I'm trying to trace the background of my gr gr gr granddad Thomas BRYCE who could be connected to one or more of a bunch of Bryce's who married in Cambusnethan around 1790:
Isobel Bryce to James LOWDEN May 1790
John Bryce to Jean WILLIAMSON Mar 1791
Robert Bryce to Christian WATSON Apr 1793
...or then again, not.
Thomas, a handloom weaver (as were a third of the male population), is named as natural father to John Bryce b 22 Dec 1818 in Dalry, Ayrshire, mother Betty Chalmers (b 1799). Betty married a Brown in 1822. In 1841 John was living with Betty's parents, also hlw's, but by 1851 John was married and a blacksmith.
There are no Bryce baptisms in Dalry prior to John so Thomas is not a local. However Marion Bryce was living in Dalry in 1823 when she married a Killwining chap. Her sister Isobell married in Killwining in 1826. The sisters are daughters of Robert Bryce and Christian Watson who had children baptised in Cambusmethan, Dalziel and lastly Bothwell where they settled. Of course there is nothing to say they didn't spend some time in the Dalry area between the 1809 birth in Bothwell and the 1841 census in Bothwell, but I suspect it may just have been one or more of their children who did. Thomas might therefore be a brother of Marion and Isobell. Robert's family has been researched by a couple of people and there is no son Thomas - and no Thomas to them on Scotlandspeople or IGI. But there is an IGI entry for a Thomas Bryce born abt 1800 in Dalziel, when Robert and Christian were in Dalziel, but no other details given. I can find no evidence of other Bryce parents in Dalziel in this period.
Apart from the thought that Thomas belongs to Robert and Christian, the naming of John in 1818 suggests that Thomas' father was called John (there are no John's in Betty's family). This leads me to wonder whether Thomas was a cousin of Marion and Isobell with John who married Jean Williamson in Cambusnethan being Robert's brother and Thomas' dad. Unfortunatley there is no son Thomas for John and Jean in Scotlandspeople or IGI.
Apart from the foregoing, the other most likely John's for Thomas' father from baptisms in Scotlandspeople are:
22/09/1782 JOHN BRYCE/MARY PIERCY - CARMICHAEL
There is a Thomas in Wolsingham Co Durham in 1841, from Scotland of the right age married to Jean, with an elder son John and elder daughters Mary and Anna. Scottish naming convention make John and Mary strong candidates for his parents
18/07/1784 JOHN BRYCE/ELIZABETH CARLAW - BATHGATE, W.LOTHIAN
no obvious sign in the census's that I can see
17/02/1789 JOHN BRYCE/HELEN KAY - KIPPEN, STIRLING
no obvious sign in the census's that I can see
02/03/1789 JOHN BRYCE/KEY - Balfron, Stirling
Mother possibly Elizabeth Kennedy - John Bryce and Elizabeth Cumming/Kennedy had a son Thomas in 1805, so this Thomas may have died young.
21/02/1791 JOHN BRYCE/JEAN MILLAR - AVONDALE
This Thomas became a blacksmith in Avondale and in 1841 had a son John.
There are a bunch of other Thomas births in the 20 years before 1800, one in 1800 in Carmichael to Thomas Bryce and Nellie Fuller (Fowler). There is a researcher who reckons this Thomas and Robert could be brothers, but I can find no obvious connection.
Any comments insights welcomed.
Richard Bryce
