Renfrewshire Parish

[cuthie]

It does look pretty like "rk" and not "sh".  Perhaps Erskine was pronounced differently back then.  Cuthie

[WILLIAM 1]

i have stayed in renfrew all my life and i have never heard of any where called that before

[Rena]

I wondered whether it was a farm "Arken" named after the farmer and maybe there was a misunderstanding about the placename required and it should have been Kilbarchen :-

WILLIAM ARKEN      Male          
   Birth:     02 FEB 1756      
   Christening:  06 FEB 1756      Kilbarchan, Renfrew,    
Parents:
     Father:     JOHN ARKEN    
     Mother:     JANET WILSON

[MacShuibhne]

I wondered whether it was a farm "Arken" named after the farmer and maybe there was a misunderstanding about the placename required and it should have been Kilbarchen :-

WILLIAM ARKEN      Male          
   Birth:     02 FEB 1756      
   Christening:  06 FEB 1756      Kilbarchan, Renfrew,    
Parents:
     Father:     JOHN ARKEN    
     Mother:     JANET WILSON

Interesting variation to this query, I hadn't considered anything like this. 

One that has resonance/credibility is that it could be "Asken" a potential phonetic variation of Erskine and has been transcribed as such on several occasions on FreeCEN

[Rena]

The census sheets we see are copied from household sheets and it could be that the writing on the original sheet was illegible for some reason.  This ancestor wasn't the only one on the census who was born at "Arken/Erskine/Ashten" - or a "familiar" nickname of (Kilb)Archan.  (I think "kil" means church so was the hamlet Archan away down the road from that building?).
.
It might be an idea to make a note of the other person and follow that person to the next census to see what village name transpires.   For all we know it really was "Ashton" but a mistake was made with the spelling transposed =  "Ashont"

[Skoosh]

Renfrewshire certainly crossed the Clyde to include Partick  before it was added to Glasgow. There is an Ashton Lane in Partick.      Skoosh.

[MacShuibhne]

The census sheets we see are copied from household sheets and it could be that the writing on the original sheet was illegible for some reason...

I've had another look at the full image and noticed that the person who entered each line from the household sheet has written with a tail/flourish at the end of each word which leads me to think maybe it is a five letter word ending in "n" not "nt" 

[jonn]

On the 1841. census for Govan, Lanark,
Address Knowehead, we have this family.

Hunter William, M. age 30 years, Wright. born outside census area,
Hunter Catherine, F. age 30 years, born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Jean, F. age 11 year, born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Robert, M. age 10 years, born Lanarkshire,
Hunter William, M. age 8 years born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Mary, age 6 years born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Catherine, age 2 years, born Lanarkshire,
Young Robert, M 20 years, Gardener, born Lanarkshire,
Young Robina, f 20 years , born outside census area.

The 1841. census the ages of adults were supposed to be rounded down to nearest whole number.

I know the ages of William, and Catherine, are a bit out going by the 1851. census, i am almost certain this is your couple.

William, is a Wright, same job as sawyer, or carpenter, the children are correct.

On this census Catherine is born in Lanarkshire, so its possible the wrong birth location on the 1851 census.

If her birth location is indeed lanark then there is a possible birth for her which could knit things together.

Catherine Weir, born 28/Feb/1805. Glasgow, Lanark, to parents Robert Weir, and Janet Alexander.

William, and Catherine, have children called Robert, and Janet.

I would be going all out to find Catherine Weir's, death certificate provided she died some time after 1855. which should verify her parents names.

Regards,
Jonn.

[MacShuibhne]

On the 1841. census for Govan, Lanark,
Address Knowehead, we have this family.

Hunter William, M. age 30 years, Wright. born outside census area,
Hunter Catherine, F. age 30 years, born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Jean, F. age 11 year, born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Robert, M. age 10 years, born Lanarkshire,
Hunter William, M. age 8 years born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Mary, age 6 years born Lanarkshire,
Hunter Catherine, age 2 years, born Lanarkshire...

...On this census Catherine is born in Lanarkshire, so its possible the wrong birth location on the 1851 census.

If her birth location is indeed lanark then there is a possible birth for her which could knit things together.

Catherine Weir, born 28/Feb/1805. Glasgow, Lanark, to parents Robert Weir, and Janet Alexander.

William, and Catherine, have children called Robert, and Janet.

I would be going all out to find Catherine Weir's, death certificate provided she died some time after 1855. which should verify her parents names.

Regards,
Jonn.

Hi Jonn

I certainly agree that there are some striking similarities between the info I already have and that in the 1841 census.  I know Mary was the 4th child of William & Catherine from her birth OPR in May 1835 and given the 1841 Census was held in June Mary would indeed be 6.  Also William's parents were Robert & Jean therefore no surprises to see those names appear as children.

(EDIT) I had a check on NLS and noted that the 1858 OS map lists a Knowe Street literally round the corner from Bridge Street (later renamed Partick Bridge Street) this fits with their daughter's (Catherine) birth in Kelvinhaugh where the family are known to have stayed.  I also cross referenced the map against the Header Page of the 1841 Census which shows the area of Knowe Street would have been included in the census

The family have a history of not giving accurate ages.  Almost all of the documentation acquired for them has discrepancies with ages (particularly Catherine junior)

Re Catherine's death - I did a very quick search on SP and only returned 28 hits for a death of Catherine Weir between 1855 and 1865 so not a huge amount to look through.  My earlier mistake was adding too many fields.  Although entering 1805 as the birth year narrows the above down to just 3 hits in 1857.

All this still leaves the initial query on what has been recorded as the location in the 1851 census entry - Renfrew, ?Arken/Asken?. 

Thanks for the assistance, I'll spend some more time on SP to follow these leads.

Regards
MacShuibhne