The mists of time smore Catherine closer than a steekit Orkney haar. A slight breeze swirls the mist, briefly revealing the dim outline of a figure before it vanishes again forever. That was Catherine Johnston for whom I can find no convincing record after 1841. George Groundwater, who, as above, had a Catherine Johnston living under the same roof in 1841, is described in the 1851 census as aged 66, a miller and a widower. There were no other Groundwaters recorded in 1841 other than the two minors William and the another Catherine, so what became of ‘Mrs Groundwater’, and when, is not recorded, the 1841 census taking no note of marital status so George could have been a widower in 1841. It is also possible that George married Catherine Johnston after 1841 who then died before the 1851 Census, to be noted only by her absence. There are, however, no records of a marriage between any Catherine Johnston and a Groundwater between 1841 and 1851, nor any deaths of any convincing Catherine Johnstons between 1841 and 1900.

Nor was there any Irving in Sandwick in 1851; the two Sibellas, aged 80 and 46, reverted to Irvine and were living at East Aith [3/20] whereas Janet, now aged 25, had become Mrs David Linklater and, along with an expanding household, was also living at East Aith [3/19]. Indeed, from 1821 to 1911 there is no Irving recorded in Sandwick other than those noted above in 1841. That said, in Orkney Irving was the more popular spelling in the C18, Irvine in the C19. As for James Irvine/Irving, according to one source he, his wife Margaret and their unnatural children Margaret, Isabella, Mareon, James, Matilda, Jamima and Anne emigrated to Tuckeresmith, Huron, Ontario, in 1842.

There is confusion over the spelling of Janet’s forename as well as her surname. After first appearing as Janet Irving in 1841, the censuses records a JANET Linklater in 1851, a JANNET Linklater in 1861, then Janet Linklater (née Irvine) in 1871, Janet Linklater in 1881, another JANNET Linklater in 1891 before a final Janet Linklater in 1901. ‘Jannet’ was not an aberrant spelling of my ancient ancestor; it was commonly spelled thus by many other individuals.

What is certain is that census records show Janet Linklater née Irvine to have been a postmistress from 1881-1901. She was preceeded in this by her husband David, who became a Postmaster in 1873 according to Peace’s Almanac.

Regular post between Orkney and Edinburgh was established in 1741 followed a few years later by the opening of a post office in Kirkwall in 1747. The need for both was apparent from at least the early 18th C and actively sought by the Royal Burgh of Kirkwall. Amongst the things agitated for in those days [c. 1714] was a post office for Kirkall. And it was needed. When the Magistrates wished a post sent to Edinburgh, what an amount of trouble and expense it entailed! The man who carried the post got twenty-four pounds scots - twelve when he started, and twelve upon his return - and in addition got “half a croun to buy shoes e're he goe of.” [W.R.Mackintosh: Glimpses of Kirkwall and Its People in the Olden Time. Kirkwall, James Anderson, 1887] Moreover, “In the year 1713, it took a letter eight days to reach Kirkwall from Edinburgh, by the quickest route, and sometimes fourteen days, even when it was sent with dispatch.” [Ib.] As early as 1709 the Town Council asked their Commissioner “to do all in his power to have a post-office established in this town upon the public charges of the Government." [Ib.] For many years thereafter, two boats were required to ferry the mail across the Pentland Firth, the mail being passed from ‘sending’ to ‘receiving’ boat at approximately the half way point.

Here are some other observations on Sandwick censuses.

• 1881    Two other properties were recorded as Aith; ED 3/24 - inhabited by; 4 Stockan, 1 Wishart and ED 3/25 - occupied by; 4 Clouston, 1 Dick; and another as West Aith ED 3/26 – occupied by 1 Inkster. Some of these occupants may have been fairly closely related to David and Janet. E.g. David’s half-sisters married a Sinclair and an Isbister and one full brother also married a Sinclair while another married a Stockan. David and Janet’s own daughter Helen married a Wishart. At a slightly greater remove there were marriages with Brass, Clouston and Inkster.
• 1891    There was one other property recorded as Aith; ED 3/17 – occupied by 6 Spence.
• 1901    There was one other property recorded as Aith; ED 3/17 – occupied by 3 Manson.
• 1911    There are four ‘Aith’ properties recorded; Aith No 1 [ED3/16 – 1 Findlater, 1 Stanger, 3 Linklater, 1 Johnstone,] ; Aith No 2 [3/17 – 3 Linklater]; Aith No 3 [ED3/18 – 4 Brass, 1 Linklater]; Aith No 4 [ED3/19 – 4 Hourston]. In 1911, while there is a sprinkling of Linklaters and others whose surnames often crop up in connection with us, there is no trace of David’s or Janet’s immediate descendants other than their daughter Helen Wishart, mother of David Wishart. I don’t know what became of David Wishart, but his presence in Janet’s household as recorded in the 1901 census is the vital clue as to what became of David and Janet’s eldest child, Helen q.v.

As noted in connection with David Linklater’s death, Peace’s Almanac is not entirely reliable, but published annually it serves to fill in some of the decade long gaps between censuses. Inter alia, the almanac names the postal workers and tradesmen in each parish. In all cases, whether for ‘merchant’ or ‘lodgings’ Janet’s address is given simply as Aith. ‘Mrs’ Linklater, i.e. Janet, is first named in Peace’s Almanac for 1876 as Sandwick Postmaster (sic) as well as being named as a ‘Merchant’. Same again in 1879, but come 1880 Janet apparently ceases to be a merchant but is listed as the only person for Sandwick under ‘lodgings’. Things remain thus until 1903 except that others muscle in on the lodgings business; Wm. Davie at Smithfield Inn in 1882-95. Jn. Spence takes over at Smithfield Inn and Mrs Oag starts at Arrowhouse. 1897-9 has Mrs Linklater, Aith; Jn. Spence, Smithfield Inn; Mrs Oag, Arrowhouse; and David Allan also at Aith, although whether under the same roof as Janet or in another property is unclear. 1900-02 Mrs Linklater was still at Aith; P. Johnston, Smithfield Inn; Mrs Oag, Arrowhouse; David Allan, Aith. Following Janet’s death (in 1902), the 1903 Almanac names D. Allan as Sandwick Postmaster, and Jn. Spence, Smithfield Inn; Mrs Oag, Arrowhouse; David Allan, Aith; and P.Johnston, Smithfield doing lodgings.

I do not know where Janet and David are buried. There seem to be no recorded inscriptions for them in Stromness or Sandwick but that does not preclude the probability of their being buried there. Monumental inscriptions were for the more affluent. So the sins of the parents were visited upon their daughter. Stigmatized at birth, Janet was not absolved even in death, the slur perpetuated in the record of her demise. And yet the terms of her earliest judgement I find reassuringly gentle, humane almost – a natural child. What twisted logic came to arrive at this judgement I cannot begin to understand, but by the same reasoning a legitimate child must be unnatural. A natural child seems a less harsh judgement than an eternity of illegitimacy as sentenced at her death.

In spite of a seemingly unpromising start Janet appears to have had successful and fulfilling life. To have been head of household and a post mistress for over a quarter of a century meant she was literate, numerate and trustworthy. At a personal level however, while maybe common enough, out of four children two pre-deceased her and I can find no record of the third, Jannet, born in 1853, who sported two ‘nns’ in the 1861 census as favoured occasionally by her mother. Helen, Janet's only daughter known to have outlived her, married successfully, and raised a large family nearby.

James Stevens Linklater also died before his mother, but married and moved away, settling eventually in Leith. He seems to have become quite affluent, sufficiently so to buy his own island but in the Channel Isles rather than Orkney. But James’ emigration from Orkney was symptomatic of the times. Janet's life arguably spanned a period of greater socio-economic upheaval in Orkney than at any other time since the introduction of metal ended the Neolithic about 2,000 B.C. “Orkney's Agricultural Revolution (1848-1880) was a period of compressed and intense change which in a single generation re-drew the landscape, abolished common land and revolutionised the economy.” [People of Orkney, Berry 1986] [stone age diet compared with 19thC diet] Orkney was fortunate in having a greater variety of economy than say the Highlands of mainland Scotland.

The cycles of hard times that afflicted Britain were mediated in Orkney by the development of resources unique to or concentrated in the archipelago. Kelp, the cultivation of flax, straw-plaiting, whaling, herring fishing, the Hudson's Bay Co were all in turn major contributors to the Orkney economy, but the greatest upheaval came in the Orcadian Agricultural Revolution which swept through the islands with the irresistible urgency of a tsunami. Property rights for many centuries had been allodial in contrast to the rest of Britain which had early adopted feudatory title. These allodial rights were undermined and eroded after the impignoration when administration and governance of Orkney came to be increasingly dominated by Scottish administration and law by successive large land owners, including the church, in spite of treaty obligations to respect the pre-existing Norse laws. Some aspects of udal tenure persist to this day; the Crown's attempt to extract revenue from oil companies for allowing pipeline access across the foreshore was contested successfully and the crown had to forfeit the royalties it had sought to levy. Allodial ownership however had its disadvantages, the principle one being the tendency for agricultural holdings to be divided up between heirs into ever smaller and smaller parcels of land.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

A search for birth certs 1750-1800 for Peter and Helen in Scotlandspeople produced nil results for either that matched the required ages. [There were no birth certificates in Scotland before 1855. The Scotlandspeople data base pre 1855 is based on the Old Parish Registers for the Church of Scotland. These sometimes included entries for dissenting folk, and there are registers of Free Church baptisms – for Sandwick from 1838 (OA OCR FC26/12, for Stromness from 1843 (OA OCR FC31/6) – but these are only available in the Orkney Archive or on a microfilm in Edinburch (NRS CH3/1100 and 1115 respectively). J.I.]