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Thank you so much Erato - this looks very promising.  I have seen the report of his tour in 1866 and also the other article which mentioned him.  His death certificate looks very promising although the age is wrong as he would only have been 64 in 1901.  However, I do know that he was born in Leeds.
I don't think that is him in the 1900 census as the age is wrong and the wife's name.  Also I don't think they had any children as far as I am aware.

The Joanna E Green death also looks promising - I know she changed her age when she married but she was born in Edinburgh not England but I think it was a long time since she had been in Scotland. I did notice cause of death 'multiple sarcoma' I think that's cancer.  Her sister also died of cancer. Not that that is any proof. 

Was there a US census in 1890?  I wonder when they arrived in the US? He was the Hon Secretary of the British Association of Progressive Spiritualists but after the Fourth Convention I can find no further conventions so perhaps they all fell out with one another as there did appear to be some disagreements arising. She was also on the Committee. 

From his report on spiritualism in the US he appeared to genuinely believe in it but I am not so sure about Joanna.  She was deceitful about her marriage certificate. Firstly she changed her age as she was obviously older than her husband and falsely declared that her father, George McLeod was Writer to the Signet, to the Lord Advocate of Scotland.  Not so!   He was a typefounder.  But she also told the family she was marrying the MP for Whitby which as far as I know Edwin was not.  I was a little doubtful about whether I had the right Joanna because of that but have checked with the Signet Library who confirmed there was no Writer to the Signet named George McLeod. But have recently found an announcement of the marriage in the Greenock Advertiser which confirms the link as both her sister and her father lived in Greenock.  Another anomaly was the fact that the marriage announcement stated she was the daughter of the late G McLeod of Edinburgh.  He was in fact still alive and did not die for 10 years after that, also he came from Caithness.  Perhaps they were estranged.

Sorry to have expounded at such length - I have become a little obsessed by it!  Thank you so much for the look-ups.  They do sound promising.

Can anyone confirm that this document is in fact confirmation of a marriage?  I realise it says proclamations (banns?).  Also I thought the second name could be the name of his intended but cannot read the first name - it looks like Andson Eliott - is that a name? This may be the father of Robert Biggar, my ggggg.grandfather.  I know he was Robert Biggar from Hawick and Ashkirk is not far from Hawick?

I was very interested to come across your posts of 2012 concerning Robert Biggar, Mason, b. approx 1750 and died 1798.  It was concerning the family gravestone in St Michael's Old Churchyard, Dumfries.  My grandfather was a John Biggar and I have recently been carrying out some further research into the family background and it appears that Robert Biggar, Mason was his 3 x great-grandfather.  so:

Robert Biggar & Isabella McWhir's 5th child:
John Biggar (1781-1858)
John Biggar (1813-1884) - first child
Robert Biggar (1855-1887) - last child
John Biggar, my grandfather (1884-1946)
Evelyn Biggar, my mother (1912-1998)

I should be most grateful for any information you have about the family - are you related in any way?

Diana Stevens

Thank you SW for the other links which I will investigate.  For some reason I didn't see them on my first reading.

I have just checked the other links and in fact the official report was the same link you gave.  My earlier investigations had uncovered a report from the Liverpool Mercury:

http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/clandrummond