Help with Kerr in Paisley please

[Eidde]

Hi All

I’m trying to get some information on my ggrandmother, Elizabeth Boyd Kerr – she was born in France of Scottish descent, spent most of her life in Hong Kong and is proving quite elusive. I’ve got her death certificate, but no marriage cert (no luck with SP or the Hong Kong GRO) and no birth cert (her birthday was 11 Jul 1884, but I don’t know which town in France).

I know that she visited Scotland in 1920/1 and stayed at 35 Gordon St, Paisley, and I’m hoping this was a relative.  Does anyone know of a way of getting the name of the person living there at the time?  Electoral rolls, census, perhaps? 

I’d also like to get people’s opinions on the following: I thought the ‘Boyd Kerr’ might have come from her mother and father respectively, but as she seems to have had a French mother, this seems unlikely.  I then thought that her father might have been a ‘Boyd Kerr’ himself and so I searched SP for any candidates.  I found a few, but Andrew BK, son of John Kerr and Elizabeth Boyd, who gave at least two of their children the Boyd middle name, stood out.  On Andrew’s birth record (b. 1846) the place of birth is given as 25 Gordon’s Lane, Paisley. Gordon’s Lane is also the address for the family in the 1841 census, but later censuses show them in Lonend, just around the corner.  Gordon’s Lane doesn’t exist anymore, apparently having been replaced by Gordon St - where Elizabeth BK stayed in 1921.   Is this more than a coincidence?

Thanks for any advice

Eddie

[Blanched]

Hi Eddie, I can possibly offer you a bit of help with your Kerrs in Paisley. The John & Elizabeth, with baby son Gavin, at 25 Gordon's Lane in 1841 are John Kerr & Elizabeth Boyd, so I think that says where the Boyd came from. Although John & Elizabeth moved subsequently it's interesting to look at their neighbours in Gordon's Lane. At No. 26 is William Boyd, aged 50, a merchant. I would have thought it possible that Elizabeth's parents names were Andrew & Elizabeth, hence the Boyd middle name, but William could easily be a relative.

At No. 27 is Gavin Kerr & his family. Gavin was John's uncle. John's father was Thomas Kerr & they were the sons of John Kerr & Janet Dunlop. One of their sisters, Isabella, was my gg grandmother. Anyway, Gavin was still at 27 when he died in 1870 so it's possible that the property remained in the family, changing it's number/street name over time. I think the best way to find out who was in the property in 1921/22 is the Post Office Directory. I can look at that but it may take a few weeks before I can manage to get to the library.


Blanche


Me again -John is the son of Gavin, not Thomas. Thomas's John was born 2 years earlier. Makes it even more likely that Gordon's Lane remained in the onwership of the family.,

[Eidde]

Hi Blanche

It was really exciting to get your message with all that information.  Thank you very much.  I guess that if my Elizabeth Boyd Kerr is in fact descended from the line of Kerrs you’ve investigated, then we’re cousins of some sort.  Nice to meet you!

I’d really appreciate it if you were able to investigate who lived at 35 Gordon St in 1920/21, but no hurry.  I’m pretty confident now it’ll be a Kerr (or maybe Boyd). Your comment about re-numbering the houses in the street made sense – the gap between 25 Gordon's lane and 35 Gordon St was worrying me.

I had already come across William Boyd –Pigot’s Commercial Directory of Scotland (1837) has him as a shawl and plaid manufacturer at 27 Gordon’s Lane.  I can’t quite make out Gavin Kerr’s occupation in the various censuses – but it definitely has to do with cotton thread and he ended up an employer.  Do you think Elizabeth Boyd might have been William’s daughter and that John Kerr married ‘the girl next door’?

Thanks again.  I'm in Sydney - if there's anything I can help with, please let me know.

Eddie

[Murphyz]

I have a copy of the 1912 Paisley Directory and General Advertiser. In the street guide there is no Gordon's Lane. There is a Gordon Place, described as King Street (West) and Gordon Street, described as the east side of 32 Causeyside Street to Burn row.

There is a a brief listing of names in the Street Directory - at 35 Gordon Street, the names are:-
Regent Art Studio; Robert Thomson; Janet Kerr; Andrew Jackson; James Wood.

There is no number 27 listed - it jumps from 25 to 29 Gordon Street.

Regards
Murphyz

[Blanched]

Ah ha Murphyz, you've just solved the problem! Janet Kerr was one of the daughters of John Kerr & Elizabeth Boyd. She died at 35 Gordon Street in 1932 so is obviously the person Eddie's Elizabeth visited in 1921. Janet, her brother Gavin & sister Elizabeth never married & lived together. Gavin died in 1896 at 28 Orchard Street, after which Janet & Elizabeth moved to 1 Calside Place. Elizabeth died in 1900 & sometime between then & 1912 Janet must have moved to Gordon Street where she remained until her death.

That accounts for 3 of the 6 children & I've got John in Paisley until 1896 - he was the death informant for Gavin & gave his address as 1 Bute Place, Neilston Road. It looks, therefore, that Eddie's Elizabeth Boyd Kerr is the daughter of either Andrew or Thomas, neither of whom I can find after the 1861 census (although there's a possible sighting of Thomas in 1871 as an Able Seaman on board the RN vessel Gladiator in Montevideo harbour). Elizabeth's death information was John Gillespie, a cousin & Janet's was someone who looks like E. A. Parker & is described as "paternal niece" of Osterley in Middlesex. Anyone any idea what a paternal niece is? Does that mean a niece of her father, i.e. a cousin?

Eddie - does Elizabeth's d.c. not give any indication of her parent's names?

Blanche

[Eidde]

Blanche and Murphyz

Thanks for your great detective work!  The death informant on Janet Kerr’s d.c is not E. A. Parker, but E. B. Baker – Elizabeth Boyd Kerr’s married name – connection made!

So I suppose paternal niece means a niece through the father’s line i.e. Janet’s brother.  The question for me is which brother.  My money’s on Andrew as he is the only male (that I can see) with Boyd as a middle name. 

Elizabeth Boyd Kerr’s d.c. has no information on it about her parents – it just states France as place of birth.  I knew there was a French connection somewhere but I thought it was further back.  Now it seems her mother may have been French, but it’s still a mystery what Andrew (if it was him) was doing in France and how they all got to Hong Kong.

For some reason Boulogne comes to my mind.  I’m going to check with the local LDS centre, as I believe they have records for that region and other Channel ports.

Blanche, when I’ve had time to digest all the latest, I might get back to you to ask some questions about the earlier Kerrs you mentioned in your first post.

Thanks once again

Eddie

[Blanched]

It's great what several heads can come up with Do let me know how you get on with Elizabeth's mother (pity she didn't die in Scotland, then you'd have had a really informative d.c.!). I'd be happy to sent you the other info i've got on the Kerrs - not all that much as they seem to have a habit of disappearing without trace!

Best wishes

Blanche

[Eidde]

Hi Blanche

I haven't got any further with Elizabeth Boyd Kerr's mother yet, but I have traced my line back to John Kerr and Janet Dunlop pretty conclusively.  It seems that their son Gavin (your ggg uncle?) married twice - first to Catherine Smith in 1809 and then to Jean/Jane Hogg in 1823 - I don't know whether you came across this.  Gavin was informant on his son John's d.c. (1866) where John's mother is given as Catherine Smith.  On Gavin's own d.c. (1870) he is described as the widower of Jean Hogg.  I haven't yet been able to find anything more on what happened to Catherine.

Does your research take you back any further than Kerr/Dunlop? And do you have any info on them?

Eddie

[Blanched]

Hi Eddie (distant cousin!)

I've got a bit more information on the Kerr/Dunlop family. I'll p.m. you shortly with details.

Blanche