Duncan and Mary Weir - Kirknewton

[DNAsearcher]

I seem to have come to a halt in sourcing information on Duncan Weir who married Mary Dummock or Dimmock around 1825 - 1837 in the Kirknewton area.

They had a son (my great, great grandfather) David Weir born ca 1837 in Kirknewton. I am keen to establish more in the Weir line but there does not appear to be a great deal of information on Duncan and Mary beyond their mention in David Weir's death certificate.

Any information on their origins and other siblings would be appreciated.

Thanks

[KirstyG]

Did David marry?

There is a submitted entry in the IGI indicating he married in 1862 to an Ann Long.

If this is correct then the marriage certificate should contain information about parents names to help you confirm. Those given on death certificates can be eroneous as they are sometimes given by people who don't know or remember correctly.

There is an entry on FreeCen for a David Weir born Kirknewton aged 14 in the 1851 census. He is in servants quarters, not with family members. No Weirs in Kirknewton in 1841 apparently

Can you tell us anything at all that you know about David and where you found the info to help us identify the correct family and prevent duplication of searches.

Kirsty

[DNAsearcher]

Hi Kirsty,

Yes, David a Ploughman, was married to Ann Laing or Lang on 4th Feb 1859 according to the entry on their son John's birth certificate - I'm not sure about the IGI 1862 entry.

The info I have on Ann is that she was born in Ecclesmachan on 29th May 1929 - but this is yet to be confirmed.

David was born c1837 in Kirknewton and died in Kirknewton in 1911. I have his death cert but not his birth cert.

Duncan and Mary may well originate outwith Kirknewton but I am going on the (very loose) premise that they would not have moved too far in the early 1800's. The Registrar's handwriting may be the problem with Mary's maiden name and it looks to be either Dummock/Dimmock/Dunminnock.

Regards
Graham

[KirstyG]

Hi Graham

There is an extracted entry on the IGI for Ann Laing, christened 5th July 1829 Ecclesmachan, West Lothian.  This could tally up with the birth date you have.

David and Ann will not have birth certificates as such, but there may be a record of their births/christenings in the parish records if they still exist.

I have not been able to find their marriage yet. Have you checked to see if the marriage date is the same on the other children's birth certificates? As the first son James was born in December 1859 they might have fibbed about the date if they were not married when he was conceived. Does it state where they were married?

Kirsty

[cheekywan]

Hi

Not sure if any or all of these Census entries are your David Weir

1851 Census Return
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As Kirsty mentioned, this appears to be the Servants Quarters of a Farm.


The Shale Mning industry took off in West Lothian about 1861, which could account for the job changes, no clue about the children swapping though!

H

[DNAsearcher]

Thanks Cheekywan,

The message was deleted by the moderator but if you resend transcribed in your own hand then there is no breach of copyright.

Regards
Graham

[cheekywan]

Ok, should really read the rules I guess. 

So here goes, transcribed by my very own hand! 

1851
Kirk Newton & East Calder
David Weir (14)
Born in Kirknewtown
Occ Ag Lab,

As Kirsty suggests, this looks like a farm and there are no apparent family members.

1861
David Weir (25)
Born Kirknewton
Occ Ploughman
Address, Dubend, Kirknewton

Living in the house
Ann (29) born Uphall, Linlithgow.  Charlena B (8 ) born Kirknewton, Isabella (2) Born Kirknewton, James Weir (1) born Kirknewton.

1871

David Wier (34) occ Quarry Lab, living at Dubend, Kirknewton.
Ann (36), born Eccelsmachan, Elizabeth (12) born Kirknewton, John (6) born Kirknewton, James (3) born Ratho, Robert (10 months) born Ratho.

Also at this address William Wier (18) born Kirknewton he is listed as a Nephew
And William Chambers (13) born Kirknewton also a Nephew

Interestingly, the 1861 census shows a William Weir living in Kirk Newton (but born Mid Calder, not that far away from Kirknewton) his Grandfather is JAMES Weir born abt 1801 Kirknewton.

I couldn’t see an entry for William Chambers in 1861, but (and might just be clutching at straws here), I inadvertently entered in William Chalmers when first searching, and did find an entry, same age, birth location, described as a nephew and living with Christina Lang (57) in Kirknewton, address Dubend!


In the 1881 Census David and Ann are both still living in Kirnewton but it doesn’t have an actual address this time (e.g. Dubend), Davids occupation is Oil Work Labourer.

The following children are present in the house
John (16), James (13) Robert (10) and Christina (2).
In 1891 there is no sign of Ann and David is down as Father in Law (occupation Shale Miner) in the following household.

Thomas Brown (27), Catherine Brown (28), William (8 ), Annie (5) and James (3) (all Browns)
David Weir (52), Robert Weir (20), Christina Weir (13).


In 1901 David is listed  as a Lodger residing in Old Town, Uphall with the following, this time his occupation is Oil Worker.

Mary G Brown (67),  Robert Brown (26), Christina Brown (23) (could be Christina Weir?)


Make of it as you will, not sure what happened to the children, Charlena, or where Elizabeth suddenly came from or who Catherine Brown is?

Hope it helps you in some way!

[detail]

Hi Graham

There is an extracted entry on the IGI for Ann Laing, christened 5th July 1829 Ecclesmachan, West Lothian.  This could tally up with the birth date you have.

David and Ann will not have birth certificates as such, but there may be a record of their births/christenings in the parish records if they still exist.

I have not been able to find their marriage yet. Have you checked to see if the marriage date is the same on the other children's birth certificates? As the first son James was born in December 1859 they might have fibbed about the date if they were not married when he was conceived. Does it state where they were married?

Kirsty

Hello Kirsty. I am Pam McIntosh nee Weir from Adelaide Australia and my great great grandparents were James Weir and Mary Dymock. David was their son. I have had a Scottish researcher undertake quite an extensive search on the Weirs over the last 8 years. This was a paid search so I have the copyright on any information I give. I don't know whether I am allowed to offer the researcher's name  but she is from Edinburgh.

There is a lot to say about my search and too much to provide on the RootsChatroom. Perhaps it is best to start with James being the father of David not Duncan. The Duncan you refer to was the father of James Weir ,  not sure of his DOB  but he was an Elder of a Church of Scotland Parish presumabley around the Kirknewton East Calder areas.
Duncan married an  Agnes McKellar or Robertson. At the moment more searches need to be undertaken to find more information about their  DOBs . Both are buried at East Calder. Duncan died on the 19th of December in 1849, Agnes on the 19 of September 1837.

David was born at Kirknewton 1837.
The 1871 census surname for William Weir who was living with James Weir in the 1861 census states as follows.
David Weir  Head Mar 34  Quarry Labourer  b, Kirknewton  1837.
Anne Weir   Wife  ''     36      Lin. Ecclesmachan
Elizabeth    Dau          12       b, Kirknewton
John           Son           6         b, Kirknewton
James         Son          3          b, Ratho
Robert         Son        10 months  Ratho
William         nephew  18 Quarry  Labourer
William Chambers ''     13  ''          ''

My great grandfather Duncan born between 1829 and 1830.
Other siblings to David so far are:
James          b, 1828
Catherine     b, 1832
William          b,  1836

There was a John born 1820, then a big gap but I am sure there were more children in between. Am currently having this researched. They may not have been recorded though because registering any births wasn't mandatory until around 1850. Not too sure of the exact year.

My great grandfather Duncan and his wife at the time a Jane Angus emigrated to Australia in 1852 where Duncan was to work at the Ballarat Gold Fields.
Some of the families born to the Weir family moved over to Canada after their spouces passed on. Therefore another line of Weirs married canadians. More information regarding that if you wish to know.
I can give you more information if you want it. There is a lot to find out.

I was very lucky to be surfing the net at the time I came across your RootsChat entry.

Cheers, Pam

   

[DNAsearcher]

Hi Pam, I'm delighted to hear from you and it seems we share close ancestry via the Weir line.

I would be delighted to share any information I have on the Weirs' up to present day if you wish, and equally any information to corroborate my searches etc would be most welcome.

On the subject of Duncan Weir - it seems we have differing information relating to David's father!

I have a copy of David Weir's death cert on 26 June 1911 which shows his wife as Ann Laing and his father as Duncan Weir and mother Mary Dimmock (Dymock) the Informant was David's son James. There is no mention of David's father being James.

The only real answer would be the the Informant got the info wrong (not uncommon) or Duncan was also known as James?

It looks like I have a fair amount of back-checking to do. But anyway, many thanks for your assistance and I hope we can share more info soon. You can let me know your email address throught the PM system.

Regards
Graham