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My children’s direct paternal ancestor left Yorkshire in 1640 and arrived in Massachusetts as a servant, although I am not sure he was indentured.  He later set up the first grist mill in the area.

Just my opinion, but I do believe the original Puritan settlers did set a “tone” in New England of hard work, sobriety, and a conservative approach to life, if not politics, as it does tend to be a liberal area in that regard.

 I highly recommend the book Albion’s Seed about how the British settlement of the original colonies influenced four major regions of what is now the US.  It is by David Hackett Fischer. He also wrote Champlain’s Dream, about New France.

My Quaker ancestor was baptized the day she got married.  She married C of E.  I am not sure where she was born - I did find her birthdate recorded in Quaker records along with some of her siblings, but no mention of her birthplace.  Very likely in the area of Barnoldswick, Yorks., or just over the border in Lancashire.  She married in Hornby, Lancs.

How old was Edward when he died?  Did he marry, in the UK or possibly Canada?

James Birchall was my grandfather.  His occupation was greens keeper at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, where he lived with his wife, Margaret Thomson (married in 1927) and his three children, Janet (Nettie), Maitland and Robert.  Janet was named after her maternal grandmother, Robert and Maitland were both named after close friends of my grandfather.  Maitland's middle name comes from a member of the Campbell family who was a second cousin to my great grandmother.

The family returned to Dunlop and James died in May of 1941 and is buried (with my grandmother and great grandmother) in the village cemetery.  His death certificate lists Margaret Thomson as his wife as well as Joseph Birchall, his father and Rosetta Birchall (nee Smith),  his mother.

Neil MacKenzie emigrated to Canada in 1952 and Janet Birchall followed in 1954.  They were married in Toronto in 1954. There was never a change of family name. Neil's mother was Annie MacKenzie (nee Richie) his father was Kenneth MacKenzie.

Margaret Birchall married William Gauld in 1947, who died in 1962.  Four years later she emigrated to Canada and lived with Janet and Neil and their daughter.  One year after this, Maitland moved in with the family.

When Maitland Birchall emigrated to Canada he worked as a 2nd and 1st mate on ships on the Great Lakes.  He then became a Master Mariner  and was captain of the Canadian science ships "Bayfield" and "Limnos".  Following his death in 2017, I took his ashes back to Dunlop where he is buried in the same village cemetery as his parents and grandmother.

Members of the family have no information regarding a "first wife". 

After my visit Scotland and doing searches in Edinburgh, I quickly came to the conclusion that it's very easy to get bogged down in records.  When researching my grandfather's military record, I found no less that four James Birchalls, all from the same area of England.  Apparently Birchall and Burchill are common names.

Could you tell me te date of James and Margaret’s marriage? I couldn’t find one in the Quebec records, and as I mentioned, on the 1931 Canadian census, Margaret is listed as his housekeeper, not his wife.  He is listed as married, she as single.
James was married twice before he went to Montreal; his daughter Eva married Neil Campbell in Montreal.  Eva was from his first marriage.

Quote from: DianaCanada on Monday 22 April 24 14:43 BST (UK)

There is also the myth about women marrying at a young age, i.e. under 20.  I find most brides in my family range from 20-24.  I think this myth might have originated in the USA where brides might have skewed a bit younger. 
Puberty happened later in the past, so young mothers of 15-16 are rare, most of the births without marriage seem to be hovering around 20 and even older.

Also it is wrong to assume in the pre census and BMD era that a woman was around 20 when she married, if there is no other record of her age, a woman in say 1750 who had children after marrying could have been up to the age of 35. If she had just 2 or 3 children, it could be she married later in life.

Yes, just looking at one of mine who married in 1781 and had children until 1804.  One can make a good guess of the range of her birth year by this.  Poor woman had 11 children, 7 died young, and I can't trace three of the others.