Married cousins

Firth of Forth Branch

This page sets out information that we have found about the Firth of Forth branch of Fairholm, Farm, etc in Scotland.

So far, we have 538 people on this tree. 

At the top of this branch are William Fairholm and Margaret Drummond who married in Haddingtonshire 1717. They had four boys from 1718-1724, all in Edinburgh: William, Hugh, James & Adam.  Adam Farm / Ferme born about 1724, married Margaret / Mary Rachel Crookston / Crookstoun / Coustan, in 1744 at Pencaitland, Edinburghshire. They had four daughters, and two sons.

William, their eldest son, married Marion / Mary Clarkson / Clerkson in 1769 at Duddingston, Edinburghshire.  Their eldest son was William Fairholm / Fairholme / Farm / Ferm / Ferme who married Marion Stevenson / Steveson in 1788 at Duddingston, Edinburghshire (later Midlothian, but now part of Edinburgh City), and had five daughters and four sons from 1790- 1807, all in Edinburghshire. The only boy known to have married was their second son, James, who married Agnes Flucker in 1819 at Liberton, EDN, and their only child was Neil Fairholm / Farm / Ferme. He married Marion Pickard / Pickert / Pritchard in 1840 at Carrington / Primrose, EDN, and had three boys and three girls. Of these, James married Annie Weir Forrest at Whitburm, LNL (Linlithgowshire) in 1862. They had four sons and seven daughters.  Three of their daughters died in the USA.

Despite a large number of births, most of the male lines had died out by the1920s, except the one from Neil Farm, also born to Neil and Marion Pickard, in 1852 at Whitburn, LNL. He married Elizabeth / Bessie McMurray in 1875 at St. Giles, Edinburgh, and had five boys (but no girls), all in Edinburgh, and with the surname Farm. Three of William and Marion's daughters married members of the Balks, Reid, and Adam families. In particular, after further research, additional evidence has shown that it was their second daughter, that married James Reid on 16 Jan 1820 at Inveresk, EDN, and had nine children. This is a change from an earlier stated position, when, along with other researchers we had her linked to a Robert Crookston, born 3 Jul 1780, at Gladsmuir, Haddingtonshire.

Adam & Margaret's youngest son, James, married Margaret Moffat in 1776 at Duddingston.   His descendants had several surname variations, including Fairholm, Ferme, Farm and Farmes.   Two Farms families in the USA are part of this branch.

Families within this branch had several inter-marriages with other families, including Young and Neilson.  In the late 1700s there was a marriage of cousins - Margaret Fairholm / Farm / Ferme and Adam Neilson.  The diagram below shows how they were related.  As a result, they appear twice on the family tree, as does their daughter Marion.  This small tree illustrates the limited number of christian names that occurred in some families.

Emmigration to the USA

James & Annie Fairholm - family photograph

Below is a photograph of James and Annie Fairholm with their eleven children - and family dog.  From the background, it looks to have been taken in a studio, but there is no date.

James and Annie Weir Forest married on 31 Dec 1862 at Longridge near Whitburn - between Edinburgh and Glasgow.  Their children were born between 1863 and 1883.  Perhaps surprisingly for the time, all of the children survived to adulthood.  James was an iron miner and, later, a coal miner.

Annie’s maiden name was used as a middle name for two of her children - as was often the case in Scotland then - and four of her grandchildren - including one Annie Weir Forrest Fairholm.

I discovered this photograph in my father’s papers whilst scanning his correspondence files.  It was shared in 2001 and permission was given to use it on the website in 2006, but my father never got around to letting me know.  It is a really great photograph and I am pleased that it now appears on the website - even if nineteen years late.

This photograph was shared by Helen Sawyer

John Fairholm - sub-postmaster

John Fairholm was the son of James Fairholm and Annie (nee Forrest).  He is included in the photograph in the item above.  After serving in the Labour Corps in World War I he became a sub-postmaster in 1923.  A sub-postmaster is not employed directly by the Post Office, but the role is undertaken by someone who also runs another business.  In John’s case, he was also a grocer and tobacconist   The Leslie’s Directory for 1925 incudes the following entry:

POST OFFICE, Stanley: John Fairholm, Sub-Postmaster. - Letters delivered at 8 a.m. and 5.15 p.m., and are despatched at 6 a.m., 2.15 and 6 p.m.  Money Order, Savings Bank and Telegraph Office.

Entries in later issues of the directory include the presence of a public telephone at the post office.

John took an active role in the postal industry serving as president of the Dundee & District branch of the National Association of Sub-Postmasters in 1932.  During his time as a sub-postmaster, he served for at least eleven years on the National Council, representing country post offices and he was elected as the president of the National Association of Sub-Postmasters in 1940.  On his retirement in 1949 he received a four piece silver tea set and his wife a set of silver coffee spoons.

Away from work, John was a member of the Auchtergaven Parish Council and an elder of the United Free Church.  He died in 1966, aged 89.

Includes information from newspapers on britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.

Photograph by chelaxy designs on Unsplash

Photograph by Danny Muller on Unsplash

Produced by Roger Fairholm. © base map Corel Corporation

Produced by Roger Fairholm