The First Corrigalls: John Corrigall and Elspat / Elizabeth Aim - my generation's ggggg grandparents

John Corrigall and Elizabeth / Elspat Aim are our first confirmed Corrigall ancestors based in the Orkney Islands. Unfortunately the information surrounding their lives is extremely limited and what information I have found seems to contradict other known facts.

All I have been able to find out about Elizabeth / Elspat is that her last name was supposedly Aim, however, I have not been able to find any such last name on the Orkney Islands, so this could be inaccurate. There is confusion around her first name as well, although I can confirm that her son referred to her as Elizabeth on his sister’s death certificate in 1862. I have also seen Elspat spelt several ways including Elspatt and Elsbet. There are references to her being born around 1786, however, these must be inaccurate, as her own children were apparently born between 1778 and 1789. I have also found reference to her dying at Harray around 1872, but this would mean she had lived to well over 100!

I know even less about John Corrigall. There is some early family tree information regarding Corrigalls on the Orkney Islands, and there is also a property known as Midhouse of Corrigall, which is now a museum (see the section on James Sinclair and Margaret Isbister), however, I have not yet been able to solidly link our John Corrigall to this information.

Clearly there is more research needed around Elspat / Elizabeth and John. Details regarding their children is clearer:

1. Elizabeth - born sometime during 1778; remained single; was 83 years old when she died on the 10th of May, 1862, at Pow, Netherbrough where she was living with her brother James; her parents are recorded as John and Elizabeth Corrigall; the informant of her death was her brother, James; her death was recorded at the Parish of Harray

2. Christina - born sometime during 1783; died on the 14th of October, 1862, aged 79 in Harray; widow of John Manson (death certificate: 1862-018-00-0006)

3. James - born on Christmas Day, the 25 December, 1785 at Harray and died in 1872 at Harray (Reference 40937; IGI/OPR Index: 1785-018) our direct ancestor

4. John - born on the 26 April, 1789 at Harray (Reference 40938; IGI/OPR Index: 1785-018)

I have found no other records of their children to date.

I have not yet found any firm evidence of the family in the first Orkney Island census of 1821, when I would expect John and Elizabeth would have been in their late fifties to sixties. There is a John Corrigall, who was 68, living at ‘Little Crofty’ in the St Andrews district, which possibly is our John, but this is some distance from Harray (15 kilometres) where John and Elizabeth had lived earlier in their lives. It is recorded that this John is living with an 11 year old James Corrigall (too young to be our James) and Samuel Moore, 25 years old. Of course it is very possible that both John and Elizabeth had passed away by 1821.

Curiously there is also a James Corrigall aged 34 recorded in the 1821 census, a sailor, living in Stromness, about 9 kilometres from Harray with Euphemia Leask, aged 31, and the following children James Corrigall aged 9; David Corrigall, aged 7; Euphemia Corrigall, aged 4, and John Corrigall, aged 1. Could this be 'our' James Corrigall? And could Euphemia Leask have been James’s common law wife or first wife before he married Catherine Sinclair? The ages don’t completely match, but are so close that this shouldn’t be dismissed, especially as there is no other James Corrigall in the census anywhere near our ancestor’s correct age. Catherine Sinclair married James Corrigall in 1824, at Harray, when she was 27 and he was 39, and so it is likely he had a previous relationship.

There are no records of exactly when the census was taken during 1821 either, however, from what I have found not all Orcadians were recorded in this first census.