Thomson family of Bonhill/Missing records

[Mary Lea]

My Grandmother Annie Thomson was b.1875 in Bonhill.  Her Mother, Christina Thomson b.1831 in Old Kilpatrick. Christina married John Robb in 1851 and there were two children from the marriage.
I have been unable to find a death for John Robb, but Christina gave birth to two illegitimate daughters, the first in 1856, the second in 1864.  She subsequently gave birth to three additional children:  Mary b.1868, Matthew b.1870 and Annie b.1875.  According to my Grandparents marriage certificate Annie's father is named as Matthew Thomson (deceased).  I cannot find a marriage for Matthew and Christina. Christina, had worked as a Grounder in the Printfields for many years died in 1900, the registration of her death gives her name as Christina Robb widow of John Robb.  I have tried in vain to find the birth registrations of Mary, Matthew and my Grandmother Annie, which seems strange given that Christina registered the four previous births. The family are not to be found on the 1891 census, neither can I find any other entries for either Mary or Matthew.   I would welcome any thoughts or comments - is there anything I may have overlooked?
   

[andycand]

Hi

This is a bit of a longshot but quite a bit of it fits. The following births all took place in Bonhill Parish

Mary Elliot 17th Oct 1867 parents Patrick Elliot & Christina Thomson
Martha (sic) Elliot 1st March 1870 parents Patrick Elliot & Christina Thomson
Ann Smart Elliot 11th Nov 1874 parents Peter Elliot & Christina Thomson

This is sourced from Familysearch.org which has indexed Scottish Births 1855 to 1875 from the Statutory Registers. It is possible that Martha is a poor transcription of Matthew, a check of the Registration itself would be worthwhile

Patrick & Peter are interchangeable and it would be a big coincidence if another Christina Thomson gave birth to 3 children in the same parish with children with the same names (subject to clarifying Martha/Matthew)

As far as Annies marriage certificate, if Patrick/Peter was not on the scene from a young age it is not unknown for a father to be invented or another person such as an older brother named

Andy

[Mary Lea]

Hi Andy,
Thanks for your reply, and it is certainly a coincidence finding the three Thomson/Elliot births in Bonhill. However, they are not my family.  I didn't want to add too many details in my original entry but there was a 'Matthew' somewhere in there. My Grandmother Annie named her youngest son 'Charles Matthew', whilst an older son named his child Charles Matthew!   The 1871 Census shows the family living with Christina's widowed mother, and her children include: Mary aged 3 and Matthew aged 1. 

[andycand]

Hi

I realise that there is a Matthew in your family but I strongly suspect that the birth that Familysearch.org have indexed as Martha should in fact be Matthew. It would be worthwhile investigating further.

Andy

[Mary Lea]

Hi Andy,

Thanks again - I will follow up on what you have found and let you know the results!
           Mary

[Citizen Smith]

If Christina was left on her own with 3 children, it's very likely she applied for help from the parish and, if the records survive, they are likely to give a lot of information about her personal circumstances, unlike the statutory records which just state the facts.

The Mitchell Library in Glasgow has a searchable database of names of applicants for both indoor and outdoor relief - I'm not sure if the records cover Bonhill. It would be worth finding out.

I'm in the Mitchell tomorrow morning if you want a look up on the database - let me know.

Sarah

[Mary Lea]

Sarah, thank you for your kind offer - I would be grateful if you could take a look at the database in the Mitchell library, do you need any further details to do so? Would Christina have eligible for relief?  She was after all employed. 
              Mary

[Citizen Smith]

Sarah, thank you for your kind offer - I would be grateful if you could take a look at the database in the Mitchell library, do you need any further details to do so? Would Christina have eligible for relief?  She was after all employed. 
              Mary

She may well have applied for assistance with schooling for the children.  Many people obtained small amounts of what was called "outdoor relief" rather than having to go into the "work-house".

I'll check it out for you and let you know.

Sarah

[Mary Lea]

Hi Andy,

Thanks again - I will follow up on what you have found and let you know the results!
           Mary

Hi Andy,
Your longshot proved to be correct!  I spent some time today on 'Scotlands people' and have downloaded several records, including the marriage in 1867 of Christina Thom(p)son (34) to Peter Elliot(25) His Father was Matthew Elliot!   I have the birth registrations of the three children and the marriage of Mary in 1887.  The family search.org website - 1891 census shows Christina Elliot, also Matthew born 1870 but I was unsuccessful in finding the names on Scotlandspeople which would have shown more details.     
Please accept my sincere thanks for your help, I appreciated it so much especially as I was beginning to feel as though I would never discover the identity of my Great Grandfather or the birth date of my Grandmother. 
                      Mary