Author Topic: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)  (Read 18231 times)

Offline Hendo

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #9 on: Friday 31 January 14 22:16 GMT (UK) »
Hi Looby & William
Thanks for your hard work.  The Hamilton connection to the Stobie family is a great find.  I need some time to take this all in.  Where did Jane Hamilton go in 1841?  Given the marriage of Helen Hamilton to John Stobie and Helen’s birthplace being Dumfries, it is reasonable to connect  Annie with the Stobies.  All Janes's siblings were born in Keir, Dumfriesshire.  Something must have happened to John Ferguson (?illness) that necessitated very young Annie’s absence from the family.  Jane was listed as a widow in the 1851 Balmaghie census.
I did a search on ScotlandsPeople for Helen’s marriage reg in Peebles & death reg in Inveresk (Midlothian) and came up blank.  We need to connect Helen to my Hamiltons.  Jane’s parents were John Hamilton & Anna Scott.  I have the OPR for JohnHamilton born to John Hamilton & Anna Scott in  Keir, Dumfriesshire.  The other siblings (that I have) are all listed on census documents as born in Keir.  I couldn’t find any other birth registrations for them.  Looks like we are going to have the same problem with Helen.
Where to from here?
best regards
Rob
Henderson, Cunningham, McNaught, Chartres, Lilburne, Porteous, Higham, Saw

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #10 on: Friday 31 January 14 22:28 GMT (UK) »
Rob,
There is also a marriage record for John Stobie/Helen Hamilton at Lasswade Midlothian-
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XYWN-8HX
Both entries can be viewed on www.scotlandspeople.co.uk

You would be best to try for a death certificate for Helen Stobie and see if her parents names are the same as Jane Ferguson/Hamilton.

If this is Ann/Annie living with her aunt and uncle I would suspect too that William Ferguson has already died and Jane is perhaps working somewhere.
Has she an occupation in 1851 and 1861? And are Annie and her living in the same household as anyone else?
Looby :)

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #11 on: Friday 31 January 14 22:33 GMT (UK) »
As Millmoor said  a Helen Stobie died at Inveresk Midlothian 1864 . Her death cert can be viewed on Scotlands People website too.

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #12 on: Friday 31 January 14 23:56 GMT (UK) »
And just before I call it a night :P
I think you will find that there could be two more Hamilton brothers- George and James - on the 1841 and 1851 Censuses with their wives and children. Both men give Keir, Dumfriesshire as their place of birth and both live at Northgate , Peebles the same as John  Hamilton. Looks like the three brothers are all living on the same street.
Unfortunately it doesn't help you locate William and Jane Ferguson on the 1841 :(
Looby :)


Offline Millmoor

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #13 on: Saturday 01 February 14 11:17 GMT (UK) »
Hello again

Re George, James and John Hamilton who Loobylouayr located in the 1841 and 1851 censuses there are some public trees for them on An*y which you might find interesting to look at as they contain photos and other records. A death cert for James suggests that he was the son of James Hamilton, a mason. Another suggests that John emigrated to Canada in the 1850's. Do take care, however, when using public trees as they quite often contain inaccuracies. For example to my eye Georges information after 1851 does not seem to add up.

Best wishes

William
Dent (Haltwhistle and Sacriston), Bell and Jetson (Haltwhistle), Postle, Ward, Longstaff, Purvis, Manners, Parnaby and Hardy (Co. Durham), Kennedy and McRobert (Banffshire), Reid(Bathgate), Watson (Wemyss), Graham (Libberton), Sandilands (Carmichael), Munro (Dingwall)

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #14 on: Saturday 01 February 14 12:12 GMT (UK) »
Hello again Rob,

I have had another thought which might help trace your missing Jane and William .
 You may or may not be aware that in Scotland during this period married women sometimes retained their birth surnames and did not use their husbands. Apparently there was no legal requirement to change names. Many did ...but you can come across in the Census records a whole family -dad and lots of kids with one surname i.e. Smith and the mum with another i.e. Jones. This doesn't always mean the parents were not married.
Also it was very common on the death of a husband for a woman to revert (if she'd ever changed) to her maiden name. Therefore if William was dead by 1841 Census which I have a funny feeling he could be Jane could be recorded as Jane Hamilton.
There is one Jane Hanilton aged 40 on the 1841 Census at Newton,Midlothian ---not that far from Dalkeith :). She is living at Newton Manse and is a servant working for the Minister John Adamson. This Jane is born outside the county of Midlothian. She is not recorded at the Manse 10 years later. But the Rev. John Adamson is ....and his place of birth is Peebles! Quite a coincidence!
So could this be a widowed Jane Ferguson working (if my calculations are correct :-\ ) about 2 to 3 miles away from Dalkeith. Unfortunately due to the lack of info on the 1841 you may never be 100% sure if you've found the right woman, unless she is living with people/relatives you can connect her to.
And of course William could still be alive and the couple could be hiding ;D and working somewhere else. Looking at the English Census 1841 is another option. Finding a grave/headstone for William might be problematic. I don't know how extensively Scottish graveyards have been researched and transcribed or how available they are online. You don't know where William died?? And they like many many other Scots might not have been able to afford a stone.
Do you have the OPR of Jane and William's marriage? What record do you have of his existence?
Is Jane working as a servant /housekeeper in 1851 and 1861?
Looby :)

Offline Millmoor

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #15 on: Saturday 01 February 14 13:10 GMT (UK) »
Just to add that I am pretty sure that both John and George Hamilton and their families emigrated to Canada in the 1850's and were pioneer families in the township of Elma, Perth County, Ontario. They both appear in the 1861 Ontario Census with their wives who are named as Joan Bryden and Mary Small respectively. I stumbled across this by googling  Hamilton Elma Perth Ontario. This might suggest that they are brothers or at the very least related.

William
Dent (Haltwhistle and Sacriston), Bell and Jetson (Haltwhistle), Postle, Ward, Longstaff, Purvis, Manners, Parnaby and Hardy (Co. Durham), Kennedy and McRobert (Banffshire), Reid(Bathgate), Watson (Wemyss), Graham (Libberton), Sandilands (Carmichael), Munro (Dingwall)

Offline Millmoor

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #16 on: Saturday 01 February 14 13:30 GMT (UK) »
The grave of John Hamilton is on the Find a Grave site where his place of birth is given as Keir, Dumfries. It also has details of his wife and children. He died March 27 1887 in Elma.

Further to Loobylouayrs post re Jane Hamilton in Newton have you considered the possibility that Anne  Ferguson was born out of wedlock?  If so the kirk session records, sadly yet not online, for Peebles might shed some light.

William
Dent (Haltwhistle and Sacriston), Bell and Jetson (Haltwhistle), Postle, Ward, Longstaff, Purvis, Manners, Parnaby and Hardy (Co. Durham), Kennedy and McRobert (Banffshire), Reid(Bathgate), Watson (Wemyss), Graham (Libberton), Sandilands (Carmichael), Munro (Dingwall)

Offline rosie17

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #17 on: Saturday 01 February 14 14:18 GMT (UK) »
I was thinking a long the same lines that maybe they were not married but if they were good church member's there should be a baptism saying if she was illegitimate ....I have came across this on some of my researches