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Introduction / Families / Hourston David HourstonsSome difficulty is encountered in establishing the relationship between the early Hourstons in Eday and Pharay due to a number of David Hourstons for whom there is incomplete and possibly inconsistent information. Certainly there was a David Hourston married to a Christian Drever who according to the Old Parish Records had a son, David Hourston, on 18th November 1795. It seems likely that this was the David Hourston who married Janet Miller and lived at Wellhouse, Eday from 1841. The son is recorded in the censuses as being born in Pharay. His death register entry for 20th March 1886 indicates that his father was also David Hourston but that his mother was unkown. His age is consistent with being the son of David Hourston and Christian Drever. In addition, an elder David Hourston also appears at Wellhouse in 1841.
If it is accepted that this is David Hourston snr then Christian Drever must have died some time earlier. David’s wife is thought to be Janet Harcus, whom he married on 20th May 1821. They do not seem to appear in the 1851 census. There is another David Hourston of the same general age who was born in Pharay at Lochend in 1851.
His wife at Lochend is Betsy Cormack who is thought to be at Cooperha in 1841 although she is described as a spinster. There is no sign of David Hourston.
This David Hourston died on 25th January 1856, aged eighty three. His parents were David Hourston and Christian Fergus. There is the possibility that this is the same David Hourston who married Christian Drever and subsequently Janet Harcus, marrying for a third time. This might explain his absence from the 1841 census but would raise the question of the identity of Betsy “Hourston” at Cooperha in 1841 if she was not Elizabeth Cormack. The description of Betsy Hourston at Cooperha as a spinster, is inconsistent with this being Elizabeth Cormack who was married to a David Hourston at Lochend in 1861. It would appear that the relationships of these David Hourstons are likely to remain unclear. There is reference to yet another David Hourston in Eday, who may have no Pharay connection. He married Jane Delday in Eday on 19th November 1844. The witnesses were Robert Omand and Peter Peace. Jane was born in Stronsay in the late 1790s and the daughter of John Delday and Jane Scott. She was a widow and at Redhouse, Eday in 1851, staying with her aunt Ann Scott (aged 92 years). Jane died on 2nd December 1865 at the Lodging House for the Poor, aged seventy according to the death registration which also indicates that she was married to David Hourston. There is no indication in the 1841 census as to who this David Hourston may have been. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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