William Burness

Birth: Nov. 11, 1721
Stonehaven, Scotland
Death: Feb. 13, 1784
Ayr, Scotland

Son of:
Robert & Isabella (Keith) Burnes

William Burns was born 11 November 1721 in Glenbervie, shortly before his father moved to Clochnahill in Dunnottar. Since financial difficulties had forced his father to give up farming in fall of 1747, William and his elder brother Robert left Kincardineshire in 1748 to seek work elsewhere. William went initially to Edinburgh where he worked for two years landscaping the gardens now known as the Meadows. In 1750 he moved to Ayrshire where for two years he worked as gardener to the laird of Fairlie in Dundonald. From 1752 to 1754 he worked as a gardener near Maybole. In 1754 he became gardener to John Crawford at Doonside near the hamlet of Alloway. In 1786 he became head gardener to William Ferguson at nearby Doonholm. At the same time William had ambitions to become a market gardener, so he leased seven acres of land at Alloway. Here he laid out a market garden and built his own cottage, which was later the birthplace of his son Robert Burns, the poet. On 15 December 1757 he married Agnes Brown, and they had four sons and three daughters. In 1765 he decided to become a tenant farmer and took a twelve-year lease of Mount Oliphant, a ninety-acre farm about two miles from Alloway. The family moved there in May 1766. When the lease at Mount Oliphant expired in 1777, William obtained a seven-year lease of the farm of Lochlea in the parish of Tarbolton. By 1782 disputes arose with his landlord over payment of rent and other debts. It was not a simple matter of William not being able to pay his rent since there was dispute over how much rent was due and whether the landlord had made the improvements agreed to. Eventually the courts decided in William's favour on 27 January 1784, but he died soon after on 13 February 1784.

Information Provided By:
Craig Ingraham


Family links:
Parents:
Robert Burness (1700 - ____)
Isabella Keith Burness

Spouse:
Agnes Brown Burns (1731 - 1820)

Children:
Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)*

Sibling:
Campbell Burness (1718 - ____)*
William Burns (1721 - 1784)

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Alloway Cemetery
Alloway
South Ayrshire, Scotland

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Maintained by: Wladek
Originally Created by: Lettie Kirby
Record added: Aug 16, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 40727680
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=40727680