"Tacksman" David Geddes

Generation 2i

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"Tacksman" David Geddes b.circa 1665 d.. More information

Son of Unknown Geddes and Lean Halcrow of Shetland

Married (1) Unknown Cruikshank of Aberdeen

They had three boys. When David Geddes moved to Stromness, he left the boys with their mother's family. They used to visit him until the Rising of 1715. The Cruikshanks were involved in the Rising, and whether the boys were caught up in it as well it is not clear, but they never appeared again.

Married (2) 1705 Marion Graham of Stromness, Orkney, paternal grand-daughter of George Graham, Bishop of Dunblane and Orkney (1615).

M i George b.1715 d. (named after the Bishop, his great-grandfather)
Married Katherine Johnston.

F ii Name b. d.

F iii Name b. d.

F iv Margaret "Granny o'Hoy" b.1727
Married 31 October 1756 Andrew Cruikshank b.1726, son of Robert Cruikshank and Barbara Jack, who had come as refugees to David Geddes after the '15 uprising and settled in the Isle of Hoy. They had the following children:
Robert, shipmaster in Stromness,
whose grand-daughter, Anne Irvine Cruikshank, married the Reverend Zachary Macaulay Hamilton DD, minister of Bressay
and was the mother of Sir Robert George Cruikshank Hamilton KCB, Governor of Tasmania &c.;
Harry, grandfather to the late Misses Ann and Margaret Cruikshank of Stromness;
Margaret b.17?? d.1805
(married her first cousin David Geddes,
through which union the Geddes incorporate the three boars' heads of the Cruikshanks into the Geddes arms);
Barbara.

F v Lean Halcrow b.circa1737.

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David Geddes, between 1700 and 1705, secured the Tack of Customes and Excise of Orkney, which, a few years beforehand, had been assessed at (Scots)£35,733 annual payment to the state. To this he added the Land Tack, and there he laid the foundations for a business which was to last a century, developing a merchant bank in connection with both a shipping business and an agency for the Hudson Bay Company. At that time, with the frequent wars and skirmishes between the European powers, and the operations of their privateers, the English Channel was often closed to merchant shipping for long periods, and traffic would typically go 'north about', making Orkney an important staging post.
His daughter Margaret described him as a big, heavily bearded man, who spoke little but saw everything.

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Index list of names found in the Anderson, Beckett, Geddes, Hibbert, Jeans, Jeffrey, Murray and Pike family trees
Anderson of Inverugie, Scotland - first of 9 generations of Anderson family tree
James Robertson Beckett - first of 5 generations of Beckett family tree
"Tacksman" David Geddes - first of 10 generations of Geddes family tree
Joseph Hibbert of Lancashire - first of 9 generations of Hibbert family tree
George Henry Jeans - first of 6 generations of Jeans family tree
John Jeffrey - first of 5 generations of Jeffrey family tree
John Murray - first of 9 generations of Murray family tree
Richard Pike - first of 9 generations of Pike family tree
Details of two Holiday cottages near Cartmel, Cumbria (South Lakes), with the Silver Award for Green Tourism.
Broughton Bank Perry and Cider near Cartmel, Cumbria (South Lakes), Perry and Cider and their vinegars naturally brewed from local fruit.

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Notes on sources

Anderson family tree

Information is largely taken from the book 'The Andersons of Peterhead'. This was based on the records made by John Anderson 1825/1903 [VIII 32], known as 'China John'. This was brought up to date in 1936 by Cecil Ford Anderson [X 17] and Agnes Donald Ferguson [CS 45 X b]. Many photographs were taken and compiled in an album by Olive Edis (daughter of Mary Murray, daughter of Andrew Murray (2) of Aberdeen). Corrections to both Janet Innes Anderson's and Alexander Murray's death dates from Robert Murray Watt and Iain Forrest.

Forrest family tree

Iain Forrest kindly supplied material to update the Forrest family (progeny of William Forrest) details.

Hibbert family tree

The information is largely taken from a tree compiled by F.B. (she knows who she is!) with extra material found by the author.

Murray family tree

The 'Genealogical Table showing various branches of the Murray family', from which this information was taken, was prepared by Alexander Murray of Blackhouse, extended by Andrew Murray - advocate - Aberdeen circa 1880 and further extended by Arthur Murray Watt 1972. The generational notation is the author's.

Pike family tree

Information from family sources as well as 'Burke's Landed Gentry' 1875

Stevenson family tree and many Stevenson and Anderson photos

Deepest thanks for some fantastic pictures and for writing the wonderful book 'Jobs for the Boys' to Hew Stevenson, which you can see on www.dovebooks.co.uk.

And the rest

Thanks also to all who have written in with information, advice, help and, most importantly, corrections.

28 February, 2021

M	i	George b.1715 d. (named after the Bishop, his great-grandfather) Married Katherine Johnston.
F	ii	Name b. d.
F	iii	Name b. d.
F	iv	Margaret "Granny o'Hoy" b.1727 Married 31 October 1756 Andrew Cruikshank b.1726, son of Robert Cruikshank and Barbara Jack, who had come as refugees to David Geddes after the '15 uprising and settled in the Isle of Hoy. They had the following children: Robert, shipmaster in Stromness, whose grand-daughter, Anne Irvine Cruikshank, married the Reverend Zachary Macaulay Hamilton DD, minister of Bressay and was the mother of Sir Robert George Cruikshank Hamilton KCB, Governor of Tasmania &c.; Harry, grandfather to the late Misses Ann and Margaret Cruikshank of Stromness; Margaret b.17?? d.1805 (married her first cousin David Geddes, through which union the Geddes incorporate the three boars' heads of the Cruikshanks into the Geddes arms); Barbara.
F	v	Lean Halcrow b.circa1737.