James Slatter and Elizabeth Muir

Most of my information on this couple was originally obtained from a booklet entitled From North to South: a Campbell Story, by Paul Campbell. However, Mr Campbell has told me that much of the research on which his information is based was carried out by Janette Thomson.

It is believed that James Slatter and Elizabeth (or Elspet) Muir were both born in Lady Parish on Sanday Island, Orkney. Unfortunately no parish records of their births or baptisms, or subsequent marriage, have been located. From North to South has an estimated date of 1769 for James' birth and an estimated date of 1782 for Elizabeth's birth. However, I think that it is more likely that Elizabeth's birth year was somewhere between 1771 and 1776, since this would be consistent with her age as given in an 1841 census record, and as far as I can see the guess of 1782 was simply based on the known birth years of her children.

From North to South lists seven children of James and Elizabeth, as follows:

• David (b. 2/3/1804),
• Elizabeth (b. 2/7/1806),
• Robert (b. 21/1/1810),
• Robert (b. 15/3/1812),
• Margaret (b. 15/4/1814),
• Mary (b. 29/7/1816),
• Ann (b. 25/12/1818).

All these births, except for the first Robert, appear in the IGI and in http://www.cursiter.com/txt-exe-files/Slater.txt. I do not know the the source the information about the first Robert, but the rest of the information was extracted from parish records.

It should be noted that the names Slater, Slatter and Sclater, variously spelt, were all very common in Orkney at this time. Although they may have had different origins, the distinction between the names has gradually disappeared, and these days the spelling "Slater" is by far the most common. The parish records for the births of the children above have "Slatter" twice, "Slater" twice and "Sclatter" once.

The children of James and Elizabeth were born in Lady Parish, Sanday. However, it seems likely that the family moved to Kirkwall on Mainland Island some time before 1830, since Elizabeth was married there in 1830 and her younger siblings were married there later. A census record (shown above) indicates that in 1841 James and Elizabeth were living on East Road, Kirkwall, next door to their son Robert, his wife Margaret (née Christian) and son Angus. The burial records at St Magnus, Kirkwall, include "Elizabeth Muir, wife of James Slater, died 1.5.1849, buried 4.5.1849", but unfortunately her age at death is not recorded. James was still alive in 1851, as another census record shows (see below). If the 1851 record is to be trusted then James was 82 on 30/3/1851, hence born in 1768 or early 1769. This is also consistent with the 1841 record, given that in the 1841 census ages of adults were rounded down to multiples of 5. As far as I know the 1841 record provides the only genuine information about Elizabeth's birth year, and says that she was born between 1771 and 1776.

In 1851 James was living with Robert, Christian and family in St Andrews Parish (a few kilometres from Kirkwall). Note that his birthplace is given as Sanday. As far as I can see the assumption that Elizabeth was also born on Sanday is really only a guess.

I am told that Ann, daughter of James and Elizabeth, is the Annie Slater who married William Campbell and migrated to South Australia. (This tallies with the information handed down in the family that Annie Campbell's birthday was on Christmas Day.) Further information on William and Annie Campbell (great-great-grandparents of mine) is given on another page. Family records give Annie's full name as Annie Miller Campbell, which seems to suggest that she had a forebear with surname "Miller". However, no such person has been identified.

Ann's brother Robert, with his wife Margaret (née Christian) and sons Angus and Robert, also migrated to South Australia. Their names appear – albeit in a scrambled form – on the passenger list of the 1851 voyage of the Thetis. Robert nad Margaret had married in Kirkwall on 10/5/1836, and their sons were born on 30/4/1837 (Angus) and 24/8/1843 (Robert). There is some more information about Robert, Margaret and family on the William and Annie Campbell page. Travelling on the same voyage were two more Slaters from Orkney: James (age 25) and Elizabeth (age 21), who were brother and sister. The parents of James and Elizabeth were William Sla(t)ter and Jane (or Jean) née Guthrie. William and Jane and their other four children (Margaret, William, Robert and David) migrated to South Australia in 1854 on the Hyderabad. Detailed information about the descendants of William and Jane has been gathered in a book by Marjorie Crouch and Shirley Tarburton entitled An Orkney Saga: Slaters to South Australia, which I have been told about but have not seen.

William Slatter and Jean Guthrie were married in Sanday on 5/12/1822, and Sanday parish records provide the following birth dates for their children: 15/11/1823 (Margaret), 22/11/1826 (James), 3/7/1829 (Elizabeth), 10/7/1832 (William) and 12/7/1835 (Robert). The youngest son, David, apparently does not appear in the parish records, but information submitted to the IGI says that he was born on 12/10/1839 in Kirkwall (or in Cross Parish, Sanday, according to another submission). The passenger list of the Hyderabad gives the ages of William and Jane in 1854 as 49 and 50 respectively, but this is unreliable since passengers over 50 probably had to pay more. (See The Ship's List web page on assisted immigration to South Australia for some information on this.) William's burial record gives his age at his death in 1884 as 83.

There is an 1851 census record from St Andrews Parish, Orkney, of a household consisting of William Sletter, a 48 year old mason, his 51 year old wife Jane, and their sons Robert (aged 15) and David (aged 12). All are listed as born in Sanday. I think that this must be the right family, although the age given for William is not quite consistent with the burial record, nor is there any other record of him ever being a mason (as far as I know). On the Hyderabad's passenger list he is described as a "farm servant".

I am told that 1851 census records for William and Jane's other children can also be found. They were all in Kirkwall: Margaret was a general servant in the household of a 71 year old widower named James Fotheringham; Elizabeth was a cook in the household of Elizabeth and John Dinnison; William was a post gig driver, boarding in the Dinnison household; James was a farm servant at Halston House, the household of William Flett. Note that on the Hyderabad's passenger list William, Robert and David are all described as agricultural labourers, and Margaret is described as a cook. The passenger list of the Thetis does not include occupations.

There is also an 1841 census record from Kirkwall and St Ola showing a household containing William and Jean Slater with children named James, William, Robert and David. Jean's age is 40, as it should be, and the ages of the children William, Robert and David are also right (8, 5 and 2). James' age is given as 10 and William senior's age as 30; so either these ages were entered incorrectly or else they are not the right people. I have not succeeded in finding any census records for the daughters Margaret and Elizabeth.

When they arrived in South Australia, William, Jane and family initially stayed with William and Annie Campbell, and it is known that the children called Annie Campbell "Aunt". It may be that this was merely a courtesy title, and William and Annie were not closely related. It is equally possible that they were closely related. In From North to South Paul Campbell says "William was certainly not Ann's brother, but may have been a first cousin". As far as I can see there is no conclusive evidence that he was not Annie's eldest brother. He was apparently born a couple of years before her brother David, the other candidate for that position. The fact the there is no parish register record of William's birth or baptism proves nothing: there is no parish register record of the marriage of James Slater and Elizabeth Muir, and so we should not be surprised if there is no parish register record of the birth of their eldest son. Nevertheless, I do agree that it is unlikely that William Slater was Annie Campbell's brother, since his son Robert subsequently married her daughter Elizabeth. While it is not a priori inconceivable that this couple were first cousins, one would expect that if they were then that information would be preserved in family folklore. Since we do not know that they were cousins they probably were not.

When Crouch and Tarburton wrote their Orkney Saga they believed that William Slater, husband of Jane Guthrie, was the son of James Slater and Robina Muir born on 27/12/1799. But Janette Thomson has since discovered conclusive evidence that this was a different William. She found a record of the death of 66 year old William Slater, son of James and Robina, in Kirkwall on 6/5/1867. He was a retired distillery clerk, married to Barbara Sinclair. The unfortunate fellow was found with his throat cut.

Apart from James Slater who married Elizabeth Muir and James Slater who married Robina Muir, there was a James Slater who married Jane Muir and who is also relevant to this story via a grandson named James Cumming Foulis. Annie, the daughter of James and Elizabeth who married William Campbell, had a daughter named Annie who married James Cumming Foulis. Their son (Alexander Campbell Foulis) is known to have told his children that his two grandmothers were cousins. Unfortunately it is hard to make any definite deductions from this, since – according to the descendant who reported the story – the word "cousin" did not necessarily mean first cousin.

James Cumming Foulis' father was named John Foulis, and his mother Janet Foulis née Slater. Janet Foulis died in Glasgow in 1883, and the death record gives the following information.

Name and Surname:	Janet Fowlis (widow of John Fowlis, Ship Master).
When and Where Died:	1883, Nov fifteenth, 10:40am, 7 Houston St Glasgow.
Sex:	F
Age:	74
Parents:	James Slater, farmer (deceased); Jane Slater, maiden surname Muir (deceased).
Cause of Death:	Decay of Nature, with Chronic Bronchitis 2 months, certified by John White M.D..
Informant:	John Foulis, Son, Present.
When and Where Registered:	1883 November 16th Glasgow. Wm Dunsmore, Assistant Registrar.

It seems to me quite probable that the James Slater mentioned here is the James Slater whose death at age 95 was registered in 1858. Here are the details.

Name and Surname:	James Slater, farmer, widower
When and Where Died:	1858, May sixteenth, 4pm, Young St Kirkwall.
Sex:	M
Age:	95
Parents:	James Slater, farmer (deceased); Janet Slater, Maiden Name Miller (deceased).
Cause of Death:	Natural Decay, No Medical Attendant.
Burial:	Burial Ground of St Magnus, Kirkwall, certified by Thomas Guthrie, Sexton, Kirkwall.
Informant:	Thomas Walls, Grandson, Present.
When and Where Registered:	1858 May 17th Kirkwall. James Craig, Registrar.

Unfortunately I have not been able to locate either an 1841 or an 1851 census record for this James Slater. However, Janet Foulis and family can be found in 1851 living on Young Street Kirkwall, with Thomas Walls next door. Here is a copy of (part of) the census record.

Jemima Walls, wife of Thomas, was the eldest daughter of John and Janet Foulis.

Since the fathers of Janet Foulis and Ann Campbell were both named James Slater they could surely not have been brothers. They could have been first cousins, making Janet and Ann second cousins. On the other hand, the mothers of Janet Foulis and Ann Campbell were Jane Muir and Elizabeth Muir, who could easily have been sisters, and this would make Janet and Ann first cousins. There are even parish register records to give some tenuous support to this idea: John Muir and Margaret Peace had a daughter named Jean born on 15/7/1770 (who could have married the James Slater born in about 1763) and a daughter named Elisabeth born on 4/4/1775 (who could have married the James Slater born in about 1768). I wonder if Robina Muir was a third sister! That would really would have been something remarkable: three sisters marrying men called James Slater! (I don't believe any of this for a moment.)