1841 census look up please. Porteous

[boswells]

My great, great grandmother was Isabella Porteous daughter of John Porteous and Isabella Gardener(?) born 28.2.1809 at Ruthwell.  She married James Mitchell, farm labourer, whose full family tree from then on I have.  Isabella died aged 39 and was probably buried in Kirkpatrick Fleming Churchyard.  I would be very interested in going further back into her ancestry and will gladly share what I have with any of my far out relatives.
Alan

[jachri]

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the message about Isabella Porteous.
I've been trying to track down a birthplace for my Great Great Great Grandfather James Porteous. all I know was that he was a cooper, born in Scotland about 1806 and that his father was called John,also born in Scotland. He married his first wife  MaryAnn Lucock in 1836 in Brampton,was widowed in 1841, and married Mary Rennison in 1843. The subsequent family were born in Brampton, Cumbria and later Gateshead, Durham. I've been grasping at straws a little bit and have been looking at possible families that James could have belonged to. I found details of your Great Great Grandmothers family and thought they could be a possibility, as (maybe rather tenuously)James's daughter was called Isabella, that she may have been named after his mother? It does look like that Isabella was quite a popular name at the time however, so I might be completely wrong about this trail!
I've seen from the IGI that your Isabella had lots of sisters, do you know of any brothers called James who perhaps moved to Cumbria?  Ruthwell doesn't seem that far away from the border.
 It would be fantastic if this was definitely the right connection. I have quite  a few details of later family but it would be really interesting to try and go further back!
Keeping my fingers crossed.

Regards

Jane

[boswells]

Hi Jane
Like you I am up against a blank wall at the moment. I will be going up to the Ruthwell area at the beginning of July and will have a look at some of the gravestones the in the hope of getting a lead.  In my experience Porteous was not all that common in the border region so maybe if we could get back one or, better still two, generations we might be able to bring it all together.
Although Ruthwell  is very near to the Border there seemed to be far fewer moves over than you might have expected.
I will keep at it and post up any findings if they turn up.  Meantime many thanks for the interest.
Alan
 

[jachri]

Hello again Alan,
Good luck with your detecting when you visit Ruthwell. It would be very interesting to hear if you uncover any Porteous links up there.
Have you looked up The Porteous Associates web page? They have the details of many Porteous families, and though they seem to be more focused on the migration of the family name overseas, they are a font of knowledge historically. You can even order a book about the Porteous story! Although I had already researched some of my family name, this was helpful in filling some of the gaps...unfortunately only up to the point I have told you about though.
I too will post any more findings in case they help you.
Thanks again.
Jane:)