Tain poorhouse lookup please?

[sheena58]

Hi,
I'm hoping someone might be able to help with a long-standing search.
My great grandfather's brother Hugh MacKay was born in Portmahomack c1851. He was married to Helen ( my great grandmother's sister) in Glasgow 1875 and was a blacksmith journeyman. Her family were based in Inverness. I have never been able to locate his death, nor establish when he died. I have recently found that one of his children died in the Tain poorhouse. I've managed to find the births of two children; Elspeth MacKay b 1877 Glasgow and Roderick Dallas MacKay b1880 Inverness. Although I can't find a birth for him, Helen appears on the 1891 census with another son, William born c1879.
The child who died in the poorhouse in 1887 is Roderick. There is no sign of Hugh on the 1881 census but Helen is an inmate in the Inverness Asylum, Elspeth is with Hugh's parents in Portmahomack, where she remained. Roderick, aged 1 is an inmate in the Tain poorhouse, as is a William MacKay age 2, possibly his brother?
I wonder if it is possible to find out any further information as to when and why Roderick was taken in, whether William was his sibling and, if so, when and why he left. Any extra information would be gratefully recieved and, if it leads me to Hugh's death it would be a cause to celebrate!

Sheena

[LesleyB]

Hi Sheena
..and welcome to Talking Scot.

From this post it looks like these records are held in Inverness:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.ph ... c=508658.0

Do you know anything about the records e.g. what informaiton they are likely to contain, how complete they are etc?
As far as I remember from my last visit to Tain, the poorhouse building still stands, still in good condition, ( I think now a private house) and it was a combination poorhouse.

Have you tried contacting Highland Council Archive Services?

Holdings include: Minute books (1930-70); Register of admissions and papers relating to staffing and admissions (1850-1964); Register of poorhouse patients (1938-52).

Best wishes
Lesley

[sheena58]

Thanks Lesley,
I'm not sure exactly what I'm expecting the records to contain. I have some admission records form an English orphange and they give dates, reasons and the names of parents/siblings, also details of date of departure with forwarding address but I suspect there was no particular format for keeping these.
I actually found out about TalkingScot when I googled Tain Poorhouse' and was taken to a reply on here about someone else's ancestors who were there... so I know there are records. Like all genealogists; I'm 'just' curious.
I've not tried contacting the Highland Council Archives service yet. I was hoping I could visit at some point as it's a whle since I was up in Inverness but I'm not sure it will be this year.