Person:Catherine Eunson (1)

Catherine Eunson’s origins have yet to be established. Her first confirmed sighting is on 12th July 1777, when she married a farmer called Magnus Flett at Kirkwall in Orkney. They went on to have ten children at Kirkwall between 1778 and 1802.

It is not clear when Magnus died. Catherine’s son Magnus left Kirkwall and moved to Stronsay, one of the northern islands of Orkney, living at a farm called Hunday. Catherine appears there living with him and his family in the 1841 census. She has yet to be traced after 1841.

1. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1841 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   031/8/5, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Hundie, Stronsay, Orkney
   Magnus Flett, male, 55 [1781-6], Farmer, born in county
   Margaret Flett, female, 60 [1776-81], born in county
   Frances Flett, female, 20 [1816-21], born in county
   William Flett, male, 15 [1821-6], born in county
   Catherine Flett, female, 95 [1741-6], pauper, born in county
   James Flett, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] lab[ourer], born in county
   Robert Flett, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] lab[ourer], born in county
   Margaret Flett, female, 10 [1830/1], born in county
   Jane Flett, female, 8 [1832/3], born in county

   Magnus in this household was the son of Catherine Eunson and Magnus Flett, as confirmed by his death certificate of 1872. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the elderly Catherine living with them was his mother. It is likely that her age is overstated, as had she been born in 1746 she would have been 55 or 56 when her youngest child was born in 1802.
   
   The place name Hundie is listed in the census between Burnside and Franks and on the same page as Clayquoy and Hollin, all of which can be found labelled on the 1881 Ordnance Survey map in the Everbay area of Stronsay, where that map also labels a farm called “Hunday” – it is therefore presumed that this is what “Hundie” referred to. There is a barn at the site of Hunday today, but no longer a house.