Hi,
I've had a bit of a problem tracing one of my family lines and I was wondering if anyone here could assist me.
My 3rd great grandparents Robert Williams and Margaret Wilkie both lived in Glasgow from the late 19th century till the 1930s and although they lived together at 126 Piccadilly Street in Anderston in the 1901 census with their 8 children, they were an unmarried couple. Margaret is described in the census as his "housekeeper" and my twice great grandmother Mary was born 'illegitimate' according to her birth certificate. I have never found any record of a marriage.
Without a marriage certificate, I've had to rely on death certificates to take me back one more generation. The problem is that although I managed to find Margaret Wilkie's death certificate for 1937, since she was still living in 126 Piccadilly Street and her daughter Mary (my 2x great grandmother) signed it, I have not been so lucky with Robert Williams.
He doesn't seem to have been living with Margaret Wilkie after 1901. They don't show up, as far as I can tell, in the 1911 census and on Margaret's death certificate she is put down as "single" not "widowed" or "married". It states: "Margaret Wilkie Williams otherwise Margaret Wilkie (Single)".
Should I presume from this that Robert left Margaret and the children to marry/go off with another woman?
I know that he lived past 1905, since he is not mentioned as being "deceased" on his daughter's marriage certificate. I also know that he died before 1943, since his son William's death certificate has him as deceased.
This is further complicated by the fact that Robert was born in Ireland, which means that I cannot look for a birth certificate in the Scottish records.
Since I know that Robert was a Ship Rigger and according to the 1901 census (and possibly a mention of him in the 1891 census) he was aged around 40 and so would have been born circa. 1861, I tried to find a Robert Williams who died between 1905 - 1943 who was born around 1861, had an occupation similar to a Ship Rigger etc. Margaret Wilkie was put down as being aged 39 in the 1901 census and since she was 75 according to her death certificate in 1937, it seems to have been accurate as far as she was concerned. Yet I can find no Robert Williams born around 1861 and died between 1905 - 1943 who fits my criteria.
I feel like I'm searching for a needle in a haystack. I found two men who sort of fitted the criteria, both of whom were married to other women:
A "John Robert Williams" who died in 1934 aged 84, had been a sail-maker and living in Beltane Street in Anderston
And
A "Robert Williams" who died in 1932 aged 78 who had been a "Shipwright" and living in Scotstoun and Yoker.
The problem for me is that neither of these two match the criteria identically: they are both older than "my Robert" would have been according to the census criteria, one has "John" before his name (does this rule him out?) and they both have occupations that are similar but not exactly the same as a "Ship Rigger". It may be that Robert progressed to a different sea-related job, yet how am I too know this?
My Robert might be neither of these men and that's my problem...how can I verify which death certificate out of the various on Scotland's People within the timeframe of 1905-1943 is my ancestor?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I also have the relevant documents saved on my computer if anyone would be kind enough to assist me and would like to have a look at them.