Forbes of Ord
Attribution: Phyllis Hannah
The Forbes family - Forbes of Ord
The Forbes Family dominated the landscape of Muir of Ord from 1874 until 2009, with their bakery and Grocery shop and the Cafe on the Great North Road.
Below is a bried history of the Bakery; genealogical on the descendants of John Forbes and Christina Thomson and the achievement of their daughter Mary Ann Forbes.
Forbes Bakery
An insight into the history of the four generations of Forbes, a popular bakery in not only Muir of Ord, but also frequent travellers on the old A9 route North & South.
Follow link to Mrs Elizabeth B. Mackay, granddaughter of John Forbes, Sr.
Isabella Forbes was born at Culbokie in 1861. She trained as a nurse at Glasgow Royal Infirmary from November 1889 to May 1893 and worked for the Nurses Association at Edinburgh from 1894 until 1900 then became a private nurse from 1901. She never married and died in 1934.
Christina Forbes was born at Ferintosh in 1863 and became a strong business woman in the village for many years. She had been secretary to the local nursing association since its inception and was one of the first officials of the local S.W.R.I. branch. She was also a member of the council of the Golf Club and a devoted member of the Urray East, Church of Scotland congregation. She never married and died in 1936
Miss Mary Ann Forbes
A daughter of John Forbes senior who nursed through 2 military campaigns and came home to Muir of Ord decorated for her work.
Helen Forbes was born at Culbokie in 1867.
She attended St Andrews University and was awarded the diploma of L.L.A. in 1890.
130 years ago, female St Andrews students who completed their Lady Literate in Arts (LLA) diploma were not included in traditional graduations, but rather they received a distinctive graduation sash and certificate at their homes. These sashes represented the hard work, perseverance, and intelligence of these women.
Helen married Duncan Cameron of Dunellan at St Pancaras, London in 1900.
She died at Dunellan in 1930.
An account of her family can be read here:
John Forbes was born at Culbokie in 1868. He trained and worked as a doctor at Edinburgh University until moving to set up practice on Shaftesbury Avenue, London. He was married at St Pancras in 1908 to Beatrice Nellie Josephine Renders and had three children.
During WW2, John served as a medical member of the Westminster Civil Defence Corps, visiting the sheltering public at Leicester Square and Covent Graden Tube Stations.
In his private life he was a life member of the London Ross & Sutherland Association, the Gaelic Society of London, the Scottish Clans Association and the St Andrews Society (London) of which he was Chief for a double term from 1929 and Trustee from 1941.
Of his children, his son Ian was a Surgeon Lieutenant during WW2 and was killed in action in 1945 and is buried at Tromso cemetery, Norway.
Son Donald trained to be a lawyer at Cambridge and London Universities and belonged to the same many Scottish associations as his father, as well as the London Gaelic Choir of which he had been president. Donald died a year after his father in 1955.
John’s daughter, Christina married a doctor and lived well into old age.
Donald Forbes was born at Culbokie in 1871.
Donald joined the bank and worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Singapore for most of his career. He was married at Penang, Malaysia to Christina Mary MacLean, the daughter of the former school master of Tarradale School.
The couple had three daughters: Christine Dorothea was always called Winkie and Margaret, whose full name was Katherine Margaret and Isobel.
Katharine trained as a nurse at Great Ormond Street, London and whilst on a shift at St Thomas’s Hospital in 1940, she was killed by enemy action. Her parents received a letter from the hospital treasurer following her death:
“Your daughter died in the fulfilment of her duty……and her name will ever remain inscribed in our records as that of a cherished colleague who fell while fighting in the front rank, and whose example will be an inspiration to succeeding generations of our hospital’s Nightingales.”
Duncan and his wife were living at Parkstone in Dorset at the time of Katharine’s death. Duncan died at Conon Bridge in 1958.
William Forbes was born at Culbokie in 1874. William followed his father into the bakery. He died at Glentarra in 1957. His three children remained in the village, with son John in the bakery, daughter Nita managed Forbes cafe and Bunty married local hotelier Donald MacDonald .
Elizabeth Forbes at Muir of Ord in 1877. She married Doctor William Macleod at St Pancras, London in 1904. They had five children. The eldest born at Helmsdale in 1905 where William was a physician and surgeon. The eldest three children all died prematurely in their line of work of medical research. The youngest died as a child.
Out with the old
The demolition of the Forbes building, latterly Muir Co-op and the opening of a new purpose built building
Click on photo album to view thumbnails and then click thumbnail to see the full size images
Muir of Ord Co-op 2022
