Thursday, 23 July 2020

Piperhill, Ochiltree

Horse Tax 1797-98 Thomas Guthrie ( Pyperhill)  3 horses .

Piperhill  dairy stock won many prizes under the stewardship of the Wallace family in the 1880s along with the farms of Drumjohn, Lessnessock, Carston, and Whitehill.

The History of Ochiltree Village & Parish - Dane Love
p329
Piperhill
125 acres in 1844. 166 acres in 1945. The site of the farm was obliterated by surface coal mining in the 1990s.
        -1786                                John Guthrie (d1786)
1797                                         Thomas Guthrie
1838-1843            Polquhairn Estate - Andrew Templeton (1775-1843)
1851-1894            Polquhairn Estate - James Wallace (1823-1894)
1899-1918            Polquhairn Estate - James Taylor
1925                     Polquhairn Estate - Archibald Pyper
1930                     Polquhairn Estate - John Jardine
1945                     Polquhairn Estate -


The 1841 census 'Pipperhill' has Andrew Templeton 65, along with Marion 30, Elizabeth 28, and Jennet 20.

By 1844 the farm is advertised to let.


1851 James Wallace 29 and wife Jane 24, farming 136 acres and employing 4 labourers.  They have Margaret 2 and Marion 1, and James' brother Robert 25. servants are Cunningham Smith 19, James Cuthbert 16, and William Coughtrey 15.
1861 James and Jane are farming 118 acres and have added to their family with Jane 9, Robert 7, Sarah 5, William 3, and James under 1.  Servants are Elizabeth Miller 22 dairymaid, William Clement 18, ploughman, James Murdoch 14, labourer, and Janet Whiteford 13, domestic.
1871 James 48, and Jane 44 and family.Margaret, Jane, Robert, William, James 10, Mary 9, and then I believe a transcription error as the surnames of the next three is Purdie. They are John 7, Hugh 4, and George 3, whose names correspond to the 1881 entries.

1881 census shows James Wallace 58 and his wife Jane Wallace (Cuthbertson) 54 farming 134 Acres arable. Also residing at Piperhill are:
Jane Wallace 29
Robert Wallace 27 (later to marry Agnes Osborne from Drumjoan)
William Wallace 23 moved to Lochmaben where he was a dairyman married to Janet Campbell, Colyton.
Mary Wallace 19 (later to marry John Dempster in Islay)
John Wallace 17 (later to farm at Old Lands in Wigtownshire)
Hugh Wallace 14
George Wallace 13 (later to farm at Chapelcross farm, Annan)
James is at Steelpark, Ochiltree
(additional information from EC family research)
1891 James 68, Jane 64, Jane 39, Sarah 35, Mary 29, George 23 and farm servant Hugh Limond 15

1901 and new tenants are in Piperhill.  They are the Taylor family. James 39, Mary 42 (Alexander), Caroline 14, James 12, Elizabeth 11, Jane A 9, Mary Ann 8, and Jeanie Graham 15 and John Barr 17 general domestic and farm servants. Family Photograph at Rigghead

Valuation Rolls
1865 Owner John Pettigrew Wilson, tenant James Wallace
1885  Proprietor James Pettigrew Wilson, tenant James Wallace
1895 Proprietor James Pettigrew Wilson, tenant James Taylor
1905  Proprietor Thomas Pettigrew Wilson, tenant James Taylor
1915 Proprietor John Walker, tenant James Taylor
1920 Proprietor John Walker, tenant Archibald Piper
1930 tenant John Jardine
1940 Proprietor Archibald Pyper, tenant John Jardine


In 1930 the farm was put up for sale along with the others remaining in the Polquhairn estate. It was advertised with the rental income of £135.

Opencast coal site 1990s