John Steel and Mary Neilson

[blackfacesheep]

! am very new to family research and I'm trying to find information on my great grandparents. My great grandfather, John Steel, was born in 1836 in Barony, Lanark, and I believe his parents to be John Steel and Mary Neilson. Does anyone have information about this family line?

[CaroleW]

Hi and welcome to Rootschat

You say that "you believe" his parents were John & Mary.  If he married after 1855 - his parents names will be shown on his marriage cert plus his mothers maiden name.

Who did John junior marry and when?

You can search for his marriage on Scotlands People but will have to purchase credits to view the entry

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

The 1841 for Barony only has one entry in that age range (1835)  and parents were John & Grace

There is an entry b 1838 - parents John & Mary and another b 1839 parents James and Ann

[ev]

hi all 

a welcome from me as well

online trees have his wife as sarah jane owens
but no one seems to have their marriage or john's death 
early children born england , later ones born scotland
john born 19th aug. 1836 barony glasgow

ev

[blackfacesheep]

Thank you CaroleW and ev. 
That is a great start for me even though it adds to the confusion.  I have John Steel as born in "Barony,Lanark,Scotland" on !9th August 1836 and his parents are listed as John Steel and Mary Neilson. This info came from api.familysearch.org.  My father, Alexander Garroch Steel (born Birkenhead, Cheshire 1904), passed away in 1983 without passing on much information, other than that his father's name was Robert Neilson Steel (born Lancashire) and his mother was Mary Jane McGuigan (born Scotland).  I have been trying to trace possible forebears from this scant information.

[Rufous Treecreeper]

Hi Blackfacesheep

Had a look on the IGI and found the following, (all are extracted entries, so from the registers themselves rather than submitted by other researchers);

John Steel married Mary Neilson 26 Jul 1831 Barony, Lanarkshire, her father listed as John Neilson
children of John and Mary;
Margaret Baird Steil [sic] born 7 May 1832 Barony
Mary Steel born 7 Dec 1833 Barony
Marion Steel born 24 Jan 1835 Barony
John Steel born 19 Aug 1836 Barony
Jeanie Steel born 22 Apr 1838 Barony
Isabella Steel born 30 Jan 1840 Barony

Best to double check IGI entries on Scotland's People of course.

Mo 

[blackfacesheep]

Thank you Momamg.
A cousin in Birkenhead has told me that we are related to James Beaumont Neilson but we thought he might be drawing a rather long bow.  Now, perhaps not.  Such a connection might explain why the family retained Neilson as a middle name (ie. to capitalise on the fame  Could Mary Neilson's father be a brother of James Beaumont?
My father told me that his older brothers were nicknamed
"The Steel Warriors" for their war service to Britain and their seafaring pursuits.  Their father, Robert Neilson Steel, was also in seafaring and sailed on the windjammers to Australia from the Birkenhead docks in the late 1800s. My father was in the RAN and retired as head of naval intelligence in Sydney.

[Rufous Treecreeper]

Your welcome 

Looked some more for your family.  There is an extensive tree on An*try but you'd need to do your own detective work through Scotland's People to verify.  Tried to find them in census without much luck but a possible 'hit' (info from transcript not original record);

1841 Census Glasgow St Peter, York Street
John Steel age 40 shoemaker born Lanarkshire
Mary Steel 7 b. Lanarkshire
Merion Steel 6 b. Lanarkshire
John Steel 4 b. Lanarkshire
Jean Steel 3 b. Lanarkshire
Mary Park 16 b. Lanarkshire
Euphemia McPherson 25 b. Scotland

Don't know where mother Mary is, or daughters Margaret 9 and Isabella 0-1

Mo

[Maggie1895]

Blackfacesheep,
Starting with your father and working back I've found your grandparent's marriage, but although your grandfather was born in Lancashire they actually married in Scotland.
19 March 1890. 
Robert Steel, a Seaman in the Merchant Service who was a widower (which may come as a surprise to you)
Mary Jane McGuigan, age 26, was a Spinster and described herself as a Dressmaker.
The marriage appears to have taken place at Mair or Muir Street in Govan, in Glasgow.
Robert's father was John Steel, Chief Officer in the Merchant Service, and his mother was Jane Steel, MS (maiden surname) Owens, so that ties in with the information Momamg has already found for you, and the family story you started with.
Mary's father was Thomas McGuigan, who was deceased but his occupation had been Livestock Dealer, and her mother was Margaret Myles.   Her mother had obviouly married since Thomas McGuigan's death as she gives 3 surnames, Margaret Myles, previously McGuigan, MS McKie
What I find fascinating is that the Minister who officiated was the Minister of the church where my own great great grandfather was working as a City Missionary at the time
If you go to SP (scotlandspeople.gov.uk) you can do the search and look at the original record.   You need to register, which is free, as is initial searching, but you need to buy credits to look at the results you want to view in detail.   This would be worth your while viewing as it will give you a copy of the original certificate.

Added:  Sorry, I should have given you the reference for the marriage certificate.  It's 646/01 0037.
Based on the information on that you should now be able to find more detail on John Steel and Jane Owens because if, with luck, they married in Scotland as well you will be able to find their marriage with details of their parents, which may add to what Momamg has already found. (or may not, there's a lot already been posted).
I've also sent you a PM (personal message).  Look at the very top line of the site, at the right hand corner, and it should tell you there is something in your site inbox

[ev]

i did notice this possible marriage on freeBMD when searching before
john steel/jane owens liverpool 1st quarter 1858
however there are another 2 people on the page so not sure about that 

ev