william murray benson

[WeeKim]

Hi everyone,

I am also related to the Benson's for which I have discovered through DNA, to cut a long story short, William Benson married Helen Honeyman in Dec 1813 Larbert, one of their children William Benson born abt. 1815 May or may not have been married to a Mary McDugal Cowan, I can find no marriage certificate whatsoever, they had two children.  Now this is where it gets a bit tricky, Agnes Benson was born in 1851, Mary McDugal Cowan (my ggg grandmother) marries a Thomas Taylor in Dec 1857, Robert Taylor pops out 3 months later.  I believe through DNA that Robert Taylor is in actual fact a Benson.  I am just wondering if anyone has done there DNA on ancestry or GEDCOM so that I can finally solve this puzzle. I do believe I am right through a connection I have made in Australia but would love to clarify it further.

Kim

[MonicaL]

Hi Kim

Welcome to RootsChat 

Is this the Benson family you are discussing here www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3CDX-MGG

Monica

[MonicaL]

From this, William Benson died in 1857?

Widow then remarries Thomas Taylor in late 1857 www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3CDX-9R1 Son Robert as you mention born March 1858 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F73Z-XPK

I assume you have William's death reg and the marriage of his Widow Mary to Thomas Taylor. Also censuses for both families Benson and later Taylor?

Monica

[WeeKim]

Hi Monica

Yes this is the right people, although Thomas date of birth is incorrect, he was born around 1807.  There is no marriage certificate or death certificate for William Benson.  Robert Taylor and Agnes Benson Taylor were brought up by Thomas, and Robert (my great great grandfather) never knew the truth.  It is only since I have done the DNA through ancestry that I have found out that Robert was in actual fact a Benson.  Also, I am unsure if you are aware, but William Benson (William Benson father) also held a prominent position at Carron Iron Works and is immortalised in a poem that he penned in response to something written to rabbie burns who attempted to visit the carron iron works and was refused access as it was a Sunday. I have so much information on this line that I have gathered through old historical documents and books, and more importantly, through the Masonic lodge in Carronshore.

Kim 😊😊

[MonicaL]

Have you worked through the early censuses for this family?

Struggling to see a William Benson that fits so far to be father of Agnes born c 1851.

There is however a valuation rolls entry from 1855:
BENSON
WILLIAM
Proprietor
HOUSE AND GARDEN CARRONSHORE
LARBERT
1855
VR011900001

Have you viewed the marriage registration of Mary to Thomas Taylor? This would sort out whether she had married before as it will confirm her status.

I think the 1851 census entry shows her at home with her family:

Agnes Cowan 58
Marey Cowan 25 Labourer On Coal b. Bothkennar, Stirlingshire
Betty Cowan 25

Address: Little Row, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire

1861 census with Thomas Taylor - everyone showing as born in Larbert except Mary mother

Thomas Taylor 55 Engine Fireman
Mary Taylor 35 b. Bothkennar, Stirlingshire
Agnes Taylor 10
Robert Taylor 3
Mary Taylor 5 Months

Address:Kinnaird, Larbert

Kim, I am sure you likely have all this but just adding for further background here.

Monica

[MonicaL]

Leaving aside DNA issues, if you have a marriage for Mary to Robert Taylor in Dec 1857, shortly followed by a birth reg for Robert in March 1857, not sure how a Benson male comes in to this. Are you considering that a male Benson is the reputed father of Robert and he was conceived a few months before Thomas married Mary?

Where does the name of a William Benson come in? Is it on the marriage cert for Agnes and showing as her father? If so, what was the occupation of this William that showed there?

Monica

Added: I can see that Agnes shows as Agnes Benson is some of the birth registrations for her children with Hugh Paterson (her death index shows Thomas Taylor as father....but over the years, info can fade).

[WeeKim]

Hi Monica

Yes I have the marriage certificate, it states that she was a spinster, which makes me think that Agnes and Robert were illegitimate.  Robert was born in 1858, Thomas and Mary were married in Dec 1857 and 3 months later my GG grandfather was born.   On Agnes Benson Taylor's marriage certificate it states that her father was William Benson and was a blacksmith (deceased) she was born in 1851 while she was still living at home with her mother Nannie and Thomas. Now this is where it gets even trickier 😂, William Benson and John Benson were brothers, John had an illegitimate child also named William 😂 and William (the brother) also had a son named William, to add further fuel to the fire, Alexander Benson, son of William, also had an illegitimate child named William, so one of them must be the father 😂.  Rather confusing, I have all the documentation as I was researching the Taylor line (my father's line).  The DNA I guess has thrown a spanner in the works, but a good spanner may I add.  It has been an interesting journey.  However the story does not end there, while researching the census on the taylor/Cowan line, I found a child named Mary Auld Cowan, born in 1868 to a Agnes Benson, again illegitimate and is on the census as grandchild to Thomas and nannie.  No father whatsoever on birth certificate.  Very interesting but leaves one very confused lol.

Thank you very much for replying very much appreciated. 😊😊

Kim

[MonicaL]

Kim, you certainly have a challenge here 

Can I ask something? How have you made the connection to Benson family you have been discussing as having researched?

I cannot see anything at all on a young William Benson, blacksmith by trade, that could fit as father to Agnes (from what you mention from her marriage reg) in the early censuses of 1841-71

At least Mary Cowan is pretty straightforward to follow through isn't she. With her family in 1851 (pregnant by then?). She then was pregnant again by the summer of 1857, married Thomas Taylor showing as unmarried in December 1857 and then gave birth to Robert in March 1858.

How have you tested for Robert's DNA, to set you off in thinking that his father was a Benson? Are you in contact with his descendants?

Agnes was certainly illegitimate from what you have. She was born Cowan (her daughter Mary b. 1868 has her as Agnes Cowan), went sometimes by the surname of her reputed father Benson and other times by the surname of Taylor, her step father.

Monica