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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Dumfriesshire => Topic started by: wyanga on Saturday 17 October 09 07:50 BST (UK)
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Hi I have an Alexander Grierson b about 1763 at Wigton, Dumfries . 1851 Census
Would this be Wigtown or is there a Wigton or a Wigton Parish in Dumfries ?
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this is probably wigtown wigtownshire there is a wigton in cumbria csc
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Thank you csc, Wigtown was my first thought but I have been unable to find any births that could be him. I have found an Alexander Grierson born 1762 at Bowden, Roxburgh on IGI, but I am sure he isn't mine as he is included in other trees. By 1851 the Griersons had spread far and wide, but Dumfries was their place of origin. There were Griersons in Cumberland for the English census 1851, but I have been unable to find any siblings that were born in Wigton.
I am hoping that someone that knows Dumfries well may be able to come up with a local locality that conforms with the census registration of Wigton, Dumfries.
Wyanga
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hi wyanga
As csc advised, wigtown is part of dumfriesshire today and would have been classed as part of the old shire of wigtownshire in the 19th century. For ease of reference it is likely records were simply placename, dumfries as dumfries was and remains the largest town in what is now dumfries and galloway.
These links may be useful:
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/counties/countymaps31.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigtownshire
Best wishes,
Kenny
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do you know anything else about alexander there is one around that time in kirkcudbrightshire csc
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there is an alexander father james kells 1761 that is the nearest one i see csc
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there is an alexander grierson born 1763 dumfriesshire died 1857 married to helen mckellar, does this sound familiar?
akc
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AKC
Hi AKC, that is the one that I am trying to trace. He married Helen McKellar in Dunoon Kilman in 1837 and was resident there in 1841 and 1851 census. The birth date varies as 1771 (1841 census) 1763 ( 1851 Census )
The only reference we have for a birth place was in the 1851 census. The death date of 1857 is not confirmed, if it was then it should be recorded and I have not been able to find it. It is more likely that he died between 1851 census and the commencement of death recording in 1855.
If his age was correct in 1851 he would have been 88 yrs old.
Apart from the fact that he was a mason, I do not know anything else about him. He would have been my g.g.grandfather
Thank you also kenny and csc
Wyanga
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Redspookhunter
Hi Kenny, I must plead ignorance with the changes of county/shire boundaries that may have taken place over the years. I am in Australia so it is a bit of a mystery to me.
I can see that Dumfries most likely referred to the then county of Dumfries and I have seen various references to Wigtown as Wigton, as we are looking at a birth date of 1760-70 , that could very well have been the designation then, or at the time of the census in 1851. Wigton, Dumfries
I mean.
Possibly Parish records for Wigtown may be my best chance of finding a baptism record, if they still exist.
Wyanga
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Wigtown is a town, a parish and a county. It might today be in Dumfries & Galloway but its historically Galloway and has never had any connection with Dunfries-shire.....Skoosh.
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we have got alexanders marriage details in 1837 he seems to be a good bit older than his wife will have a look at the others do you know what his childrens names were we can see a couple csc
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hi wyanga,
Since you are in Oz, you may wish to contact the local dumfries and galloway family history centre at
http://www.annan.org.uk/societies_groups/9_family_history.html
They have many records and may be able to undertake a parish records search for you to see whether the ancestors you are searching for appear on the microfiches.
Failing that, an email to Ewart Library may prove useful to see if they have access to the records you require. Here is a link;
http://www.dgcommunity.net/dgcommunity/Services.aspx?id=61
Skoosh is quite correct in saying wigtown is very much associated to Galloway, and the people are very proud of being Gallovidians (people of Galloway).
Best wishes and good luck,
Kenny
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there are a few alexanders between 1750/80 alex father james kells 1761 alex 1764 father robert /ann hood tynron alex 1769 kells james/mary mccourtie alex 1776 john/margaret mcguffey kirkpatrick durham alex 1777 dumfries father robert there are a few more slightly off these dates csc
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csc,
You are finding a lot of Alexanders that I havn't found where are you getting them from?
Our Alexander had two daughters with Helen McKellar,
Helen Grierson and Sophia Grierson, both migrated to Australia in the 1850's and 60's. I have all their details from that time on. Helen was my g.grandmother.
Because of his age at the time of his marriage to Helen McKella, it is possible that he had a previous marriager.
One of the problems is his age, since he was 88 at the time of the 1851 census, ( the first one to give birth place) if he had siblings born at Wigton they could very well have died, or they may have emmigrated to America, Australia or Ireland.
Wyanga
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Hi
Just to add to Dumfriesshire/Wigtownshire/Kirkcudbrightshire = Dumfries and Galloway:
Some of my ancestors who were born/baptised in Kells, Balmaclellan and Parton (i.e. Kirkcudbrightshire) gave their birthplaces as Dumfries on a couple of the Welsh censuses. I was only able to trace them fully (and confirm previous findings) when I discovered that my 2 x great grandmother had entered Kells, Kirkcudbrightshire on the 1891.
Gadget
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these are the 2 girls on the census helen is obviously after mum i thought we may have got alexanders mother or fathers name from any others or if they had middle names as all my own siblings are named after family csc
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csc, A good thought regarding the names, but both Helen and Sophia appear to be McKellar names. There were 12 children in Helen McKellars family and she had a sister Sophia.
Wyanga
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you could be right about alexander having a previous family there are at least 3 alexanders with families in kirkcubrightshire dalry, parton, urr , who would fit in with his age also i see helens birth in 1836 not found till 1839 their marriage paper is oct 31st 1837 i wonder if he moved there to be with helen csc
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csc
The Alexander families that you have found in Kirkcubrightshire-- are they in the census or are you finding them on another source ? If they are on the census they can not be him, since he was in Dunoon/Kilmun from 1837 to 1851. Yes the birth record for Helen is questionable, particularly the not found bit. maybe it was put aside until a suitable time after the marriage. I have a feeling that you must be using familysearch.org to have found that info.
Wyanga