Their marriage

After the death of her first husband, William Henry COX, who died in Ballarat Hospital, Elizabeth Milner CROMPTON returned to Mount Jeffcott where she married for the second time.

1883 MARRIAGES solemnized in the District of St Arnuad
No.	When and where Married	Name and Surname of the Parties	Condition of the Parties			Birthplace
			Bachelor or Spinster	Children by former marriage
				Living	Dead
349	Residence(?) of Richmond Pettit, St Arnaud October 12th 1883	Thomas Taylor Forsyth Elizabeth Milner Cox	Bachelor Widow Husband deceased August 14th 1882	6	-	Inverness Scotland Launceston Tasmania
I, Thomas Augwin, being Wesleyan Minister do hereby certify that I have, this day, at Residence(?) of Richmond Pettit, H?til, Kapen(?) St Arnaud duly celebrated Marriage between Thomas Taylor Forsyth, Farmer, Mount Jeffcott and Elizabeth Milner Cox, Mount Jeffcottafter Notice and Declarations duly made and published and with written consent of        Dated this 12th day of October 1883

Rank or Profession	Age	Residence		Parents
		Present	Usual	Name	Father's Rank or Profession
Farmer No profession	28 36	Mount Jeffcott Mount Jeffcott	Mount Jeffcott Mount Jeffcott	William Forsyth Mary Forsyth - Taylor Caleb Crompton Francis Louisa Crompton Lombe	Engineer Hotel Keeper
Marriage by Licence, was solemnized by us Thomas Taylor Forsyth according to the Rites of the Wesleyan Church    Elizabeth Milner Cox

The witnesses were Elizabeth Emily CALDWELL neé COX and Thomas CALDWELL

Forsyth origins

In the 1841 Scotland census there are three William FORSYTH's, two born about 1811 and one in 1806. Two live in Glasgow, Lanarkshire; of these one lives in the Parish of St Thomas and is a Cotton H[and] L[oom] W[eaver] (Ref: Parish: Glasgow St Thomas; ED: 6; Year: 1841). There are three Mary Taylor's, all born in Lanarkshire in 1821. Two live in Barony Bridgeton and Renfield but one is employed as a Cotton carder in Glasgow St Thomas. The practice of rounding ages to the nearest five years makes further identification difficult.

A more positive identification appears in the 1851 census. Although William FORSYTH's occupation in 1851 is given as Shepherd this must be Thomas Taylor FORSYTH's family because the census location is Inverness[shire] and because Margaret Taylor, a visiting niece has Mary's maiden name and Thomas' middle name.

1821info9a, sheet 2

1851 Scotland Census Sun/Mon 30/31st March 1851
Source:     Parish: Kilmallie; ED: 6; Page: 1; Line: 3; Roll: 484; Sched: 7
Dwelling:   Achnasaul Farm     
Place:      Kilmallie, Inverness, Scotland

Name               Rel   Mar  Age  Occ                  Birthplace 
William Forsyth    Head   M   42   Shepherd             Lanark, Douglas
Mary Forsyth       Wife   M   28                        Lanark, Douglas
Margret Forsyth    Dau         8   Scholar at home      Argyll, Kilmallie
Jannet Forsyth     Dau         6   Scholar at home      Argyll, Kilmallie 
Christian Forsyth  Dau         4   Scholar at home      Argyll, Kilmallie  
Elizabeth Forsyth  Dau         1                        Argyll, Kilmallie  
Margret Taylor     Niece      16   Visitor (seamstress) Lanark, Crawfordjohn
Christian Kerr     Vis        55                        Sutherland, Assynt
John Cameron       Board      47   Assistant Foxtrunter Inverness, Kilmonivaig
John MacQuat       Board      22   Ploughman            Lanark, Douglas
Thomas Scott       Board      24   Shepherd             Inverness, Kintail 
Catherine Munro    Serv       24   House servant        Inverness, Wrynhart

On19 May 2018 Diana Cameron-Shea wrote:

Your Forsyths took over Achnasaul Farm from my three times great grandfather, Ewen Cameron. He’d been a tacksman at Garrygualach (Loch Garry on Locheil’s estate also). He saw the farm advertised in 1833 in the Inverness Journal and took it on that year. They moved out in 1853, to live down in Fort William near their eldest son, Neil Cameron who had a business there.

The farm lay on the north shore of Loch Arkaig, mid-way between Sir Donald Cameron’s Locheil’s Achnacarry House (still the home of the Cameron Clan Chief) and Murlaggan.

Above: A modern map locating Achnasaul in Highlands (Invernesshire)

1821info9a, sheet 3

Above: A composite map locating Achnasaul Farm in 1871 Click on the map to open an enlarged 760kB .pdf area map in a new window

Right: Annexed Estates plans and surveys of Achnasaul (Achnasaul Farm) Lochiel, Kilmallie, 1774 Source: National Archives of Scotland 000-000-547-855-C

The 1851 census of Scotland places Achnasaul Farm in the parish of Kilmallie in Invernesshire. By the 1881 census the hamlet of Achnasaul had be abandoned. Eight of the nine buildings had no roofs and two were sheep pens. Was this part of clearances for sheep farming?

1821info9a, sheet 4

ACHNASAUL / ACHNASOUL / ACHNASSUL / ACHADH NAN SABHAL:
"The Place of the Barn" or "The Field of the Barns/Graneries." A portion of land covered with healthy pasture, dwelling house and farm steading (in 1875) and formerly a small settlement, located approximately one mile beyond the foot of Loch Arkaig, on its north shore, just north-west of Achnacarry. Upon the Estate of Lochiel, circa 1745, with MacPhees as tenants. When surveyed in 1772 Achnasaul consisted of stone houses near the burn side, with "indifferent pasture."  The gravelly soil was fertilized by tathing (confining livestock to manure the land) and laying fern fronds. It was then used to sow oats and corn. The Allt Dubh used to overflow its banks routinely, flooding some of the farm land here. A burial ground used to be located near the junction of the Allt Dubh and Loch Arkaig, and was still in used in the late 18th century.

Source: Clan Cameron of Achnacarry (Accessed: 23 May 2018)

Neither a William nor Mary FORSYTH, with the appropriate year of birth and with a five year old son Thomas, is to be found in the Ancestry 1861 census.

1821info9a, sheet 5

Elizabeth and Thomas' life at Mount Jeffcott

When William henry died the Mount Jeffcott farm transferred to Elizabeth Milner COX.

Above: William Henry COX's land in relationship to Thomas Taylor FORSYTH's lands within Mount Jeffcott area in 1885 Source: Fella RP

Her marriage, to Thomas TAYLOR, expanded the settlement. The Local Land Board hearing, reported in the Donald Express of 4 April 1884, that:

Thomas Forsyth asked for Sarah Strickland's block Allot. 104a saying that he 
was a labourer on his wife's section. This was granted.

This block of 160 acres, originally 'pegged' on 19 November 1880 by the 19 year old Francis J Bolden, was subsequently forfeited to Sarah Strickland in 1884. On 20 February 1885 the Donald Express reported from the Local Land Board of 1 January 1885 that:

Thomas T Forsyth granted licence of allotment 104bd, not previously opened for 
selection

of an additional 161 acres, making a total of 541 acres.

Above: The details of Thomas Taylor FORSYTH's lands at Mount Jeffcott in 1885

1821info9a, sheet 7

The allotments today

Above: The details of Thomas Taylor FORSYTH's lands at Mount Jeffcott in 2021 located north-east of the township of Donald

There is no definite evidence about when Thomas FORSYTH and Elizabeth left the Jeffcott area. Allotment 103, the original settlement, was transferred to T Clarke in 1899. They were certainly gone before 1905 when the title of allotment 104b/d was granted to M McConville and Allotment 104a to Sarah Moore. There is no further reference to the family in the local papers.

Above: Two views of the remains of the Forsyth house

1821info9a, sheet 8

Above: Looking from the Cox's land to the FORSYTH's land	Above: Looking towards Mount Jeffcott
Photographs courtesy Ian Stephens of the Pearson line. February 2008

Three children were born at Mount Jeffcott. Their first child, Thomas Taylor, was born 17 October 1883 but died fourteen days later from fevers, induced by infantile convulsions, which the family could not control. It is interesting to note that both parents are described as farmers, suggesting both homesteads maintained a degree of independence.

Their two other sons Thomas Crompton FORSYTH and Leslie Milo FORSYTH who have their own pages.

Thomas FORSYTH is reported to have died in Melbourne East in 1900.

This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass		Version A13 Updated 20 January 2023