Michael T Tracy

William Ballingall (1800-1888) Michael T Tracy

William Ballingall was the ninth child of Niel Ballingall who at the time of his birth had served nearly thirty years as Factor of Balbirnie. William was born and brought up at Sweetbank which was the Factor's residence, a place where he himself would become all too familiar with. After his schooling, Ballingall would return to Markinch and began working as an assistant to his father at Balbirnie. In 1823-24 James Balfour of Whittinghame had purchased the nearby estate of Balgonie from the Earl of Leven and appointed William as his Factor. William continued to reside at Sweetbank until his marriage in 1838 to Janet (Jessie) Purdon Hunter when he purchased a home at Kirkforthar Feus in Markinch. The couple would have five children and after his father's death in 1843 they resided at Sweetbank and the home of Kirkforthar Feus in Markinch. Like his father before him, William also would be an effective, efficient and instrumental Factor of his time, managing the estates of Balbirnie and Balgonie simultaneously for over five decades. He would also manage the areas two working collieries for decades and participate on various company boards and was a member of the Markinch Parochial and the Markinch School Boards. This then is the narrative of the life and times of William Ballingall.