Introduction / Families / Drever / William Drever and Barbara Shearer

Stay on Pharay

It is not entirely clear whether William Drever was born on Pharay to Thomas Drever and Ann Hourston or moved there subsequently. There is some circumstantial evidence that he could be their son.

The Old Parish Records cover both Eday and Pharay. However, it is generally indicated if children are born on Pharay rather than Eday. There is no indication for either the oldest son Thomas Drever who was baptised in 1807 or the twins, David and Ann, who were baptised in 1812.

It is highly likely in any case that the eldest child would have been born at the house of the maternal grandmother, which for William’s wife Barbara Shearer, would have been on Eday.

The 1871 Westray census indicates that daughter Ann Drever was born on Pharay although the place of birth is inconsistent between censuses. The same must consequently hold for her twin David Drever.

A William Drever is a witness to two baptisms in the 1810 to 1812 period (William Harcus and Margaret Sinclair). William was born on Pharay on 3rd February 1810 to James Harcus and Marion Allan. Pharay is not mentioned as the place of birth for Margaret Sinclair, who was born on 25th December 1811. However her parents were Robert Sinclair and Jane Drever, who most likely lived at Windywa.

While William Drever and Barbara Shearer’s son John Drever is shown as being born in Eday in the Westray censuses, his baptism is recorded under Westray so there must be an assumption that the family moved there from Pharay around 1815.