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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Angus (Forfarshire) => Topic started by: SamuelF992 on Wednesday 01 September 21 16:46 BST (UK)
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Hi everyone,
I've been trying to trace my 4x great-grandfather's birth for years and wanted to try here for one last shot before I pay the Angus family history society to do some research.
My 4xgg is William Hutchison, who gives his birthplace as Montrose in the 1851 England census and Forfarshire in the 1861, and DoB as 1790. He joined the 46th Regiment of Foot in Montrose in 1806 and lists his age as 21, so I suspect he was lying about his age here in order to enlist.
He married Alice Pingstone in Brixham in 1811 and ended up living in Tiverton, working as a tailor, where he died in 1863.
I've not been able to find a record of his birth in Montrose and wondered if he was born elsewhere or was a non-conformist. The only Hutchison I was able to find born around the same time in Montrose was Alexander Annaeus, born in 1786 to Alexander and Ann.
I've been using FindMyPast and Ancestry so if anyone has anyone better resources they can point me to or tips they would be very appreciated. I would also value any information people might have about the 46th Regiment in Angus at this time. I've attached his discharge papers if they are of any use.
Many thanks
Samuel
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https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/advanced-search
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I've been using FindMyPast and Ancestry so if anyone has anyone better resources they can point me to or tips they would be very appreciated.
Scotland's People is the place to go.
See https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=714261.0
The term 'Non-conformist' is not useful in Scotland because it specifically means a person who declined to conform to the Church of England, and thus is completely irrelevant in Scotland, where the Church of England has no presence.
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Thanks both for the pointer. Closest I have found so far is a William Hutcheon born in Forfar in 1781, but seems pretty far out as a date.
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Have you tried the kirk session records on the link provided? They are not indexed so wouldn't appear in search results. You just need to chose your relevant parish and start reading through them.
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If he says Montrose then unless he has some reason for lying that's where he was born. Not Forfar, or Brechin, or anywhere else. If he was lying, you have just about zero chance of finding his parentage.
The article on Montrose in the Statistical Account of Scotland (1790-1) says that there were in the parish
4774 adherents of the Church of Scotland
720 of the Church of England
376 of the Secession, including Antiburghers and Burghers
134 of the Episcopal Church of Scotland
92 of two sects of Independents
40 Anabaptists
20 Bereans of different kinds
10 Unitarians
4 Quakers and
24 persons unconnected with any particular religious Society.
The National Records of Scotland has records from before 1800 of two of the Secession churches
(a) First United Associate congregation, (antiburgher), Mill Street United Presbyterian, St Luke's, United Presbyterian, United Free, C. of S.
(b) Second United Associate congregation, (burgher), John Street, United Presbyterian, Trinity United Free, united with St George's United Free church in 1923
The baptisms from these churches are in the 'Other Churches' section on Scotland's People. What that means is that about one in six of the people on Montrose were adherents of a church whose records are not on Scotland's People, and these records may not even have survived at all.
The writer of the article laments that the Church of Scotland records of baptisms are less complete than they should be: "the inattention of parents, and the backwardness of many to pay the schoolmaster his dues, is a matter of very general complaint throughout Scotland". (It was very often the schoolmaster who acted as Session Clerk.)
Some estimates suggest that as many as a third of all baptisms are missing from the surviving records, and the further back you go, the more are missing. So there is a fair chance that your Thomas Hutchison's baptism record has not survived.
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There are quite a few Hutcheon entries for Montrose. No William‘s, but perhaps siblings?
Intriguingly there is one with no first name recorded.
HUTCHEON ---- Parents: GEORGE HUTCHEON/MARGT. GAIRDEN Sex: M Date: 15/09/1794 312/ 50 145 Montrose
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Very interesting above re all the denominations and failure to record baptisms. I'll look further into the Hutcheons as that does sound like a plausible link. Will also delve into the kirk sessions. Thanks everyone