Keiths in Halkirk

[Tom Huygens]

Hi everyone,

my 5th great-grandmother, Margaret Keith, married in Edinburgh in 1788.
On the entry in the parish registers, we are told that she is the daughter of "Alexander Keith, taylor in the parish of Hallkirk".
I did not find any Hallkirk in the surroundings of Edinburgh, so I suppose Halkirk, Caithness, is the parish which was meant. There are quite a number of Keiths in and around Halkirk, so that is probably correct.

I don't seem to find him though...
There is an Alexander Keith who married Agnus or Ann Millar in Olrig in 1754, and had at least two daughters in Halkirk. No further information on the couple.
There is also a George Keith who had several children in Halkirk, among whom an Alexander. It is a very seducing thought to link them together as brothers or cousins...

Is there anyone out there who has already done some research on the Keith family? The available records online being rather limited, I don't know how to proceed...
I paid for scotlandspeople at one point, but that didn't bring up much either.

Regards,
Tom

[Skoosh]

Aye you're in the right place Tom, Hakrig to the locals you might find it written thus.

Skoosh.

[jennywren001]

Tom,
Any chance that could have been Falkirk 28 miles from Edinburgh?

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT2S-1MG

Jen

[Tom Huygens]

Tom,
Any chance that could have been Falkirk 28 miles from Edinburgh?

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT2S-1MG

Jen

Hey Jen,

interesting... I'll have to look into that.
Though the marriage does clearly say Hallkirk...

Regards,
Tom

[jennywren001]

Hi Tom,
Nice clear writing for sure. It's just when you say Halkirk and Falkirk they sound similar -  well at least to my ears.
Jen

[Wred]

Hi Tom

Sorry to say Halkirk parish registers for baptisms start 1770 probably just too late for Margarets birth. Marriages start about 1772.

See http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//research/list-of-oprs/list-of-oprs-1-56.pdf

Is there a change Margaret lived to good age and was on 1851 census or even better dies after 1855 for statutory death register?

[Tom Huygens]

Hi Tom

Sorry to say Halkirk parish registers for baptisms start 1770 probably just too late for Margarets birth. Marriages start about 1772.

See http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//research/list-of-oprs/list-of-oprs-1-56.pdf

Is there a change Margaret lived to good age and was on 1851 census or even better dies after 1855 for statutory death register?

I missed this reply, sorry about that...

Unfortunately, I believe Margaret died before the 1841 census. On that, both she and her husband David Gibson are missing, but their children are there.
It is quite certain they moved to London at some point. While their first 5 children are born in Scotland, the last one was born in St James Westminster. The penultimate is uncertain. Of their 8 children, 2 are untraceable (they probably died young?) and 6 have been found in and around Westminster.

I haven't found their deaths yet, but there is a Margaret Gibson who died in St James Westminster in 1835. Her abode is Peter Street (Soho), which is off Wardour Street. It so happens that their eldest son, Stuart, wrote an application to emigrate to South-Africa in 1819. The residence he gave on that, was 103 Wardour Street. This is... the house on the corner with Peter Street.
I am quite certain this is her.
She is 65 years old on her burial record, so born around 1770.
Her marriage was in 1788, so it is quite possible that she was born in 1769-1770, just before the baptism records start. It is even more probable that she was born around 1767 rather than 1770.

At this time I have accepted the aforementioned Alexander Keith and Ann Millar as her "probable" parents. Mainly because there is no other Alexander Keith in Halkirk who would fit the bill. I am now trying to find some proof of his occupation. If he is confirmed as a tailor, it becomes more certain that he is actually her father.
There seem to be people on ancestry who put her and her parents in Nigg (Kincardine), but I don't know where that info came from. It seems a bit weird for a family based in Nigg to split up, the daughter going to Edinburgh to marry and the parents going to Halkirk way up north. Putting her with the existing Keiths in Halkirk makes more sense I think. Especially since Halkirk is explicitly mentioned on her marriage record.

Regards,
Tom