Research in Progress

Dunning, Perthshire

Dunning is about six miles south- west of Perth, and a family of Crees there in the l78Os has given us three members of the CFHS. ln addition to John Scott Cree and Colin Cree mentioned in CREE NEWS 2 (page 4) we have Myra Dinsdale who has been researching family history for many years. She had also heard the story of Elizabeth Grove Cree working alongside David Livigstone at Blantyre Mill. (See CREE NEWS 2.)

Myra, who is Colin’s second cousin and shares John's ancestry from 1813 back, has been looking for Crees in Dunning on her Scottish holiday. She met up with Miss Georgie Cree of Dunning who has looked up some Crees in the lair book of Dunning churchyard. Georgie has also located an old family Bible belonging to Isobella Paterson, eldest daughter of James Paterson and Catherine Cree of Dunning who were married in 1800.

Meanwhile John Scott Cree has been using the IGI and other records to unravel the complex genealogy of the CREE/CRIE families of Perthshire prior to the 1850s. A firmly established line goes back to James Cree and Christian Graham who were married in 1770 at Milntown, Forteviot, Perthshire. It is suggested, but not proven, that James Cree came from Methven.

The Airntully Crees

The letter shown here was written by Dorothy Cree of Canter- bury and passed on to me by John Scott Cree. Dated 1975 it tells the story of another amazing Cree co-incidence.

Airntully and the two farms called Over and Nether Benchill are a few miles north of Perth. Dorothy Cree passed away a couple of years ago but Trevor Cree has traced her cousin, Isobel Holtom (nee Cree), whom we welcomed to membership of the CREE FHS in July. She has added more detail to our knowledge of the Airntully Crees. Her great-grandfather John Cree laid out a fine garden at Airntully, having previously done the same at big houses elsewhere in Scotland

We have established that there were separate Cree-Scott marriages in both the families concerned, (and a third one in the Glasgow branch of R M H Cree). This does not make the co-incidence of the hotel meeting less surprising of course. There may well be a connection between the two families, for John Cree of Airntully married lsabella Scott at Redgorten parish in 1867, and it was in Redgorten that James Cree of the Dunning family was baptised in 1814, he being the Cree who married a Jean Scott in Bothwell to produce the other side of the Scott-Cree co-incidence. A further co-incidence is that this Jean Scott had a sister Lilias who was a housekeeper at Murthly Castle (near Airntully).

Now John Scott Cree tells me there are two further co-incidences concening the hotel story:

“Isabel’s cousin James Scott Cree was born in Aberfeldy in 1915, where his father was a civil engineer, roads superintendent. The other James, my great-uncle, was also a civil engineer - with the Ministry of Public Buil- dings and Works. My grandmother, nee Hunter, was born in Aberfeldy 1889 and courted by my grandfather John who delivered cars there from his garage in Glasgow... My father born 1922 went often to Aberfeldy and knew most residents. This is the first he's heard of another Cree there..."

My sister-in-law has recently passed on two letters you wrote her regarding my brother James Scott Cree. I also have a cousin nee Cree (also living in Canterbury).

It appears that while staying at a Glasgow hotel some years ago I met your grand uncle whom I overheard mentioning that he had received a letter addressed to a Mr J Scott Cree, about which he was completely mystified, since it was obviously not intended for him, but, as was later discovered, intended for my brother James Scott Cree. By the way this was also my father's name.

My gt grandfather, grandfather and uncle's names were John Cree and we also had a cousin John Norman Scott Cree (a brother of this cousin living in Canterbury).

These three generations lived at a farm named “Airntully" near Murthly, Perthshire and my father and Canterbury cousin were also born there.

The Scott family lived on a farm called Benchil near Perth. Some of the Crees were buried at Kinclaven which is near Murthly, and was the church which the Airntully Crees attended...

Yours sincerely,

(Miss) Dorothy C Cree

PS All we Crees were born in Scotland. Our Gt Grandfather was the first Cree to come to Airntully and I think came from the County of Angus.