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						The Farms -- Whitsome Hill
					Spelling variations include Quhitsumhill and Whitsumhill. The name appears as one or two words, without any consistency. Whitsome Hill does not appear on the 17th century maps-- the earliest I have found it on is General Roy's map which was made between 1747-1755. However, there are sasines involving the farm dating as far back as 1624. Strangely, the farm is not mentioned in the Statistical Account of the parish despite the fact that it is clearly to be seen on John Blackadder's map of the same date. It's shown as directly south of the village, east of Whitsome Vaults, and north of Carterrig (for these last two, see the section on Extinct Farms), pretty much where it is today.  This contrasts with General Roy who shows Whitsome Hill to the west of Whitsome Vonts , but it looks rather tentatively penciled in. Its absence from the SA might be explained by the fact that people seem to be using the names of Whitsomehill and Whitsome Volts for the same piece of land at this time (eg William Mason is shown as "tenant of Whitsomehill" in the OPR and "of Whitsome Vaults" in the Consolidated Tax listing of the same year (in which Whitsomehill is not mentioned). For more information on Whitsome Vaults, see the extrinct farms section. In the 19th century, ownership of Whitsomehill gave the proprieter a vote in Parliamentary elections.
	The pre-census people The post census people
					Ownership. The earliest sasine involves James Home, portioner, in 1624. He and his son David are also mentioned in sasines in 1659. Confusingly, the Roughead (Rocheid, etc) family also seem to have owned part of the farm at this time as there are sasines naming them from 1647 until 1717. The hearth tax of 1694 also shows Thomas Roughead as owner. Armstrong's map of 1771 shows Coutts Esq as owner The Cess Roll of 1814 shows the current owners as William Stoddart and William Berry (1750-1827), previous owners being the heirs of James Coutts. The wording of this entry "Whitsom-hill, possessed by Archibald Landalls, exclusive of part of Wester Volts" suggests that at least parts of the two farms have been merged. The 2nd Statistical Account shows John Wilson as the owner The Valuation Rolls for 1856/57 show the owners as "heirs of Fosters", a year later this has changed to Ralph Foster of Sanson Seal (Northumberland). he's still shown as the owner in 1876/77, but by 1886/87 it's James E. Forster, still of Sanson Seal. James continued as owner until his death-- the 1916/17 Valuation Roll shows the owner as "representatives of the late James E. Forster".