Gibson/Hay marriage c.1804

[greentrad]

I am searching for the marriage of my ggg grandparents who were probably married in the Kelso/Roxburghshire area around 1804. After the birth of their eldest child, Mary in 1805, they moved to Deptford in London. There names are William Gibson (1778-1843) and Janet Hay (1786-1835).

I have already personally checked the microfiche indexes at Hawick and online with Scotlands people but couldn't find anything that looked right. I have already discovered that Janet was born in Kelso - parents: John Hay and Mary Paterson.

Can anyone help please?

 

[Gadget]

Hello

There could be a whole range of reasoms why their marriage doesn't show on SP , especially   missing records or  a non-Church of Scotland marriage.

As you're probably aware, there were a wide range of marriage forms in Scotland at that time. See, for example:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/scottishwayofbirthanddeath/marriage/


Best wishes

gnu

[greentrad]

How do you do? (I bet you've heard that before) and thanks very much. This could well explain the lack of certificate/registration. I don't think that William Gibson was a wealthy man.

Cheers 

[greentrad]

Sorry Gnu,

Forgot to ask. Can you think of anything that was going on in Kelso c.1805-6 that might have caused a young couple with a newborn baby (who was deaf & dumb) to move all the way down to Deptford in London? William described himself as a merchant at the birth of his 1st child but later, in Deptford, became a labourer and later a shoemaker. He was living close to the Bermondsey Leather Market.

It is also likely that Janet's brother George, a shoemaker, moved to London, albeit north of the Thames, shortly before William & Janet.

Any ideas?

 

[Gadget]

Hi

I'm not really sure but it could have been either a personal issue  or a decline in his particular trade. Generally, It was the time of the  Napoleonic Wars which might have had some impact on his affairs but I am just speculating.

Have you read  the Statistical Accounts for the parish?  They can be accessed via this site:

http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/sas/sas.asp?action=public

I'll have a look through some of my Scottish history  books and get back if I find something specific.


gnu

[greentrad]

Thanks very much for the link. It provided some interesting reading. There were 2 reports on Kelso: one up to 1799 and the other from the 1830s. Unfortunately there wasn't one covering the period 1800-1810, however much could be gleaned from the available reports. In particular the fact that shoemakers were by far the most numerous of the trades in the late 18th century but, at the same time, appeared to be in a reasonably good position financially with their goods sold mainly locally and in bordering areas.
There was a comment in the second volume that mentioned that the growth in Kelso's population, though mainly down to the movement of people from surrounding agricultural areas into the town, consisted to a great extent of older people and that many young men were leaving the town to find work elsewhere.
Other than that I couldn't really identify anything that would specifically account for my forebear's relocation to London. I'll keep searching though.
Many thanks for your help...