At 10:36 PM 3/27/99 +1100, you wrote: >Thanks for the info Shyama. Yes I was one of the very first to purchase the >fiche of the 1851 census of Walls and Flotta from David. We connected >through the Genealogical Research Directory in 1990 as we were researching >the same surname in Orkney and are something like 8th cousins. >Unfortunately, or fortunately, my relations all seem to come from Walls and >Flotta with a few moving to Orphir and only spreading out to mainland >Scotland and other parts of the world around 1900+. The names I am >researching are Smith, Nicholson, Sinclair, Groat, Ritch, Shearer, Thomson, >Robson. Further back they came from Caithness around early 1700's and that >is where I have come to a dead end. >Regards, >Jan Grant Hi Jan, I've got SHEARERs from Caithness. It's my main Caithness tree. Unfortunately there weren't many records before the mid 1700s but what Shearers do you have? Mine were mainly from Thurso & Olrig but seemed to also be in Canisbay for a while in the late 1700s. This is as early as I've been able to get back on my Shearers. I'm decended from James Shearer & Margaret Cresswell. Descendants of Donald Shearer 1 Donald Shearer .. +Margaret Dunnet m: Bef. 1760 . 2 David Shearer b: September 12, 1760 Dunnet, Caithness, . 2 William Shearer b: August 1761 Dunnet, Caithness, . 2 Christian Shearer b: September 10, 1761 Dunnet, Caithness, . 2 James Shearer b: December 08, 1763 Dunnet, Caithness, ..... +Margaret Cresswell m: January 01, 1789 Canisbay, Caithness, . 2 Barbara Shearer b: January 26, 1771 Dunnet, Caithness, d: February 13, 1850 Skarfskerry, Dunnet, Caithness ..... +Donald Gunn b: Abt. 1772 m: Bef. 1794 probably Dunnet d: March 01, 1855 Scarfskerry, Dunnet, Caithness . 2 Elspet (Elizabeth) Shearer b: October 01, 1773 Dunnet, Caithness, d: October 20, 1831 Dunnet, Caithness, Scotland Age 51 ..... +William Oman m: Bef. 1801 d: May 24, 1855 Dunnet, Caithness, . 2 Marion Shearer b: February 04, 1776 Dunnet, Caithness, On the topic of Orkney censuses. Is it possible for you to check a surname for me? I'm looking for Ballentine/Ballantyne in Orphir. Here are my Ballentine/Ballantynes from the Scottish Church Records. I'm decended from John Ballentine who came to Canada in the late 20s or early 30s. I found his brother Magnus in the 1881 census but would love to find out where any of them are in the 1821 and 1851 censuses. I assume that if they stayed in Orkney they'd still be in Orphir or Kirkwall & St. Ola. Descendants of Peter Ballentine 1 Peter Ballentine .. +Margery Hay m: November 16, 1792 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Margery Ballantine b: November 27, 1793 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Peter Ballantine b: July 12, 1795 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Cecily Ballantine b: January 10, 1798 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Robert Ballantine b: March 04, 1800 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 John Ballantine b: Aug 30 1802 Orphir d: June 24, 1871 Napanee Ont. .......... +Margaret Fairbairn b: March 20, 1811 Earlston Scotland . 2 Andrew Ballantine b: April 14, 1805 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Margaret Watt Ballantine b: September 27, 1807 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Isabella Ballantyne b: March 01, 1810 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Anne Ballantyne b: June 12, 1812 Orphir, Orkney Is. . 2 Magnus Ballantyne b: February 16, 1815 Orphir, Orkney Is. ...............+Ann Flett m:December 28,1848 Orphir, AND ALSO Kirkwall & St. Ola ...........3 Alexander Forbes Ballantyne b: November 18, 1849 ...........3 Margaret Ballantyne b: January 24, 1852, Orphir ...........3 John Ballantyne b: November 16, 1859, Orphir ...........3 Agnes Ballantyne b: October 19, 1861 Orphir, Orkney Thanks for any census help you may be able to offer. Regards Patty Brown Toronto, Canada