Hi Kevin, it is a while since my last post but I think I have stumbled upon a connection to the next generation in this branch of the Mackison family tree. It strengthens the link with St.Ninians.
I now believe that we have persuasive evidence, albeit indirect and not conclusive, that James Mackison (who married Janet Forfar in Bannockburn, St.Ninians in 1813) was the son of James Mackison who married Margaret Sharp in St.Ninians in 1781. Also that as well as his brother John he had two sisters –Catherine and Ann.
In May I was contacted by Amanda from Ontario, Canada who is tracing her Eadie family history. This is the information that she provided about an Eadie-Mackison connection and our line of enquiry thereafter in respect of the Mackison family in Bannockburn.
1. John Eadie (Grieve at Whitestoun Farm) married Ann Mackison (at Kippenross) in 1807 in Dunblane.
2. Helen Thomson Cairns nee Eadie, the daughter of John Eadie (farmer, deceased) and Ann Eadie (ms Mackeison, deceased) died in 1869.
3. Helen’s death certificate was witnessed by Hugh Forsyth, 'uncle', of Bannockburn.
4. The 1861 Census describes Hugh Forsyth of Bannockburn as a Woollen Manufacturer (employing 20 females), age 47. His wife is named as Catherine Forsyth, aged 62, born in Bannockburn (ergo born circa 1799). The couple also appear in the 1841, 1871 and 1881 Censuses. No children are recorded.
5. In the 1851 Census Hugh Forsyth's wife is listed as Catherine McKison (age 51, born in St.Ninians, Stirlingshire). This seems to be Catherine Forsyth recorded under her maiden name.
6. Hugh Forsyth married Catherine Mackieson in St.Ninians in 1837.
(Note that this entry did not appear in a general search of the ScotlandsPeople database for Mackison marriages in St.Ninians because ‘Mackison’ had been incorrectly transcribed as ‘Mackiesow’).
7. It follows that Hugh Forsyth was the uncle of Helen Thomson Cairns nee Eadie through marriage i.e. his wife Catherine Forsyth nee Mackison was a sister of Ann Eadie nee Mackison.
8. Catherine Forsyth nee Mackison died in 1888 age 91 (ergo born circa 1797). Her death certificate gives her parent's names as James Mackison (Distillery Labourer, deceased) and Margaret Mackison (ms Sharp, deceased).
9. The marriage of James Mackison and Margaret Sharp in 1781 is recorded in the parish register for St.Ninians.
10. Hugh Forsyth died in 1891. He left a will (dated 1892). One of his bequests was to the widow of John Eadie in Gartness (Killearn, Stirlingshire), who we know was the son of John and Ann Eadie, and therefore the nephew of Hugh Forsyth.
11. Hugh Forsyth also left a bequest to Robert Mackison in Gartness. We know from the Census records (1861, 1871 and 1881 when Robert was in Gartness) that he was born in Bannockburn circa 1835. From the 1841 and 1851 Census, when Robert was in Bannockburn, we know that his mother was Janet Mackison and his elder siblings were James, Thomas, Margaret, Janet, Ann, John and Walter Mackison. This is the family of James Mackison married in Bannockburn in 1813.
12. Hugh Forsyth also left a bequest to Ann Mackison in Bannockburn, St.Ninians. Presumably this was the same Ann Mackison noted above, sister of Robert.
13. It seems a reasonable inference that Robert Mackison and Ann Mackison were related to James Forsyth through his wife Catherine Forsyth nee Mackison. Unfortunately the relationship is not explicitly stated in the will but given their ages Catherine would appear to be their aunt.
14. Therefore it follows that Robert and Ann’s father -James Mackison (husband of Janet Forfar) was related to Ann Eadie nee Mackison and Catherine Forsyth nee Mackison. Presumably they were siblings. In other words James’ parents were James Mackison and Margaret Sharp married in St.Ninians in 1781.
This is of course not conclusive evidence of the relationships between James Mackison senior & Margaret Sharp and Catherine, Ann, John and James Mackison junior. It is a somewhat tortuous connection but I am convinced of its veracity. Like most family history breakthroughs it raises more questions than it answers.
a) We might assume that James Mackison senior was in his 20-30s when he married in 1781 but no baptism for a James Mackison is recorded in the St.Ninians parish register in the period 1740-60s.
b) James Mackison senior was described as a ‘Distillery Labourer’ in his daughter Catherine’s death certificate. The writing is faint so I can’t be absolutely sure that I have made this out correctly but if it is it would be interesting to speculate which distillery he worked at. There was one I believe in Cowie, near Bannockburn that closed in the 1860s. On the other hand it might have been one of the Alloa distilleries.
c) Presumably Ann Eadie nee Mackison was born in Bannockburn like her sister Catherine but when she married John Eadie in 1807 she was working at Kippenross in Dunblane (as a dairymaid according to one account). Several generations of a Mackison family lived in Kilbryde in Dunblane, which made me wonder if there was a connection.
d) Before cousins John Eadie and Robert Mackison arrived in Gartness, Killearn two of Robert’s older brothers, James Mackison (later of Alloa) and John (later of Galashiels), also lived there briefly. I wonder what drew them all to Killearn.
Jim