Hi All,
Just got some more info thanks to Steves bit of helpful advice re: the wills/testaments - found that Margaret Beattie (nee Fitchet) has one at
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk BEATTIE MARGARET 18/07/1883 OR FITCHET, WELLINGTON PLACE, MONTROSE, WIDOW OF JAMES BEATTIE, BANK AGENT THERE, D. 11/01/1882 AT MONTROSE, TESTATE FORFAR SHERIFF COURT SC47/40/49
James Beattie's parents are John Beattie and Agnes Hill - there is a marriage announcement for them on
page 318 of the "Edinburgh Magazine or literary miscellany" on Google Books
it states "Marriage... At Montrose, Mr John Beattie, to Miss Agnes Hill, daughter of the late Mr Thomas Hill, of Montrose..."
Also Agnes Beattie (nee Hill) appears on the 1841 Scotland Census and 1851 Scotland Census - she has been widowed by this time as there is a will/testament for John Beattie, he was a wine merchant and Banker in Montrose and it lists all his debt(s/ors) at
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk BEATTIE JOHN 10/11/1830 MERCHANT AND BANKER IN MONTROSE FORFAR SHERIFF COURT SC47/40/7
In 1841, Agnes Beattie (nee Hill) (aged 60) was the head of the household and living at Gayfield Cottage in Montrose she's there with her daughter Catherine and son John (both aged 30), John is a wine merchant like his father and also there on census day was her grandson Thomas who was 8 months old - they had 2 servants.
In 1851, Agnes is living at 123 High Street, Montrose, with daughter Catherine and grandson Thomas C Beattie. Her occupation is that of a fund holder- they have only the one house servant now.
There is an advertisement on Google Books - It is in "The Scottish Commercial List" of 1869 by "Seyd & Co" "...- Beattie John and Co. — Montrose, wine and spirit merchant*- James Birnie, Catherine Beattie. 15th July 1870..." (Maybe this could be Agnes's son John and daughter Catherine).
Agnes's grand-daughter, Mary Ann Beattie (b. 1837), daughter of James Beattie and Margaret Fitchett is married to a James Birnie - (maybe this could be the same one or a relative?).
On the 1871 Scotland Census, James Birnie does not appear, but his wife Mary Ann Birnie (nee Beattie) and their children Charles I Birnie and Herbert A Birnie (probably should be read as Robert Birnie) are living with Mary Ann's mother, Margaret Beattie (nee Fitchett) who is the head of the household and also has some of her other children still living with her, they are Catherine, Margaret and Henry (the spelling and the mistakes on this transcription are shocking, particularly in all the ages). They also have a cook. At this time, they were living at 5 Panmure Tow in Montrose.
On the 1881 Scotland Census, James Birnie still does not appear, but his wife Mary Ann Birnie (nee Beattie) and their children Charles J and Robert (listed as Herbert A on the 1871 Scotland Census) are still living with Mary Ann's mother Margaret Beattie, who is the head of the household and whose occupation is still listed as an Annuitant (believe this just means she receives an annuity as income). They are living at 3 Wellington Street in Montrose. It is at this address that Margaret died on 11th January 1882.
Lastly, I found a website that Gayfield Cottage, Montrose and also a James and John Beatty was mentioned on (although names and address were not together - Gayfield Cottage was listed with a Charles Irvine's name) - it was compiled by Michael Dun at
www.1812privateers.org/ADM26/ADM26.pdf it seems to be a list of privateers with details of the ships names - don't know if its relevant in this case as Agnes is living in Gayfield Cottage in 1841, but have no idea how long she would have been there.
For anyone whose got an interest in the Scottish Merchants, Bankers and Shipowners of this time, a couple of good sites are
http://www.danbyrnes.com.au/merchants/index.html this is a website book of Merchants and Bankers Listings and he also has another project which is at
http://www.merchantnetworks.com.au which is a project in economic and maritime history.
For those of you interested in the Merchant Ships and the East India Company, Anne Bulley does a good book which you can view on google books - it is called "The Bombay Country Ships, 1790-1833"
Anyway hope this is useful.