Introduction / Families / Groat / Robert Groat and Janet Guthrie / Robert Groat and Elizabeth Harcus / Stewart Gullion Groat and Ann Drummond

Ann Stewart Groat and James Work

Ann Stewart Groat, daughter of Stewart Groat and Ann Drummond, was born on Pharay, 26th June 1860. She married James Work, son of James Work, a fisherman and Ann Shearer. James was born on Shapinsay, 15th December 1862. James and Ann were married in Kirkwall 4th May 1882. By the time of the 1901 census they had eight children, all born in Kirkwall. A ninth child was born in Leith:

• Margaret (Maggie) C. Work, b. 28th Feb 1884 who was a servant on Albert Street in 1901. In 1910 she went to Los Angeles, California to marry John Mainland, an Orcadian who had emigrated. They had two sons, and John was a carpenter and cabinetmaker. Maggie died in Los Angeles on 22nd Feb 1975 a week before her 91st birthday.

• James Work, b. abt 1886

• Annie Work, b. 1887

• Janet Work, b. 1889

• Robert Groat Works, b 9th Oct 1893 and emigrated to Los Angeles in 1910 with his sister Maggie. He married Susan Meyers of Chicago and they had a son and a daughter. In 1935 Robert became a US citizen, signing his papers twice, once as Robert Work and again as Robert Works. He generally used the surname "Works" and his descendants continue to use that variation. Robert was an iron worker and he died 27th Jan 1958 when a 400 pound steel beam slipped from a hoist and hit him. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles.

• Peter Work, b. 1896 and d. 1903, North Leith, age 6

• Elizabeth (Lizzie) Work, b. abt 1898

• Barbara Work, b. 1899

• John Work, b. 5th Oct 1901, Leith, probably married in California about 1926, a woman named Katherine, and died, San Diego County, 24th Dec 1996, at age 95.

In 1881, Ann was a servant on Albert Street, Kirkwall. She evidently went to Shapinsay because at the time of her marriage she was a servant there, at Hanatoft. James was a fisherman at the time of his marriage, but the 1901 census indicates he was a general labourer. In both the 1891 and 1901 censuses, Ann was living at Long Wynd, Kirkwall with her children, but James was not listed in either case. In 1901 he may have been in Leith, where he died in 1903 at age 40.

About 1910 and 1911 most of the family immigrated to the US. Maggie apparently went first, accompanied by her brother Robert. They arrived at Ellis Island on 3rd April 1910. By the 1910 census Maggie had married and Robert was living with his sister and brother-in-law in Los Angeles. In April 1911, Ann along with her children Annie, Lizzie, Barbara and John reached Ellis Island, bound for Los Angeles. By 1920, James and Janet were also in Los Angeles, although when they emigrated has not been determined. Janet had been widowed by the time of the 1920 census; she was probably married in the States as no marriage record was located in Scotland. Ann died in Los Angeles on 16th July 1938, at age 78.