Mochrum Church & Churchyard, by Chris Newman.
Old cottage in Mochrum.
Shoreline, Luce Bay.
The Davidson family’s origins are in Wigtownshire, specifically in the parishes of Mochrum and Kirkcowan. Census records indicate that Robert Davidson was born about 1800 in Mochrum, though I have not as yet been able to find a record of his birth there. For a contemporary vision of what Mochrum was like in the 19th Century, we can turn to David Webster’s Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, which states:
MOCHRUM a parish in Wigtonshire, 10 miles long, and from 4 to 5 broad, lying on the Bay of Luce;…The coast is a smooth gravel beach, and the surface rises abruptly at a small distance from the sea. The general appearance is diversified with flats and rising grounds, exhibiting a pleasant variety to the eye of the traveller. For several miles along the coast the soil is loamy and fertile; in the middle it is thin and stony; and on the W. side there is a great extent of barren land, composed of rocks, mosses, and green hills, affording pasture to numerous flocks of sheep. There are several extensive plantations, which are in a thriving state. There is a small convenient harbour at the fishing town of Port William…1
Robert’s wife, Jannet McCubbin, was born in Kirkcowan, which borders Mochrum on the Northeast side. Jannet was the daughter of Robert McCubbin and Martha Pettigrew. I was able to find Jannet’s birth and baptismal record, as well as the record of her marriage to Robert Davidson. The Davidson family first appears on the 1841 Census of Scotland, living in a cottage in Kildarroch. Robert was working as an agricultural laborer, which at that time meant that he was most likely contracted for six months to a year to work on a farm that employed several men.
1 Webster, Daniel, Topographical Dictionary of Scotland.