3.Samuel & Mary Crawford Elgin, 1799 to 1881

We can only speculate on what took Samuel Crawford from Grantown to Elgin.  Samuels mother-in-law was Marjory Anderson (ne Geddes) and she had been born in Cromdale.  His father-in-law, Robert Andersons was a “baker” in Elgin.  Perhaps on family visits to Cromdale, Samuel met Mary.  As to how he became a merchant an grocer in Elgin remains a mystery.  He is referred to as both, however we don’t know the nature of his business.

Elgin was founded as a town in the tenth century by Helgy, a general in the Norwegian Earl of Orkney’s army.  Up till the 1820’s it was predominantly a town of one ¾ mile long street with alleys and “closes” running off it, alongside the River Lossie, some 7 miles inland.  From 1820 there was little planning as the town grew dramatically on the south side.  It is on a well-drained ridge protected on three sides by the River Lossie and with a natural defensive mound, “The Ladyhill”, where there was a fort at one time.  The surrounding countryside was rich in game and became a favorite hunting ground of the early Scottish monarchs. In the twelfth century it was created a Royal burgh by David 1, brother of Edgar and Alexander and son of Malcolm Canmore (1124 - 1153) Prior to the Reformation Elgin was the principal seat of learning north of Aberdeen.

Alexander Stewart, the notorious Wolf of Badenoch, burned the town in 1390 and Alexander of the Isles repeated the exercise in 1402.  Elgin grew steadily through the mediaeval period until by the seventeenth century it boasted many fine buildings reflecting the prosperity of its business and craftsmen.  Towards the end of the eighteenth-century changes began which were to transform Elgin into a modern burgh.  Between 1798 and 1830, three stone bridges were built across the River Lossie and gas was introduced in 1830, a piped water supply in 1845, and the railway in the late 1800's,

Samuel and Mary Crawford married in Elgin in 1798. 

8^th February 1798  Were married here by the Rev Mr William Gordon one of the Ministers of Elgin Samuel Crawford in the parish of Inverallen & Mary Anderson in this parish before a competent number of witnesses.

Samuel was recorded as a “merchant” in a number of documents, at a time when the town was growing and becoming more prosperous.  Samuel Crawford was one of 703 men categorized as “Masters and workmen employed in retail trade and handicraft”, the largest occupational group in the parish.  The other categories were “Farmers, cottars, and servants employed in agriculture” 365, “Master manufacturers” 6, “Capitalists, bankers, professional and educated men” 113, “Labourers” 151, “Retired tradesmen, superannuated labourers, and males diseased in body or mind” 77, “Female servants” 480.  Manufacturing consisted of no more than grain mills, a carding mill for wool and a saw mill for timber.  There was a tannery and brewery in the town and two distilleries. 

As they settled into married life, Samuel became involved in a legal dispute that dragged on for several years.  It appears as though he and four other tenants in the row of terraces in Frasers Close were sued for nonpayment of rent.  They in turn appealed to the Dean of Guild to have the owner repair the roof and make it “wind and water tight”.  If you read all the documents you are struck by the fact that legal language was as impenetrable then as now.  What isn’t obvious is the living conditions.  Four or five families, each of 6 or more living in separate dwellings similar to terrace houses but with probably just two rooms upstairs and two downstairs.  If you look up the census records from 1841 onward, there were often 40 or so people living in these “closes”.

The Morayshire Farmer’s Club was founded in 1799 and through competitions for which they payed financial awards for the improvement in the breeding of horses and cattle and also for the improvement in methods of cropping, rotating crops, fertilizing and improving seeds.  They also established an agricultural library “...which now contains a valuable collection of the best books on every branch of rural economy, and is yearly increased by every useful publication on agriculture, as soon as it comes off the press.”

An attempt to establish a newspaper took longer, and the Elgin Courier in 1827 only had a circulation of 300 and could not be sustained, but under new owners in the 1830’s became the Elgin Courant.

By the 1820’s the foundations were laid for a twenty year period between 1820 and 1840 when the old medieval town of Elgin was swept away and the first major addition to the town center, were the Assembly Rooms, built in 1821 by The Trinity Lodge of Freemasons, at the corner of High Street and North Street (just across the street from the Crawford’s in Fraser Close). Two years before that, in 1819, Dr Gray's Hospital was built on unused ground. The building is imposing with its columns and dome and standing at the head of fine gardens.

Dr Alexander Gray, a doctor who worked for and made his fortune with the East India Company endowed £26,000 for the provision of the hospital. In 1828 the new parish church of St Giles was built at a cost of £10,000. Lt. General Andrew Anderson, born in Elgin and who died in 1824, and also of the East India Company, bequeathed £70,000 to the town so that an institution could be provided for the welfare of the elderly poor people and for the education of the town’s orphaned children. The Anderson Institute was built in the east end of the town in 1832 with accommodation for 50 children and 10 elderly people. The Burgh Court-house was built in 1841, the elegant museum in 1842.

Andrew Anderson was another self-made man.  He enlisted in the East India Company and worked his way up through the ranks, engaged in trade himself and made a fortune.  Perhaps he was related to Mary and the residence at 51 South St was provided by him.  Mary as a widow lived there with Marjory who was mentally retarded.  Marjory continued to live there with another indigent woman Annie Watt (in her 40’s) and finally a nurse, Maggie Forrest in 1881. She died at that address some months after the census.  Perhaps unbeknown to her, her great nephew James Crawford who had been born in Australia, was about to take up the position of schoolmaster at Hopeman, just a few miles away on the coast.

Samuel and Mary Crawford had four children.  Robert Crawford was born in 1799, Charles Crawford in 1803, George Crawford in 1805 and Marjory Crawford in 1811.Like their father, they would have received a free education. 

There were ten schools in the town, three of which were operated by The Elgin Academy.  It is possible that the boys attended one of these.  While Charles Crawford died in his teens and Marjory Crawford was mentally retarded and unlikely to have attended school, George Crawford became a school teacher and Robert Crawford was later recorded as a marine or mariner.  They would have been taught English grammar and composition, arithmetic, geography, practical mathematics, French, Latin and Greek. 

We do not know where the Crawfords lived while Samuel was alive, but it was probably in Fraser Close and their shop on High St. at around No. 174. I believe there business was a “grocers”.

As recorded above, Elgin was originally a main street around 3/4-mile long, with alleys or “Closes” between each main building.  The street front buildings were substantial houses and shops or business premises.  The alleys were just wide enough for a cart to pass through.  Behind these buildings, the land was originally used for gardens.  Over time, the gardens shrank as 1 1/2 and 2 story residences were built.  These “closes” eventually housed as many as 20 families living in cramped rooms.  Down the far side of the Close, there would be an open drain and around half way down a shared water tap.  At the end of the close, a pigsty, privy (toilet) and midden (rubbish heap).  The size of the houses diminished the further they were from High St., but the Close was cobbled.

The Crawford’s neighbours were gardeners, shoemakers, stone masons, household servants, grooms, gold & silver smiths and merchants.  As such, we might expect that their Close was well maintained and not one that would have deteriorated into a slum like others did.

A considerable amount of smuggling took place in the creeks around the twin ports of Banff and MacDuff: at Redhyth, 2 miles from Portsoy, coals were landed, and at Cullen coals were imported, and tiles and bricks exported; and at Macduff grain and fish were exported, and again, coals came in illegally.

Merchants from Elgin financed much of this trade, and one of them sent these highly specific instructions regarding smuggling procedures in 1710: 'I have ventured to order Skipper Watt...to call at Caussie, and cruise betwixt that and Burgh Head, until you order boats to waite [for] him. He is to give the half of what I have of the same sort with his last cargo, to any having your order...The signal he makes will be all sails furled, except his main topsaile; and the boats you order to him are to lower their saile when within muskett shott, and then hoist it again; this, lease he should be surprised with catch-poles...'

By 1822, when Charles Crawford died at the age of 18, we believe Robert Crawford had moved to County Antrim, Belfast.  There are two records of Charles Crawford’s death.  One incorrectly gives his birth year as 1814 but both correctly give his death as 13th April 1822 and one states “Grandson of Robert Anderson and Marjory Geddes”, which again attests to the importance given to women’s maiden names in Scotland.  As to how he died at the age of 18, we can only speculate.  Perhaps an accident at work, or a disease such as influenza, smallpox, typhus or typhoid. 

By the time of the 1841 Census, Mary Crawford (Anderson) was 60 and living at Frasers Close with Marjory Crawford (30) and George Crawford (35) Teacher.  We can find no record of Samuel Crawford’s death. 

George Crawford died in 1849 at 44 years of age, single and a school teacher.

George Crawford may have attended the last public hanging in Elgin.  On 31st may 1834, William Noble was hanged for murder at the Tolbooth.  It was recorded that the hanging was witnessed by “...a crowd of 500 drawn from many miles around and who behaved in a most quiet and becoming manner”.  The Tollbooth was demolished in 1846 and a large fountain built in its place.

Mary Crawford (Anderson) died on 19th October 1863.

“At 51 South Street, Elgin on the 19th inst. MARY ANDERSON, relict of the late Mr. Samuel Crawford merchant, , Elgin aged eighty seven years.”

Marjory Crawford died in 1881 living at 51 South St with a nurse, Maggie Forrest. 

After her death, the house became the home of the

Jamiesons. 

JAMIESON, George. No. 277622, Pte., 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders; born at 51, South Street, Elgin, 26th Jan., 1883; joined at Glasgow,  July, 1915; served in France; killed at No. 2 Clearing Station, France, 25th Dec.,1917. Son of George Jamieson, Forres, and Margaret Brander or Jamieson.  Occupation, forester.

Today (2008) 51 South St is  Junners Toyshop.

Elgin Cathedral

Some badly judged local politics led to the burning of the Cathedral (and much of Elgin) in 1390, by the Wolf of Badenoch, Alexander Stewart, the younger son of Robert II. The Bishop of Elgin, Bishop Alexander Bur had caused him to be excommunicated for marital infidelity, and this was his way of getting even.

Charles and George Crawford were both buried in the Elgin Cathedral cemetery.

George was a very religious man and Russell's Morayshire register, and Elgin & Forres directory, for 1847 records his activities as a teacher and as the clerk for the Bible Society and Missionary Society.

The 1847 Register records George as living in Fraser’s Close along with three other men, two recorded as being “carters” and the other a “mason”.

Private School. Teacher George Crawford.

ELGIN & MORAYSHIRE MISSIONARY SOCIETY. RSTABLISHED IN 1818.

The object of this association is to collect funds for the support of the missions for propagating the Gospel in foreign countries, and during the twenty-eight years of its existence it has transmitted to various missionary societies for that purpose, £1056, 10s. 4d. sterling, chiefly contributed in small subscriptions from the middle or poorer classes. The sum annually collected is now about £50 sterling. President—Rear-Admiral Duff of Drummuir. directors. Rev. John Munro, Congregational minister Knockando* 156 Rev. John Pringle, United Secession minister, Elgin. „ Adam Lind, do. do. „ Thomas Stark, do. do. Forres. Committee of Management. John Russell, merchant George Kay, tailor John Findlay, shoemaker John M'Caskie, do. James Phimister, tailor Wm. Gillice, Eishopmill James Reid, DufTus. John Cobban, Nevvspynie Joseph Asher James Muil Joseph Collie John Batchen Alex. Allan, Bishopmill Wm. Souter, Foundry. Geo. Anderson, bookbinder Robert Bain, shoemaker James Gatherer, tailor Wm. Dingwall, weaver John M'Kellar, Bishopmill Alex. IJrquhart, builder Wm. Taylor, tinsmith Treasurer—Alex. Falconer, manufacturer, Elgin. Secretary/—Rev. N. M'Neil, Congregational minister, Elgin. Clerk—George Crawford, teacher.

ELGIN and MORAYSHIRE BIBLE SOCIETY,

President—Rear-Admiral Duff of Drummuir.

Vice-Presidents. Her. Alex. Gentle Alves; Rev. Alex. Topp, Elgin. Kevin John Allan, Garmouth. liev^. R. Dunbar, Pluscarden Eey. Alex. M'Watt, Rothes^ Rev, Wm. Talloch, Elgin. Kev. D. Waters, Burghead, Rev. Jas. Morrison, I'rquhart Wm. Grant Forsyth^j Esq.j Elgin. Committee. Thomas Ross Provost James Wilson George Findlay, Mosstowie Ji Burgess, Whitewreath J, Mitchell, Wester Aives J. Watson, Herapriggs Robert Oruickshanksj and Peter Macdonald, Elgin Joha fSntherland John Batchen Alexander Falconer James Gatherer James Smith, Bishopmili John Ritchie William Gillice, Bishopmili George Kay Alexander Urquh&rt

Treasurer—Alexander Sivewright.

Secretary—Rev. Adam Lind. Depositary —'WilWa.xa Stephen, merchant*

Clerk—George Crawford teacher.

These are the legal documents regarding Samuels dispute with his landlord:

Unto the Honorable The Dean

of Guild of the Burgh of Elgin

& his assessers

The petition of Samuel Crawford

Merchant in Elgin

Humbly Sheweth

That the petitioner took

from William Simpson in ------------

in November 1799 His house in Elgin

their possessed by Joseph Collie and

John Davnie as also the house and

shop lately possessed by James Cock

from the term of Whitsunday first

now last past for the yearly rent

of Seven pounds seven shillings Sterling

and the said William Simpson became

bound to make the whole wind and

water tight- That the petitioner entered

in consequence of this agreement to

the possession of the said houses –

That though the petitioner has re-

peatedly required the said William

Simpson to make the said house

& shop lately occupied by James

Cock wind and water tight in

Terms of his agreement Yet he

Refuses at least delays from

time to time to do so although

the said house has fallen into

such disrepair that it is quite

uninhabitable – This renders the

present application necessary

May it therefore please your

Honours  to to consider this

Petition appoint workmen

to inspect the house above

mentioned and to report what

repairs will be necessary to

render the same habitable

wind and water tight and

thereafter to authorize the

petitioner to make the same and

to find the Expense thereof

a debt affecting the rents of

the said subjects and to

authorize the petitioner to

retain the same in his

hands of said rents

According to Justice

Sam Crawford

Elgin 19^th December 1800 In presence

of Mr John Fortieath  Dean of Guild

of the Burgh of Elgin

The Dean of Guild having considered this

petition appoints the same with this de-

liverance to be served on William Simpson

complained of and him to answer the

same within Three days after such service

& to lodge his answers in the hands of

the Clerk of Court and in the meantime

appoints Thomas Urquart Masson & James Sharp

coright in Elgin to inspect the house mentioned in

the petition and to report what repairs will

be necessary to make it habitableJohn Forteath

Upon nth 20^th Day of Dec r 1800 YearsI Robert

-usser ----at command of the within Petition

And deliverance  thereon which is ----- at

Elgin the 19^th Dec r said year and by virtue

Thereof I lawfully served the same upon the

Within named & designed Mr Simpson &

Appointed him to answer the same within

Three days after service and to lodge his an-

swers----with Certification

This I did by delivering a full writing down

double of the said Petition and deliverance

whereon with a short Copy of Certification sub-

joined thereto into his own hands personally

apprehended before witnesses Alex Russel and

John Alves both resedenters in Elgin

Robert Russel

Alex RusselWitness

John AlvesWitness

Elgin Decr 1800 = Thyat no answers are lodged to this

Petition is certified by

Elgin 24^th December 1800.  In presence

of Mr John Forteith Dean of Guild of the Borough of Elgin

Having again considered this Petition and Report of the Workmen

appointed to inspect the house mentioned in the Petition Finds

that the repairs mentioned in said report are necessary to

make the same habitable and in respect no answers are

lodged to this Petition authorise the petitioner Samuel

Crawford to make the said Repairs and report the

accounts thereof to be cognosced by this Court and

--cernsJohn Forteath

Elgin 1800 Dec 22^nd

By Apointment of the Dean of Guild we

Thos Urquart Masson & James Shatp wright

In Elgin having inspected the Dwelling

House & Shop mentioned in the Petition

Finds the Dwelling house in astate

Of repair but the shop is not habitable

Unless the whole house be Thatched –

Which would cost at present about

Two pound ten shillings --- owing to the

High price of straw -----

  Thos Urquhart

James Sharp

For Mr Samule Craffor manufacturer Elgin

---Wm Simpson --------

3.Samuel & Mary Crawford Elgin, 1799 to 1881

We can only speculate on what took Samuel Crawford from Grantown to Elgin.  Samuels mother-in-law was Marjory Anderson (ne Geddes) and she had been born in Cromdale.  His father-in-law, Robert Andersons was a “baker” in Elgin.  Perhaps on family visits to Cromdale, Samuel met Mary.  As to how he became a merchant an grocer in Elgin remains a mystery.  He is referred to as both, however we don’t know the nature of his business.

Elgin was founded as a town in the tenth century by Helgy, a general in the Norwegian Earl of Orkney’s army.  Up till the 1820’s it was predominantly a town of one ¾ mile long street with alleys and “closes” running off it, alongside the River Lossie, some 7 miles inland.  From 1820 there was little planning as the town grew dramatically on the south side.  It is on a well-drained ridge protected on three sides by the River Lossie and with a natural defensive mound, “The Ladyhill”, where there was a fort at one time.  The surrounding countryside was rich in game and became a favorite hunting ground of the early Scottish monarchs. In the twelfth century it was created a Royal burgh by David 1, brother of Edgar and Alexander and son of Malcolm Canmore (1124 - 1153) Prior to the Reformation Elgin was the principal seat of learning north of Aberdeen.

Alexander Stewart, the notorious Wolf of Badenoch, burned the town in 1390 and Alexander of the Isles repeated the exercise in 1402.  Elgin grew steadily through the mediaeval period until by the seventeenth century it boasted many fine buildings reflecting the prosperity of its business and craftsmen.  Towards the end of the eighteenth-century changes began which were to transform Elgin into a modern burgh.  Between 1798 and 1830, three stone bridges were built across the River Lossie and gas was introduced in 1830, a piped water supply in 1845, and the railway in the late 1800's,

Samuel and Mary Crawford married in Elgin in 1798. 

8^th February 1798

Were married here by the Rev Mr William Gordon one of the Ministers of Elgin Samuel Crawford in the parish of Inverallen & Mary Anderson in this parish before a competent number of witnesses.

Samuel was recorded as a “merchant” in a number of documents, at a time when the town was growing and becoming more prosperous.  Samuel Crawford was one of 703 men categorized as “Masters and workmen employed in retail trade and handicraft”, the largest occupational group in the parish.  The other categories were “Farmers, cottars, and servants employed in agriculture” 365, “Master manufacturers” 6, “Capitalists, bankers, professional and educated men” 113, “Labourers” 151, “Retired tradesmen, superannuated labourers, and males diseased in body or mind” 77, “Female servants” 480.  Manufacturing consisted of no more than grain mills, a carding mill for wool and a saw mill for timber.  There was a tannery and brewery in the town and two distilleries. 

As they settled into married life, Samuel became involved in a legal dispute that dragged on for several years.  It appears as though he and four other tenants in the row of terraces in Frasers Close were sued for nonpayment of rent.  They in turn appealed to the Dean of Guild to have the owner repair the roof and make it “wind and water tight”.  If you read all the documents you are struck by the fact that legal language was as impenetrable then as now.  What isn’t obvious is the living conditions.  Four or five families, each of 6 or more living in separate dwellings similar to terrace houses but with probably just two rooms upstairs and two downstairs.  If you look up the census records from 1841 onward, there were often 40 or so people living in these “closes”.

The Morayshire Farmer’s Club was founded in 1799 and through competitions for which they payed financial awards for the improvement in the breeding of horses and cattle and also for the improvement in methods of cropping, rotating crops, fertilizing and improving seeds.  They also established an agricultural library “...which now contains a valuable collection of the best books on every branch of rural economy, and is yearly increased by every useful publication on agriculture, as soon as it comes off the press.”

An attempt to establish a newspaper took longer, and the Elgin Courier in 1827 only had a circulation of 300 and could not be sustained, but under new owners in the 1830’s became the Elgin Courant.

By the 1820’s the foundations were laid for a twenty year period between 1820 and 1840 when the old medieval town of Elgin was swept away and the first major addition to the town center, were the Assembly Rooms, built in 1821 by The Trinity Lodge of Freemasons, at the corner of High Street and North Street (just across the street from the Crawford’s in Fraser Close). Two years before that, in 1819, Dr Gray's Hospital was built on unused ground. The building is imposing with its columns and dome and standing at the head of fine gardens.

Dr Alexander Gray, a doctor who worked for and made his fortune with the East India Company endowed £26,000 for the provision of the hospital. In 1828 the new parish church of St Giles was built at a cost of £10,000. Lt. General Andrew Anderson, born in Elgin and who died in 1824, and also of the East India Company, bequeathed £70,000 to the town so that an institution could be provided for the welfare of the elderly poor people and for the education of the town’s orphaned children. The Anderson Institute was built in the east end of the town in 1832 with accommodation for 50 children and 10 elderly people. The Burgh Court-house was built in 1841, the elegant museum in 1842.

Andrew Anderson was another self-made man.  He enlisted in the East India Company and worked his way up through the ranks, engaged in trade himself and made a fortune.  Perhaps he was related to Mary and the residence at 51 South St was provided by him.  Mary as a widow lived there with Marjory who was mentally retarded.  Marjory continued to live there with another indigent woman Annie Watt (in her 40’s) and finally a nurse, Maggie Forrest in 1881. She died at that address some months after the census.  Perhaps unbeknown to her, her great nephew James Crawford who had been born in Australia, was about to take up the position of schoolmaster at Hopeman, just a few miles away on the coast.

Samuel and Mary Crawford had four children.  Robert Crawford was born in 1799, Charles Crawford in 1803, George Crawford in 1805 and Marjory Crawford in 1811.Like their father, they would have received a free education. 

There were ten schools in the town, three of which were operated by The Elgin Academy.  It is possible that the boys attended one of these.  While Charles Crawford died in his teens and Marjory Crawford was mentally retarded and unlikely to have attended school, George Crawford became a school teacher and Robert Crawford was later recorded as a marine or mariner.  They would have been taught English grammar and composition, arithmetic, geography, practical mathematics, French, Latin and Greek. 

We do not know where the Crawfords lived while Samuel was alive, but it was probably in Fraser Close and their shop on High St. at around No. 174. I believe there business was a “grocers”.

As recorded above, Elgin was originally a main street around 3/4-mile long, with alleys or “Closes” between each main building.  The street front buildings were substantial houses and shops or business premises.  The alleys were just wide enough for a cart to pass through.  Behind these buildings, the land was originally used for gardens.  Over time, the gardens shrank as 1 1/2 and 2 story residences were built.  These “closes” eventually housed as many as 20 families living in cramped rooms.  Down the far side of the Close, there would be an open drain and around half way down a shared water tap.  At the end of the close, a pigsty, privy (toilet) and midden (rubbish heap).  The size of the houses diminished the further they were from High St., but the Close was cobbled.

The Crawford’s neighbours were gardeners, shoemakers, stone masons, household servants, grooms, gold & silver smiths and merchants.  As such, we might expect that their Close was well maintained and not one that would have deteriorated into a slum like others did.

A considerable amount of smuggling took place in the creeks around the twin ports of Banff and MacDuff: at Redhyth, 2 miles from Portsoy, coals were landed, and at Cullen coals were imported, and tiles and bricks exported; and at Macduff grain and fish were exported, and again, coals came in illegally.

Merchants from Elgin financed much of this trade, and one of them sent these highly specific instructions regarding smuggling procedures in 1710:

'I have ventured to order Skipper Watt...to call at Caussie, and cruise betwixt that and Burgh Head, until you order boats to waite [for] him. He is to give the half of what I have of the same sort with his last cargo, to any having your order...The signal he makes will be all sails furled, except his main topsaile; and the boats you order to him are to lower their saile when within muskett shott, and then hoist it again; this, lease he should be surprised with catch-poles...'

By 1822, when Charles Crawford died at the age of 18, we believe Robert Crawford had moved to County Antrim, Belfast.  There are two records of Charles Crawford’s death.  One incorrectly gives his birth year as 1814 but both correctly give his death as 13th April 1822 and one states “Grandson of Robert Anderson and Marjory Geddes”, which again attests to the importance given to women’s maiden names in Scotland.  As to how he died at the age of 18, we can only speculate.  Perhaps an accident at work, or a disease such as influenza, smallpox, typhus or typhoid. 

By the time of the 1841 Census, Mary Crawford (Anderson) was 60 and living at Frasers Close with Marjory Crawford (30) and George Crawford (35) Teacher.  We can find no record of Samuel Crawford’s death. 

George Crawford died in 1849 at 44 years of age, single and a school teacher.

George Crawford may have attended the last public hanging in Elgin.  On 31st may 1834, William Noble was hanged for murder at the Tolbooth.  It was recorded that the hanging was witnessed by “...a crowd of 500 drawn from many miles around and who behaved in a most quiet and becoming manner”.  The Tollbooth was demolished in 1846 and a large fountain built in its place.

Mary Crawford (Anderson) died on 19th October 1863.

“At 51 South Street, Elgin on the 19th inst. MARY ANDERSON, relict of the late Mr. Samuel Crawford merchant, , Elgin aged eighty seven years.”

Marjory Crawford died in 1881 living at 51 South St with a nurse, Maggie Forrest. 

After her death, the house became the home of the

Jamiesons. 

JAMIESON, George. No. 277622, Pte., 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders; born at 51, South Street, Elgin, 26th Jan., 1883; joined at Glasgow,  July, 1915; served in France; killed at No. 2 Clearing Station, France, 25th Dec.,1917. Son of George Jamieson, Forres, and Margaret Brander or Jamieson.  Occupation, forester.

Today (2008) 51 South St is  Junners Toyshop.

Elgin Cathedral

Some badly judged local politics led to the burning of the Cathedral (and much of Elgin) in 1390, by the Wolf of Badenoch, Alexander Stewart, the younger son of Robert II. The Bishop of Elgin, Bishop Alexander Bur had caused him to be excommunicated for marital infidelity, and this was his way of getting even.

Charles and George Crawford were both buried in the Elgin Cathedral cemetery.

George was a very religious man and Russell's Morayshire register, and Elgin & Forres directory, for 1847 records his activities as a teacher and as the clerk for the Bible Society and Missionary Society.

The 1847 Register records George as living in Fraser’s Close along with three other men, two recorded as being “carters” and the other a “mason”.

Private School. Teacher George Crawford.

ELGIN & MORAYSHIRE MISSIONARY SOCIETY. RSTABLISHED IN 1818.

The object of this association is to collect funds for the support of the missions for propagating the Gospel in foreign countries, and during the twenty-eight years of its existence it has transmitted to various missionary societies for that purpose, £1056, 10s. 4d. sterling, chiefly contributed in small subscriptions from the middle or poorer classes. The sum annually collected is now about £50 sterling. President—Rear-Admiral Duff of Drummuir. directors. Rev. John Munro, Congregational minister Knockando* 156 Rev. John Pringle, United Secession minister, Elgin. „ Adam Lind, do. do. „ Thomas Stark, do. do. Forres. Committee of Management. John Russell, merchant George Kay, tailor John Findlay, shoemaker John M'Caskie, do. James Phimister, tailor Wm. Gillice, Eishopmill James Reid, DufTus. John Cobban, Nevvspynie Joseph Asher James Muil Joseph Collie John Batchen Alex. Allan, Bishopmill Wm. Souter, Foundry. Geo. Anderson, bookbinder Robert Bain, shoemaker James Gatherer, tailor Wm. Dingwall, weaver John M'Kellar, Bishopmill Alex. IJrquhart, builder Wm. Taylor, tinsmith Treasurer—Alex. Falconer, manufacturer, Elgin. Secretary/—Rev. N. M'Neil, Congregational minister, Elgin. Clerk—George Crawford, teacher.

ELGIN and MORAYSHIRE BIBLE SOCIETY,

President—Rear-Admiral Duff of Drummuir.

Vice-Presidents. Her. Alex. Gentle Alves; Rev. Alex. Topp, Elgin. Kevin John Allan, Garmouth. liev^. R. Dunbar, Pluscarden Eey. Alex. M'Watt, Rothes^ Rev, Wm. Talloch, Elgin. Kev. D. Waters, Burghead, Rev. Jas. Morrison, I'rquhart Wm. Grant Forsyth^j Esq.j Elgin. Committee. Thomas Ross Provost James Wilson George Findlay, Mosstowie Ji Burgess, Whitewreath J, Mitchell, Wester Aives J. Watson, Herapriggs Robert Oruickshanksj and Peter Macdonald, Elgin Joha fSntherland John Batchen Alexander Falconer James Gatherer James Smith, Bishopmili John Ritchie William Gillice, Bishopmili George Kay Alexander Urquh&rt

Treasurer—Alexander Sivewright.

Secretary—Rev. Adam Lind. Depositary —'WilWa.xa Stephen, merchant*

Clerk—George Crawford teacher.

Unto the Honorable The Dean

of Guild of the Burgh of Elgin

& his assessers

The petition of Samuel Crawford

Merchant in Elgin

Humbly Sheweth

That the petitioner took

from William Simpson in ------------

in November 1799 His house in Elgin

their possessed by Joseph Collie and

John Davnie as also the house and

shop lately possessed by James Cock

from the term of Whitsunday first

now last past for the yearly rent

of Seven pounds seven shillings Sterling

and the said William Simpson became

bound to make the whole wind and

water tight- That the petitioner entered

in consequence of this agreement to

the possession of the said houses –

That though the petitioner has re-

peatedly required the said William

Simpson to make the said house

& shop lately occupied by James

Cock wind and water tight in

Terms of his agreement Yet he

Refuses at least delays from

time to time to do so although

the said house has fallen into

such disrepair that it is quite

uninhabitable – This renders the

present application necessary

May it therefore please your

Honours  to to consider this

Petition appoint workmen

to inspect the house above

mentioned and to report what

repairs will be necessary to

render the same habitable

wind and water tight and

thereafter to authorize the

petitioner to make the same and

to find the Expense thereof

a debt affecting the rents of

the said subjects and to

authorize the petitioner to

retain the same in his

hands of said rents

According to Justice

Sam Crawford

Elgin 19^th December 1800 In presence

of Mr John Fortieath  Dean of Guild

of the Burgh of Elgin

The Dean of Guild having considered this

petition appoints the same with this de-

liverance to be served on William Simpson

complained of and him to answer the

same within Three days after such service

& to lodge his answers in the hands of

the Clerk of Court and in the meantime

appoints Thomas Urquart Masson & James Sharp

coright in Elgin to inspect the house mentioned in

the petition and to report what repairs will

be necessary to make it habitableJohn Forteath

Upon nth 20^th Day of Dec r 1800 YearsI Robert

-usser ----at command of the within Petition

And deliverance  thereon which is ----- at

Elgin the 19^th Dec r said year and by virtue

Thereof I lawfully served the same upon the

Within named & designed Mr Simpson &

Appointed him to answer the same within

Three days after service and to lodge his an-

swers--- -with Certification

This I did by delivering a full writing down

double of the said Petition and deliverance

whereon with a short Copy of Certification sub-

joined thereto into his own hands personally

apprehended before witnesses Alex Russel and

John Alves both resedenters in Elgin

Robert Russel

Alex RusselWitness

John AlvesWitness

Elgin Decr 1800 = Thyat no answers are lodged to this

Petition is certified by

Elgin 24^th December 1800.  In presence

of Mr John Forteith Dean of Guild of the Borough of Elgin

Having again considered this Petition and Report of the Workmen

appointed to inspect the house mentioned in the Petition Finds

that the repairs mentioned in said report are necessary to

make the same habitable and in respect no answers are

lodged to this Petition authorise the petitioner Samuel

Crawford to make the said Repairs and report the

accounts thereof to be cognosced by this Court and

--cerns John Forteath

Elgin 1800 Dec 22^nd

By Apointment of the Dean of Guild we

Thos Urquart Masson & James Shatp wright

In Elgin having inspected the Dwelling

House & Shop mentioned in the Petition

Finds the Dwelling house in astate

Of repair but the shop is not habitable

Unless the whole house be Thatched –

Which would cost at present about

Two pound ten shillings --- owing to the

High price of straw -----

  Thos Urquhart

James Sharp

For Mr Samule Craffor manufacturer Elgin

---Wm Simpson --------

Copy of Furthcoming