Person:Mary Tulloch (79)

Watchers
Mary Tulloch
b.20 May 1789 Senness, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, Scotland
d.20 Jan 1872 Sholtisquoy, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, Scotland
Parents and Siblings
(edit)
  1. Janet Tulloch1781 - 1855
  2. Thomas Tulloch1784 -
  3. Mary Tulloch1789 - 1872
  4. Elizabeth Tulloch1790 -
  5. Thomas Tulloch1792 - 1867
  6. William Tulloch1796 -
  7. John TullochAbt 1797 - 1866
  8. Mary Tulloch1798 -
  9. Sibella Tulloch1799 -
  10. William Tulloch1800 - 1877
  11. Lilly Tulloch1810 - 1888
  12. Mary Tulloch1821 -
Spouse and Children
(edit)
  • H.  William MuirAbt 1803 - 1887
  • W.  Mary Tulloch1789 - 1872
  1. Hugh Muir1819 - 1900
  2. Peter MuirAbt 1832 - 1903
Add another spouse & children
Facts and Events
Name Mary Tulloch
Gender Female
Birth? 20 May 1789 Senness, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, Scotland
Christening? 5 Jul 1789 North Ronaldshay, Orkney, Scotland
Marriage to William Muir
Census[1] 1841 Sholtisquoy, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, ScotlandMary Muir, Age 50
Census[2] 1851 Sholtisquoy, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, ScotlandMary Muir, Age 52, wife
Census[3] 1861 Sholtisquoy, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, ScotlandMary Muir, Age 70, wife, farmer's wife
Census[4] 1871 Sholtisquoy, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, ScotlandMary Muir, Age 87, wife, farmer's wife
Death[5] 20 Jan 1872 Sholtisquoy, North Ronaldshay, Orkney, Scotland

The following story of Mary Tulloch is recorded in "The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks":

"During the winter of 1847, the Lena, a large Russian barque carrying many passengers, ran ashore on North Ronaldsay during the night. The Islanders who went down to the wreck found some of the passengers lying dead or injured on the rocks, including the captain, half-drowned and knocked unconscious by the collision. The captain was therefore carried up to a nearby house in Sholtisquoy by the islanders who roused the woman of the house - or guidwife - from her bed and handed the captain over in the hope that she might be able to revive him. The guidwife placed the captain in her own bed and fed him a little brandy. The captain stayed senseless and, since it was long before hot water bottles were invented, the guidwife climbed into bed beside him, hoping that her own body heat might revive him. Her rough medicine worked and the captain revived although, as one local wreck historian noted drily, 'How long she stayed in bed after he recovered I never heard'.

Once restored to health, the captain realised he owed his life to the guidwife, and swore that when he returned home he would send her a gift as a sign of his gratitude. A few weeks later a fine silk dress arrived from the captain's home town. This being the 1840s, all mail was routed through the landlord's factor on the island. Tom Muir takes up the story: 'There was this beautiful silk gown turned up, and the [factor and his wife] thought: that's far too nice to waste on a crofting woman, so the substituted it for a cheap, printed cotton dress and kept the silk one. I can't remember if it was the man's wife or his daughter who was then seen at the kirk the following week with this beautiful dress on, and everybody knew where this had come from - they put two and two together and also nobody trusted the guy. So his reputation, which was probably black before then, was blackened even further by the fact that he'd stolen this dress'. [1]

References
  1. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1841 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh).

    Piece: SCT1841/22 Place: North Ronaldshay -Orkney Enumeration District: 1
    Civil Parish: North Ronaldshay Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
    Folio: 1 Page: 6
    Address: Sholtisquoy

  2. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1851 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh).

    Piece: SCT1851/22 Place: North Ronaldshay -Orkney Enumeration District: 1
    Civil Parish: North Ronaldshay Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: North Ronaldshay
    Folio: 12 Page: 6 Schedule: 14
    Address: East North Yard, Sholtisquy

  3. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1861 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh).

    Source Citation: Parish: North Ronaldshay; ED: 1; Page: 2; Line: 11; Roll: CSSCT1861_3; Address: Speltingney

  4. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh).

    Source Citation: Parish: North Ronaldshay; ED: 1; Page: 3; Line: 14; Roll: CSSCT1871_5; Address: Shottesgurg

  5. ↑ Gravestone.

    Erected by WILLIAM MUIR in memory of his loved wife MARY TULLOCH who died 20.1.1872 aged 84 years.

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