SHANNOCH FARM

Shannoch Farm 1950

I now believe that the Reid family's move from West Rinmore in Glenkindie to Shannoch and its comparatively easier farmlands, was prompted in no small measure by the tragic early death of Gordon's eldest daughter Mary Jane, aged just 20, in 1894.  As only one year later in 1895, Gordon makes  this life changing move after generations of Reids had farmed in both Glenkindie and Glenbuchat, bringing his remaining children (with the exception of 2nd son James) to settle on the Breda Estate. The Reids remained here for a further two generations until Gordon's  namesake grandson finally retired in the 1970s.

outside the Shannoch steadings summer 1911                    

From left to right - great-grandfather Gordon, maid (possibly a relative of Elizabeth, as the resemblance to my mother and aunts is striking), Helen Ann Reid (as yet unmarried - 2 years to go), grandfather William and unknown farm hand. In the trap Elizabeth Nicol and four of her children, Gordon, James, Bessie and my mother Margaret in her arms.

Professional photographers were often commissioned around this time to take pictures of the farm horses, it was considered the more horses on the farm, the more successful the farm.

Unfortunately I do not have the original of this wonderful picture, it is only a newspaper reproduction.

Little John outside Beech Cottage - c1954

Shannoch Farm  was set in approximately 95 acres and situated on the Breda Estate. a couple of miles west of Alford.

It was a much larger house than West Rinmore with two big rooms either side of the front door and a small scullery behind. Upstairs were three bedrooms, all of good height, unlike that at Rinmore.  But originally the house would have been more akin, as its first floor windows were a later addition (seen clearly left). 

The Reids farmed cattle and arable, sheep were dispensed with, because the Howe of Alford  being  fertile, flat and open, offered more options. When I visited during the 1950s, I remember individual pig sties housed in a long wooden building near the entrance to the farm. It was here that I spent many happy hours playing in the straw with the pigs, who I have long suspected are highly intelligent animals.

The front garden was full of vegetables (as in photo left) so that the family were virtually self supporting.  But in addition, my grandmother Elizabeth Nicol managed to grow roses and flowers for the house; this was much begrudged by grandfather William, as he felt the space could be better utilised.

Beech Cottage
Down the brae about a 100 yards from Shannoch, is Beech Cottage.  This dwelling is fairly modern, having been built by Gordon for his eldest son William on his marriage to Elizabeth Nicol in 1904.  Normally the laird would provide, but on this occasion, Gordon's request was refused with the reason that it would set a precedent.

William and Elizabeth lived here for the first few years of married life and  their first six children were born here.  I believe they moved into Shannoch Farm after Gordon's daughter Nell, who acted as housekeeper, married in 1913 and moved to Inverurie.

Beech Cottage 2007

The next people to live at Beech Cottage were Elizabeth's mother Isabella Nicol, and her eldest daughter Maggie, who moved from the 'Smiddy' at Muir of Breda .  Unfortunately Maggie  had to return to the 'Smiddy' to retrieve her mother from time to time as Isabella was apt to forget that she had moved. 

Elizabeth's brother Harry died in 1913 and left a daughter Jean.  I am not sure why she didn't live with her mother, Harry's widow Elizabeth Gordon, but my mother remembers Jean living with her maternal grandmother Isabella Tough and aunt Maggie at the cottage. 

Isabella died in 1933 and  Maggie in 1949 at Sinnaboth, I have been unable to trace what became of Jean.

In the 1950s my grandparents William and Elizabeth  left the Shannoch and retired to Beech Cottage.. An extension was built to the side adding a further bedroom, bathroom and kitchen (as in pic above)

Elizabeth died in 1958 at the Shannoch and William  was looked after for the last two years of his life at the cottage by his daughter Bunty until he too died in 1960.

VALUATION ROLL   BREDA ESTATE  1909/1910

House, Breda (Alexander Littlejohn, gardener)
Woodlands Cottage (John Sutherland, joiner) 
House, Home Farm (William Scott, coachman)
House, Home Farm (David Irons, overseer)
Farm and house, Annfield (Reps. of John Robertson)
Meal Mill, Annfield ("        "              ")
Farm and house, Auchintoul (George Moir, grieve)
Carrier's croft and house (James Anderson)
Farm and house, Cattens (William Stewart)
Farm and house, Culfork (Alexander Murray)
Farm and house, Fairlea (Peter Nicol)
Croft and house, Marchmyres (William Brebner)
Farm and house, Muir and Newton (Peter Murray)
House at Newton (Alexander Nicol, blacksmith) *
Farm and house, Shannoch (Gordon Reid)
Croft and house, Smith's Croft (Alexander Nicol, blacksmith) *
Smithy, Smith's Croft (Alexander Nicol) *
House, Smith's Croft (Isabella Nicol, widow) ^
House, Muir of Breda (John Gilbert, farm servant)
Farm and house, Tibberchindy (Peter Laing)
Croft and house, Woodside (William Duguid)
Croft and house, Westgate (Annie Mackay, widow)
Croft and house, Wright's Croft ( ? Keith, labourer)

* Alexander is Elizabeth Nicol's oldest brother
^  Isabella is their mother

The Breda Estate (pronounced Briddar, with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable) covers the fertile Howe of Alford and is around 1600 acres in total.  The estate is owned by the McLean family, having bought the house and estate in 1892 from the Farquharson family.  The Laird's family lived at Breda House, built in 1773 for Major General Robert Farquharson and designed by the Aberdeen architect A. Marshall McKenzie in a fetching shade of pink.  The name Breda comes from the Gaelic, meaning 'wide open valley'.

I understand that the present Laird of Breda now lives at Auchintoul Farm and  most of the farms and cottages on the estate have been sold..

In addition to the Shannoch Farm, the estate encompassed 140 acres belonging to the main Breda Mansion House and in grandfather's time the proprietor was Neil McLean. Flanking the driveway to the mansion were the East and West Lodges respectively inhabited by one Colin Campbell Thomson (butler) in the East Lodge and one Peter Stewart (gamekeeper) in the West Lodge. Listed left are some of the other properties on the Breda Estate in Gordon and William's time with their respective tenants.

Shannoch Farm and part of its land 2007 - the much extended farmhouse can be seen on the right and the steadings have been converted into another house on the left

Gordon Reid was not a farmer at heart.  His calling should have been the church, but without independent financial means, Gordon's only hope would have been to sit for a university's Bursary Competition to enable him to get a scholarship to study theology, probably not even an option, as all male family members were required to work on the farm. The closest Gordon got to the pulpit was when the Established Church Minister, Peter Adam apparently imbibed too much the night before and Gordon was called upon to take the occasional Sunday service.

The church formed an enormous part of Gordon's life, as indeed it did for many.  Church affairs assumed far greater importance in those days and feelings ran very high over what today would seem very trivial matters.  Religion lay deep within the soul of the Scottish nation, in rural areas especially, and to ignore the accepted rules of the church, was to risk being shunned by the community. 

The 'Great Disruption' of the Scottish Church occurred in 1843 when more than half the membership of the General Assembly broke away and formed the Free Church of Scotland, in protest over the undemocratic practice of appointing ministers to their parishes in accordance with the wishes of the landowners, or lairds. The Reid family followed this radical side with enthusiasm, not so the Nicols, who remained loyal to the Established Church.

Consequently on Sunday mornings, the Reid family would drive past the Established Church, now known as the West Kirk of Alford, to worship at the Free Kirk, which was situated at the other end of the village, an inconvenience that was obviously considered non negotiable.

The church influenced Gordon so much that if an Elder of the Church expressed an interest in one of his cattle, he would virtually be handed it on a plate!

He died at Shannoch, aged 81, in 1923 and the funeral was attended by all the great and good of the parish, the funeral cortege stretching along the road from the farm.  He is buried in Alford Cemetery with his granddaughter Williamina, son William and daughter in law Elizabeth

Friday mornings would find Gordon, and after his death, my grandfather William, sporting their best suits and walking up the drive to Breda House to pay their rent to the Laird.      

Great-grandfather Gordon remained at Shannoch from now onwards. He was a religious man and took the family services for his own family and servants at the farm.  After daughter Nell married and moved to Inverurie on her marriage in 1913 William and Elizabeth moved in with their family,  Gordon had the front left (facing the building) downstairs room as his own, and the services were conducted here.  My mother remembered  going to the first service with her siblings, with her father, mother and the servants going to the second after the children were in bed. Here snuggly tucked up, they would lie listening to the voices of the adults as they sung the well known hymns, with her mother's beautiful voice soaring over the others.

___________________________________________

Alford West Kirk 

Alford Free Kirk 2006

Elizabeth and William sometime in the 1930s

ELIZABETH NICOL - daughter of Harry Nicol and Isabella Tough was born on 3rd May 1879 at the Smiddy, Muir of Breda   (copy of Elizabeth's birth certificate)  and died 26th March 1958 at Shannoch.

Elizabeth had a ready smile and a happy disposition, she sang around the house as she undertook the daily chores of a successful farmer's wife and mother of nine. Bessie, as she was known, made her own butter, cheese and crowdie, all much valued by the local shopkeepers, who bought as much as Elizabeth could spare. She loved flowers and managed to grow many in between the myriad vegetables planted in the large sheltered front garden of the Shannoch. There were always large vases of them around the well polished and cared for furniture and effects. 

Bessie's hands were never still, for when she had finished polishing, washing, baking, butter making, cooking etc. she would sit at the side of the fireplace with a basket of sewing at her feet, because the business of making, mending and darning the family's clothes was never ending. 

Unfortunately Bessie suffered greatly with arthritis during her latter years, probably due to all the strenuous and unrelenting work that had been her lot for over 60 years:  My mother remembers gently rubbing her mother's swollen hands to try and give some relief from the chronic pain.  In photographs taken during the 1950s, she is always seated.

Bessie died at Shannoch on 26th March 1958 aged 78.

William Reid married Elizabeth Nicol on 8th June 1904 at The Public Hall in Alford, in a joint wedding with her older sister Isabella to George Hogg. He describes himself as aged 29 (he was actually 31) bachelor and ploughman of Shannoch Alford. Elizabeth describes herself as aged 24 domestic servant, table maid, spinster of Muir of Breda, Alford.  The witnesses at this wedding were James Gauld (William's great grandmother on the distaff side being a Gauld) and Helen A Reid, William's sister.  Peter Adam, Minister of the village church in Alford, officiated. This church was the Nicol family's place of worship, the Reids attended the Free Kirk in Alford.

copy of the wedding certificate

After the marriage, William and Elizabeth moved into Beech Cottage down the brae from 
Shannoch Farm, this property was built specifically for them.  I believe that their first six children were born in this small dwelling, it had just two rooms, which of course was usual at the time.

Bessie, Gordon and James
photo taken about 1911

Gordon Alexander b 1905.  (Eldest and first born child). Gordon farmed Shannoch after his father's retirement to Beech Cottage, a but and ben cottage down the brae. He was an accomplished bagpipe player. Gordon married Catherine 'Kate' Cocker and had three daughters, Catherine, Isabelle and Edith. He died in 1996 aged 90, one year after his wife Kate.

Williamina  b 1907. (Eldest daughter and 2nd child). Poor Williamina died 12th July 1909 aged 2 at Beech Cottage, the cause of death was cerebral convulsions (2 years). She is buried with her grandfather Gordon and parents William and Elizabeth in the same grave in Alford Cemetery.
Copy of Williamina's death certificate

James Grant b 1908. (2nd son and third child). James worked on the farm at Shannoch with brother Gordon.  But he was not a farmer at heart any more than his grandfather Gordon. James would have been happier if he could have been apprenticed as either a mechanic or an engineer, he died in 1987 aged 79.

Bessie Cameron b 1909 (2nd daughter and fourth child) Bessie's unusual second name comes from the name of a minister in Alford at the time.  Bessie and her younger sister Margaret (my mother) learned to play the piano at Shannoch.  My mother remembers that she and Bessie were each given a doll probably as either a birthday or Christmas present, but unfortunately they were only allowed to play with them on Sundays, the rest of the time they were put away. 

Bessie became a nurse after doing her training in Aberdeen, later becoming a district nurse and later a visiting school nurse.  She married twice, late in life and died in 1996.  She is buried in the cemetery in Aberdeen in the same grave as her aunt Margaret (Peggy).

Bessie Cameron Reid

Margaret in a photo taken in Aberdeen c1929

Barbara Duignan (groom's sister), George Judd, Margaret Grant Reid, Bessie Reid
outside Caxton Hall, Westminster, London 11th May 1940

Margaret Grant  b 1st March 1911 (3rd daughter and fifth child). Margaret Reid was my mother and she spent most of her adult life in England.  

After leaving Gallowhill School, Margaret and her older sister Bessie started nursing training in Aberdeen, Bessie finished her training and graduated as a nurse, but my mother did not feel that this was a vocation for which she had any talent.  She discussed this with her mother and eventually travelled to the south coast of England and the lovely regency seaside town of Eastbourne, where her mother Elizabeth had friends. 

She remained here during most of the 1930s eventually leaving and moving to London.  It was here that she met my father George Henry Judd (b 1909) who hailed originally from Wiltshire.  

They married on 11th May 1940 at Caxton Hall Registry Office in Westminster, having their wedding breakfast at the Regent Palace Hotel before travelling back to Shannoch for their honeymoon. 

My father served in RAF Bomber Command during WWII and my mother worked for the American Red Cross in London. I was born in late September 1949 and we continued to live in London till I got married in 1971. 

In 1974 George retired and they moved back to his home county of Wiltshire. After a few years my mother got her usual 'itchy feet' and they moved again, this time to Hove. Here they remained for a further 4 or so years, before my father was able to persuade Margaret to move back to Warminster in Wiltshire. 

George died in January 1992 and Margaret remained there until failing health persuaded me that she was going be be safer and happier close to me. She spent the last four years of her life in a warm and friendly retirement home just 1/4 mile from me in Sussex. Margaret died on 21st August 2004 at the grand old age of 93 and is buried with her husband George in the small churchyard of St John's Sutton Veny in Wiltshire close to the pathway to the church, where she can keep her eye on all the comings and goings!

John Grant b 1912  (3rd son and 6th child).  John started work on the farm at Shannoch with his brothers Gordon and James,  but soon realised that farming wasn't for him. With the help of an uncle, a member of the Gordon family, he started work in the Gordon family grocery shop in Alford, later progressing to a sales rep. for James French & Co, a large Glasgow warehouse.  Here it was that he met and married a young girl from the same city in March 1946 with the unusual name of Melba McLeod and had one son John (Jack) McLeod.

The family moved to Aberdeen around 1952 when John became the Aberdeen and north rep for the company. John died in February 2004 aged 92 and is buried in Alford Cemetery.

Wedding 29th March 1947
left to right - Gordon Reid (best man), unknown page, Ronald Reid, Mabel Wilkie

Ronald Grant  b 26th April 1914  (4th son and 7th child).  Ronald worked at Shannoch after leaving school until he was called up during WWII.  (Although farming was considered a reserved occupation, there were already enough Reids working the farm to spare him). After the end of the war Ronald married Mabel Wilkie  (b 22.8.1921) at Monymusk Church on 29th March 1947, soon after Ronald and Mabel moved to Myriedale Farm, Insch and farmed there for the next 35 years.  They had two children Rona born in 1948 and Elizabeth born in 1951.  

On their retirement, they moved from Myriedale to Oldmeldrum.  Ronald still kept busy turning his hand to gardening and fencing and liked to keep active by walking.  

Ronald died on 3rd February 2001 aged 86 and Mabel in January 2007.

Isabella Grant  b 1915 (4th daughter and 8th child). Known as Bunty from a child, for her supposed resemblance to a bantam hen! Bunty married George Rust Milne and had two children, a son George Grant Reid and a daughter Isobel. Bunty is still alive, aged 93.

Bunty taken at Shannoch around 1950

Ellen Ann b 1919   (5th daughter and 9th and last child).  Known by the pet name of 'Nan' in the family. Nan married John Smith a motor mechanic and garage owner from Alford,  they had one son John, born in 1946.  Unfortunately poor Nan was to die very early aged only 34 in 1953 of ulcerative colitis. 

Nan in a photo taken in Aberdeen c1938

A nice photo of Elizabeth Nicol and her 'girls' - left to right:
Isabella (Bunty), Bessie, Elizabeth, Margaret, Ellen-Ann (Nan)
Photo taken some time in the 1930s 

PHOTOS TAKEN AT SHANNOCH FARM IN THE LATE 1940s AND EARLY 1950s BY MY FATHER GEORGE JUDD

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