Alexander Marshall born Whithorn

[ankerdine]

I wonder if anyone has access to the OPRs of Whithorn. I am searching for the baptism/birth of Alexander Marshall born c1805 Whithorn. I have found him from 1841 onwards in Creetown with his growing family. He was married in Kilmaurs in December 1826 To Jean Marshall. Another contact I have made has an ancestor Robert Marshall born c1801 also in Whithorn. Does anyone think there is a connection?

Robert Marshall apparently has William Marshall and Elizabeth Gibson as parents. Using the Scottish naming system could my Alexander also be their son as his first-born is William and his second daughter is Elizabeth.

What do you think?

Judy

[KirstyG]

Hi Judy

Looking at Scotlands People there are very few (11) MARSHALL* children being born/baptised in Wigtownshire between 1790 -1820, and none of them are recorded in Whithorn.

* This increases to 18 with soundex on.

It is possible that the Parish records for Whithorn have been lost over the years, or maybe never kept in the first place. The numbers do seem very low considering the apparent Marshall population explosion there over the next 2 generations.

Do you have the death certificate for Alexander Marshall? It should give his birth and parent details (provided the informant knew them) if he died after 1855.

Have you tried locating MIs for the Marshalls? If Robert and Alexander were related there may be some evidence on headstone inscriptions. Otherwise Kirk Session records can hold clues i'm told.

Kirsty

[ankerdine]

Hi Kirsty

Thank you for your reply. I do have the date of his death which was 1st November 1862.

Hopefully, therefore, I should find the details of his parents. I didn't realise that information would be recorded on the death certificate. I just thought there would be the informant and his wife's name, together with the cause of death.

Thank you for that.

Someone elsewhere on this FANTASTIC site used Soundex for a previous Marshall search and all sorts of spellings of Marshall were found.

Judy

[ankerdine]

Hi Kirsty

You were correct. I paid my £6 for Scotlands People and searched for Alexander's death certificate. Indeed, his parents WERE William Marshall and Elizabeth Gibson. Thank you so much for your good advice.

However, I have not found his birth or that of Robert his brother. Did you suggest that Whithorn did not keep records or was it that these tinsmiths were not very good at registering births.

Judy

[KirstyG]

Hi Judy,

Nominally the Whithorn baptism/marriage records cover 1763-1854 apparently, however that does not mean the records are continuous or have survived in a legible form.
Maybe the Marshalls never had their children baptised (or were in a seceding church whose records are not available through the NAS), maybe they were just not entered in the book.

Unfortunately as the Whithorn records do not go much further back it may be difficult to trace the family if they were local.

A good site to look at (where I got the dates from) is The Wigtownshire Pages
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~leighann/index.html

They have links there to the 1851 D&G census and a head of household index amongst other things. I looked up the entries and it looks like William Marshall may have remarried? Check the age of his wife Alexander moved to Kirkmabreck with his family (wife is down as Jane). I don't know if you have all of these entries.

Kirsty

[ankerdine]

Hello again Kirsty

Thanks for your encouraging details. William and Elizabeth married in Newton on Ayr 18/4/1800 - I found their marriage last night. He was a travelling tinsmith.

Yes, thank you, I do have Alexander's family at Creetown (Kirkmabreck) in both 1841 and 1851 censuses (sp?? plural). My contact for Robert Marshall has William at Port William, Mochrum, on the 1851 aged 82 but I have no more credits left at present to check this out.

It's a pity about Whithorn, especially as it's such a religious place. However, something may turn up eventually. I have been searching for Alexander's parents for years!

Thanks once again.

Judy

[ankerdine]

Wow!!!

I see what you mean! He was 82 and had a 4 months baby. His new wife Agnes was 35. I wonder when he died. HE MUST HAVE BEEN DESCENDED FROM KING BILLY!

Judy

[alex m]

Hello Judy, I just joined the forum the other day, and I came across your post, it may be coincidence but I have a Robert Marshall (my GGGrandfather) whose parents were William Marshall a tinsmith and Elizabeth Gibson. Robert who was a labourer married Esther Stanhope.  Regards.......Alex

[MonicaL]

Hi All

There are a couple of children showing for William Marshall and Elizabeth Gibson:

1. ELISABETH MARSHAL Christening: 05 MAR 1818 Penninghame, Wigtown, Scotland
2. ANN MARSHAL  Christening: 26 JAN 1821 Penninghame, Wigtown, Scotland

This looks to be one of those batches on IGI where only the females were loaded on to IGI, you may find the original film available to order I would imagine from your local LDS library may include more entries.

William and Elizabeth's 1841 entry:

William Marshall 63, tinsmith, b. Scotland
Elisabeth Marshall 59, b  Scotland
William Marshall 40, b. Scotland
Mary Marshall 11

Address: Eldrig Farm, Mochrum

Monica