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Hi,
I have got ancestors who lived in Darby Hand and who were buried, I think, in St Thomas's Church - Daniel and Mary Darby were born about 1783, and they had a son William born 1823. They were probably related to your Darbys. But it would seem to me that since an actual area was named after 'Darby' there must have been a lot of them.
Happiness 4

Hi, Tom Buchanan.
Thank you for talking to me -  and glad to hear that you've had days off.
I'm pretty sure that Agnes Tod is the aunt of Janet Tod for this reason.
Firstly it relates to the Blyths, Banks and Tods - and the gravestones in, I think in the Cannongate or/and Carlton Hill cemetery.
It shows a Henry Tod married to Catherine Banks. Then I have worked out by the censuses that their children married more than one Blyth. People with these surnames turn up as gardeners, or living with Janet Tod or at one of the Bryce family addresses in Bath Street, leith, which, as far as I can see, is no more.
Janet Tod moves around these addresses every 10 years. She was at one time living with who I presume is her brother, a John Tod, and writer of the signet (solicitor) and his wife Elizabeth. At the time (census) that David Bryce's mother Agnes (Tod) was living with him, it was then that the baby David Bryce Tod, was born. I expect David Bryce must have made the aquaintance of Janet Tod when she visited her aunt Agnes at his house
I'm sure that David Bryce Tod is Janet Tod's son since in the censuses, whereever she moves, he, as a boy, can be found living with a lady called Ann Alexander very near to her.

The only thing that I have not proof of is that Agnes Tod is indeed the sister of Henry Tod, Janet's father. That is too far back, before the censuses.

Best Wishes. Barbara

Hi, All of you - this is my first post with RootsChat - and it is amazing to read about my ancestors being talked about. The person who started this post is my relative - but one generation on - When you read this R - I'm sending you my love and will email you. David Bryce, architect had an affair, we think, with his cousin, Jane or Janet Tod, the daughter of a Henry Tod, (who I think was a merchant, and the brother of David's mother Agnes Tod), that is, Jane Tod was David's cousin. Why they didn't marry is a mystery. Jane Tod had David Bryce Tod, their son, when she was about 39. She was from a well-to-do family, so we don't know why she never married beforehand, and more importantly, why she didn't marry the father of her son, David Bryce, who was a responsible man and who had supported his brothers' children.
The family story is that the Scottish law that accepted co-habitation as marriage was superseded in Scotland by the English law that stated there had to be a registration ceremony, or something! apparently Jane Tod said that by registering her cohabitation marriage she would have been saying that she was not married legally beforehand, so they didn't 'register' as the new law demanded.
 
A Jean Bryce with Jane Tods date of birth lived with David Bryce in his old age - we believe that this is Jane Tod, since there is no other 'Jean Bryce' to be found, and David Bryce, who must have filled in the censuses, often used pet names rather than the full names of family members.
There is a little square marker for David and Annie Bryce Tod in Aberlady churchyard - R - I will try to get someone to photo this for you. My brother David Kenneth Bryce Stafford, a descendant, is buried there, as are one of David Bryce Tod's daughters Jean Bryce Tod, and her daughter Davina (named for David Bryce the architect).
But David Stafford was told that there was no record of the bodies of David and Annie actually being interred. Thank you so much for all the amazing new information that I have found on this site about this family. The thing is now, I think, to look for the burial of James Tod, and that may well lead to where his parents are buried.
Please keep in touch, everyone, and thank you all for your information.
I live in the Wirral, but there are relatives still in Edinburgh