Tobacco Lords of Glasgow

[jennieb]

Does anyone know whether the Cochranes of Guernsey, tobacconists and snuff manufacturers - James and John Cochrane were related to Lord Provost Andrew Cochrane in Glasgow or connected in any way to his company, Cochrane, Murdoch and Co.?

James and John Cochrane were born in paisley in 1784 and 1786 respectively. They were sons of James Cochrane b. 1764 in Paisley and Hannah Mary Pride b. 1764 in Guernsey. James snr was also a tobacconist. They went to live in Guernsey, Channel islands in abt 1789.

I am trying to find out whether they were related in any way.

[Br1gau]

Hi Jennie,

It does look as if there may be a connection here, but not direct descendancy from Andrew it seems. There's quite a bit of info on the various Cochranes on the following web page:
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihouindexperson.html

From the section on Andrew Cochrane, Provost:
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihou085.htm

Provost Andrew Cochrane of Brighouse married Janet Murdoch, eldest daughter of Peter Murdoch, sugar refiner in Glasgow, who was also Provost there in 1730 & 1731.  They left no descendents.

See also:
http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSA02091&add=99&t=1&PHPSESSID=73110930d7bd6dc32b

brigau

[jennieb]

Thanks for you information - I'll check out the links you posted. Hopefully I can find a connection.

[Brettanita]

Hi.  I know this is an old post, but, if you have not found out as yet, then the answer is no.  I am directly connected the one son James Cochrane.  By the way, the brother John's birth is registered as "John Cochran".

The mistake was make on John birth registration as per Scotland Births & Deaths. The fathers surname on the registration also comes up with out the "e".   I am directly descendent from him and I also have the "e"  YET.... John and James tobacco building in Guernsey, that still stands today (I have photos from then and now)  says "Cochrane and Sons" - it has the "e" ??

I am currently investigating the "e" no "e".  I can say that James Cochrane and decedents all have the "e".  ie that's me.  I am currently search confirmation on John .

[Forfarian]

Please don't get hung up on spelling of names.

Until the late 19th century there was no such thing as 'correct' spelling. Names, generally, were spelled the way the clerk writing them down thought they should be written, and some clerks had wonderfully inventive ideas about it. This might or might not be how the people concerned would have spelled them, assuming that they could read and write (though I imagine that your Cochran(e)s were educated enough to be able to do so).

My own great-grandfather spelled his name in half a dozen different ways when he registered the births of his children, and that was in the 1870s and 1880s.

I have been told that there are 53 different recorded spellings of the surname Taylor, and there are other names with at least as many. I have a family in my tree who spell their surname Story, Storey, Storry, Storrie, Storie and Storrey without any apparent rhyme or reason for changing from one version to another until the various branches fixed their own versions in the lat 19th century or early 20th century.

So the registration of a name as 'Cochran' instead of 'Cochrane' is not a 'mistake', it's just a variant spelling. You will almost certainly waste a lot of time and effort if you try to read anything significant into it.

[carolineasb]

I too have "Cochrans" from the Renfrewshire area rather than "Cochranes" in my tree and wonder if it may be an "anglicised" version of the name when they left Scotland just as my maiden name was "Reid" which is common in Scotland but seems to be more likely to be "Reed" or "Read" in England.  I may be totally wrong though .

Births (Old Parish Records) in 1784/1786 etc will have been written by the Minister or someone from the Church and not a Registrar.

Sometimes, accents might affect how someone writes down a name. My Irish Great Grandmother sometimes has her maiden surname as McKay and sometimes McCoy on Registration Certificates in Scotland and, if you think how someone might say these 2 surnames in an Irish accent then you can see why the Registrar may have made a mistake.

[Forfarian]

I don't think anglicisation has any thing to do with it.

The numbers on SP are quite interesting

Pre-1855                    Cochran                  Cochrane
Baptisms                      5439                       2389
Banns                          3287                       1827
Burials                          1531                        773
Total                            10257                      4989

Post-1854
Births                          3012                       14904               
Marriages                     1896                      10384
Deaths                        3250                      13038
Total                            8158                       35671

So there has been a shift from Cochran to Cochrane over the years. Therefore there must be many Cochranes whose ancestors' surname was spelled Cochran.

I have in my own tree a William Cochran(e), born about 1815/1816 in Johnston(e), Renfrewshire. In his first marriage record, the newspaper announcements of the birth of one of his children, the death of his first wife and the Glasgow Trade Directory he is Cochran. In the birth announcements of two children he is Cochrane. In the news report (1853) of his death both spellings occur, but the announcement spells it Cochrane. In the parish register records of his second marriage it is Cochrane, and this is also the spelling used in the census. However the parish record and newspaper announcement of the birth of his son by his second wife spell it Cochran. So he himself clearly didn't always spell it consistently.

[sancti]

Post 1854 would relate to more people having access to education thus leading to a standardisation of the name.

I have instances in my tree where siblings had their surnames recorded differently