Hi, as a newcomer to this list I'm hoping some wonderful person with local knowledge can help me. On researching my Johnston ancestors in Banff I was delighted to find the following entry in the Banff church register (Film accessed through LDS) "Jean Johnston daughter of William Johnston Wheel Wright in Banff and lawfull son to James Johnston some time farmer in Castle of Auchery" - Question 1. I can find no castle or village of that name in either the Banff or Scotland gazetteer - I'm fairly confident of the spelling, the writing in the entry is pretty good. Ques.2....."Minwhiter parish..." where this castle is supposed to be? The W in the centre of the word is exactly the same as those in wheel wright and the M at the start bears a close resemblance to other Ms on the page. Has anyone heard of this parish? Ques.3 "...and Barbara TAAS his wife..." Can anyone tell me anything about this surname - it seems a fairly unusual name in Scotland - Is it of Dutch origin? The writing here is very clear. It is the old story, when you get an answer to one question it always seems to pose moire! Can anyone help me please? Regards, Mary Legge (Melbourne, Australia)

> Ques.2....."Minwhiter parish..." ? > The W in the centre of the word is exactly the same as those in wheel > wright and the M at the start bears a close resemblance to other Ms on > the page. Has anyone heard of this parish? This is Monquhitter, which is pronounced roughly as spelled above. It's in Aberdeenshire, and the only village of any size in the parish is Cuminestown (not to be confused with Cummingston in Moray, which is an entirely different place with a similar name) .... > Castle of Auchery" - > Question 1. I can find no castle or village of that name in either the > Banff or Scotland gazetteer - I'm fairly confident of the spelling, the > writing in the entry is pretty good. ... and just a couple of kilometres west of Cuminestown is a farm named Castle of Auchry. You can see where it is on www.streetmap.co.uk - just search for Castle of Auchry. You will need to zoom in to see the name. You can also go to www.old-maps.co.uk and use the same co-ordinates 378500,850500 to find it on the 1874 map. (Choose teh Aberdeenshire option). > Ques.3 "...and Barbara TAAS his wife..." Can anyone tell me anything > about this surname - it seems a fairly unusual name in Scotland - Is it > of Dutch origin? The writing here is very clear. I think it is probably Tawse, which isn't uncommon. G F Black says that its origin is as a phonetic spelling of 'Tamhas', the Gaelic version of Thomas. HTH Anne