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« on: Tuesday 08 October 13 14:11 BST (UK) »
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.