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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Stirlingshire => Topic started by: redquirrel on Sunday 06 October 13 19:37 BST (UK)
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Hi, i'm trying to find out about my g-great aunt Maggie Sneddon, originally from Haggs. According to 1881 census she was in the new Royal Infirmary Edinburgh listed as a patient. What i don't know is why she was there, why she wasn't treated in a more local hospital. Can anyone give me some advice on how to find this out?
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Maybe she was suffering from something not treatable in smaller cottage hospitals?
To my knowledge, the main hospitals at that date would be either Glasgow or Edinburgh.
I know some Greater Glasgow hospital records are available but I don't know where Edinburgh's would be.
Anne
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Did she die thereafter? If so the death certificate might give some clues :)
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Hi Millipede,
No she died at a ripe old age in 1942, so she clearly made an excellent recovery from whatever it was!
thanks,
Redsquirrel
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How old was she in 1881? Not having a baby or anything I suppose.
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She was 16 approx, and i admit it has crossed my mind. But unfortunately the dates i have don't add up. According to the 1891 census Margaret is back living with her parents in the Haggs. At this time her parents are both 57 yrs. But there's a 6 year old child, Jessie, there, recorded as 'daughter' of Margaret's parents. I suspect Jessie may be Margaret's daughter, based on nothing more than it being pretty unlikely (but not impossible) that her own parents had Jessie late in life. So far i haven't been able to find a birth cert for Jessie. It would be really interesting to find out what kind of ward Margaret was in in 1881, if there's a way i can find it out.
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Another strange one.
1881 census, Maggie Sneddon, born circa 1859 (aged 22), Haggs, Stirlingshire, servant to Mr James Glennie, 220 Sauchichall Street, Blythwood, Glasgow Barony.
Thats the only "Haggs" birth that I can see.
One question, are you using the married surname "Sneddon" or is that her birth surname?
Regards
Malky
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It's intriguing isn't it. What happens to little Jessie - is she with the family on the next census as a daughter?
Sorry am not too familiar with Scottish records but I hope you can find some records that help :)
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It might be worthwhile downloading the image for the 1891 Cencus from Scotland's People just to check the age of wee Jessie. Ancestry's transcriptions can be unreliable.
Once you double check her age, you could then search for her birth and if she was illegitimate, it will say so on her birth certificate.
Anne :)
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This could be significant if the same family in 1881.
John Sneddon 48
Janet 47
Peter 14
Jessie 7
Jessie is daughter so I wonder if Anne has a point and she should be 16 in 1891 instead of 6.
Then she would be a legitimate daughter of John & Janet not Margaret's child :)
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Thank you all for your comments. I'll try and explain what i've found so far, though it is a bit confusing. Just to clarify, Maggie Sneddon is her maiden name- she later married Philip McKail.
According to 1881 census
Margaret (Maggie) Sneddon is 16, and an in-pt at Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh.
Her parents John and Janet 48yrs and 47 yrs are in the Haggs , living with their children Peter, John and Jessie (7yrs).
According to 1891 census
John and Janet are 57yrs
Maggie is 26yrs
Peter 24yrs
Jessie 6yrs.
I now have a 1891 census for Jessie Sneddon (Barony, Blythswood Glasgow) aged 17, and reported as a domestic servant to Physician Samuel Moore. So to me this is the Jessie who's 7 in 1881, and is Maggie's sister. I am surmising that 6 yr old Jessie in 1891 is not likely to be John and Janet's daughter, as they have a living daughter with the same name. So that leads me to think young Jessie is an illegitimate child of Maggie (or Peter?) and being brought up as John and Janet's child.
I can't find a birth cert for either Jessie. However i do have the family bible which records a birth for Janet SneddEn in 1873. I'm wondering if Janet was known as Jessie.
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Thanks for clarifying there are 2 Jessies! If you're sure the servant you found is the one who was 7 and her sister than we still have the other Jessie to be accounted for.
Names do seem to be interchangeable so I would check for Jessie/Janet/Jane etc plus the different spellings of Sneddon(en) to make sure there isn't a birth record for her.
Were there any other older siblings who could have been her mother?
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Hi, i'm sorry for the confusion- i'm finding things out as i go along if you know what i mean! Maggie did have older brothers and sisters, but they were all married, so i would have thought a child would be living with them. I have checked a 1901 census i had for John and Janet Sneddon. By this time John has died, and Janet is 67. Looking at it now, very interestingly 2 grandchildren are living with her; Mary McKail (16) and Janet Sneddon (16). If Jessie/Janet are interchangeable then this must be young Jessie, and that would mean she was an illegitimate child of one of Janet's children. I wish i has the child's birth cert to be sure.
And i'm no nearer finding out why Maggie was in hospital in Edinburgh.
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Very excited to have just found the birth cert of Janet Taylor Sneddon born 1884, the illegitimate daughter of Maggie Sneddon!!
Thanks for your advice and interest. It spurred me on.
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Oh hurray well done ;D
So there we go one question leads to the answer to another and Taylor as a middle name just might be a clue as to the father ;)
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Maggie might not have been giving too much away, as Taylor is her mother's maiden name. But having an illegitimate child might explain why she married a man a fair bit older than her, and who had quite a few children of his own from his first marriage.I know there was a fair bit of illegitimacy going on, but there was still a lot of social stigma about it.
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Well done in finding wee Jessie!!
It's always the same - getting the answer to one question leads to a million other questions!
Anne :)
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Just to add - Janet/Jessie were the same name in Scotland so it's very common to find someone baptised Janet but called Jessie in the census.
There was less stigma attached to illegitimacy back in 1881 than you might think, and it was very common. The stigma we think was attached to illegitimacy in the past seems to have been a very 20th century phenomena, and was much more accepted on the 19th century. But yes, women with an illegitimate child made good candidates for marriage to a widower with children!
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Yes I wonder just how common it really was. One of mine had two boys in 1841 and 1849. Unfortunately she died before she found any rich (or otherwise) widowers to marry her!
By some miracle I found the father of one boy (the other one died as a baby) even tho he wasn't named on the birth and a "semi fake" father put on his marriage certificate.
It's a good story :D