This website started as a description of the Morrison/Elliot families living in various areas of Scotland, but has now expanded to include the descendants of Christopher Elliot (b. c1833), Alexander Fraser (b. c1806), George Horn (b. 1737), John Lorimer (b. c1775), William Morrison (b. c1755), William Shepherd (b. c1804), Thomas Shields (b. c1740) and William Walker (b. c1775). I would be pleased to receive notice of any errors or omissions which may have occured during the collecting of all this information. In some cases approximate birth dates and places have been inserted to provide a general background to what follows.
The title of this site acknowledges the fact that the Morrison and Lorimer families were for many years based in and around the Parish of Botriphnie, located between Keith and Dufftown in what was then Banffshire, Scotland. The Morrisons had originally come from Aberdeen in 1810 and the Lorimers from around the Huntly, Aberdeenshire area prior to 1849. Other Aberdeenshire lines are the Frasers and the Hornes (originally Horn). There is a remote family recollection of George Horn (1784-1859) being of Dutch descent.
The Shepherd line moved from Paisley, Renfrewshire, to Largs, Ayrshire in 1832, with this particular branch settling in Dundee in 1873. The Walker line would appear to have been less mobile, residing in Cupar (first Fife, then Angus) from the late 1700's until settling in Montrose in 1874.
The Elliot/Shields families have been traced to the Ayrshire and Lanarkshire areas with one branch (Halliday) coming from County Antrim, Ireland prior to 1863. The two lines connected in Glasgow in the late 1800's.
Since these early close connections, their descendants have spread throughout the UK and to the furthest corners of the globe, adding various other nationalities to the mix along the way. We can now claim to be a truly cosmopolitan tribe!
Many thanks to all family members, too numerous to mention, from many locations around the world, who have made valuable and interesting contributions. A special "thank-you" to Anna Shepherd, Evelyn Buchanan, Colin Bain, and Patrick Boyne, for advice on importing photographs, and for contributing several Shepherd, Lorimer and Morrison family photos. Also, I am indebted to Wallace Nicoll for sharing his extensive and thorough records of the Walker family.