Hi Margaret
The two death certs that you have found, were there any occupations showing for either Alexander T? The first in Tillicoultry is probably the Margaret who shows in the 1861 family that we found with a Robert age 17, a baker. This death is also after Robert and Elizabeth's marriage at the end of 1869 where Robert's mother Margaret already shows as deceased.
Not sure whether the second Margaret is the same as we found in the Irish family in 1851. Her age in 1851 is showing as 45. The DC in 1869 has that Margaret as age 54 (if I found the right one on the index)....however, the address at death, 184 Hilltown is pretty close to Robert's address in his 1869 MC which shows as 194 Hilltown! You also have the two witnesses, William Graham and Margaret Thomson. Hard to say how they connect although they are both family surnames.
The BIG problem that we are having here is being unable to trace any family group through the BMDs and censuses. Whilst we may have found one possible group in one census, they then 'disappear' from subsequent censuses making it difficult to verify ages etc.
On Elizabeth Hunter, if we do have the right entry for her and Robert in 1871, then his birth place is showing as Irish
It may just be a co-incidence on names that an entry shows on IGI for the 1842 birth in Tillicoultry. Robert's age on his MC in 1869 is 23 which then fits the age on the 1871 census entry of 25. This would then give him a birth yr of c. 1846.
Margaret, we are going round and round on this one. I've spent a long time on the census indexes and other than what we have found to date, there's not much more that is connecting at the moment sadly.
Have you managed to find Robert and Elizabeth's DCs in NZ (not sure how much info they contain)? Also, you have a date for their crossing of 1877. Was there any specific info on the manifest as to where they were born?
Regards.
Monica
PS Elizabeth's father James is showing as a Stone
Polisher on the 1869 MC. This occupation, like many, will probably have different translations in the censuses etc. Given that he is the only one showing as alive at the time of Elizabeth's marriage, you might want to check on the censuses indexes to see whether you can find him post 1869 (oh I've tried
)