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| Catherine Harvey |
The History of Ochiltree Village & Parish - Dane Love
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Steelpark
108 acres in 1851. 157 acres in 2020.
Ochiltree Estate - John Tennant
-1791 Ochiltree Estate - James Hill (1713-1791)
-1812 Ochiltree Estate -
1812- Polquhairn Estate -
1827-1854 Polquhairn Estate - James Wyllie
1861-1871 Polquhairn Estate - David Gibson
1881 Polquhairn Estate - Isabella M. Gibson
1885 Polquhairn Estate - Robert Wallace
1891 Polquhairn Estate - William Wallace
1895-1899 Polquhairn Estate - James Sloan
1905-1914 Polquhairn Estate - Thomas Lammie
1915-1930 Polquhairn Estate - John Gemmell
1930- Bellsbank Estate - John Gemmell
1940 John Galbraith
-1964 Thomas Galbraith
1964-1966 James Harvey (d1966)
1966-2020 George Harvey
Census
1841 Three households. James Wyllie 64, Mary Johnston 80, mendicant, Mary Scot
Thomas Brown 35, John Vallance 25
James Gillespie 35, Eliza 45, James 10, Robert 8, William 4, Jane Howatson 14
1851 James Wyllie 73, widower and farmer of 108 acres employing 4 labourers. John Vallance 36, nephew, Jane Vallance 36, niece, William Vallance 16, servants Elizabeth Bennet 19 and James Thomson 15.
1861 David Gibson 58 overseer of 134 acres employing 3 labourers. with him are wife Mary Ann 59, and daughters Mary Ann 20 and Isabell Morris 16.
1871 David Gibson 68 is landsteward of 144 acres arable employing 2 men. Mary Ann is 69 and Isabella Morris is 25
1881 Isabella M Gibson 35 is a housekeeper with servant Jane McEwen 16, and two visitors. Alexander Findlay, nephew 10, and Janet P Findlay 7, niece.
1891 William Wallace 33 and wife Janet 29 are farming. They have sons James 7, William 5, and Robert under 1, and servants Ellen Reddox 24 and Susan Park 14. Hugh Aird 19 and James Hendrie 16 are farm servants.
1901 James Speir 52, shepherd and wife Susan 49.
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| North British Agriculturalist 6 December 1883 |
Steelpark, under the tenancy of the Wallace family, is where my great grandmother Mary Smith and her brother Robert were cared for after both their parents died. Their aunt, Agnes Osborne had married Robert Wallace, later moving to Townhead, where they all lived and the children grew up. When aged 20, Mary had an illegitimate child, my grandfather Robert the first of five while they lived at Townhead. She was small in stature, so concealing the pregnancies would be difficult, as well as illegal at the time. The family moved again to Laggan farm, Bowmore Islay in 1905, a beautiful and remote spot, where she proceeded to build on her family of ultimately nine, who were all raised in the Cumbrian lake district with a foster mother.
Whether the scandal of the pregnancies was a contributing factor to the move we can only speculate, but Robert Wallace, apart from the occasional good prices at Ayr market for his sheep, slips into obscurity compared to the outstanding farmer described in the above article.
Elaine Corbett August 2020
Valuation Rolls
1865 prop. J P Wilson.
1885 tenant Robert Wallace.
1895 tenant James Sloan.
1905 prop. T P Wilson, tenant Thomas Lammie.
1915 prop. John Walker, tenant John Gemmell.
1940 prop. John Galbraith.
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 £193.
Galbraith family until 1964
Currently Catherine and David Harvey. Fields used by neighbours' cows. Other Harvey relations at Whitehill Ochiltree.
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 £193.
Galbraith family until 1964
Currently Catherine and David Harvey. Fields used by neighbours' cows. Other Harvey relations at Whitehill Ochiltree.
