Hi Pete
Have you managed to make any inroads on the Scottish roots of James Rule? If not, hopefully the marriage entry that Julie found earlier will let you confirm at least his father's name.
The only James Rule I am seeing in the earlier censuses in Scotland is in this family - the transcription is not great (the original image will hopefully be clearer) - all the children are showing as born in Glasgow:
John Rule 45 (iron) Sabourn (?spl), b. Dumpren (?spl), Dumfrieshire
Margaret A Rule 44 b. Dumpren, Dumfrieshire
James Rule 18 Grocer Amstant (assistant)
John Rule 16
George Rule 14
Address: 24 Scotland St, Tradeston, Glasgow Govan
I can't see James' birth above on the Old Parish Registers at
www.familysearch.org but the two younger brothers show as children to a John Rule and a Margaret Anderson (I thought this might have a connection with the middle name of James' son Phillip):
1. JOHN RULE Birth: 07 SEP 1844 Barony, Lanark
2. GEORGE RULE Christening: 18 OCT 1846 Barony, Lanark
Only possible marriage I could see for parents was this one (fits in terms of dates but question mark given the location):
JOHN RULE and MARGARET ANDERSON
Marriage: 20 FEB 1842 in Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire
This is all speculation until you are able to confirm James Rule's father's name from his marriage entry
Monica