Hi Looby
I have the christening for Mary Coutts - 27/12/1847 at St. Vigeans, Arbroath - which firmly identifies William Coutts, at that time a weaver, and Sarah Douglas as the parents. Can't find the christenings or birth registrations for William, Alexander and Ann; we only know their approximate birth years and links to William & Sarah from the censuses. The only birth reg I can find for any Agnes Coutts b. circa 1844 in Arbroath is the Wanlass girl - daughter of a William Coutts & Sarah McLarty. There's also the mysterious 6th child, name unknown.
Out of the 6 children, yes, the three that survived to adulthood were William, Alexander, and Agnes. They all married and had offspring.
- William Coutts (Jnr) m. Lydia Baird, 1859 - 5 children
- Alexander Coutts m. Jessie Birrel McKay, 1841 - 5 children [my line]
- Agnes Coutts m. William Livingston, 1865 - 5 children
Yes, I have looked at the 1841 Census for William Coutts, Snr. at Greenock. It has him aged 25 at the time, a flax dresser. It looks like he's living in a boarding house or poorhouse at The Vennel with various men, women and children who are not obviously related to William: one Margaret Duffy (35), Susan Docherty (20) - a dressmaker, James Docherty (10), Dennis Bannagan (45) - a merchant, Peter Pullan (30) - a flax dresser, and William Eddie (20), also a flax dresser. The first 5 people are Irish. I'm guessing our William knew the other 2 flaxdressers at work.
We know that at this time Sarah Douglas (Coutts) is in Arbroath on Keptie St. with William Jr., Alexander, Ann, and somebody else's child - Margaret Duncan (aged 10).
I wondered if this Duncan girl might yield a clue to a relative - a possible sister of William's. I found christenings for 2 Margaret Duncans at St. Vigeans, one in 1830, the other in 1831, but there are no Couttses among these children's mothers.
We know that Alexander Coutts was born in Greenock, and William Jr. might have been too, although a later census ties him to Craignish. William Snr. might have had work contacts there in the flax industry. In the 1840s the port at Greenock was already an established and thriving trading point, importing and exporting with the Americas. 1841 also saw the opening of a railway station at Greenock, providing fast links from Glasgow to the coast.
What puzzles me is if Craignish was the real birthplace for William Jr (according to the 1871 census), and that's where William Snr. and Sarah first met, why would the young William Snr. go there in the first place from the Dundee area? Craignish was a remote, sparsely populated peninsula; there couldn't have been many work opportunities for the poor. In 1841 the population of the village was 873! The working classes were
leaving it, not going to it. It doesn't make sense for William to travel there. The only rather spurious link is that Sarah Douglas's father was a tailor. So perhaps William knew the dad from before somehow. Or they were linked in some way through the textile business. All conjecture.
I can't find the death cert for William Jnr. Wondering if that might have any clues, e.g. his mother Sarah's full name. I agree with you that it does look highly likely Sarah Douglas is Sarah McLarty, although the concurrent pregnancies of Isabel and Ann are problematic. Could there be 2 Sarah McLarties in Arbroath?!!
I'm also leaning towards William Snr. being the son of Alexander Couts & Isabel Leith as both his sons named their eldest sons Alexander. There are no Isabels among the female grandchildren, but then girls were usually named after the mother's line.
It's not very concrete, I know. Still digging!
Thanks for all your help, Looby.