Location circa 1900 Hear Auchinbay pronounced in local accent
In 1924 disaster struck and foot and mouth devastated the herd. The trauma that this incurs is not so much the death of the animals on the farm, as all cows are eventually culled, but the loss of many years' investment in selective breeding that is wiped out in one episode. This can be a farmer's life's work, his professional pride and joy. The silence of the farmyard is the most poignant of all reminders.
The farm comprises of 495 acres
230 milking cows, 350 young stock and beef cattle
9,100 average litres a cow
One full-time and three part-time staff
Of historical interest, Peden's cave is carved into the rock above the river Lugar on the farm.
In 1686 the two merk land of Auchinbay was owned by William Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald.
Horse Tax 1797-98 John Tennant, 7 horses 6 taxed
Horse Tax 1797-98 John Tennant, 7 horses 6 taxed
The History of Ochiltree Village & Parish - Dane Love
pp304, 305
120 acres in 1861. 345 acres in 2013
1619 Ochiltree Estate
-1782 Ochiltree Estate - James Colvil (d1782)
1782- Ochiltree Estate - Charles Colvil
c1797 Ochiltree Estate - George Colvill
c1790 Ochiltree Estate - William Lees
1793-1797 Ochiltree Estate - John Tennant (1760-1853)
1836 - Charles Sloan (1784-1862)
1841 - Adam Dickie
1851-1855 Auchinleck Estate - George McKerrow
1857 Auchinleck Estate - George Brown
1857 Auchinleck Estate - George Brown
1861-1899 Andrew Kirkwood MacCosh - John Ferguson (1830-1900)
1911-1920 Auchinleck Estate - James Sloan Ferguson
1930-1940 James Sloan Ferguson
c1950 Smith
-1988 James Hair (1967-2011)
1988- Wilson Morton
2009-2020 Quintin David Morton
1789 baptism: Agnes lawful daughter of John Tennant and Margaret Colville in Auchinbay was born on October 25th and baptised on Oct. 29th 1789
1795 baptism: John lawful son of John Tennant and Margaret Colvil in Auchinbay was born on March 25th and baptised on March 30th 1795
1841 Census- Auchenbay, Ochiltree
1841 Census- Auchenbay, Ochiltree
Adam Dickie 25 farmer, wife Marion (Kerr) 25, children Marion 2 & John 1, James Orr 20, Margaret Merry6 15 and Helen Brodie 13.
1851 - George McKerrow 67 - farmer of 168 acres emp 6 labourers, wife Margaret 63(Weir - born Hill, Ochiltree), 2 sons,Robert 26 and George 24, 1 daughter, Elizabeth 22, 3 grandchildren Rodgerson (daughter Janet’s children), 1 House S ervant Isabella Duglas 14.
1861 John Ferguson, 31, farmer of 120 acres emp 2 labourers, wife Margaret 32, (Howat), daughters Jane 7, and Agnes 4, and son John 2, ploughmen, John Boswell 30, and Andrew Patterson 19, dairymaid, Mary Sloan 22, and domestic servant Janet Foster 17.
1871 John Ferguson 41,farmer of 135 acres arable emp 2 labourers
wife Margaret 42, and two more children, Charles 6, and Margaret under 1. Dairymaid, Jane Brown 25 and Ploughman James Murray 30.
Between 1871 and the next census a family catastrophe has occurred. Margaret had died, but fortunately Jane had married (Ramsay)and some of the family members could be found with her in Broughton Mains Dairy, Whithorn, Wigtownshire.
1881 John Ferguson 52- farmer of 150 acres arable emp 2 men1 girl 1 boy. John has a new wife, and there are none of the children from his previous marriage.
(second) wife Mary (Sloan) 32, dairymaid, Mary Lamberton 34 and James Kerr 15, farm servant.
1891 John Ferguson 61, farmer, wife Mary 42, sons James 9 & William 7, dairymaid Kate Collins 19, William Gelly 47 and John Rodgers 23, farm servants, Helen Collins 21 general domestic, and Margaret Kerr 15, general servant.
John Ferguson died in 1900 and his widow carried on the farm - see probate record below.
1901 Mrs Mary Ferguson 52 - farmer, sons James Sloan 19, William Lennox Ferguson 17, daughter Mary Jane Ferguson, Jeanie Limont 22, dairymaid, and Janet Gray 19 domestic servant
1911 census Mary Ferguson 61 head, farmerJames Sloan 29 son single farmer Mary Ferguson 26 visitor
daughter in law married with 1 child a ploughman a granddaughter a kitchen maid a byre girl and a byre boy.
Probate:
John Ferguson farmer Auchinbay Parish of Ochiltree died 22/3/1900 at Auchinbay testate. Conf. granted at Ayr 30 May to Mary Sloan or Ferguson Auchinbay aforesaid his widow, John Ferguson, engineer, 17 Melville Street, Pollockshields, Glasgow and Charles Ferguson, Bower, Kirranrae, Kirkholm, Stranraer executors
Valuation Rolls
Valuation Rolls
1875 proprietor Lady Boswell, tenant John Fergusson. 1905 tenant Mrs Mary Sloan or Fergusson. 1925 prop. James Ferguson (Son of John and Mary)
The farm had been put up for sale with others from Ochiltree from the Estate of Auchinleck in March 1920.
David Morton, late 1950s
In 1924 disaster struck and foot and mouth devastated the herd. The trauma that this incurs is not so much the death of the animals on the farm, as all cows are eventually culled, but the loss of many years' investment in selective breeding that is wiped out in one episode. This can be a farmer's life's work, his professional pride and joy. The silence of the farmyard is the most poignant of all reminders.
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| Auchinbay farm foot and mouth Cumnock Chronicle 1924 |
By 1932, a report in the South of England Advertiser for December 1st gives the result of a cattle sale in Reading. In it, it states that there were a number of cattle brought down from Scotland and the highest price for a heifer and her calf went to Mr J S Ferguson, Auchinbay. (41 and 1/2 gns.)
1946 and James Ferguson had died. He had built up the herd again since the loss in 1924, and had earned his reputation as an Ayrshire breeder as numerous entries in the local newspapers illustrates.
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| The Scotsman 24 April 1946 |
March 1948 in the The Scotsman, Prize winning gelding Muirton Monarch from John Smith Auchinbay, Mauchline. (The farm is half way between Ochiltree and Mauchline.)
In 1988 Wilson Morton bought the farm from the Hair family. Before then it was the Smith family (David Morton)
By 2013 the Morton family had built up the business into a dairy and beef farm farmed by David Morton, and David's farm was a finalist in the Farmers Weekly.
By 2013 the Morton family had built up the business into a dairy and beef farm farmed by David Morton, and David's farm was a finalist in the Farmers Weekly.
The farm comprises of 495 acres
230 milking cows, 350 young stock and beef cattle
9,100 average litres a cow
One full-time and three part-time staff
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| Youngsters Examine the Final Product |
2020, and Morton's farm shop and cafe is well established. 300 milk cows provide farm pasturised milk for the community and a further 500 head of beef and dairy replacements make up the working farm.
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| Gillian and David Morton with sons Jack and Jamie |
Photographs with kind permission of the Mortons 2020
