Swan / Combe / Gowans / Whitelaw Stirlingshire and Lothians

[BlueTans]

Another newbie probably asking the same questions yet again, sorry, but a little help would be gratefully received!

I am trying to trace the family tree.  I recently received a lot of information regarding family names with day and month of birth but no years.  I do however have information about Andrew Swan (died 21-01-1966), his wife Marion Whitelaw Swan (nee Combe, died 21-10-1969) and their son William Walker Swan (born 30-06-1909, died 30-08-1958) who I believe were buried in Denny and Dunipace Cemetery.  I will be visiting the cemetery today if I can find it to check this information as I have a photo of a headstone that should be there although it is a little difficult to read the detail on the photo.

I also plan to visit the Records Office in Edinburgh once I am more certain of the information on the people above. 

I know the surnames Combe, Gowans, Jones and Whitelaw appear in the documentation I have and that these families lived in the Lothians and Stirlingshire areas.  Some were farmers and had a farm in the Bonnybridge area, I even thing one relative may be the author Annie Shepherd Swan.

Are there any other sources of information I should be looking for?  Anywhere else I should visit?  I hope the Records Office will help but any other pointers would be useful!

Thank you in advance for your help!

[apanderson]

Hello BlueTans,

Welcome to Rootschat!

You certainly picked a lovely day for a wee trip to Denny Cemetery. I have a photo of the stone you mentioned (which you can have a copy of if it's of interest) and when I transcribed it, the following are the details I noted down.

In loving memory of WILLIAM WALKER SWAN                  
Beloved son of Andrew and Marion Swan died 30th August 1958 aged 46 years
Also my husband the above ANDREW SWAN died 21st January 1966 aged 81 years
And of the above MARION SWAN died 21st October 1969 aged 91 years

There are one or two other Swans buried in Denny but all I could do at this point, is to give you the MI's and if you think there might be connection between any of them, send you the photos at a later date. To my knowledge, there are no Combes, Gowans or Whitelaws in Denny, at least none that have stones and there's only one Jones (Falconer Jones, wife of Henry McNair who died 23rd May 1946 aged 76). Of course not all people living in the Denny/Bonnybridge areas chose Denny Cemetery, Camelon (Falkirk) Cemetery is just along the road.

Both William and  his wife Marion's birth certificates could be downloaded from Scotland's People ( http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk ) and from those you would get all the information you need about their parents including possibly a date for their marriage.

You could also (from the same site) look for them both on the 1901 Cencus.

It's a pay-per-view site but really well worth the few pounds it costs.

Let us know how you get on.

Anne

[BlueTans]

Hello Anne

Thank you for the information. 

When I saw the size of Denny Cemetery I didn't think I would find the stone, but luckily I had a photo including the background and that cut down the number of places I had to look and I found it!  It is a lovely cemetery and it was a lovely day.

I will visit the Edinburgh GRO to find the next piece of the puzzle, the birth and death certificates.  I think the rest of the Swan family may be from the Bathgate area rather than Denny, but if you would let me know the MI of the two Swan's in Denny I would appreciate it.  If I find they are part of the family later I will ask you for photos then if I may?

Now I just need to work on the Combe, Gowans and Whitelaw to find where in the Lothians they were based, Jones I believe is Edinburgh.  The voyage of discovery continues!!!

Thank you again for the help 

[apanderson]

My pleasure!

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to Denny - I agree, it's a lovely cemetery. I don't know whether you noticed the building work going on close-by? It's the beginning of a new high school so I hope the little angels don't find their way into the cemetery

The following are the MI's of Swan stones in Denny:

1.
In memory of WILLIAM BULLOCH, Merchant, died 18th April 1911 aged 65 years
Also his wife JANE SWAN died 5th January 1887 aged 42 years
And their children ANNIE & CHARLIE died in infancy
And ALEXANDER died 7th September 1899 aged 20 years
JANET REID HILL, wife of James W. Bulloch died 16th June 1928 aged 56 years
MARY daughter of James Bulloch died 3rd December 1990 aged 84 years.

2.
In loving memory of JOHNSTONE BARR died 29th April 1972 aged 71 years
Beloved husband of CATHERINE SWAN died 17th March 1980 aged 80 years

3.
In loving memory of WILLIAM BLACK died 14th May 1964 aged 53 years
Beloved husband of Catherine Swan

4.
In memory of our dear son RICHARD SWAN died 5th June 1963 aged 42 years
And his father JOHN SWAN died 15th March 1965 aged 69 years
And his dear mother MARY SWAN died 5th May 1976 aged 77 years

5.
In memory of WALTER ROLLO who died 6th June 1982 beloved husband of Margaret Swan
Also his wife ELIZABETH who died 19th February 1968

6.
In loving memory of my dear husband JOHN WRIGHT SWAN
Who died 27th December 1962 aged 74 years
Also his dear wife CATHERINE McKAY who died 4th December 1989 aged 98 years
And son WILLIAM who died 5th August 1997 aged 67 years

Hopefully some of the above will tie in with your research. I obviously can't guarantee I've got the dates/years 100% accurate as it's sometimes quite hard to distinguish these, especially on weathered or eroded stones.

Anne

[behindthefrogs]

May I suggest that you check and enter your surname interests in the "surname interests table"?  The link is by clicking on "Your surname interests" which is found at the foot of every page.

If you find an entry of interest if you click on the "rootschat name" displayed this will send you to their profile and enable you to send them a personal message.

David 

[BlueTans]

Brilliant - thank you yet again Anne!

I have added the surtnames as you suggest David.

I think I have found more information regarding the Combes at the National Museum of Scotland as well so I have loads of puzzle pieces to sort now!

[heidibee]

Hi Blue tans wonder if the Andrew Swan you mention was born in Bathgate 1884 son of William Swan and Caroline Walker. My husband is related to the Swans through William Swan b 1886(his Grandfather) and remembers taking a Canadian relative to visit Swan relations in the Falkirk area - he seems to think there may have been an accident to a member of this family with a tractor on their farm.I have some information  regarding the Swan family but unfortunately nothing on the Falkirk relatives. The other names in the tree are not familiar to me.would be glad to hear from you if you think their is a connection.  Nan

[BlueTans]

Hi heidibee

Andrew Swan was born 9th Sep 1884 in Bathgate, son of William Swan (born 30Apr1851 to George Swan and Margaret Walliser?) and Caroline Walker (born 1849 to Jason? Walker and Elizabeth Hierd?).  Andrew Swan was a farmer in the Bonnybridge area and his son William Walker Swan did have a fatal accident at this farm in 1958, but not with a tractor!  Andrew Swan (1884) had about 10 brothers and sisters, the son born after him is William Swan who was 4 on the 1891 census, born in Bathgate about 1886/7.

I think we may be talking the same family and that Andrew Swan and your William Swan were brothers.  If any of this matches your details send me a pm.  I have not managed to get much from the Swan side so it would be great to fill in some missing pieces!

BlueTans

[Genny Kang]

William Swan born 30 April 1851 was the son of George Swan and Margaret Walker.

George Swan was born on 5 July 1812 in Carnwath and was the 7th child of George Swan and Alison Gillon.  He was a collier in Edinburgh Rd, New Monkland when he married Margaret Walker in New Monkland in 1835. In 1841 he was a coal miner living with his wife children and father in Clarkston. In 1851, he was an engine keeper living with his wife and children at 24 Forsythe Land, Edinburgh Road, Clarkston, with a lodger William Goodlet, age 28, furnace keeper.  In 1861 he was an engine keeper in Meadowside Bathgate. He died in 1865 in Bathgate

Alison Gillon was the daughter of John Gillon and Grizzel Simpson. She married George Swan, then a coal miner at Shotts on 27.5.1797.

Naming patterns suggest he may have been the George Swan baptised on 18.10.1778 in Larbert, Stirling, the son of James Swan and Christian Greenhorn.

Alison is likely to have died before 1841, since George was listed in the census as a carter, living with their son George and family in Clarkston New Monkland. George died before 1856 when his son married