Margaret Leishman, born around 1844, Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire

[ev]

Yes , from what I can see Elizabeth died before the start of the offical records(1855)
She gives her age as 43 and birthplace as Kilsyth Stirlingshire on the 1851 Census.
This could be her but nothing to back that up 

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XT2Z-Y7P

ev

[MissMacCallum]

OK. So, there has been some time since I've been working on this particular branch of the family, but when I today found the death certificate of Margaret Leishman (mentioned earlier in this post), her mothers name is given as someone other than the one on her marriage license..

To sum Margaret up: b. 1844 (Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire), d. 1919 (Kilsyth, Stirlingshire.) Until now believed to be the daughter of William Leishman and Elizabeth McIntosh. Married James Gilfillan in 1868. Elizabeth stated as the mother on the marriage license.

The mothers name given on the death certificate on the other hand, is Jean Boyd. Never heard of this lady before. Williams wife Elizabeth dies in 1853, and he doesn't die until 1884, so of course there is a possibility that he remarried, but I haven't found any record of a marriage between William and Jean Boyd. And certainly she wouldn't be named as the mother on her possible stepdaughters certificate?

All other info on the marriage and death certificates matches up. Father, husband, age, place ++

And to make matters worse I can't seem to find a birth certificate for Margaret with either of the possible mothers' names. So confused!

Help?

[excel]

Hello again. It's always good to leave a difficult search for a while and return to it later. You seem to have made progress which has then thrown up another puzzle!
I had a look at the census returns this morning and found this in the 1861 census:
William Leishman b c 1805 New Monkland, Cotton Weaver
Jean Jack, wife, b c 1806 Cumbernauld
children: William 21; John 19; Alex 15; Ann 23; Margaret 17;
Boarder: Thomas From 8.
Jean Jack wasn't with him in 1871. Another puzzle! Haven't found her death so far.
When Margaret died in 1919 that was quite some time since her mother's death. Perhaps, James, her son and informant, only remembered a Jean being spoken about. That seems strange I know but it is the only reason I can come up with at the moment. Perhaps someone else will find out more.

[MissMacCallum]

Ahh, yes, I remember stumbling upon a Jean Jack earlier with that census! Didn't think anymore of it as she didn't "belong to the family", but maybe she did become a part of the family later on.

If it's the same William Leishman she marries, then they married 14.10.1853 (so that would be just after Elizabeth's' death that occurred sometime between 1851-1853.) Jean dies 02.10.1864, so that would be why she doesn't show up in the next census with William.

Could absolutely be a possible answer to the mystery.. I have no idea why her surname would be given as Boyd on the death certificate of Margaret, though. I have a lot of Boyd's in the family, but they belong on Margaret's husbands side. So, for the witness, her son - could he be mixing the family names? Haha. He remembers the name Jean as his "step grandmother" on his mothers side, and then gives her surname as Boyd, which was his grandmothers name on his fathers side. Margaret died of/with senility, so there might be some time since he has been given any information on the family at all.

[excel]

It seems that the pieces are beginning to fit together. It did happen that the wrong names were given by informants. I've had that in my research too.
Is there anything else at the moment?
Good luck with your search.
Rae

[MissMacCallum]

Yes, I think I have decided to go with the conclusion that William married twice, and that his grandson mixed the two (or three) grandmothers. It's seems the most likely answer at the moment.

Thank you for your input! Always helpful to get another persons thoughts on these mysteries