Marion Woodburn - b. Ayr, Scotland, possibly 1819

[pollyhow]

Hello again Looby

I have seen on the news about the snow and storms in the UK at the moment. Would make life exciting I guess, so long as you can keep warm.

I too have been thinking about the Bonnyhill connection, and had another look at the John and Lilias Woodburn 1841 record. I noticed that their property “Cottage Inn” was two doors one side of the property “Bonnihill” occupated by the Paton family. However I also noticed that there was another Woodburn family two doors the other side of “Bonnihill.” This was the family of George and Agnes Woodburn and their address was “Ralstonhill.” I then studied the 1851 census and found the property (now spelled) “Bonnyhill”. The Patons were no longer there and “Bonnyhill” had been broken up into two properties – one was occupied by the family of William McHoul (farmer 6 Acres) and the other was occupied by the family of John Muir (land proprietor). In this 1851 census George and Agnes Woodburn were still two doors from “Bonnyhill” but I couldn’t find John & Lilly Woodburn.

I am guessing that the two Woodburn families who were there in 1841 were somehow related to Marion. As you know, the 1841 census shows she was working at Grange Street, Kilmarnock where she was working as a servant. At the time of her marriage to Thomas McCulloch in 1845 the marriage register shows her to be living at Bonnyhill, so she may have been living with one of these Woodburn families at the time of her marriage. I imagine that she had to give up her servant job when she became pregnant with Mary, so that may have been when she went to live with her relations. This is all guesswork on my part, of course, and would be almost impossible to verify.

I also wonder about her parents and suspect they weren't around by this time. It seems she was an only child, so I don't think she would have gone to Australia and left them with no children if they were still alive.

I have tried to find more information about Bonnyhill on the internet but can’t find much at all. I did see that article you directed us to which begins “From Bonnyhill, where the view is exceptionally fine…” It looks like a good read if you had the time. I did copy it onto my computer so may try breaking that long paragraph up into lots of smaller paragraphs to make it easier to read.

Polly

[IanB]

I will be away from home for the next week but I haven't lost interest. I'll catch up when I get back.
Ian

[pollyhow]

Sorry Looby

I have re-read your last post and now realise that you have seen the 1851 census and are aware of the Woodburns at Ralston Hill farm. I missed that information the first time I read your post.

I see you found that John and Lillias Woodburn had moved to another cottage in Kilmarnock by 1851. That's interesting.

If only we had something to connect them all. That would be good.

Polly

[pollyhow]

Happy holiday Ian.

Polly

[loobylooayr]

Good morning on a calmer morning ( so far    )

No worries Polly, no need to apologise, there has been a lot of information to read through and assimilate in the last few pages. I'm going to split my new info over 2 to 3 posts so it's not a huge block.

Firstly, I must apologise as I have had to re-assess exactly where Bonnihill is/was and it's a wee bit closer to Kilmarnock than I first thought. I hope this link works -   
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/sheet/first_edition/1856-95sheet22
Zoom in and find Kilmarnock area (circa 1856) - you can enlarge it and will see to the right/east of the town Ralstonhill Farm (home to George & Agnes) and Lawhill  - Bonnihill and Cottage Inn (home to John & Lilias) must be in that vicinity
Slightly to the west and nearer the town are South (Sth) Dean Farm and New Farm - I believe this is roughly the area where John and Lilias are living in 1851.

Another fantastic Kilmarnock map  http://www.dangly.com/kilmarnock/maps/kilmarno.htm
This dates from 1819 drawn by John Woods and has the names of householders included.
The top left segment has Grange Street and Morton Place on it. No Woodburns marked that I can see - but Thomas Morton engineer is included in Morton Place. You can see how close Marion and Thomas McCulloch could have been when she was working in Grange Street.

I'll close this post and move on.

Looby

Enjoy you break Ian. Look forward to your input/comments on your return 

[Joyful]

I have no connection to Marion but I am enjoying the mystery and the excellent research

being undertaken to 'place' Marion in the correct family and place.

I await the next development with eager anticipation

Joy

[loobylooayr]

Hi again Polly,

It's not going to be easy to 100% link Marion to either John Woodburn, Cottage Inn 1841 or George Woodburn ,Ralstonhill 1841. I can't , so far, even connect John and George to each other .
George is a Farmer, John an Agricultural Labourer. John could be working for George ?

Of course, you are correct, if Marion gave birth to Mary circa 1843 she would not have done so in the employ of the Woodburn ladies in Grange Street. If she was from near Bonnihill in 1845 when she marries it would make sense that she was living with one of the Woodburn families and they were related. Then again she could be living/working with one of the other families in the vicinity of Bonnihill.
I would have thought if she was at Ralston Hill farm when she married the OPR would have read Marion Woodburn from Ralstonhill , purely because it was a well established farm.

You suggest that Marion's parents are most likely dead when she emigrates as she would not have left them if she were the only child  .
Yes, her parents both could well be dead. But then again....if they were alive , either father or mother, I don't think that would have prevented Marion and hubby heading off to Australia. Mid/late 1840s were a hard time - potato famine - which affected Scotland as well as Ireland.

 I strongly suspect,with Marion naming a son John Woodburn McEwin, that her father was a John Woodburn. And with first child born in Scotland, Mary - i would reckon her mother is a Mary.

One other romanticized putting 2 + 2 together and making  17  .
John and Lilias Woodburn ( who I still consider strong contenders for Marion's father and step-mother) have a son Thomas born circa 1843/4. Could he be named in honour of Marion's intended??

Moving on to another contender.
Looby

PS - Just noticed your post Joy  . Welcome and feel free to chip in. I'm enjoying this mystery too. It's been just the tonic to keep me busy during the wild  and very wet weather and ward off the cabin fever 

[IanB]

A parting thought, only to keep all options open:  perhaps "Mary Anne" was her correct/birth name and she adopted the use of "Marion".
Ian

[loobylooayr]

To be honest Polly, for all that there are not that many Woodburns in Ayrshire....an awful lot of them are lurking around Kilmarnock, muddying up the waters and hard to connect to each other.

But here is another maybe !!!
1841 Kilmarnock - Clerks Lane

John Woodburn             age 50     Shoemaker         
Mary Woodburn             age 50
Robert Woodburn          age 15    Woolen Hand Loom Weavers Apprentice
Mary Woodburn             age 15   
James Woodburn           age 13
Janet Woodburn            age 10
John Stevenson             age 30    Bootmaker
all are born Ayrshire apart from John Stevenson.

This couple are John Woodburn and Mary Aird  https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTNQ-XXT
married 8 Sep 1810 Kilmarnock.
Three births to the couple on Familysearch -
John 1811, William 1815, James 1828. No others listed
This is son William on 1841-
Bentwick Street Kilmarnock * think that should be Bentinick Street
William Woodburn       age 25      Cotton Hand Loom Weaver   
Margret Woodburn      age 20
John Woodburn         age 4
Alexander Woodburn   age 2

These families can also be found on 1851 Census.

Now I know this John Woodburn is not a weaver but his family are. His wife is a Mary. I can't find oldest son John on Census - could be dead. There are obviously births to this couple with no Parish birth/christening record. Could Marion's be one of them?
Clerks Lane which was situated at College Wynd and was not that far from Grange Street. But Clerk's Lane where John and Mary live in 1851 too is nowhere near Bonnihill 

More to investigate I'm afraid

Bye for now,
Looby 

PS. Just noticed your comment Ian - and thanks - sometimes we can't see the Wood(burns) for the trees - of course you are right she could have been a MaryAnn (in fact that was the spelling on the shipping manifesto , if I remember correctly ). Another avenue to explore