Author Topic: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)  (Read 18235 times)

Offline Hendo

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #27 on: Monday 03 February 14 23:04 GMT (UK) »
Hi Looby
At last a question I can answer (with confidence).  Jane's sister Margaret Hamilton married Alexander Charters in Laurieston, parish of Balmaghie in 1829.   When I couldn't locate Jane & Ann in Peebles in the 1841 census, my first thought was her sister in Balmaghie.  That worked for the 1851 & 1861 census, but that was as far as I got.
Thanks again for your help.
Rob
Henderson, Cunningham, McNaught, Chartres, Lilburne, Porteous, Higham, Saw

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #28 on: Monday 03 February 14 23:13 GMT (UK) »
That explains the move to Balmaghie.
I wondered why Jane and Ann would end up there and thought there had to be a family connection.
Did Margaret and Alexander Charters go to Australia too?
Looby :)

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #29 on: Monday 03 February 14 23:27 GMT (UK) »
I am now racking my brains ???
I came across the name Chartres when looking for Jane and Annie the other day ( very similar to Charters). I almost made a post asking if the name meant anything to you. Now I can't remember where I saw it :-[  .
Going to have a coffee and a good think,
Looby :)

Offline Hendo

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #30 on: Tuesday 04 February 14 01:55 GMT (UK) »
Hi Looby
Yes Margaret (Hamilton) Chartres came to Bung Bong, Victoria, Australia with her daughter Agnes in 1861.  Jane (Hamilton) Ferguson & daughter Ann came out a lot later, 1870.  The name Chartres was an innovation from the early to mid 1800s.  Prior to that & often beyond that time the original name of Charters was used.  Even on some records in Australia one can find Charters for one family member and Chartres for another.  The Charters family of Balmaghie has an illustrious past dating back to the 1600s.  The estate was known as Duchrae then.  Now known as Hensol Estate.
There is a castle/mansion and numerous farm on the estate.
Cheers
Rob
Henderson, Cunningham, McNaught, Chartres, Lilburne, Porteous, Higham, Saw


Online Millmoor

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #31 on: Tuesday 04 February 14 09:40 GMT (UK) »
The census for 1851 in Balmaghie has been transcribed by Maxwell Ancestry. It is a useful site for the south of Scotland. Might be worth looking at. The searches are free!

William


http://www.maxwellancestry.com/census/default.htm
Dent (Haltwhistle and Sacriston), Bell and Jetson (Haltwhistle), Postle, Ward, Longstaff, Purvis, Manners, Parnaby and Hardy (Co. Durham), Kennedy and McRobert (Banffshire), Reid(Bathgate), Watson (Wemyss), Graham (Libberton), Sandilands (Carmichael), Munro (Dingwall)

Offline loobylooayr

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #32 on: Tuesday 04 February 14 10:19 GMT (UK) »
Hi Rob,
Remembered where I came across the name - and it was actually Charteris.
I found a marriage in Dumfriesshire of a Jean (Jane&Jean were interchangeable names) Hamilton to a John Charteris . But it was not your Jane.
I'd been considering an earlier marriage for Jane , wondering if she had already been widowed prior to William Ferguson. For let's face, in the early/mid 1800s Scotland, Jane was at approx 38 quite elderly :P for being a first time mum ( this comes from a Scottish lass who gave birth at 38!). But during those times most women were married young and giving birth throughout their 20's to 40's. Therefore I wondered if Annie was the result of a second marriage. But I haven't came across any evidence of that - the above Charteris couple were having children in the 1830s and 40s and are on the Censuses.
It could have been that Jane was never married , that Annie was called by her father's surname and that Jane took the surname and called herself a widow to appear "respectable". This would not have been unusual :). Have you found an OPR of either a marriage for Jane or a birth for Annie?
Might be that none exists. Not everyone was married by the parish church minister. Not all births were recorded by the parish. :( Not great for us family history researchers.
Same applies for records/MI's for John Hamilton & Anna Scott, unfortunately. Not to say there won't be any, but....good chance there's not.
Have you came across this website  http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/
Scroll down to where it reads For Non Subscribers. Browse scanned pages . Click on it. Then you can search by Parish name i.e Keir or Peebles. You will have a choice of 2 reports to read from different years - circa 1790s and 1830s/40s written by the Parish minister. They can make fascinating reading and although it's unusual for a person to be named it gives you a flavour of life and conditions in the parish (the ministers are always complaining about drink!).
The Rev. Adamson of Newton Midlothian, who I suspect Jane could be employed by at the time of the 1841 Census, has written the report on Newton Feb 1845.
*Warning* Reading these reports can become highly addictive ;D ;D. I spent hours on this site!

Looby :)

Offline Hendo

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #33 on: Thursday 06 February 14 05:02 GMT (UK) »
Hi Looby & William
Thanks for the link to Maxwell Ancestry.  I spent a fair bit of time on there last night.  No new discoveries yet.  The Jean Hamilton & John Charteris was not connected to our Charters/Hamilton family (as far as I know).  The Charters family has a considerable history in the Balmaghie distict, but that doesn't mean members didn't go further afield.  The name Charteris does appear in Balmaghie so there is every possibility of a connection.  Ironically, Ann Ferguson (Jane Hamilton's daughter) married William Chartres in Victoria, Australia.

With reference to a prior marriage for Jane (Hamilton) Ferguson, her death registration only lists one marriage to William Ferguson in Peeblesshire, Scotland at 36 years of age.  It also states that she was born in Peeblesshire & had only been in Victoria for 5 years when she died. 
Interestingly, the 1851 & 1861 Balmaghie census shows her birthplace as Keir, Dumfriesshire & daughter Ann as born in Peebles, Peeblesshire.  Both death registration state the opposite.  The informant for Jane's death was her nephew George Henderson (my gg grandfather).  The informant for Ann's death was the undertaker from Avoca, HF Glassen (as husband William had predeceased her in 1904).  I believe that the census was correct (same info 10 years apart) & the informants may have got it wrong.  This may leave the door open for a previous marriage in Peebles.
As you enquired previously and I'm not sure if I gave you the info, I have been unable to find a birth reg for Jane, marriage reg for Jane to William Ferguson or birth reg for Ann.  I have searched both under the name Hamilton & Ferguson.

Thanks for the link the Statistical Accounts of Scotland.  I have been on this site a few years ago but had lost the link.  It's great & gives good description of life in the Parish.
I'll have to do some more browsing. 

I have searched fruitlessly for a link between Jane Hamilton & Helen Hamilton & Keir, specifically John Hamilton & Anna Scott (Jane, Margaret & John Hamilton's parents) on Ancestry, ScotlandsPeople, LDS, etc.  I even found a wife (Christina McKenzie) for John & Helen Stobie's eldest son, John on Ancestry.  They were married in1866) in Cannongate, Edinburgh. Unfortunately, the only info relevant to the Hamiltons that I was able to glean from the certificate was that his parents were John Stobie (stonemason journeyman deceased) & Helen Hamilton (deceased).

I'll keep plodding on and thanks again for all your wonderful help.
Cheers
Rob
 



Henderson, Cunningham, McNaught, Chartres, Lilburne, Porteous, Higham, Saw

Offline jamesfreid

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #34 on: Wednesday 30 April 14 23:50 BST (UK) »
I am descended from John Hamilton (b. 1810 in the parish of Keir, d. 1877 in Elma twp., Perth county, Ontario, Canada), son of John Hamilton and Anna Scott of Windsover, near Auldgirth in the parish of Keir, Dumfries-shire. He moved to Peebles in the 1830s where his older brothers George and James lived. He and George later emigrated to Canada in 1854, while James stayed in Peebles.

John mentioned his parents as John Hamilton and Anna at his second marriage in 1883 and also in the Scottish census records in Peebles (1851) it mentions his birthplace as Keir, Dumfries. The parish registers of Dumfries then show a John, son of John Hamilton and Anna Scott of Windsover in the parish of Keir. This John would be the brother of the emigrants to Australia.

Windsover cottages date from the early 1800s and are listed buildings. I wonder if there are any property records that give further information on our elusive couple?

Jamie Reid

Offline Hendo

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Re: William Ferguson (c1800 - pre 1851)
« Reply #35 on: Friday 02 May 14 00:38 BST (UK) »
Hi William
Re the marriage of John HAMILTON to Jessie M, Ancestry has her surname recorded as NOICE.  I have studied the marriage registration and it appears to read 'ANNICE'.  I notice there was no death date listed for Jessie M & they married in Elma when she was 65.  She was born in Scotland to William & Mary ? ANNICE.  Do you have any further data that could shed some light on this issue?

The other issue with John HAMILTON, I have him as the brother of Margaret (HAMILTON) CHARTRES born in Keir, Dumfriesshire & farmers wife in Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire who emigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1861 with her daughter Agnes (CHARTRES) HENDERSON & 2 grandchildren Margaret & Alexander on the Great Tasmania.
Hope this helps & am looking forward to your thoughts re NOICE vs ANNICE.
Best regards
Rob
 
Henderson, Cunningham, McNaught, Chartres, Lilburne, Porteous, Higham, Saw