Marion FAIRRIE ¹

  General Notes:

www.irvineold.org/graveyard/notable-graves/70-the-shipmaster-farries-and-fairries-of-irvine

The Shipmaster Farries and Fairries of Irvine

The Shipmaster Farries and Fairries of Irvine There is a large recumbent grave slab that rests just to the left of the path the leads up to the front door of Irvine Old Parish Church It marks the burial lair of a family that were once highly acclaimed in Irvine, but now long forgotten. They were renowned in their day for maritime endeavours and creating a thriving business in Britain's sugar refining industry. There is even a Robert Bums anecdote connected with them regarding the poet's stay in the town. Surprisingly, they don't get a mention in either McJannet's Royal Burgh of Irvine or Strawhom's The History of Irvine.

James Farrie shipmaster was born 1688; he married Marion Thomson on 1714 and died at Irvine 1740.

Their son James was born on 1730; he was also a shipmaster and became a prominent West Indies merchant. On 1751 he married Irvine girl Jean Robinson, it was said that Jean was a "real beauty" and that this couple were regarded as real celebrities in the town.

They also had a son named James born at Irvine on 1754. James Farrie III would later change the spelling of his surname to Fairrie, in an attempt; it is said, to make the pronunciation longer. James went to sea with his father in 1768 at the age of thirteen. He was later given command of one of his father's ships the Orangefield, trading between Greenock and the West Indies. On a voyage to Jamaica the Orangefield was attacked and captured by Spaniards as she approached the north coast of the island. James not only lost his ship, but his right arm was struck by several bullets during the fighting and was later amputated. However, the Orangefield was recaptured and James regained his ship at Montego Bay the following November. In 1781 James was then in command of the Despatch bound from London to Charleston, Carolina, but his ship was driven ashore by an American privateer. In an attempt to reach British controlled Jamaica he gained passage in a small merchantman the Amazon of Dublin, but this was captured after a running fight by the American Marquis de Lafayette. The Amazon was taken to Haiti as a prize where James was imprisoned for a year; eventually he reached Jamaica and returned to Scotland in July 1782. James continued his seafaring life for some further 25 years, until he decided that that life ashore would be less hazardous, so in 1797 he purchased a site at Cartsdyke Bridge, Greenock, and erected a sugar refinery under the name James Fairrie & Company. He carried on developing his Company till his death at Greenock on 1815. Three of his sons, all under 25 years of age, continued and expanded the business. In 1819 the Cartsdyke refinery was the first in Scotland and second out of London to adapt to the new method of sugar refining when they installed Howard's vacuum pans. In 1846 the refinery was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt. Adam Fairrie, born 1777, remembered seeing as a young boy the burning of Burns' heckling shop in the Glasgow Vennel, and in later years would often narrate the incident to engrossed locals. This extraordinary 'auld Irvine' family lived in Hill Street, indeed their property still stands today as a silent reminder to the 'New Town' of their exploits.

Marion married David JOHNSTONE, son of JOHNSTONE and Unknown, in 1777 in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland.¹ (David JOHNSTONE was born on 26 Dec 1751 in Dumfries, Dumfries, Scotland and died on 28 May 1836 in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Scotland.)