Census for Donald and Elizabeth Georgeson Gow Household

	UK 1841	UK 1851	UK 1861	UK 1871	UK 1881
Source
Index Name	Gow	Gow	Gow	Gow	Gow
Address	Lynster, Caithness, Scotland	Bank Row, Pulteneytown, Wick, Caithness, Scotland	Willow Bank, Wick, Caithness, Scotland	Willow Bank, Wick, Caithness, Scotland	Willowbank, Wick, Caithness, Scotland
Husband	Donald, 35, married, cooper, born in Caithness, Scotland	Donald, 43, married, jouneyman cooper, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland
Wife	Elizabeth, 30, born in Caithness, Scotland	Elizabeth, 40, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland	Elizabeth, 50, cooper's wife, born in Clych, Caithness, Scotland	Elizabeth, 61, tailoress, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland	Elizabeth, 71, dressmaker, born in Clyth, Caithness, Scotland
Daughter	Catherine, 8, born in Caithness, Scotland	Catherine, 18, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland	Catherine, 27, dressmaker, born in Clych, Caithness, Scotland
Daughter	Christina, 5, born in Caithness, Scotland	Christina, 14, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland
Son	William, 2, born in Caithness, Scotland	William, 11, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland	William, 21, cooper, born in Lybster, Caithness, Scotland	William and Ann Sutherland Gow
Daughter		Donaldina, 9, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland
Son		John, 6, born in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland	John, 16, apprentice cooper, born in Lybster, Caithness, Scotland
Son			David Ross, 7, born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland	David, 16, cooper, born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland	David, 26, seaman (merchant service), born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland
Mother-in-law	Catherine Georgeson, 65, hemp spinner, born in Caithness, Scotland
Grandson			William Anderson, 3, born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland
Daughter-in-law					Margaret, David's wife, 23, born in Charlestown, Fifeshire, Scotland
Granddaughter					Janet, David and Margaret's daughter, 1 Mo., born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland

From the Gow Family Book:

	Alexander Georgeson was born in 1750. He married Elizabeth Gow in 1776.
William Gow, a crofter, married Catherine Forbes in 1779 in Latherton, Caithness, in the Scottish Highlands.	John Georgeson, 1779-1853, married Christina Wares, 1780-1864. They had 10 children, the oldest being Elizabeth. John and Christina are buried in Mid Clyth cemetery in Caithness.
Donald Gow was born in 1809 in Scotland. He married Elizabeth Georgeson, who was born in 1810 in Latherton, Caithness, Scotland. They had three children: Dollina in 1841, William in 1842 at Lybster, Caithness, and John in 1844. Donald was a cooper. He died in 1859 at Willowbrook, Wick, Scotland. Elizabeth died in 1896 at Willowbrook		James Sutherland was born in Loth, Sutherland, in the Scottish Highlands, southwest of Caithness. He was a sea captain. He married Margaret Murray. Their daughter Ann was born in 1842 at Helmsdale, Sutherland.
William Gow married Ann Sutherland in 1863 in Pulteneytown, Wick, Caithness, Scotland. William was a cooper, like his father. William and Ann had 16 children, eight of whom survived to have families. The family started in Wick, then moved to Edinburgh, Scotland from 1867 to 1872, and on to Seacombe, England, which is across the Mersey River opposite Liverpool. William and Ann had 16 children: Donald, Margaret Sutherland, Jessie Ann, James Sutherland, William Sutherland, Elizabeth Georgeson, David Joseph, Jospeh (?), Margaret Ann, Christina, and George. Eight survived to have families.
Their son Donald Gow was born in 1864 on Francis Street, Pulteneytown, Wick, Scotland. Donald "Dan" Gow marrried Roseanne "Rose" Murray in England on May 7, 1882. They lived in Wallasey, Chester, England. Wallasey is situated at the northeast of the Wirral Peninsula, on the western side of the River Mersey and adjoining the Irish Sea. In the 1891 census, they were living north of Liverpool less than a mile from the docks on the east side of the River Mersey. In 1895, they moved to New York, where they lived in Manhattan, the Bronx, and ultimately Flushing, Queens. Dan worked for the Interborough Rapid Transit Co. in the power plant for over 40 years. He died December 5, 1933 in Queens. Dan and Rose had five children: William George, born in 1886 Ann Sutherland, born in Seacombe, England on January 13, 1888 Loretta (Laurette), Mary Catherine (Mae), born in Wallasey, Chester on April 20 1895, a few weeks before the family emigrated to New York. She married Charles Byrne in Queens, New York, and they had five children, including William X. Byrne. Helen Louise.

From various sources:

Donald Gow was born in 1809 in Caithness, Scotland. His parents were William and Catherine Forbes Gow He married Elizabeth Georgeson, who was born in 1810 in Latherton, Caithness, Scotland. They had six children: Catherine in 1833, Christina in 1836, William in 1839 at Lybster, Caithness, Donaldina in 1841, and John in 1844, and David in 1854. Donald was a cooper. According to The Gow Family Book, Donald died in 1859 at Willowbrook, Wick, Scotland, and Elizabeth died in 1896 at Willowbrook.

Donald Gow's parents were William and Catherine Forbes Gow. The 1841 census shows a William Gow, 76, indicating a birth in 1765. He was born in Caithness and living in Wester, Wick, Caithness. There was no Catherine in the census. Living with him was a Barbara Gow, 25, born in Caithness. Enumerators were only asked to provide statistical returns for the 1801 to 1831 censuses.

Elizabeth Georgeson Gow's parents were John and Christina Wares Georgeson. John Georgeson, 1779-1853, married Christina Wares, 1780-1864. They had 10 children, the oldest being Elizabeth. John and Christina are buried in Mid Clyth cemetery in Caithness.

Donald Gow was a cooper, like his son William Gow. Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden, staved vessels, held together with wooden or metal hoops and possessing flat ends or heads. Examples of a cooper's work include casks, barrels, buckets, tubs, butter churns, vats, hogsheads, firkins, tierces, rundlets, puncheons, pipes, tuns, butts, troughs, pins and breakers. In the 1860s there were 1,100 herring boats operating out of the Wick harbour and they were supported by no fewer than 650 coopers in the town.

Gow is a Scottish surname. The name is derived from the Gaelic gobha, meaning smith. The surname Gow is a sept of the Clan Macpherson, a Highland Scottish clan. The Clan Macpherson are in turn a member of the confederation of the Clan Chattan.

Map showing the coast of Sutherland and Caithness on the North Sea in the Scottish Highlands. From lower left to upper right: Helmsdale, Latherton, Lybster, Mid Clyth, and Wick. Loth is near Helmsdale. Pulteneytown is part of Wick.

Hill o' Many Stanes. A south-facing hillside overlooking the North Sea at Mid Clyth, Caithness, in the Scottish Highlands. 200 upright stones, none more than a metre high, believed to be a relic of Bronze Age times. Similar rows of much taller stones are found in Brittany. Photo taken by Ron McKinnon in 1996. Source: Wikipedia.