Surnames I am Researching in Fife

[weasel1]

Hi

I have a Thomas Blyth born abt 1815 Dysart married Margaret Hunter of Kirkcaldy 22 Nov 1840.
from what I have found so far they had 2 sons:

John b 22 Aug 1841 Dysart
George b 28 Aug Dysart

[portybelle]

Any of your Mackies from Wemyss? I have a 4xGt Grandfather John Mackie marrying Margaret Ogilvie in Wemyss in 1790. I am then descended from their daughter Janet born 1800 in Wemyss.

[hdw]

Re Blyth in Kirkcaldy, I had Blyth ancestors in the parish of Abbotshall for several generations - a father and son both called Peter or Patrick, the father married to Isobel Inglis, the son to Margaret Watson, if I remember correctly. A daughter of Peter Blyth and Mgt. Watson called Isobel Blyth married William Anderson in Dysart, and they moved east to Pittenweem, becoming the ancestors of many Andersons and others in the East Neuk of Fife.

Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery benefited greatly from the generosity of John Blyth, a manufacturer in Dysart who gifted his fine art collection to them. John Blyth was the maternal grandfather of Michael Portillo, the former Tory cabinet minister and now TV presenter. Portillo has made interesting radio and TV programmes about Kirkcaldy and his boyhood visits there.

I grew up in Cellardyke in the East Neuk, and when I was a boy the field across the road from our house contained a small herd of cows and was known as Blyth's Park (the RAF later built married quarters there). The Blyths of Cellardyke originated in the 19th century with an Alexander Blyth born in Balmerino, possibly a relative of the Newburgh Blyths.

Harry

[JDB307]

Hello Weasel1,
I don't have a Robert Blyth born c.1815.  Do you know who his parents were?

Hello Portybelle,
Sorry, no Mackies from Wemyss.

Hello Harry,
Any dates for your Abbotshall Blyths?

With regard to John Blyth, the benefactor of Kdy Art Gallery, I've tried to trace his family back but can find no connection.

My son used to live in that wee house facing the slipway in Cellardyke harbour.  Is there any chance that you could pin-point "Blyth's Field", maybe on Google Earth?

Regards to all three of you,

Jack

[hdw]

I'm not sure how to manipulate Google Earth, but Blyth's Park (not Field) in Cellardyke was bounded by Fowler Place on the south, Toll Road on the east and Crail Road on the north. Part of it was known as the Wattery Butts. In the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, the Ministry of Defence built an extra RAF station in Cellardyke to service RAF Leuchars. Blyth's Park had houses built in it for the married NCOs and their families, the cornfield behind our house in Toll Road was taken over for the main camp, with parade-ground and barracks for the squaddies and the officers got nice detached houses at the end of East Forth Street  with splendid sea views.

Later, when the camp was closed down, a Yorkshire businessman called Evans bought the land and turned it into Anstruther Holiday Camp, and the grim barracks were re-christened "chalets"!

As for my Blyths in Kirkcaldy, Patrick Blyth and Isabell Inglis were married at Abbotshall in 1709. Their son Patrick was born there in 1711.

Patrick Blyth (b.1711) married Margaret Watson of Dysart in 1744. Their daughter Isobel Blyth (b.1748) married William Anderson of Dysart in 1770.

Wm. Anderson and Isobel Blyth moved to St. Monans, then to Pittenweem, where their daughter Betty Anderson married local fisherman Lock Horsburgh, the first bearer of that famous name. Lock and Betty were my 3 x great-grandparents.

Harry

[JDB307]

Hello Harry,

Many thanks for that.  I'll take a close look at it when I get back.

Regards,

Jack

[Langtonian]

Hello again Harry.

I was very interested in your Blyth family postings and am looking to see if there is a connection with my Abbotshall Blyth families.

I have John Blyth married to Margaret Reekie, 22 Jan 1780, Abbotshall. I'm decended through their daughter Agnes Blyth who married Simon Young 5 Dec 1807, Abbotshall.

I have Peter Blyth and Margaret Watson as possible parents of the above John and any info you have that would confirm this (or otherwise) would be great.

Regards,

George

[hdw]

Well, I see that Patrick Blyth (the younger) and Mgt. Watson had a son called John in 1750, and he could certainly have been the John Blyth who married Mgt. Reekie in 1780. But there were other families called Blyth in Abbotshall at the same time. If you know the names of all the children of John Blyth and Mgt. Reekie you might get a clue as to the grandparents' names.

By the way, I believe the Margaret Watson who married Patrick Blyth in 1744 is the Mgt. born at Dysart in 1714 to John Watson and Margaret Lindsay, who were married at Dysart in 1708. They had an earlier daughter called Margaret in 1708, but she must have died.

If you want me to really go out on a limb, I would suggest that this John Watson is the John born at Dysart in 1683 to James Watson and Janet Miln (m.1669, Dysart), and that his wife Margaret Lindsay is the Margaret born at Dysart (surprise, surprise!) in 1683 to Robert Lyndsay and Margaret Craigie (m. 1676, Dysart).

There you go, I've constructed a fine old Dysart pedigree for you, even if it is a bit of a castle in the air!

As for the Abbotshall lot, Patrick Blyth junior's parents Patrick Blyth and Isobel Inglis (m.1709) had a son called Andrew in 1710, so it's not impossible that Isobel may have been the Isobel born at Abbotshall in 1686 to Andrew Inglis and Janet Williamson (the Williamsons were a Dysart family!).

Incidentally, a David Blyth and Jean Williamson were married at Abbotshall in 1669 and had a son called David at Dysart in 1673, so there's a possible link between Blyth, Inglis and Williamson.

The OPRs of Abbotshall and Dysart are so well-kept compared to some (e.g. Borders OPRs) that it's very tempting to build up these speculative family-trees from all the information available. Well, you have to start somewhere! And if you get evidence that one of your "ancestors" wasn't your ancestor after all, you can always kill them off.

One last intriguing thought to finish with. I've mentioned the Williamsons of Dysart, and I know of at least one Robert Williamson who was fathering children there in the 1600s. Scotland's great 15th century warship, the Great Michael, is supposed to have been crewed by Fife men among others, and the only one whose name has survived as far as I know is a Robert Williamson, who was "a wright, of Dysart". He was probably the ship's carpenter, an important member of the crew.

Harry

[Langtonian]

Thanks Harry.

Eldest son of John Blyth and Margaret Reekie is Peter Blyth b 20 July 1784, Abbotshall which makes me think that parents of John are Peter/Patrick Blyth and Margaret Watson in all likelihood.

Their third recorded daughter is Margaret, with an intriguing gap which could allow for the possibility of an earlier daughter perhaps also named Margaret who would have been their second child and second daughter.

I also note that a Patrik Blyth was born 1638, Dysart, father George, so perhaps a link between this individual and the Patrick Blyths of Abbotshall.

Incidentally Margaret Reekie and her family are from St Monance parish, parents John Reekie and Mary Nicholson. Mary had a brother, John Reekie, who married a Janet Anderson which might be of interest and perhaps a link to the Dysart Anderson families.

I seem to recall that the building of the Great Michael is reputed to have involved the felling of virtually all the trees in Fife so it was certainly one large carpentry project!!

Regards,

George