Pre-1855 Death Exercises

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

For some time now I've felt somewhat restricted in my hobby of researching family history because of my inability to travel to such places as my local Family History Centre. Although many of you out there on RootsChat have been kind enough to state that I'm doing a pretty good job of assisting you, I just didn't feel happy about the situation. Well, I have done something about it, and for the past couple of days have been experimenting with addressing many of the blanks on my Family Tree by working on them using pre-1855 Death Records. Although far from perfect, I have slogged away at various exercises that I set myself, and I have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised at what I've been able to achieve.

In my next postings I will give you the results of my work, and you can judge for yourselves how effective my experiments have been.

Most of you will know that my mother was a Livingstone, and that I have written quite a lot about that family. I want to now give you a small sample of my research into that family, using the new resource avilable to me.

Christian(a) Livingston(e), was the daughter of Archibald Livingston(e) and Christian Muir and was born on the 12th of June, 1749 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety in Fife. She married David Muir on the 1st of November, 1771. David was the son of David Muir and Elspeth Hill. He was christened on the 9th of May, 1745 at Dalgety.

I was amazed to discover that David had married a Euphan Beveridge who had been christened at Dalgety in Fife. Euphan was the daughter of John Beveridge and Grissel Simpson. Her marriage to David Muir took place on the 12th of December, 1760 at Dalgety. That unfortunate lady died and was buried at Dalgety on the 23rd of November, 1770. That means that David only waited about a year before he remarried.

I think you would have to agree that the above is a fair amount of detail, but, I'm still experimenting with the new resource, and am not yet fully up to speed. However, even that information that I have given you may be of some help to other researchers. I will continue with the exercise, and keep you posted of other developments.

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

I have continued my work using my new-found resource, and came up with quite an interesting connection which will be of interest to most researchers.

I noted that a Margaret Simpson, the daughter of Archibald Livingston and Christian Muir, had died on the 21st June, 1775 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety in Fife. Her husband was James Simpson. Using that new piece of information, I confirmed that Marion had been born on the 18th of October, 1728 at Coaltown of Fordell and discovered that her husband, James had been born on the 17th December, 1728, also at Dalgety. I t was quite an easy task to find out who their children were:

John Simpson born 1st May, 1753 at Dalgety in Fife.
Archibald Simpson born 3rd April, 1755 at Dalgety in Fife.
James Simpson born 3rd May, 1757 at Dalgety in Fife.
Christian(a) Simpson born 18th May, 1759 at Dalgety in Fife.
Elizabeth Simpson born 29th April, 1761 at Dalgety in Fife.
John Simpson born 28th October, 1763 at Dalgety in Fife.
William Simpson born 6th January, 1766 at Dalgety in Fife.
Ann Simpson born 18th November, 1767 at Dalgety in Fife.
Margaret Simpson born 30th September, 1770 at Dalgety in Fife. She died on 21st June, 1775 at Fordell, Dalgety.
Jacobine Simpson born 1st September, 1774 at Dalgety in Fife.

I should mention that all of the above are EXTRACTED Birth Records.

Those researchers out there who do take some notice about my utterances about "naming patterns" will note, I'm sure, the names John, surely a connection to John Livingstone who married Margaret Callander, Archibald, surely a connection to Archibald Livingston,, James the eldest son of John and Margaret Livingstone, Christian,  surely a connection to Christian Muir, the wife of Archibald Livingstone.

My next posting will also be of some interest to other researchers out there, because it too has some very strong connection to people that I have named in these last couple of postings.

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

In my previous posting, I mentioned that Marion Livingstone had married James Simpson and that he had been born on ErrorSPAM REPORT THIS POST AS SPAM (Use 'Report to Moderator'). DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS IN THIS POST. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS PERSON.]the 17th of December, 1728 at Dalgety. [/color] Who was this James Simpson? Believe it or not, he was the son of yet another Livingston - Bessie Livingston, who had married John Symson (Simpson) on the 2nd September, 1720 at Coaltown of Fordell in Dalgety.

Their children were:

Helen Symson (Simpson) born 29th July, 1725 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety.
James Symson (Simpson) born 17th December, 1728 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety.
Grissel Symson (Simpson) born 31st May, 1733 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety.
John Symson (Simpson) born 21st December, 1736 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety.

Again, this part of the exercise was quite interesting, but, now one can see why I have such a tough job in tracking down my ancestors.

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

I have just completed quite an interesting exercise that should be of some interest to people researching the Wilkie family. What I found was the result of taking a piece of interesting and reasonably accurate information and then gradually expanding it into quite a story -(you know me by now!)

During my research, I found that that an Ebenezer Wilkie had died in January, 1854 at Musselburgh Asylum - a fact attested to in the Parish Records (Poor) Fife Council. Maybe some of you who have the time to spare, may wish to examine these records even more closely than I did, to see what they may find.

Now, who was this unfortunate man, and what reduced him to such a pityful end? I found that an Ebenezer Wilkie had married a Margaret CHRISTIE on the 25th of March, 1816 in Torryburn in Fife. That is attested to in an EXTRACTED MARRIAGE RECORD. I also found a pre-1855 Death Record showing that Margaret died on the 3rd of March, 1828 at Coaltown of Fordell, Dalgety in Fife. Just 12 years of marriage - what a damned shame. One would hope that she had enjoyed a happy marriage and had had the joy of having some nice children.

I discovered that Margaret Christie was the daughter of William Christie and Margaret Dawson and that she had been born on the 19th March, 1792 at Torryburn in Fife. Strange though it may appear, she had a brother named Ebenezer, who was born on the 9th of May, 1794, but he must have died, because another Ebenezer was born to her parents on the 14th of July, 1796.

I will continue the story on my next posting.

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

To continue with the story. I believe that by examining the names of the children of Ebenezer and Margaret, it is pretty conclusive that I had found the correct parents of Margaret Christie. Remember that they were William Christie and Margaret Dawson.

The children were:

Mary Dawson Wilkie born 26th December, 1816 at Torryburn.
Janet Wilkie born 27th July, 1718 at Torryburn.
John Wilkie christened 4th May, 1821 at Dalgety.
William Wilkie christened 4th March, 1823 at Dalgety.
Ebenezer Wilkie born 19th October, 1825 at Dalgety.
Margaret Wilkie christened 10th November, 1827 at Dalgety.

Just four short months later, poor Margaret Christie was dead.

Now, I would like some of you "eager beaver's" to do do what I have just done. Expand your knowledge by working from a piece of basic information. Coincidentally, an Ebenezer Wilkie married a Janet Christie on the 18th of November, 1803 at Dysart in Fife. Were they connected to the above family?

Alright, I will continue with my own research and get back to you with a few more "coincidences" in my next posting. By the way, take my tip, and look very closely at the "naming patterns"!

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

I don't know about you, but I'm quite enjoying myself with this line of approach. I believe that it knocks the dry as dust style of some of the dusty old records into a cocked hat. From the e-mails that I receive, that comes across loud and clear, and so I will continue with it, unless you want me to simply give you basic details.

An EBENEZER WILKIE married an ANN DICK. There are two EXTRACTED MARRIAGe records, (a) 7th March, 1829 at Dalgety in Fife, and (b) 10th March, 1829, at Auchtertool in Fife That makes me think that the bride and groom came from different Parishes. Again, I suggest that you take a long, cool look at the good old-fashioned Scots "naming patterns"!

Their children:

Anne WILKIE born June, 1830 at Dalgety in Fife.
Thomas DICK WILKIE born 17th November, 1831 at Dalgety.
Jemima WILKIE born 12th August, 1835 at Dalgety in Fife.
Philip Charles HENDERSON WILKIE born 17th July, at Dalgety in Fife.
EBENEZER WILKIE born 9th June, 1839 at Dalgety in Fife.

Look at the date of the marriage. March 1829. Just a year after the death of the wife of an Ebenezer Wilkie at Coaltown of Fordell IN DALGETY. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Well, now it's your turn to start doing a bit of spadework!

Kind Regards,


Tom

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

Continuing with the pre-1855 Death exercise, I have now been able to add quite a lot of information to my personal Family Tree, and thought that I should share the information with other researchers out there searching for their Hepburn ancestors.

Alexander Hepburn was born on the 28th March, 1771 at Linktown in Abbotshall, Fife. His parents were James Hepburn and Margaret Miller who had married on the 14th of June, 1764 at Abbotshall.

On the 15th of March, 1793, when he was about 21, he married Agnes Reid.

Agnes was buried at Abbotshall on the 10th of October, 1846 and is described as the widow of Alexander Hepburn. That is perfectly correct since her husband, Alexander, had died in April, 1840 and had been buried at the Church Yard, Abbotshall on the 14th of April, 1840 aged 69.

In my next posting, I shall be looking a little bit closer at Alexander's parents, as well as the parents of Agnes Reid. I look forward to your company.

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

I pushed back in time to about 1618 when William Hepburn was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife. He married a Jean KIRK who had been christened on the 3rd of January, 1621. I now know that Jean died in January 1649 at Kirkcaldy at the early age of 28 and William, a merchant, died at Kirkcaldy in 1650 when he was about 32 years of age.

William and Janet had married at Kirkcaldy in the year 1638, and had the following children:

Margaret Hepburn christened 1st March, 1640 at Kirkcaldy in Fife.
David Hepburn christened 27th June, 1641 at Kirkcaldy in Fife.
Henry Hepburn christened 31st March, 1644 at Kirkcaldy in Fife.
Katharine Hepburn christened 3rd April, 1646 at  Kirkcaldy in Fife.
Christian Hepburn christened 13th February, 1648 at Kirkcaldy in Fife.

I would hope that this piece of information will be of some assistance to those people on Rootschat who are researching this family.

Kind Regards,


Tom.

[tommacgregor]

Hello All,

A couple or so postings ago, I mentioned James Hepburn who married Margaret Miller. I am now able to provide you with some details of this couple.

James Hepburn was christened on 11th February, 1724 at Abbotshall in Fife. He married Margaret Miller, christened on 8th October, 1732 at Dysart near Kirkcaldy, the daughter of John Miller and Janet Thomson. The marriage took place at Abbotshall on the 14th June, 1764.

Their children:

Janet Hepburn born 13th April, 1765 at Abbotshall in Fife.
David Hepburn born 28th January, 1767 at Abbotshall. I believe that he married an Isabel Peage in October, 1789.John Hepburn born 26th January, 1769 at Abbotshall in Fife.
James Hepburn born 28th March, 1771 at Abbotshall in Fife.
Alexander Hepburn born 28th March, 1771 at Abbotshall in Fife. He went on to marry Agnes Reid in March, 1793.
Spears Hepburn born 21st May, 1773 at Abbotshall in Fife.

As other researchers will have noted, I am now connecting the various members of the Hepburn family and placing them into the correct time periods.

Kind Regards,


Tom.