MI - Falkirk

[callendar]

Seeking MI for James Rankine/Mary Rankine (Main) in the Falkirk area. I believe James birth is C 1770 but no information on Mary Main. Also Is it possible to purchase MI printouts for the Falkirk, Polmolnt, Redding areas of Stirlingshire?

It is possible that James Rankine parents were George Rankine/Jean Rea from the Polmont area

Any help would be greatly appreciated as i appear to be hitting the inevitable brick wall

Thanks in advance
Ron Rankine - Brisbane

[apanderson]

Hi Ron,

I have a copies of the pre 1855 MI's for East & West Stirlingshire and I had a wee look in Polmont Churchyard to see if I could find anything for you but unfortunately couldn't find anything. I also tried Muiravonside Churchyard which is just down the road but nothing there either.

Do you have a note of all James & Mary's children? If not, they were:
Mary, born 17.10.1792, christened 21.10.1792 (Polmont)
James, born 17.11.1794, christened 25.11.1794 (Pomont)
Jean, born 09.06.1798, christeed 13.06.1798 (Falkirk)
George, born 26.05.1799, christened 09.06.1799 (Falkirk)
Robert, born 05.04.1801, christened 12.04.1801 (Falkirk)
Jean, born 12.-3.1803, christened 27.03.1803 (Falkirk)

I looked for the birth of a James Rankine c1770 (the whole of Stirlingshire) and like you, came up with George Rankine and Jean Rea. This James was born 15th July 1770 and christened 22nd July 1770 in Pomont and was the 2nd of 6 children born to this couple, all in Pomont. All the names fit the traditional 'naming pattern' but of course this isn't proof. The siblngs of James were:

George, born 27.03.1765, christened 31.03 1765
James, born 15.07.1770, christened 22.07.1770
Agnes, borm 01.08.1773, christened 08.08.1773
Jean, born 16.13.1775, christened 24.12.1775
Margaret, born 25.09.1778, christened 27.09.1778
William, born 06.11.1781, christened 11.11.1781

I next looked for the birth of a Mary Main but widened the search to include Muiravonside (as there were none born in Polmont) and found the following children born to James Main & Mary Simpson:

Mary, no date of birth listed, christened 05.02.1766 (Muiravonside)
Christian, no date of birth listed, christened 05.05.1778 (Slamannan)
(When doing a 'parent search', all areas are included)

If this is the correct Mary, then she would have been 26 years old when Mary, the first child was born in 1792.

The above births are from the British Vital Records  - a CD version of the IGI.

Without knowing where in Falkirk the remainder of James & Mary's children were born, it's not going to be easy to track them down.

Anne

[callendar]

Anne - Thanks for the information - greatly appreciated

James Rankine/Mary Main have been my brick wall for a long time now.

Think my best bet now is to check William Rankine B06 Nov 1781 youngest son of George Rankine/Jean Rea who is possibly on the 1841 census for Polmont along with Catharine Robert?? and his son William Rankine?? B29 Feb 1820.
However he does not appear in the 1851 census but Catharine appears in the 1861 census age 76 but not in the 1871 census

As you say a good educated guess is certainly not proof but i am certainly enjoying the search

Cheers and thanks
Ron R

[callendar]

Noticed whilst reading some old topics that many of the old Falkirk churchyards have been cleared and any remains reburied at Camelon and the old stones disposed of.

Would it be possible to locate the nearest churchyard/cemetry nearest Callendar House/Laurieston area

Thanks
Callendar

[apanderson]

Hi Ron,

Unfortunately it's a bit of a hit or miss with the Old Churchyards.

I would think you might have a better chance of searching for names rather than locations.

There are 2 Churchyards right in the centre of Falkirk - Falkirk Parish and the Tattie Churchyard, the latter now has very few stones but the MI's were taken before their removal in (c.1962) and are listed in the Mitchell's pre-1855 MI Books.

The Tattie Kirk's stones are still there, most of them still legible, but the general area is in an awful state. The MI's are also listed in the same book.

There was another Churchyard - the Erskine, which is now completely gone and remains from here were re-interred in Camelon Cemetery. There are no stones, just a plaque to show where the re-interments were. The MI's are listed again in the same MI book and were taken from a list given to the Mitchells by Falkirk Town Clerk in 1967.

There are quite a few Rankin(e)s + other spelling variants in the lists for both Erskine & The Parish Churchyard, none in the Tattie Kirkyard.

Anne