William Thorburn 1799 + Marion Lee or Margaret Sanderson

[Forfarian]

(I also note on Ancestry that there is a tree stating William and Marion are the couple in Polmont, Stirling in 1851 which is completely wrong.   That William was a Mason and not from Penicuik!!

We don't actually know for certain, do we, where the second one came from originally? We know only that his first appearance was in Edinburgh in 1819. Also, we don't know for certain when he was born. As he married in 1819 I would be looking for a birth rather earlier than 1799. Possibly around 1790-1795.

But certainly the one in Polmont isn't the husband of Marion Lee, because William Thorburn and Marion Allan had a daughter Agnes in Polmont in 1821, and all three of them are in both the 1841 and 1851 census in Polmont. Another example of why never to trust anything found on Ancestry unless it's an actual original document.

[Jonosue]

Sorry for the delay in replying to your last post. Hospital visit the reason!
Looks like this is one of those famous brick walls. I may have to come back to it another time; or my fellow researcher may have to go back and thoroughly revise his tree, poor chap.
Thank you for your efforts on our behalf.

[Forfarian]

For reference here's William & Margaret's family on the 1851 census: -
....
Jessie McIntyre, sister(?) 20 b Comrie servant

FreeCEN lists her as servant, not 'sister'.

It does seem to me that if we are quoting the census, we should also state which transcription we have taken it from.

[Jonosue]

I agree about the currier. I did some research and found he was the one who scraped the hair of the hides during the curing process - quite a skilled job, as the softness of the leather depended on how thin the finished product was; leather was used for making things as varied as buckets and gloves, so it was obviously important.
Thank you for the headsup on the 1851 census. I shall have a look at the original in Scotlands People. If it proves to say sister, that could open up a whole new line of enquiry!

[Forfarian]

Thank you for the headsup on the 1851 census. I shall have a look at the original in Scotlands People. If it proves to say sister, that could open up a whole new line of enquiry!

I will be very surprised if it does say 'sister' because FreeCEN is generally far more reliable than any other of the available transcriptions. As I understand it, anything on FreeCEN has been keyed twice, by two separate volunteers from the genealogical community, who are usually people familiar with local place names. If the two readings don't agree someone else looks at the original again to try to resolve it. Remaining queries are annotated in the transcription.

[Jonosue]

Just downloaded the original from Scotlands People, and it definitely says 'servant.' I am a bit disappointed. I saw a whole new avenue of possibilities opening up!

[MargP]

Hi

Have you checked to see if there is a Will for William, this may mention his children

Margp 

[MargP]

Hi

On SP there is a Death Record 16/4/1841 for

Marion Lee wife of William Thorburn occ Upholsterer

Margp

[Forfarian]

On SP there is a Death Record 16/4/1841 for Marion Lee wife of William Thorburn occ Upholsterer

Therefore Marion had died before the 1841 census on 7 June 1841, but William ought to be there unless he died within 6 weeks or so after his wife, in which case one would expect to find his death too.