More About the Shetland Leasks

   I found the 1841 census for Gussigarth and in it Mary, her parents and siblings as well as a family of Pottingers were listed. Recently reviewing my information to post here I realized my Leasks were on the same page,in Minn. I have searched for them for years! Jane was listed under her maiden name of Sinclair, the names and ages of her children matched our Leasks.

   A quick note to Tony Gott (https://www.bayanne.info/Shetland) and he agreed. Apparently it was quite common to list the family under the wife’s maiden name. Presumably James and possibly some of his
sons were away fishing and would not be included in the count.

   Abram, on his 1842 marriage document, and his sister Marion, on her baptismal record, are both listed as living in Minn.
 
Family members recorded in Minn in 1841 are:
 
Jane Sinclair 40
Maron 18
Nely 11
John 5
William 1

    Also in Minn were Thomas & Agnes Sinclair. Thomas & Agnes daughter Helen married Joel Smith and according to the 1861 census they became residents of Gussigarth; moving from Minn (possibly to the home previously occupied by our Leasks). James the elder presumably drowned by that time and his widow emigrated to Windham, Ontario by 1860.
   What, if any relation Thomas and Agnes are to Jane, I have yet to discover. They could be parents, or Thomas a brother or uncle. Thomas and Agnes are not names used in our family.

   Tony sent me what he thinks is our Leasks in the 1832 head of household of census for Minn.

James Leask Head, aged 47, Cod Fisherman
Wife Leask, aged 39, Cod Fisherman’s wife
Son Leask, aged 16 (Abram?)
Daughter Leask, aged 10 (Marion?)
Son Leask, aged 7 (unknown)
Daughter Leask, aged 3 (Nellie?)

   Skip forward to the 1851 census for Gussigarth and now the family of James and Jane Leask and a family of Goodlets are listed. The Goodlets maid being a Pottinger from the family that had lived there in 1841.

    I believed I was on the right track, but still not enough “proof”. Could I find more confirmation?

1851 Census Gussigarth, Burra, Shetland

James 64
Jane 54
Nellie 22
Helen 18
John 15
William 11

(According to the census taker the district of West Burra and Isle of Papa the number of separate occupiers or families was 70 and the number of inhabited houses was 65. Not a lot of families. No wonder there are so many interconnections. )

Then I found the 1855 valuation roll:

     Not only was James listed but also his son-in-law Henry Anderson. Finally, I felt comfortable that I had found my roots in Shetland.
      From Tony Gotts site I found the following grandchildren for James & Jane:

• James Leask Anderson, b 8 Sept 1854 Gussigarth, Burra and d 1858 (age 3 years)

• John W. Anderson, b 9 Oct 1856, Gussigarth, Burra

• Mary Goodlad, b 14 Aug 1846 West Burra d before 1851 (age 4 years)

These 3 are more family members.

     All the siblings plus mother Jane were in Norfolk,Ontario by the 1861 census. Jane was living with her daughter, Marion Goodlet. Missing is sons William, James and John as well as father James. I believe it was William who drowned in the fishing accident with his father. He was the only son still at home and it would make sense that he would be out fishing with his father.
 
     My 2xgreat grandmother Ellen, according to census records, came to Canada in 1856; her sister Nellie Anderson in 1857. My guess was father James drowned between 1855 and 1857, his widow Jane coming to Canada with one of her daughters. Jane died 22 Mar 1872 in Windham, Ontario.