William Coutts: Dundee, 1800s

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Found the missing OPR birth for Sarah Clark (granddaughter of Sarah McLarty, Snr.)
Sarah, daughter of David Clarke, flax dresser, and Mary McLarty, born 17/3/1832, baptised 29/4/1832 at Greenock Old or West. 

This is handy because it puts the Clark-McLarty family in Greenock even earlier, and we know William Coutts Jnr. (son of William & Sarah) was born around 1833 in Greenock according to his marriage cert and later census data. 

I'm pretty sure the Clark-McLarty family living at Taylor's Close, Greenock, in 1841 is the right one based on the kids' OPRs:
- Duncan McLarty Clark, born 1/7/1834, baptised 16/11/1834 at Greenock New or Middle, son of David Clark, flax dresser & Mary McLarty
- Andrew Clark, born 7/4/1836, baptised 15/5/1836 at Greenock New or Middle, son of David Clark, flax dresser & Mary McLarty
- Margaret Clark - this baby was a bit tricky to find, but I found her! - born 10/9/1838, baptised 30/9/1838, at Greenock New or Middle, daughter of David Clark, flax dresser & Mary McLurdie.   

Yes, Duncan & Donald Clark were different children. Donald was older, born & baptised in Glassary, Argyll (like the eldest son, Alexander), where the parents were married (have the marriage OPR).  OPR Births 1/11/1830:  Donald, lawful son of David Clark, Hi**ler, Lochgilphead, and Mary MacLarty, his spouse.  If Donald died as a child, before the 1841 census, I can't find his burial.  There's a Donald Clark death in Renfrewshire, 1836, but he's 73.

The eldest boy, Alexander Clark is on OPR Baptisms at Glassary too: 23/1/1829, son of David Clark and Mary McLarty, Lochgilphead.  [No info on dad's job here.]   

So 6 Clark children: Alexander, Donald, Sarah, Duncan, Andrew & Margaret.

I'm getting the picture that by the time Mary McLarty's second son was born (at Glassary) husband David Clark didn't have much work in Argyllshire - a "hi**ler" could be a higgler, meaning an itinerant haggler or small time travelling peddler or tinker [derog].  Between Nov 1830 and March 1832, David & Mary and the two boys moved to Greenock, where the other 4 children were born while David was working in the flax factories.  Perhaps in 1841 money was tight with 5 children to feed (assuming Donald had died), the elder children Alexander and Sarah were sent to live with Grandma Sarah McLarty/the widow Douglas back in Craignish, and the 3 younger children were being looked after by mum Mary in Greenock. At some point between September 1838 (birth of the last child, Margaret) and 1841, David Clark joined the Merchant Navy - as per the 1841 census at Greenock. 

What happens to this family in 1851, I haven't got that far yet.  Can't find Granny Sarah McLarty/Douglas or Marion variants thereof in 1951, not in Argyll or Renfrew. Yet she died at Lerigoligan in 1855 and had lived in Craignish all her life according to the death cert.  There's a mysterious gap in 1851. 

Also tried looking for the elder grandchildren Alexander Clark & Sarah Clark in 1851.  On FamilySearch:  Alex might have married an Ann Campbell in 1850 at Craignish and then left the village.  He's not on the '51 Craignish census.  Don't know what happened to Sarah Clark, not on the '51 Craignish census either, maybe also died 1841-1851 or married & moved.

Anyway ... it does look very likely that our Sarah/Marrion McLarty might have followed her elder sister Mary to Greenock 1830-1832, and that's where she met William Coutts, the flaxdresser, and William Jnr. was born around 1833.  Alexander b. there around 1838.

I suspect our Sarah/Marrion (wife or mistress of William) never saw her mother again from about 1830 onwards.  In 1841 young Sarah is in Arbroath with 3 children. 

As for William Coutts's death, yes, sadly, he could be in an unmarked grave in Arbroath and thus lost forever in time.  The Alexander Couts-Isabel Leith research is another day!   

 

[loobylooayr]

There is a Sarah Mclarty at Craignish on 1851 Census. Just did a check on Scotland's People.
But her age is 63- your Sarah should be in her 70's - but we all know how reliable Census record ages are. Could be someone guessed Granny Mclarty's age? Or she got muddled and said 63 instead of 73?
Just thought I'd mention it.
You have certainly acquired a lot of info now. It's amazing what can be discovered. I've never heard of a higgler but it sounds good for David's occupation. Times they were a'changing and places like Greenock and Glasgow definitely provided opportunities for those from rural places who had no work. The flax industry must have been booming around Scotland's ports during these years.

It's been an interesting journey. Good luck with the rest of your research.

Looby

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Thanks, Looby.  I've seen a 62-year-old Sarah Douglas on SP in Argyll on the 1851 census, if that's the one you mean, but this lady is not ours.  This Sarah is living in Dunoon & Kilmun, wife of a Dougald Douglas also residing there (so Douglas is her married name, and she's not the widow of Alexander McLarty) and this one was not born in Kilmartin.  This one has different children (Mary, Angus) living with her.  Doesn't tie up with our Craignish grandma.  I can't find any 63-year-old Sarah Douglas in Craignish on the 1851 census, or name variants thereof. 

It is interesting to find out about archaic professions like a higgler or higler.  Also interesting how certain words like tinker/peddler/hawker have taken on negative connotations over time, probably because of the Pedlar's Act 1871 which restricted street trading.  But in the early 19th century these travelling salesmen were providing necessary goods to remote rural areas for people who could not get to shops in towns or cities. 

David McKie, journalist for The Guardian newspaper in 2008, writes:

"It's notable that some trades whose names may now sound disparaging were perfectly respectable then. A clod hopper was a plougher of fields; a huckster, a (quite possibly honest) street trader...A higler is an itinerant trader who higgles or chaffers in bargaining. His speciality may be to buy up poultry and dairy produce in exchange for "petty commodities" found in shops. There's a reference in Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa to "an honest higler (who) goes to town constantly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays", while a text of 1647 refers to "hucksters and heglars that buy and sell and forestall the markets": dealers in futures, perhaps."

Full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/01/britishidentity

Thanks for all good wishes and helpful suggestions.  Still researching!   

[Fide et Fortitudine]

I've had 2 good suggestions about David Clark's early job. 
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?reportsent;topic=645109.msg4917932#msg4917932

Not a higgler, but a heckler!  In other words, a flax worker or comber - one who teased out the hemp fibres. 

Funny what heckler means nowadays!   

[loobylooayr]

Boo!!!!
Sorry.....a heckler and not a higgler....heckler makes even better sense I suppose if David was already involved in the flax industry.

The Sarah I found listed on Scotland's People is a Sarah Mclarty in the County of Argyll  in the District of Craignish age 63. I don't have enough credits to check her out for you unfortunately.
Of course the age is out for your Sarah as I said earlier but it could be an error made at the time.
Sarah is on 1841 as Sarah Douglas but given the way these folk seem to alternate their names  it wouldn't be a shock if she is on 1852 as Sarah Mclarty. Then again.....there are other Mclartys in the area so she could be some-one different.

Looby

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Thank you for all your tips, Looby!  I've seen the Sarah McLarty family at Lerigoligan in 1851:
1851   MCLARTY   SARAH   F   63   CRAIGNISH   /ARGYLL   508/00 002/00 002

This puts the family firmly at Lerigoligan up to Sarah, Snr's death in 1855 and clarifies the issue of what happened to Granny Sarah McLarty and daughter Mary McLarty-Clark that year.  So Mary Clark was widowed by then - husband David Clark, the heckler/flaxdresser/Merchant Seaman gone.  There's also a 7th Clark grand-child, Mary (5), in addition to Duncan, Andrew & Margaret.

Curiously, all the grand-children at Lerigoligan in 1851 are listed as born in Dundee, which is where our William Coutts might have been born.  So either those OPR births I found for the grandkids at Greenock are different children with parents of the same name, or the census data are wrong.  Have to check the Dundee OPR births now...

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuu.   

[loobylooayr]

Hey, well done.
So that's Sarah and Mary accounted for in 1851. Poor Mary...mind you Sarah over in Arbroath is going to be widowed shortly too! Finding all these young deaths 30's - 50's brings home the short life expectancy most Scots would have had at this time.

Regarding the Dundee births of Mary's children ....that is a bit odd as some were born in Greenock and Craignish. Wonder why they gave Dundee as the children's place of birth? Perhaps little Mary had been born there and they just gave Dundee to the enumerator for all the kids? But as you say census data can be unreliable...just look at Sarah snrs age...she's only aged 3 years since 1841 to 1851. Now if only that could happen to me ?

[loobylooayr]

Just thought....all supposition of course - maybe the Clark family moved over to the East Coast when David went to sea or perhaps  when William returned to join Sarah they left Greenock too. At this time I would imagine re-locating would be for work reasons, not personal reasons.

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Yes, there is a large gap of 8 years between the birth of Margaret Clark (1838) and that of Mary Clark (circa 1846) so it's not inconceivable that Mary McLarty Clark and kids moved to Dundee from Greenock during that period, perhaps to be near a port after David Clark joined the Merchant Navy. 

Problem:  on FS I found 3 stillborn babies/died at birth in Dundee with a dad called David Clark between 1838 and 1839:
- a female child, no name, b. & d. 25/3/1838 at Dundee, daughter of David Clark
- another female child, no name, b. & d. 28/12/1838 at Dundee, daughter of David Clark
- a male child, no name, b. & d. 29/11/1839 at Dundee, son of David Clark
Unfortunately no mother's name is given for these dead babies on FS, so it's hard to know if it's our Mary McLarty.  Unless our David was playing the field?! 

The problem is our Mary McLarty Clark is supposed to be in Greenock in Sep 1838 (where Margaret was born according to her OPR) and she's still there on the 1841 census, at Taylor's Close.  So either the Dundee mother of the dead babies is a different one, or I've been barking up the wrong tree with the Greenock family.  No doubt there were lots of David Clarks in Dundee.

Our David must have enlisted into the Merchant Navy between 1838 and 1841 - he's on the 1841 census at Greenock as a Merchant Seaman with Mary McLarty, and at the birth of his daughter Margaret (Greenock, Sep 1838) he is noted on the OPR baptism as a flax dresser. 

Can't find the OPR Dundee birth of little Mary Clark, aged 5 on the 1851 census. I hope she wasn't baptised under one of those Scottish variant names like Elma or Merran!  But even 'forenames that begin with' do not yield any results on SP.  No results for a blank first name for a Clark child either (with dad as David Clark and mum as Mary).  Nothing in Argyll or Renfrew.  Nor can I find any Duncan, Andrew or Margaret Clarks born in Dundee of these parents at the relevant years.  For now, I'm sticking with the OPR evidence that Sarah, Duncan, Andrew and Margaret Clark were Greenock-born until I find OPRs to the contrary. 

As you say, census data can be unreliable.  William Coutts Jnr. is on one census as born in Greenock and on another as born in Craignish.  I suspect the heads of households often forgot where the younger ones were born, especially if they were getting on a bit. 

I "forget" my own age sometimes too!