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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Banffshire => Topic started by: AJDesigns on Tuesday 30 May 23 10:56 BST (UK)
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He married Jennet SMOLLETT [[SMOUT] 1 Feb 1791
She was born 1768 in Blairshinnoch
Children were
Anne b: 1791
Alexander b1796
William b 1797
Elizabeth b: 1800
James b: 1802
Mary b: 1804
John b: 1806
Janet b: 1808
Hellen b: 1811
George b 1813 - my ancestor
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Welcome to RootsChat :)
In the index to the parish registers on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk there is a baptism of John, son of James Davidson and Helen Roy, on 21 April 1771. Have you looked at the original document?
This John Davidson was only 19 when your John Davidson married Jannet Smollett/Smout. Most young men had not established themselves sufficiently by the age of 19 to be able to maintain a wife and children.
Also, I note that James was his third son and Helen his 5th daughter, which might suggest that John's parents' names were not James and Helen. The naming tradition suggests that they might have been Alexander and Elizabeth.
Do you think this is your John Davidson? If so, what additional information are you looking for?
If he isn't, what evidence do you have that yours was born in 1771 in Botriphnie?
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Thank you for your reply
I don't have any firm evidence who their parents are.
The problem is that Davidson is a common surname in the area and they tended to repeat christian names down the families.
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I’m guessing below might be the marriage, I note the record for John already posted but I do not see the one for Jannet that you mention in 1768, what were her parents names?.
JOHN DAVIDSON MARRIED JANNET SMART 01/02/1791 BANFF
Eldest child born soon after the marriage.
DAVIDSON ANN JOHN DAVIDSON/JANNET SMOUT 03/07/1791 BANFF
I note the other children born BOYNDIE, MOTHER, SMOLLET, SMOLET, SMOLLAT
HOWEVER I DO NOT SEE A RECORD IN BANFF FOR GEORGE ON SP?
I wonder if another child was born between Ann 1791 and Alexander 1796?
Colin
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I see a death of George Davidson, aged 50, in Gamrie, mother's maiden surname Smollet.
There is no obvious link to Botriphnie. Boyndie, Banff and Gamrie are neighbouring parishes on the coast. Botriphnie is an inland parish in the foothills of the Grampian Mountains, about 35 miles south-west of Banff.
Blairshinnoch is in the parish of Banff, a stone's throw from its boundary with Boyndie. See
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.7&lat=57.64770&lon=-2.61660&layers=5&b=1&marker=57.65100,-2.59645 and https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ6462
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Seems unlikely but could this be GEORGE DAVIDSON?
JAS. DAVIDSON/JEAN TORIE
10/12/1814
GAMRIE AND MACDUFF
Colin
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I don't think so.
(1) The husband of Janet Sm*t was John Davidson. The husband of Jean Tor*, according to the baptisms of their four recorded children, was James Davidson.
(2) Janet Sm*t married John D in 1791. That's 31 years before Jean Tor*s youngest child was baptised in 1822. So unless Jean Sm*t was exceptionally young at her marriage, she would probably have been past childbearing by 1822.
(3) George Davidson, mother's maiden name Torry, died in New Deer in 1884, age given as 66. Though of course he could be a child of different parents - need to view the death certificate to check.
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I appreciate the comments Forfarian but the fact there does not appear to be a record for George, father John, it crossed my mind that George the son of James, may be a family relative, was brought up by John & Jannet?
Of course it may simply be that George son of John was not baptised.
Colin
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Either is of course possible.
I suspect that in fact it's just that George's baptism was not recorded.
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Hello again
I've spent some time now doing more research on George Davidson. Although his death cert states John Davidson and Janet Smollet were his parents, I still cannot find a birth record for him. He gave his age as 38 on his son Alexander's birth certificate in 1855, which would mean he was born in 1817 (later than we all had been thinking).
John Davidson and Jannet Smollet had 10 children including George. He was the last born after Helen who was born in 1811. They were all born in Boyndie and all except George's birth was recorded.
This is making me consider the possibility that he was born to other parents and taken on by John and Janet and never knew differntly.
I have found a record in the Fordyce kirk sessions for September 1816 where an Elizabeth Fordyce, from Fordyce was with child by Alexander Davidson, who was a servant for her father at Craigmills (?). Elizabeth would have been only 14 at the time. John and Janet's son Alexander would have been around 19/20.
I have hunted high and low but cannot find a birth record for this child, but thought it was may answer the question of George's birth in 1817. Can anyone help with this please ?
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The simplest explanation is that for some reason George's baptism record has not survived. There can be lots of reasons for this. I have seen it estimated that a third of early 19th century baptisms are not in the surviving records.
But it is indeed possible that this child is your George. Proving it beyond all reasonable doubt may not be possible.
Assuming that your Alexander married Jane McGregor (that being the only marriage of an AD in Banffshire in 1855), subtracting 38 from 1855 probably gives you the wrong answer, because the marriage was only a month or so into the year, and he would probably not yet have had his birthday in 1855, so his year of birth (if his age is accurate) would probably have been 1816 not 1817.
Have you considered the questions in Reply #1 above?
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Forgive me for butting in to this thread, it was originally posted by my Brother and between us we are researching our Davidson ancestors from Banffshire.
We are currently struggling to find John Davidson born around 1764 to 1771, guessing on those dates because of the birth of his children with Jannet Smout (Smollet, Smart).
Jannet was born to Alexander Smout and Margaret Gairden in 1768 in Blairshinnoch, she married John Davidson in 1791 in Banff. Jannet was given as living in Banff and John was from Boyndie.
Their first child Ann was born 5 months later in Culbeuchly and the next child was Alexander born 5 years later in Bleachfield of Boyndie in 1796. They had 9 recorded children all born in Whyntie and Brangan, Boyndie and then the last one which we are trying to trace, George Davidson. No record of his birth, but his death cert gives John and Jannet as his parents and says he was 50 in 1863.
I've been exploring all the John Davidson's born in Banffshire between those dates and think I've narrowed the possible parents down to 6 sets.....of which I've ruled out 3 sets because your earlier comments Forfarian made sense .
1. James and Helen Roy
John born Botriphnie 1771
Think this is too far away from Boyndie/Banff etc and a bit late as John would have only been 20 when his first child was born
2, John Davidson and Elizabeth Philp
John born Rathven 20 Jan 1772
Think this is also too late
3. John and Helen Troup
John born Marnoch 1772
Again a bit too late
4. James and Margaret Taylor
John born Cullen 1763
5. Alexander and Mart (?) Richie
John born Marnoch 1767
6. James and Anne White
John born Gamrie 1758
There's a couple of others but thought it better to rule these out first
The only other clues we've have is an Alexander Davidson from Portsoy witnessed the birth of 2 of John and Jannet's children along with Alexander Smollet from Blairshinnoch.
Thanks for your reply Forfarian.
As for George Davidson, he's a mystery still needing to be solved.
If we work on the date /age he gave on his son's birth certificate, he was born in 1817 ish
He married, firstly Elizabeth Duff in Gamrie in 1837, they had 3 children, she died in 1844, he then married Margaret Booth in Gamrie in 1845. They went on to have 9 more children all born in Gamrie. George died in Gamrie in 1863.
If 1817 is correct for his birth, then John and Jannet would have been in their early 50's when he was born, not impossible, but maybe George is the son of Alexander born in 1796 to John and Jannet and he was brought up by them.
This Alexander didn't marry until 1850 when he would have been 54 years old.He married an Elspet Milne in Tullynessle and had one child by her, but adopted (?) her 3 children by someone else.
Complicated families!