Gillon Family

[colliersbairn]

Hi Liz,
That was my first thought that they had named their children after the laird and his wife.  I can't see them naming their child after a fourteen year old even if he would inherit down the road.  I suspect the connection is actually through the Grays.  I wouldn't be surprised if my Elisabeth Gray is actually niece to your Agnes Gray. The facts as we know them are - William Gillon is baptised in Bathgate, he marries Elisabeth Gray somewhere in 1812 and his first child is born in Slamannan.  Suspect he is the grandson of one of the Wallhouse Gillons.  Your James Scott married Jean Bell of Slamannan whose mother is a Gray, and they include the name Gillon in their family.  It is quite possible that the Grays worked for the Gillons in some capacity.  Our family christian names are the same.  John Gillon and Margaret Anderson named their children James, Andrew, John, William and Henry.  John's son John Gillon also named a son Walter, and Henry continues in William's side with Henriette.  Strangely enough William Downe Gillon went on to marry a Scott.

[Liz F]

I'll have a closer look at my Gray family as I haven't got past Agnes born c1755. My family tree is on GenesReunited and Rootsweb if you are interested.
Liz

[colliersbairn]

Hi Liz,
I had a look at your tree on Rootsweb.  I suspect that Agnes Gray was the daughter of William Gray and Agnes Allen.  However, as I said, the records for Torphichen and Bathgate are very bad.  There are large swatches that are missing or totally inadequate.  I'm going from memory here but I believe there wasn't even a decent marriage register until the 1800's which is why there are so many seemingly unrecorded marriages.  Family Search has a neat feature which allows you to see which registers or dates are missing.

[colliersbairn]

It's been a year but I've answered my own question on who was John Gillon who married Margaret Anderson in 1777 in Muiravonside.  On the marriage entry it states John Gillon in Bathgate and Margaret Anderson of this parish.  However, on checking Margaret Anderson's birth in Muiravonside in 1752, I found the page contained all the christenings in Muiravonside from 1747 to 1754.  It must have been a small community.  In it, as both parent and witness were John GLEN.  He had a son John christened 26 May 1751 and the witnesses were James Anderson (Margaret's father) and Andrew Stewart.  At Margaret's christening 15 Oct 1752 Andrew Stewart is a witness and John Glen was entered but scratched out.  I guess for some reason he couldn't attend.  I don't have direct proof but I suspect that John Gillon was actually John Glen, the godson of James Anderson and husband to James' daughter Margaret.  It really does pay to actually look at the physical page of the Old Parish Registers and not go just on IGI entries.  I will cross post to the Stirlingshire list.

[Siward]

Hi All

Just a small update from something I have seen of recent regarding Gillon.

I had a look at The Arthur Family Tree of Torphichen, something strange going on here.
Perhaps this could be evidence that couples in the area of Wallhouse as you have said, are naming their children after the Laird of Wallhouse's family.

133. William Downe Gillon, son of Robert Hay and Magdlane Arthur of Walhouse, baptised March 4, 1804.

135. Robert Hay and Madline Arthur of Walhouse had a son baptised July 28, 1805 called John.

140.  Robert Hay and Magdlane Arthur of Walhouse Gate had a son born on October 18, 1807 and baptised November 8 called Andrew Gallon.

149.  Robert Hay and Magdalane Arthur of Walhouse Gate had a son born April 20, 1810 and baptised April 30 called James.

Would that make William Downe Gillon, really William Downe Gillon Hay, or later branches
and decendents, are not really Gillon's, but someother surname? Very confusing

[colliersbairn]

I think the name was William Downe Gillon Hay.  I found the 1841 and 1851 census for a William Hay and wife Agnes with their son Robert in Torphichen.  As he named his eldest son Robert, it appears this is the son of Robert Hay.  He and his wife did not have many children.