After re-checking all info I have, I'm going to have another go at explaining the records I have and the discrepancies between them. Hoping that someone has suggestions for figuring out what's true and what's a cover up!
William Anderson and his wife Mary had 8 children between 1873 and 1891. The eldest daughter Hannah was born in Dunfermline, June 1873 all the rest were born in Edinburgh. On their birth registrations their mother is named as Mary Anderson M.S Sutherland. William is a plumber. The family are on the census at 11 James Court in 1881 and 1891.
Mary Anderson married to William Anderson, plumber, died of TB in James Court in Feb 1901, aged 46, reported by her son Robert. Her mother is named as Mary Sutherland (dec), infirmary nurse, no father's name.
William and Mary's marriage certificate: (marriage date 31 December 1872, registered in 1873) William Anderson, plumber, age 26, 15 Advocates Close married Mary Sutherland Sword, age 18, 14 Advocates Close, parents James Sword, cabinetmaker and Christina Sword, M.S. Sutherland. (Williams parents are both noted as deceased, neither of Mary's are stated to be deceased.) Witnesses were D? McDonald and M Aitchison.
Mary reported her mother's death in 1874 - she signs the certificate Mary Anderson, address in Dunfermline. The signature matches Mary's signature on her daughter Isabella's death certificate in 1891. Christina Sutherland, nurse Royal Infirmary, widow of John Sutherland, cabinetmaker, died 30 August 1874, age 46, Typhus.
I think I have found Christina on the 1871 and 1861 census. In each she's calling herself Christina Sutherland, saying that she's married and was born in Edinburgh. In 1861 she's 33, a shirtmaker, head of household with daughter Mary, aged 6. In 1871 she's a day nurse at the Royal Infirmary. The age is difficult to read, it could be 40 or 42.
So I have three certificates which relate to the same mother and daughter but with three different names for the mother. Mary Sutherland, Christina Sutherland and Christina Sword. Two of the three agree on nurse as her occupation and two of three agree her first name was Christina. I think it's reasonable to think that son Robert made a mistake with his grandmother's name when he reported Mary's death (He was born 3 years after his grandmother died). The documents from when Mary was alive report her mother as Christina, even if the surnames differ.
If her age at death is roughly correct, Christina would have been born around 1828. I searched on SP for marriages between Christ* no surname and James Sword between 1845 and 1874 anywhere in Scotland and got one result. DONALDSON CHRISTINA,SWORD JAMES, 1860 380/ 17 Methven
On the 1861 census, they are both aged 26, in Methven so that gives a birth year of 1835. Christina Donaldson/Sword died in Methven in 1917, aged 81.
With Mary never using Sword after her marriage and no likely marriage between a Christina/Christian and James Sword, am I safe to conclude that Mary was illegitimate and lied about her mother's name on her marriage certificate?
Which leaves whether Christina was married to John Sutherland. There's one marriage of a Christ* to John Sutherland in Midlothian 1845 - 1874. In 1850: MCPHERSON CHRISTINA JOHN SUTHERLAND/FR6915 (FR6915) 31/03/50 685/1 690 350. She appears on later census with John and their kids and dies in 1901 so she's not the Christina I'm looking for.
I *think* Sutherland is more likely to be her maiden name (maybe her only name) rather than a married name but maybe I've missed something? It's a long shot but I'm trying to track what happened to every Christina/Christian Sutherland in Edinburgh with a birth year of 1828 +/- 5 years that appears on records in Edinburgh, whether or not Sutherland was the married or maiden name, to see how many i can rule out.
I've not been able to find a baptism for Mary. On another branch of my tree there was an illegitimate birth and the baptism happened 7 years after the birth. From her age on her death certificate and census, I think Mary was born in 1854 so just before civil registration came in. I searched SP for a baptism of a Mary S* between 1854 and 1865 but no Sutherland or Sword. All the baptisms that came up were in 1854 and 1855. If her baptism happened after 1855, could it be somewhere in church registers that aren't on Scotland's People and if so, is it possible to access them?
Thanks for any suggestions! This is my grandmother's line and all the women seem to have had really short, tough lives. I'd love to figure out who Christina was.