New book by Moray and Nairn Family History Society records plight of the poor in and around Dufftown
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THE tragic lives endured by some of Moray's poor during the Victorian era has been highlighted by a new book.
The Moray and Nairn Family History Society's latest publication details the help given to the impoverished in and around Dufftown
Hidden within the records of the Mortlach Poor Register 1865-1903 is the story of Charlotte Fraser (or Singer) was said to have had a "mental weakness".
Although born in Aberlour, she lived in Dufftown where her occupation was described as "running messages".
A widow and a Protestant, the details of Charlotte's existence make sad reading.
At the end of October 1889 she began to receive two shillings a week Poor Relief.
Two years, after being certified as insane, she was lodged in Banff Asylum for five months before being released again.
Her weekly allowance had increased to two shillings and nine pence by 1896 when she was removed to the asylum again.
The next decade saw Charlotte committed on no fewer than five more occasions.
The periods between during which she remained free also gradually grew shorter.
Her last confinement was dated as November 17, 1906.
There in no record of Charlotte ever being released again before her death at the age of 60 on April 11, 1915.
Stuart Farrell is the chairman of the Moray and Nairn Family History Society.
He said: "The book is a transcription of the register for each pauper who was accepted to be given Poor Relief under The Poor Law Act of 1845.
"The records note in detail the change in circumstances of the person named and sometimes their family’s circumstances.
"They give a unique glimpse of the social attitudes to the poor in Victorian Morayshire, though it was not always paupers who got relief, sometimes it was those who were sick or out of work."
The Register also outlines the anguished circumstances of Ann Shand's life.
Ann was born in Mortlach but lived at Tomnoan, which is marked just to the east of Dufftown on old maps.
A farm servant, who occasionally earned a little bit extra by working as a sick nurse, Ann had a total of six children.
The eldest three – James (19), Jane (15) and May (13) – had the surname Kennedy.
The youngest three – Isabella (8), Helen (4) and Elizabeth (2) – went by the name Dow.
Despite this large brood, Ann was described as "single".
She began receiving four shillings and six pence per week Poor Relief in July 1863.
In the December of the following year, the father of the three young Dows was convicted and sent to prison for 40 days for neglecting his children.
By February 1896 Ann was in the poorhouse, although the records do not say where exactly.
However, a latter entry shows she died at the age of 44 in Edinburgh Poorhouse.
Mortlach Poor Register follows on from the work undertaken by the society on the registers for the parishes of Elgin, St Andrews Lhanbryde and Urquhart.
It can be purchased through the society’s web page, Yeadon’s Bookshop in Elgin or the Nairn Bookshop.
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