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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Lanarkshire => Topic started by: Forfarian on Tuesday 08 December 20 09:37 GMT (UK)
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James Ai(t)kenhead and Ann Fleming were married in East Kilbride in 1743.
Their recorded children are
Janet, 1757
William, 1760
Ann. 1762
Jean, 1766
all born at Headhouse, East Kilbride.
That looks like a very long gap between marriage and first child.
However there are three baptisms in Blantyre, father James Aikenhead, no mother listed
Alexander, 1744
John, 1746
James, 1752
all born at Park. I take this to be Blantyre Park.
I am wondering if these are earlier children of James A and Ann Fleming.
Can anyone think of a way to confirm this? There are no relevant wills or sasines.
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Any of the Park born children laying in East Kilbride Parish Cemetery? Council has the burial books which go back to at least mid 1700's.
Does the naming pattern fit; if it fits then it adds some weight to your interpretation.
Park was Park west of Blantyre Park above another small farm called Boghead. You could hit the newspaper archive and see if Park was advertised for rent 1752+ or farm labour.
Don
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Any of the Park born children laying in East Kilbride Parish Cemetery?
Not sure. I have seen the lair books, and have been recently contacted with a request for information by a member of a project looking at the same books. There is nothing conclusive there. The only hint is a stone with initials JA AF on it (though I originally read them as IA AT), on a trio of lairs containing burials of people I know to be related to me, so I am fairly confident that JA and AF are mine, but not so confident that the Blantyre baptisms are theirs.
Does the naming pattern fit; if it fits then it adds some weight to your interpretation.
It does, which is why I am seeking some additional evidence to corroborate it.
Park was Park west of Blantyre Park above another small farm called Boghead.
I was going by Roy's map, which says 'Park' pretty much where Blantyre Park is on the OS maps. I can see another Park, near Bogend, west of Blantyre Farm, but that one's in the parish of Cambuslang.
You could hit the newspaper archive and see if Park was advertised for rent 1752+ or farm labour.
Have already drawn a blank there. Not even sure who the proprietor was in the 1740s.
Thank you for your interest :)
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For Park see https://maps.nls.uk/view/74400273
Park - portioner was John Miller 1718 (marriage contract son-in-law of Andrew Coates of Barnhill). Miller or likely his son was still there in the 1790 directory.
Again, good luck
Don
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Thanks. Yes, that's one of the two farms named as Blantyre Park on the OS maps.
See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=55.77482&lon=-4.10274&layers=5&b=1
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Do the witnesses to the baptisms point to it being the same James?
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There are no witnesses listed, unfortunately, either in East Kilbride or in Blantyre.
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Hi there, This seems very interesting and I may also be related to this James Aikenhead and Ann Fleming. I'm related to the brothers Alexander (md 1773) and John Aikenhead (md 1780) who lived in East Kilbride. It looks like this is the right person for me also, as the eldest person who could be the s/o Alexadner was a James, and the eldest s/o John was another James. I looked thru the marriages and I found this James, and I noticed the gap between years and I had thought this was the right father, but I couldn't prove it. I never thought to look in another parish, this is very interesting! Also, I thought I'd ask if anyone would know how to access any burials in East Kilbride from this time period (as I can't find any).
Thanks!
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Oh, I just realized that I wasn't really clear about what I was asking, I was hoping I could get a second opinion regarding John and Alexanders parents.
Thanks,
u/trekcuber
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I agree that Alexander Aitkenhead who married Agnes Young in 1773 is the brother of John Aitkenhead who married Helen Browning in 1780.
As for the idea that the Aitkenheads came to East Kilbride from Edinburgh/Midlothian, I don't think that is very likely, though it's not impossible of course.
The surname originates from the name of a place which is in Lanarkshire, not all that far from EK. The Aitkenheads in Edinburgh were merchants and artisans, and one of them was Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Why would sons of a prosperous city family leave the city and go to take up farming in Lanarkshire?
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Hi, I do not know about confirming Alexander, John, & James but I did find 3 others in East Kilbride whom have James as father and no mother listed.
Births:
Janet born: 6 January 1744 East Kilbride
James born: 00 January 1748 East Kilbride
Janet. born: 17 November 1754 East Kilbride
Kim
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Thanks, Kim.
Those three are listed as the children of James Aitken or Aikine, not James Aitkenhead. The jury is stilll out as to whether this James is an Aitkenhead who has shortened his surname, or someone totally unrelated.
However Janet born 26 December 1744 and baptised on 6 January 1745 (not 1744; the index is wrong) is described as daughter of James Aitken in Cadgerloan, and there is no record of any Aitkenheads being in Cadgerloan.
Also James Aitkenhead and Ann Fleming's eldest child seems likely to be Alexander, baptised 19 May 1744, and Janet Aitken was born only 7 months after Alexander was baptised. Also Alexander and his next two brothers were born in Blantyre, and they overlap with the three Aitken children born in EK, so it looks as if they are not all the same family.
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Thank you Kim and Anne. It seems that James A*K*N of Cadgerloan was not the James Aitkenhead who married Anne Fleming, as I just found the baptism of William Aicken, b. 5/3/1741 in Cadgerloan to James. Thank you for all the info.