Parish of Morham-Henderson/Clarkson

[Cockneyrebel]

Can anyone help me to find birth information on George Henderson bc 1817/18 in Morham, Haddington; also his siblings? I believe he moved to Brighton and married Martha Weymark in 1850, they had 12 children. He was an engineer on the railway in Brighton. It would greatly help me if I could find his parents and forbears as well.
Many thanks.

[Little Nell]

Hi Cockneyrebel,

Welcome to RootsChat.

George Henderson b 20 Feb 1818 bapt 9 March 1818 in Moreham East Lothian.  Parents Robert Henderson and Janet Clarkson, one of ten children.

James b 10 Dec bapt 26 Dec 1815
Elisabeth b 11 Jan bapt 28 Jan 1817
George see above
Robert b 26 Dec 1819 bapt 11 Jan 1820
Janet b 30 Aug bapt 23 Sept 1821
Margaret b 7 Jun bapt 16 Jun 1823
Allison b 28 Mar bapt 17 Apr 1825
Jean b 24 Oct bapt 26 Nov 1826
Marion b 28 Mar bapt 19 Apr 1829
Helen b 3 Jul bapt 23 Jul 1832

Robert & Janet were married in Moreham 4 Dec 1814.

Nell

[Cockneyrebel]

Many thanks Little Nell,
Do you have any information on Robert and Janet's parents?

[Little Nell]

This would be into the realms of speculation.  Unlikely that parents' names would appear on the marriage entry.

If they followed the Scottish naming pattern, then Robert's father may be James and his mother may be Janet, but no proof.  Janet's father may be George and her mother Elizabeth but again no proof.  However the theory goes to pot with the third daughter being named Margaret which should be Janet, but there again they already had one of those!

Also with no idea of ages when they married, there is every possibility that we could follow the wrong Robert Henderson.  I can't find any Robert Hendersons born in Morham who might fit the bill.  But I did find these four close by:

b 15 Jan bapt 20 Jan 1788 Gladsmuir parents Robert Henderson and Margaret Stocks
b 18 Apr bapt 24 Apr 1791 Haddington parents George Henderson and Marion Dickinson
b 18 Sep bapt 10 Oct 1793 Yester parents John Henderson & Alison Millar
b 27 Mar bapt 6 Apr 1794 Prestonkirk parents James Henderson and Janet Edington

I wasn't able to find a suitable candidate for Janet in the East Lothian area.

Have you looked at the IGI:

http://www.//familysearch.org

or the Scotlands People site:

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Nell

[Cockneyrebel]

Thanks again, Nell-can I take it you are Scottish viz your knowledge of names being handed down?
I've had a look at ScotlandsPeople site, finding 78 records for birth of Robert Henderson between 1784 and 1794. Going with your James and Janet theory, I have 3 candidates:James and Janet Edington 6/4/94 at Prestonkirk, James and Not given 24/7/92 at Latheron and James and Janet Thomson 15/11/89 at Torryburn.
On the Mormon site Janet's name is given as Clarkinson!
As to her parents on ScotlandsPeople, I've only 3 candidates between 1784 and 1796: James and Janet Young 5/12/84 at Douglas, Benjamin and Ann Stark 1/6/94 at Douglas and William and Janet McLimont 5/2/96 at Glasgow.
Being a Sassenach, I know very little about the parishes there but you may be able to narrow it down. Glasgow seems a long way off.........

[Little Nell]

No - not a Scot, but I lived there for a while and married a Scot.  Looking for his ancestors has given me the rough idea of what to look for.

Glasgow is quite a way from East Lothian, but there again it depends on the people.  What did they do - might they have moved around a bit?

Do you know when your George married and died?  There is a wealth of extra information on Scottish certificates (civil registration began in 1855) - including names of both parents as well as occupations.  This could help you work your way backwards.

Nell

[Cockneyrebel]

Hi Nell,
Problem is my George b1818 in Moreham moved south married in Brighton 1850 and died there too. His sister, Allison apparently moved down there as well. Whether the other siblings went as well, I don't know. George was the first safety valve inspector on the London,Brighton and South Coast railway, most of his children(12) worked on it as well. He is shown as an engine fitter or engineer on documents in England-possibly his father was in the same trade? Maybe they were in at the start of the railways in Scotland?
Any records about his siblings or trades in Scotland available?

[Little Nell]

I think you will have to look at some of his siblings who stayed north of the border, try census etc.

Have you tried looking at railway archives at all?  I'm not an expert on that but I'm sure there must be some out there somewhere!

Nell

[Cockneyrebel]

Thanks Nell for your help, I'll search further.