Introduction / Eday and Papa Westray Grays / John Gray / William Gray and Margaret Corrigall

Margaret Corrigall

Margaret first appears in the Eday census in 1871 following her marriage to William Gray. She was a daughter of John Corrigall and can be seen at Unigarth in Sandwick at the time of the 1861 census.

While in the 1871 and subsequent Eday census, she is stated to be born in Sandwick, it is not entirely clear if she only came from Sandwick but was born in the parish of Harray in the West Mainland of Orkney. This is the parish, which is generally associated with the Corrigall name.

The 1861 census for Sandwick indicates that she was born there but the 1851 census indicates that she was born in Harray. The place of birth of her siblings indicates that the family may have moved from Harray to Sandwick around 1850.

1861
Unigarth, Sandwick

	Relation	Age	Born
John Corrigall	Head	48 years	Harray
Ann Corrigall	Wife	45 years	Harray
Margaret Corrigall	Dau	25 years	Sandwick
Peter Corrigall	Son	15 years	Sandwick
Ann Corrigall	Dau	11 years	Sandwick
Samuelt Corrigall	Son	10 years	Sandwick
Simon Corrigall	Son	8 years	Sandwick
David Corrigall	Son	15 years	Sandwick
Maryann Corrigall	G. Dau	7 months	Sandwick

It would appear that the children have been recorded in the census as being born in the parish in which they were staying while the parents are recording as being born in Harray. A different picture emerges when looking back to the 1851 census.

1851
Unigarth, Sandwick

	Relation	Age	Born
John Corrigall	Head	38 years	Harray
Anne Corrigall	Wife	35 years	Harray
Margaret Corrigall	Dau	15 years	Harray
William Corrigall	Son	14 years	Harray
John Corrigall	Son	12 years	Harray
James Corrigall	Son	8 years	Harray
Thomas Corrigall	Dau	7 years	Harray
Peter Corrigall	Son	5 years	Harray
Annne Corrigall	Dau	1 year	Harray

This also is not entirely correct. Investigation further indicates that Margaret's father, John Corrigall married Anne Hourston on 14th December 1847 in Harray. The following half siblings of Margaret Corrigall can be found in the IGI and are all born in Sandwick:

• Ann Corrigall b. 31st October 1849 (shown as born in Harray in 1851 census)

• Samuel Corrigall b. 21st March 1851

• Simon Corrigall b. 12th February 1853

• David Corrigall b. 16th May 1855

Searching back to the 1841 census, Margaret Corrigall was then living at Handest in Harray with her mother still alive.

1841
Handest, Harray

	Age	Occupation	Born
John Corrigall	25 years	Farmer	Orkney
Margaret Corrigall	25 years		Orkney
Margaret Corrigall	5 years		Orkney
William Corrigall	4 years		Orkney
John Corrigall	2 years		Orkney
Ann Corrigall	1 year		Orkney
Isabella Irvine	9 years	Farm servant	Orkney

Further investigation reveals that Margaret Corrigall is likely to be the daughter of John Corrigall and Margaret Tulloch. The following can be found in the IGI for Harray as their children:

• John Corrigall b. 1st October 1838

• Ann Corrigall b. 12th July 1840

• James Corrigall b. 11th August 1842

• Peter Corrigall b. 3rd August 1845

There is no record of the birth of Margaret, herself. It is noted that her mother would appear to be a Tulloch, which was quite a common name in Eday following the influx of Tullochs from North Ronaldsay to the West Side of the island in 1832 and subsequently.