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Pharay

Pharay is one of the North Isles of Orkney, the group of islands lying off the north coast of the Scottish mainland. It is about a mile and a half in length and a quarter of a mile wide. It lies to the west side of Eday, separated from it by the Sound of Pharay. The south end of the island is directly north of the outlying Point of Ferseness on Eday. Pharay was inhabited up until 1947 and had close ties with both Eday and Westray. There is a Holm to the north, which ebbs dry and is adjacent to the south end of Westray.

This website arose out of genealogical studies of people who stayed on the island at one time or another and their descendants although also incorporates information on the island itself and what life was like. There is a Pharay Photos section.

The genealogy is quite inter-related with a number of the families being on the island for many generations. It can be approached by means of:

  • An introduction to the island covering its history, geography and life on the island. This is intended to give a brief history from ownership by the Balfour family to the present day, covering events during that time.

The latter two sections are essentially introductions to the genealogical pages of the website and link into these. A map of Pharay with accompanying narrative shows the location of the houses on the island and give links both to information on the houses and the island generally.

The island has had a number of different names and spellings at different times (Faray, Fara, North Fara, Pharay, etc.). Pharay has generally been used as the standard for this website, being in common usage in the period covered by the published censuses and in the 19th century.


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