I am very interested to read all these postings about the Neishan/Neisham families of Dumfries, and I already had a great deal of the information that was posted. I am not a Neisham descendant myself, but one of my family - George Mitchell McAllister - married Jane Neisham (daur of John N. and Helen Millar) in 1885. She was George's 2nd wife, and they had 2 children. The marriage witnesses were Mary Ann Mitchell and James Mitchell, and this peaked my interest. Our surname of Mitchell was originally Mitchelson (from Kirkcudbrightshire).
A second connection came to light. In the 1861 Census, a certain John Glancy/Glancey was boarding with my direct ancestors and then in June 1864 he married an Elizabeth Neishman. This Elizabeth Neishman (on Ancestry pedigrees) is shown as a daur of George and Margaret, but on her marriage certificate, she gives her parents as Thomas and Jane. I can't figure this out!
A third interest is in the James Mitchell, born in America circa 1889, who is the son of Mary Ann Cassels (or Casselis) Neisham, and who appears with her in the 1891 and 1901 Census. Was Mary Ann married to a Mitchell? She later marries a Mr. Grant.
Lastly, I was interested in Margaret Neisham's twins, who had the surname Douglas in the Census. A year after the twins were born (illegitimately), Catherine McAllister (sister of George Mitchell McAllister above) gave birth to an illegitimate daughter named Mary Douglas. I'd like to know who this unnamed Douglas was, who was fathering illegitimate children in Dumfries!
