Hello All A couple of years ago some research was done concerning the houses in Wigtown. I was interested & rather amused to discover that a Robert Chalmers of Stromness owned the house I now live in. He was an Inspector of Customs in 1881 aged 57 b.1824. His mother? Grace born Kirkwall also lived here & his cousin Alice Tulloch. His father, another Robert of Stromness b.1791, was also in the customs business. By the 1891 census he had lost his mother & cousin but gained a wife 20 yrs his junior, a father in law ( also with a wife 20 years younger & also in the customs business) & a servant. Robert seems to have spent most of his adult life in the Ayr/Dumfries & Galloway area living with Robert & Grace & working for the customs except for 1851 when he was a draper. In the 1841 census there is a Robert senior & junior who would match this family but it's a little difficult to work out given the limited information in the Scottish census especially in this particular census. Castle, Stronsay Lady Kirk is the address . Ther are 2 Roberts who just about match for age, the senior is a miller. There is a Cathrine mentioned who could have been his first wife ( which is why I put the query on Grace as mother of Robert junior) There is also William, probably a younger brother of Robert junior. I haven't done any intensive research but I'd be interested to have any further info. Regards Moi BTW : It's amazing how many versions of the spelling of Stromness the people who transcribed the documents have managed to create. M.E.McCarty, Bookseller 13 North Main Street, Wigtown, Newton Stewart Scotland DG8 9HL ++44 (0)1988 402062 VAT Reg. No. GB 430 2058 03