Catherine Burgar from Cubbigeo, Westray on 3rd March 1882. They had no family. In 1871, James was a servant living at Skaill, but 1881-1901 he (and Betsy from 1891) lived at Lacquoy. Betsy died there on 3rd June 1927.

• Ann Allan, c. 18th May 1858. Ann never married and lived at Lacquoy. In 1901 she was noted to be an invalid.

Betsy died on 30th April 1901, and James died five years later, on 18th June 1906. It is thought that their children James and Ann may have left Westray as there is no record of their deaths in the Westray civil registration records or the Westray cemetery inscriptions. The gravestone inscription for James and Betsy is as follows:

In Loving Memory of Betsy Rendall Beloved Wife of James Allan Who Died 30th April 1901 Aged 79 Years The above James Allan Died 18th June 1905 Aged 86 Years Asleep in Jesus