Janet Simpson

Wife of Alexander Munro

Given that as explained on page Possible parish and estate records (part 1), Alexander Munro in the parish of Resolis had close links with Donald Simpson and the Simpson family, there is recorded in the Cromarty parish records that an Alexander Munro had four children with a woman named Janet Simpson or Simson between December 1784 and May 1794. This would be after his wife Jane or Janet Munro died in 1780 and after the 76th regiment was disbanded in March 1784 but before his first child with Barbara Mackay was born in Armadale in 1796. However, as he had a child with Barbara Mackay in September 1791 in the parish of Durness this would overlap with the last child with Janet Simpson in 1794 and so makes it a less likely scenario. Although the child born in September 1791 in Durness with Barbara Mackay appears to have died young in which case there would be no overlap of children with the two women. The children with Janet Simpson were John (1784), Alexander (1788), Janet (May 1791) and Mary (1794), noting that he did not have a son named Alexander after himself with either Jane/Janet Munro or Barbara Mackay. In this scenario he would have produced seventeen children with three women. 

The other problem with this is that the son named Alexander with Janet Simpson was born in 1788 which is after the potential grandson named Alexander, who appears on the 1811 Armadale census, was born in 1787 in Caithness which in theory would be after Alexander Munro of Armadale had removed from the county of Ross-shire and so he was probably not still there in 1788. 

The grave of Janet Simpson can be found in the old Cromarty graveyard: Janet Simpson grave link. The Highland Archive Centre in Inverness has records of grave stone inscriptions and has confirmed to me by email the full inscription which reads as follows: "Here lies the Body of Janet Simpson, spouse of Alexander Munro, Mason at Uddel, who died 3rd April 1810 = 56 years. Their Son John Munro Placed this Stone here to her Memory".

Firstly, the occupation of mason does not match my ancestor Alexander Munro of Armadale who was a carpenter or any of his other possible occupations if he is the same person from Avoch and Resolis, but he could have changed occupations. The location of Uddel is probably the place known in modern times as Udale which was a farmstead in the parish of Cromarty but only a short distance from Poyntzfield House in the parish of Resolis, being just the other side of the parish boundary. It confirms that Janet Simpson died in 1810 and would appear to confirm that at that time her husband Alexander Munro was still alive as it is not in memory of him even though it was placed there by their son John and only in memory of her. The fact that the grave stone was placed by her son John and not by her husband Alexander who seems to have still been alive at the time suggests that Alexander might have been living elsewhere.

The year of death of 1810 and age of 56 suggests that she was born in around 1754. Going on this the closest baptism match is dated 1754 in St Martins, parish of Resolis, daughter of Charles Simpson and Mary Mc Leod. Wester St Martins in Resolis included Drumdyre where the above mentioned Alexander Munro was tacksman but the baptism of Janet Simpson could have been in either Wester or Easter St Martins which is also in the parish of Resolis and not far away. The mother of Janet Simpson in 1754 was named Mary and Alexander Munro and Janet Simpson did have a daughter named Mary.

It is possible that Alexander Munro born in 1788 in Cromarty, second son of Alexander Munro and Janet Simpson, later relocated along with some other family members from the Black Isle to the farmstead of Achiemore which was on the Bighouse Estate, in turn part of the Sutherland Estate, and like Armadale was in the same part of the parish of Farr that later became the parish of Strathy. They may have lived there with Alexander's half brother George Munro, second son of Alexander Munro of Armadale and his possible third wife Barbara Mackay, as explained in more detail on page: George Munro (1799).

Ancestry

Version 1

The following 'Version 1' family tree is based on the father of Donald Simpson in St Martins, parish of Resolis, being confirmed as Alexander Simpson and the eldest son of Charles Simpson, father of Janet Simpson in 1754, also being named Alexander Simpson. This suggests that Charles named his eldest son after his father and that he and Donald were brothers. There is also an elder William Simpson in the rent records for the Newhall Estate, parish of Resolis, and given that Donald and Charles both had sons named William, could be who they named them after. However, although the rent records confirm Donald Simpson's father as Alexander Simpson, there are no parish baptism records to confirm Donald, Charles, or William as brothers and sons of Alexander.

The three families along the bottom of the family tree are each from a marriage of a Simpson to a Munro suggesting a strong alliance between these two families on the Black Isle. According to Alexander Mackenzie's 1898 History of the Munros of Fowlis, pages 380-381, John Munro, V of Kiltearn who was a cadet of the Munros of Foulis, chiefs of Clan Munro, married a daughter of Alexander Simpson of St Martins. This will be the same St Martins that is in the parish of Resolis, Black Isle, but was in the mid-17th century. The Munro chief's main territory was just to the north of the Black Isle in Easter-Ross. According to the Council of Scottish Clans & Associations, the Simpsons were a sept of the Clan Fraser whose territory was just to the south of the Black Isle in Inverness-shire.

This would mean that Janet Simpson, possible second wife of Alexander Munro of Armadale, was the niece of Donald Simpson who married Katherine Munro who in turn was a possible cousin of Alexander Munro.

Version 2

The following 'Version 2' family tree is based on the fact that there are parish baptism records for Alexander Simpson, son of John Simpson in 1733 in the parish of Avoch and for William Simson, son of John Simson in 1716 in the neighbouring parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester, who could have been brothers even though 17 years apart. There is still no parish baptism record for Charles Simpson. However, if I do a ScotlandsPeople search in the county of Ross and Cromarty for children baptised to a father named John and include spelling variations of the surname Simson, I get the following results:

Donald Simson, son of John Simson in 1715, parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester.

William Simson, son of John Simson in 1716, parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester.

Ann Simson, daughter of John Simson in 1716, parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester.

Ann Simson, daughter of John Simson in 1724, parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester.

Alexander Simpson, son of John Simpson in 1733, parish of Avoch.

The next is not until 1747. Keeping in mind that the Avoch parish baptism register only dates back to 1727 leaving a few years for Charles to have been baptised there but not recorded. Charles Simpson's youngest son was named John Simson born in 1765 in the parish of Resolis who could have been named after Charles's father, although the paternal grandfather's name was usually used for an elder son and not a younger son.

Further notes

In 1761, the property and estate of Ardoch in the parish of Resolis were sold by Captain Gordon of Ardoch to George Gunn Munro who renamed it Poyntzfield after his wife, a Poyntz heiress. He then became known as George Gunn Munro, 1st of Poyntzfield. National Records of Scotland item RH15/44/207 shows that in November 1764 three of the tenants on the estate were named Donald Simson, John Simson and Peter Simson. Apart from George Munro who was the purchaser of the estate, the only other Munro named in the document was a tenant, Hugh Munro the younger of Achanie, in the Barony of Gruids, parish of Lairg, in the shire of Sutherland. The Munros of Achanie or Achany were a cadet branch of the Clan Munro chief's family.