Searching for fishing boat owner

[bealy]

Oh my, I'm so happy to receive your reply, you have helped so so much, sadly my parents have passes so I have no one to fill in the gaps and ive been searching for years but because my nanna was born after 1901 census I was not getting far. my great grandfather William Reid was working in rosyth dockyard 1915-1926 any idea why he would have gone there? I still have no idea where she was born. Thank you so very much and for helping with the Watson link.

[bealy]

I'm completely hooked now thanks to you Harry

[bealy]

Thank you Harry Watson for telling me who this lady is with my Dad, Elspeth Salter Watson
1873–
Birth 18 MAR 1873 • Cellardyke, fifeshire
Death Unknown
great-grandmother

[broofer]

And welcome also from another fellow-Dyker - from the Keay family ( and hello to my "cousin" Harry Watson ). Yes I recognise your Dove St line - Henry's dau Elizabeth married a George Anderson Keay, son of George Rhynd Keay, descended from a line of Alexander Keays at 8 Shore St.  The line of George Keays established themselves further up Shore St., number 8 being too small to accommodate them all

[ Tell me if I'm talking rubbish, Harry ]

What made me laugh was the thought of a Dove St Reid using 8 Shore St as a quick route to the harbour - The back door of no 8 is upstairs in Dove St., so a quick run in, jump down the stairs and out through the front door - and you are bang opposite the steps. No long detour round by the Watsons at 6 Shore St.

Or a handy spot for Reids to quietly meet their Keay friends.
When we used to go for holidays in the 1940s-1950s, the only person to use the back door was the coalman.

[hdw]

It never ceases to surprise me, the way that a genealogical thread like this can lie dormant for years then somebody sparks it into life again. I have twice forgotten about this correspondence, and here it comes again. It's good to see a discussion about the East Neuk for a change (no offence to West Fifers, I have West Fife ancestry too!).

If anyone wants to discuss their Cellardyke ancestry either publicly on here or privately, I'm all ears.

Harry

[broofer]

Hallo Harry, or anyone else who can help. Which Keays or family married into them was in no 8 Shore St. in 1900 ? It may help to unravel our mystery photo of a christening group outside the house. Annie and her hubby John are probably down from Aberdeen, and young Alex is there too, but they are not now resident. Please.

[ There is a baby Andrew, but his grandparents live in the same house, but they are not in the picture, so he is unlikely.
I favour a baby Annie, dau of Walter and Janet, which might explain old Annie's presence. But I hadn't heard of a Walter. He is likely to be a son of Andrew and Isabella, and Andrew is son of Alex Keay and Helen Hughes ]
P.A.

[hdw]

Hi. You've sent me this photo before, but I'm afraid I'm confused by all these names. You can't look up an address on Scotlandspeople, just an individual. To check who lives at a certain address you would need to look up the Valuation Rolls, but the nearest one to 1900 is 1905 and the occupants could have changed by then.

Harry

[MonicaL]

The 1901 census shows two households at 8 Shore Street:

David Keay 42 Fisherman b. Cellardyke
Jane S Keay 40 wife b. Cellardyke

The other household:

Jessie Lawson 43 fishworker b. Cellardyke
John Lawson 16 son cooper b. Pittenweem, fifeshire

Monica

[broofer]

HA HA - while typing all this, my post which I'll post anyway, has been overtaken by the post from MonicaL !!!
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD -Thanks MonicaL

Thanks Harry, but I may have got it - let me test you with a few names before I lash out all my savings on certificates -

Alex Keay and Helen Hughes had amongst their children - Alex b abt 1823, Andrew 1825, and Thomas 1842

Alex m Ann Birrell.
Their son Alex b abt 1850 m Mary Watson
Their children included Annie* b 1874 who married in 1898 John Robertson
John and Annie had no children (and were close to my mother whose own mum Janie died young)

Andrew m 1854 Isabella Davidson./Boyter
They had a son Walter b 1866 who m Janet Barclay in 1899
Walter and Janet had a dau Annie b abt 1900

Thomas m Margaret
They had a dau Helen* b 1872

Thats the easy bit
Now in 1891 Annie* 16 and Helen* 19 are both living with Alex ( b 1823 )
This Alex is Annie's grandfather and Helen's uncle !

By 1901 Annie has married and gone to Aberdeen
Helen Keay is not yet married and is on her own aged 29. She dies in 1906 aged 35

I reckon that Annie is there not just because she has taken husband John down, but because she would have had a friendship with her cousin once removed, Helen. Which also suggests Helen is in the photo, and could be the one holding the baby.

And the baby looks about a year old, and could be Walter and Janet's Annie who was b 1900
And that could be Walter and Janet in the doorway, and they could be the residents
Which dates the photo 1901. [ The year after the Bernicia ]

What do you think, Harry. Am I on the right track, or talking rubbish ?
If you think what I have is 'possible', then I'll have a stab at the certs and censi.

Good to hear you are still there to keep us in order