Tim,
Very nice to hear from you.
The William Hepburn who named his first daughter Eliza Hill Murray Hepburn in 1881 had a somewhat tragic early life. Born in 1856, he lost his natural father (also William) before the age of 5. His mother, Margaret Hunter, remarried in Nov. 1860, but William’s stepfather, Peter Aitken, died in Aug. 1871 while salmon fishing. Having lost two fathers by the time he was 15, I venture to guess that William was influenced largely by the women in his life.
William was also the first male Hepburn in my line to buck the tradition of working the sea (both as military sailors & fishermen) & seek employment on terra firma.
At the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Low in 1880, the 24-year-old "ploughman" William was living in “Walleston,” Dunbarney. Perhaps he was working directly for Eliza Hill Murray, or perhaps she was exceptionally kind to him or an inspiration of some kind. Either way, he bestowed the name on his first born daughter and his only son, in turn, bestowed it on my aunt a generation later.
BTW... we are an incredibly handsome lot ;-) But really... small ears & long second toes.
All the best,
Neil