Confussion with Stewart's in Kilbarchan

[elrowe]

I am confussed over my Stewarts in Kilbarchan....  I have a Margaret Stewart married to John Meikle, 1 Aug 1854 in Kilbarchan, census records for 1881, 91 and 1901 all record her being born in Kilbarchan in 1834. Son Alexander Meikle (from census and family records) show his mothers maiden name to be Stewart.
The only birth cert for a Margaret Stewart born between 1832 -36 in Kilbarchan was to a John Stewart and a Jane McLaren, according to Scotspeople.  although Jane's surname is hard to read.  I can find no marriage certificate for John and Jane but do have a death cert for Margaret, widow of John Meikle, that lists her parents as Matthew Stewart and Jane Cook. I can find no birth certs between 1830 & 40 to confirm Matthew and Jane as parents. No marriage between 1820 and 54 for Matthew and Jane either.  I found only 1 census for an 8 yr old Margaret Stewart in Kilbarchan in 1841, living with a 75 yr old Mrs Hill, nothing in 1851 in Kilbarchan.  So now I am stuck with which is the true info on her parents... Margaret born to John and Jane or Matthew and Jane Cook?, is birth cert correct or death cert correct?  Any ideas?

[trish251]

apologies if you already have this (& no help re the parents) but in case you don't have the details - Confirms the birth date for Margaret

1861 568 Ed 7 Page 9 Kilbarchan Renfrewshire Low Barholm
John Meikle 27 head silk weaver Kilbarchan Renfrew
Margaret Meikle 27 wife Kilbarchan Renfrew
William Meikle 5 son Kilbarchan
Ann Meikle 2 Kilbarchan
John Meikle 8 mo son Kilbarchan Renfrew

The birth dates of the children are on the IGI and parents given as John Meikle and Margaret Stewart
IGI
William born 3 Jan 1856
Anne 27 Feb 1859
John 2 Aug 1860
Alexander Stewart 24 May 1864
Marion Erskine 1 May 1866
Margaret Miller 19 Jan 1868
All registered Kilbarchan

I'll check for earlier census

Trish

[trish251]

Just to add a little more confusion - In the same street as your lass in 1841 is a family of Stewarts - parents appear to be Jane and William! Children are Jane John Ann and William - most of these names are also children of John & Margaret, although based on naming patterns Margaret's parents would be John and Ann.

Trish

[trish251]

The names of the children Marion Erskine & Margaret Miller could indicate Erskine and Miller as grandparent names - although I have seen the married names of brothers/sisters of the parents given to children.

Trish

[tidybooks]

Hi elrowe,

There is an extracted record on IGI for a marriage between John Stewart and Jane McLaren on
05 JUL 1834   Abbey (Paisley), Renfrew, Scotland. I could not find a record for Matthew and Jane Cook. There is a Jane McLaren born 22 Aug 1806 in Kilbarchan to father John.

Tom

[JAP]

Have you viewed the entry in the church register for the 1854 marriage of John MEIKLE & Margaret STEWART in case there might be some clues; such entries often contain no more information than is in the IGI but one doesn't know until one looks.

The given names Marion Erskine possibly come from John MEIKLE's mother.  A Marion ERSKINE was b 1807, parents James ERSKINE & Agnes STUART.  A Marion ERSKINE m a William MEICKLE, 1827.  There is an appropriate MICKLE household in the 1841 census on FreeCEN - the household includes a William 35, a Marion 35 and a 7yo John.

As you are looking for records before the introduction of Statutory Registration, it is entirely likely that there will be no record of Margaret's birth/baptism to be found, and no record of her parents' marriage to be found.

When did Margaret die?  Who was the informant?  Information on death certificates is only as good as the knowledge and memory of the informant.

JAP
PS: Alexander Stewart MEIKLE b 1864 must have died (a free search on SP finds the death of an Alexander Stewa MEIKLE in 1866 in Kilbarchan); it is interesting that they named another child Alexander - born 14 Sep 1874.

 

[Ann Baker]

Hi

it ius not unusual for there to be extracted records on IGI and nothing on Scotland's People. This is because SP only has records fronm established church of Scotland. Anything other was deemed non conformist and these are held by the National Archives Scotland so it is worth contacting them.

Ann

[elrowe]

Hi, thanks for all the info everyone, sorry for the delay, I have been away for a few weeks, back now and sorting through everything slowly.  The info you all supplied I must admit I had already found, but was thrown with the Matthew Stewart and Jane Cook.  I was hoping something somewhere could prove their existance and confirm link to Margaret as whoever put their names on the death cert I assume could be mistaken somehow.  Thank you all again for all your efforts, I think at this time I may have to stick with the birth details for Margaret's parents being John and Jane and hope I have the correct Margaret!
regards, Carol