This page reproduces information contained in a booklet entitled From North to South: a Campbell Story, by Paul Campbell.
William Campbell was born on 4/5/1777 at Lourery, Halkirk parish, Caithness, the son of Donald Campbell and Catherine McPherson. Baptism records were found for five younger siblings of William, but I do not know the details.
Elizabeth Horne was the daughter of William Horne (b. 2/7/1756 and baptized 9/7/1756) and Grizzel Campbell (baptized 19/9/1754), who were married in Halkirk parish in 1777. The precise day of the marriage is uncertain because part of a page of the parish register is missing, but must have been between 27/2/1777 and 3/3/1777. Elizabeth was born on 22/2/1788 and baptized on 22/7/1788. She had the following siblings: William (baptized 11/1/1777), Alexander (baptized 24/12/1788), Donald (birth/baptism dates not known), Katherine (baptized 1/2/1784) and James (baptized 3/5/1786).
Elizabeth's mother Grizzel was the daughter of William Campbell (birth date unknown) and Christian Budge (born 22/2/1730).
Elizabeth's father William was the son of another William Horne, born c. 1710. He was married in Watten on 8/1/1736, his wife's name being recorded as Elizabeth Sutherland / Elspet Sandison. Elizabeth and Elspet are interchangeable forenames, but why alternative surnames are given is unclear. The following children of this marriage are known: Alexander (baptized 3/3/1737), Jannet (baptized 19/12/1738), Patrick (b. 9/12/1745 and baptized 19/12/1745), Elizabeth (baptized 5/10/1749), George (baptized 20/11/1751), Jean (baptized 20/11/1751), James (baptized 27/6/1754), John (baptized 27/6/1754) and William.
William Campbell and Elizabeth Horne were married at Halkirk on 20/6/1807. They had thirteen children:
William Campbell was a farmer at Sibster in Halkirk parish. The date of his death is unknown. He was alive at the time of the 1841 census but not at the time of the 1851 census. The farm, which was taken over by his son James, was 10 acres in size in 1851. Elizabeth remained on the farm until her death on 8/2/1885 (aged 96).
Nothing is known of the son Donald or the daughter Janet. The first Alexander died in infancy. At the time of the 1841 census the daughters Christian, Elizabeth and Grizzel (or Grace) and the sons James and Peter were living with their parents on the farm. The sons William and Thomas and the daughter Catherine had moved to Kirkwall, on Mainland Island in the Orkneys. The whereabouts of Ann in 1841 are unknown, but in 1851 she was back at the farm. She was unmarried at that time.
Thomas married Janet Slater at Kirkwall in 1839. At the time of the 1881 census they were living at Beefield, Lady Parish, on the island of Sanday. Thomas died of emphysema in 1888. Janet was still alive in 1891, the census giving her age then as 70. They had the following children: Margaret (b. 1840), William (b. 1841), Elizabeth (b. 1843), Alexander (b. 1861). There may well have been others. Alexander was living with his parents in 1881. He married in about 1883, his wife's forename was Jane, and at the time of the 1991 census they had a 6 year old daughter named Jane Jessie and a daughter named Mary who was less than 1 year old.
Thomas' elder brother William married Annie Slater (great great grandparents of mine). It is not known if Annie Slater and Janet Slater were related.
The Alexander Campbell born in 1817 married Margaret Shearer on 28/11/1851. They had at least eight children. One son, John James, who was baptized on 5/11/1870, died in Sydney NSW on 20/7/1894; he is buried in the Waverley cemetery, as are his uncle Peter and cousins Jemima Campbell and Annie Foulis (daughters of William). Alexander died on 17/2/1906 at Sibster.
Catherine Campbell (b. 1819) married James Sinclair at Kirkwall in 1843. James was born at Burray Isle, Orkney, in 1819. They had the following children: Elizabeth (b. 1845), William (b. 1851), James (b. 1854), Annie (b. 1856), Eleanor (b. 1860), Tomima (b. 1862), and possibly others. In 1881 Catherine was a widow, living at 31 Bridge Road, Kirkwall. Her daughter Tomima was living with her at that time. Tomima later married Alexander Young (born 1864 at Hawick, Roxburghshire); this marriage took place at Leith in 1889.
James Campbell remained on the family farm. At the time of the 1861 census he was listed as the head of the household, unmarried, a farmer. At the 1871 census he was described as a farmer of 70 acres. The household included a 21 year old unmarried domestic servaant named Margaret Christie; she and James were married on 10/8/1871 at Watten. They had a son, William, baptized 14/9/1871. James died on 19/4/1901, his age at death being given as 78 years.
Peter, the youngest son of William Campbell and Elizabeth Horne, became a mariner, and – according to family folklore – a captain. He eventually settled in Sydney, and died there on 5/10/1918 (aged 84). He lived at 56 Prospect Road, Summer Hill. His niece, Jemima, was his housekeeper for many years. Peter and Jemima are both buried in the Waverley cemetery.
If you have any corrections, complaints, criticisms, suggestions or additional information, please email bobhow@tpg.com.au.