Corrie Road
Attribution: unknown or not recorded
Corrie Road
Much of this land was owned by the Mackenzie’s of Ord at ord house, in fact about a mile up this road is a private cemetery to Colonel A.F. Mackenzie of Ord and many of his closest descendants, buried overlooking the old family property of Ord House.
Below we record some of the older residential properties and their earlier oners/tenants:
The Station Master's House
Built in between the 1871 and 1881 censuses this house became the home of five station masters and their families.
Follow link below to read about the Station Masters.
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
Glentarra
William Forbes was born at Culbokie in 1874 and was the son of John Forbes, merchant and baker in the village.
William was married to Margaret MacKay at Inverness in 1914. Margaret’s father was a distillery worker at the Ord distillery. William served as a Captain in the 4th Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders during WW1.
The shop built by William’s father burnt down in 1930 and the valuation rolls of 1930 shows some significant insight into William and his family.
Following the shop fire, William was still documented as the owner of a house, shop and bakehouse, however, he can be found as a tenant at The Yews which was owned by Mrs & Miss McKidd.
He also used the Drill Hall as a business premises. It is the 1935 valuation roll that first mentions ‘Glentarra’ which would have been built on the land owned in 1930.
William died in 1957 and Margaret in 1974.
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
They had three children who all remained active within the village. John and Anita continuing to own various buildings and businesses in the village up until their deaths.
John was born in 1915 and married Margaret Fraser at Aberdeen in 1957. He worked at the bakery/shop and is well remembered in the village.
Anita Mary (Nita) was born in 1916 and married Alistair Fraser in 1961. Nita was a shrewd business woman and was probably the driving force behind the Forbes family buying up many of the properties on the villages main street.
Margaret Thomson (Bunty)was born in 1918 and went on to marry Duncan MacDonald of the Ord Arms Hotel.
Corrie Lodge
The earliest indication of an owner/occupier is an Alexander Hill on the 1911 census.
Alexander was born at Dingwall in 1864 and was the eldest son of Crawford Hill, an Advocate Sherriff Substitute at Dingwall who had been in Dingwall since 1862. Alexander had been educated at Inverness before moving to Edinburgh where he trained as a telegraphic engineer in 1891.
It appears on the 1911 and 1921 censuses, that he never married which is further indicated with his estate being left to his brother James Andrew Maitland Hill in 1922.
At the time of his death, Alexander was living at Ham Lodge, Surrey.
Alexander was recorded as being retired on the 1921 census at the age of 57 years which also states that he had worked on the Cable ships for the Eastern Extension Electrical Company, the Eastern pertaining to China and Australia.
The next owner was a Miss Jessie MacKenzie whose earliest records show she was at Corrie Lodge in 1923 when her brother Donald died. Donald and Jessie were the children of Alexander and Christina MacKenzie, farmers from Blackwells, Dingwall. On the 1891 census, Jessie was living with her brother, Murdo at South College St, Jardines Lodge where she was recorded as a housekeeper and he a gardener. B y 1902, Jessie had returned home to Dingwall. Not much else can be found regarding Jessie although she did remain at Corrie Lodge until her death in 1944, where she was recorded as living of ’Independent Means.’
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
The next owner was a Miss Jessie MacKenzie whose earliest records show she was at Corrie Lodge in 1923 when her brother Donald died.
Donald and Jessie were the children of Alexander and Christina MacKenzie, farmers from Blackwells, Dingwall.
On the 1891 census, Jessie was living with her brother, Murdo at South College St, Jardines Lodge where she was recorded as a housekeeper and he a gardener.
By 1902, Jessie had returned home to Dingwall. Not much else can be found regarding Jessie although she did remain at Corrie Lodge until her death in 1944, where she was recorded as living of ’Independent Means.’
Forest Hill / Croit na Buil
Forest Hill is first documented around 1874 with the first tenant being Captain Alexander Watson Mackenzie who leased the house from his father, Thomas Mackenzie of Ord. The captain was living at Ord House by the 1891 census, following the death of his father in 1887 and Forest Hill appears to have been left empty as signified by the 1895 valuation roll. Upon the death of Captain Mackenzie in 1899, the estate, including Forest Hill moved to the ownership of Captain Alexander Frances Mackenzie.
The next tenant at Forest Hill was Mrs Geraldine Gillanders, widow of George Francis Gillanders of Highfield, a cousin of the Mackenzie’s of Ord, she lived there from around 1905 until sometime after the 1921 census. She died age 93 at her home in Edinburgh in 1947.
By the 1925 Valuation Roll, Captain Alexander F. Mackenzie’s sister, Mrs Ann Watson Douglas- Hamilton was the new tenant. She was married in 1894 to Angus Falconer Douglas – Hamilton of Forest Hill at Urray. He was a very distant relation of Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, a former Conservative MP and familiar name to most in the modern age, both being descendants of the 4th Duke of Hamilton. Angus gained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, was honoured with a V.C having been killed in 1915 at Hill 70 of Loos in France. Ann was well known in the area for her public-spirited service with the Red Cross, Nursing Organisations and the S.W.R.I. standing as Vice President of Ross-shire SWRI Federation in 1930 and President of Muir of Ord Institute in 1931. She died at Forest hill in 1945.
Their daughter, Camilla Beatrice Douglas-Hamilton remained at Forest Hill until her death in 1957.
Free Church manse
With such a rapid growth of the Free Church by mid-1844, funds of nearly half a million pounds had been raised with almost 500 new churches erected throughout Scotland and around £50,000 being set aside to establish around 500 schools. However, to ensure the success of the Free Church, it was necessary that suitable dwellings were built for their Pastors and families. A scheme for building such manses was formed names the ‘Free Church manses Scheme’. Amongst one of its biggest benefactors was Alexander Thomson of Banchory, who was a benevolent promoter of this scheme. The aim was to ensure that every new church had a suitable manse built, close enough to the church, with all pastors and their families settled by the end of 1845.
The manse was destroyed by a fire on 25th January 1968 and following various fundraisers, a new house was built in the grounds. In 1969, the older manse, a stone-built cottage, known as Corrie Brae, comprising of kitchen, living room and 2 bedrooms and one fifth of an acre of land, was put up for sale along with land of 0.4 acres in which now stands another private property.
Corriemount
The earliest indication of Corriemount was on the 1895 valuation roll on land belonging to Mackenzie’s of Ord, where John rented a croft with a house and land. The family were still living at the property attached to the shop on the 1901 Census and the 1905 valuation roll, even after John Forbes had died in 1902.
Corriemount does not appear properly on any document until the 1911 Census where William was now the head of the family living with his mother and two of his five sisters. The majority of John and Christina’s children had grown up at the house attached to the shop which was referred to as the ‘Forbes Building’ on the 1901 census.
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
Regardless of when the house was built and who lived there it has always been referred to as the Forbes home and remains such to this day.
John died in 1902 and never lived there and Christina lived at Corriemount until her death in 1918.
The Forbes children still maintained their strong connection to the village with several of them working overseas and across the UK, always returning for holidays. Christina was the only family member living at Corriemount in 1921 but two of her sisters, Isabella and Mary Ann did return to live with her when they retired.
Corriemount lay empty for several years and was often referred to as the ‘haunted house’ by the children of the village. Over the years it became subject to vandalism and fire. Sadly, it caught fire in 2024 and was destroyed.
Church of Scotland manse - U.F.
The Church of Scotland manse was built and occupied by March 1910, of Tarradale Stone for the minister at the new United Free Church on Seafield Road (now East Urray).
The church building did not open until 1911 and at the time of the manse being first inhabited, the church was a shed opposite to Carn-na Clarsair on the Black Isle Road.
Electric lighting was introduced in 1932 and in 1937, when the churches of East and West Urray were united leaving the decision of what to do about either of the two manses.
A meeting took place between the two congregational committees along with the Prebytery Committee to discuss the occupancy of the manses with both congregations preferring their own to remain in use.
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
After a lengthy meeting of over three hours, a compromise was made, leaving the final decision to made being left to the new minister, providing he lived in both for a period of two years.
One prominent church member found the compromise as “too absurd for words”. The church felt the decision would have been better made on the new ministers appointment as the minster , on making his decision may offend one of the congregations, which they felt would be unfair to make the minister responsible for making a decision that is entirely the repsonsibility of the new united congregations.
Within a year of the new minister being in post war I Europe had broken and by 1940, another meeting was held to agree to the discuss a final decision as circumstances had changed.
The Manse on Corry Road then became the manse for Urray and Gilchrist churches.
