William Pool b. Annan about 1814

[micksheff]

I researched the Pool side my family a few years ago and I’m just trying to pick it up again but I can’t get beyond my 3 x great grandfather William Pool who was born in Annan around 1814. I think his mother was Janet Irving and I’ve often wondered if he was perhaps illegitimate as I’ve never been able to find a father.

What I do know about William is that he married Isabella Pool b. 1838 in Annan. She was over 20 years younger than him and according to family folklore she was his cousin,. Her father was Robert Pool b. about 1802 so if William and Isabella really were cousins then Robert and William must have been brothers. I can’t find any record of Robert’s parents either so now seem to be stuck.

I believe that William and Isabella are buried in the same grave along with many of their children in Annan’s Old Cemetery.

If anyone has more info I'd be very grateful and happy to share all that I know.

[loobylooayr]

Scotlands People's website - a pay to view site - £7 for 30 credits might have info on your William Pool and Robert Pool.
If William married Isabella 1855 or thereafter their marriage cert should be online. This would give you who both William and Isabella named as their parents.
Also if both Pool men died in Scotland after 1855 their death cert. should also be available to view online. Again , whoever registered the death would provide details of their parents. This might help your search and link William and Isabella as cousins or not . These certificates would also give an indication of the men's ages.

I have found Robert with Isabella in the household on the 1841 Census in Annan...but could not find a William with an approx birth date 1814. Of course he could be out of Scotland at the time of the Census.
http://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
Isabella's age is recorded as 6 which gives a year of birth as 1834/35.

Good hunting
Looby

[Iandj]

There is a William Pool (born 1814) recorded in the 1851 census as living at Newbie Barns, Annan with Janet Irving, his mother.  The household includes another son for Janet Irving, called Robert Thomson (born 1808).  There is also an Irving Carlyle (born 1835), who is said to be also Janet Irving's son and whose father is said to be a William Pool.

Could it be that Robert's father has died (or vanished, for whatever reason) and that Janet has remarried?  And could it be that the census enumerator meant that Irving Carlyle is Janet's grandson and the child of her son, William?

As to the later relationships, I've found that it's not unusual for cousins to marry in this period and I have found at least one example in my own family of someone marrying her brother-in-law after her sister died.

Iandj

[Iandj]

According to the death record, William Pool died 27 Oct 1888 at the age of 77 years (so he was born in 1811).  His son, Robert, was present at the death.

William was a fisherman and his wife was Isabella Pool.  His parents were Matthew Pool, a farmer, and Janet Irving. 

[micksheff]

Hi Iandj

Thanks for the information. The William Pool at Newbie Barns is definitely the right one. My Grandmother was born at the same property in 1923 so that house stayed in the same family for many years. I don't know who Irving Carlyle is but he cannot be Janet's son as she would have been to old when he was born in 1835. It's possible he is William's son but would he not then have the surname Pool?
 
I have since found information regarding Newbie Barns from 1841 which shows two different sets of Pools which must all be related somewhere

Number of Parish 812 - 11
Page 5
Dwelling: Hayknowd Farm House

Name/age/occupation/whether born in county
William POOL 65 farmer yes
Janet POOL 40 yes
Mary POOL 18 yes
Elisabeth POOL 16 yes
William POOL 15 yes
Agniss POOL 13 yes
Ann POOL 12 yes
Janet POOL 7 yes
Irving POOL (female) 5 yes
David POOL 6 mths yes
Ann POOL 20 fs. yes

Page 5
Dwelling: Croft Heads Farm House

Name/age/occupation/whether born in county
James POOL 40 farmer yes
Margaret POOL 30 yes
Mary POOL 12 yes
Nancy POOL 10 yes
Margaret POOL 8 yes
John POOL 6 yes
William POOL 4 yes
Thomas RODGERSON 45 Ag. Lab. yes
William LOCKERBY 15 Ag. Lab. yes
Mary GRAHAM 15 Ag. Lab. yes

Dwelling: Newbie Barns
Name/age/occupation/whether born in county
Robert THOMSON 34 fisher yes
Janet IRVING 71
yes
Elisabeth BRYDEN 15 yes
John FLINT 35 Ag. Lab. yes
Mary FLINT 30
yes
Margaret FLINT 7
yes
John FLINT 5
yes
Joan FLINT 3
yes
Robert FLINT 11 mths. yes

Janet Irving seems to be living in a different household nearby. The mystery deepens...

[cupcake]

micksheff

Have just looked at the Memorial Inscriptions for Annan Old Burial Ground. This maybe your Isabella & William. Sadly not much information.

79 
In memory of Isabella BLACKBURN spouse to William POOL in Girthend [?] who died in ....... aged 70years. And...... Stone missing


cupcake

[Iandj]

There seem to be a number of branches of the Pool family, and I know one or two other people have been investigating some of them. I am distantly connected by marriage to George Pool (born 1835) of Dornock, who had a farm at Swordwell.

I had never heard of Girthend, Cupcake, but it seems to have been an old parish in the Annan area. I found an interesting reference at the following link:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Nf0zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA547&lpg=PA547&dq=Girthend,+dumfries&source=bl&ots=e3Wn6a5LK-&sig=6DJkVqI2DoxSdE_hZD_LzDpcTwo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mV1_UcqIBMeP0AW1yoGQCA&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Girthend%2C%20dumfries&f=false

[William 4th]

William and Isabella Pool were also my grandparents several times removed and I believe Williams father was Matthew whose occupation ranged from Sea Captain(a sloop apparently), a farmer or a fisherman. My surname is Pool born in Annan. Father also William, gf Alexander, ggf William & gggf Matthew. Then I'm stumped at the moment.

[Robert Pool]

Back in the mid 1980s when l first started to trace my family tree the only way to do it was to go Registrar House in Edinburgh. You would fill in a request slip and wait  ... and wait. In between the 'wait times' l started to take notes from the BDM books and created a list of Pool entries. In the late 1990s l created a website and uploaded all the info l had collected. The link is below and for those 'Pool / poole / Poull' family members out there this may be of some help. I am NOT claiming this to be a complete list but i'm pretty sure l noted all the entries in every given year book that l looked at. This site has not been updated since 8/1/2001 as l have not been back to Edinburgh since then. Anyway l hope these records are of help to someone.  Robert David Pool

http://thepoolfamilydatabase.20m.com/index.htm