Since this
Slessor thread popped back to the top the other day, I've been trying in vain to see if I can get my 4x g grandmother, Ann Slessor, to fit into the bewildering array of Slessors around Old Deer. Here's what I have so far - if anyone can shed any light, it would be gratefully received:
Ann Slessor (variously, Ann Slessor, Anne Slacer, Anne Slassir) married
John McArthur (baptised 25 Sep 1768, New Deer, the son of John McArthur of Tukshill(?) and Jean Anderson) on 22 Jun 1797, Old Deer. They lived at Guilkhorn(?) and had two sons that I'm aware of:
1.
George McArthur (baptised: 9 Jun 1802, New Deer), farmer at Keppleston, New Deer, married
Christian Knox (b. abt 1807 New Deer, to James Knox and Janet Ronald; d. 13 Nov 1880, New Deer), 27 Mar 1827, New Deer; died 14 Oct 1870, New Deer. They had five children.
2.
Robert McArthur (b. 24 Jun 1806, New Deer), tailor at Little Annochie, Old Deer, married
Susan Baxter (b. abt 1812 Monquhitter, to John Baxter and Jane Rennie; d. 11 Jan 1877, at Little Annochie, Old Deer), 11 Jul 1839, New Deer; died 28 Jul 1857, Little Annochie, Old Deer. They had two sons that I know of.
Assuming that Robert McArthur's death record is accurate, his father John McArthur was dead by 1857, but Ann Slessor was still alive. Both are noted as deceased by the time George McArthur died in 1870. I've tried in vain to track down a birth or death for Ann Slessor - not helped, I suspect, by the immense variation in the spelling of Slessor (and the use of the 'long s' in the old parish records) - the transcriptions of some of the census records on A******y for Slessor are hilarious - I've spent most of the day submitting corrections
Anyway, I've assumed - perhaps incorrectly - that Ann Slessor was from Old Deer - she was certainly resident there by the time of her marriage to John McArthur (who was from New Deer), but I can't fit her into any of the Old Deer Slessors. I also haven't been able to find a death record for John McArthur - but there are a LOT of John McArthurs around, and I have a feeling he died before 1855.
Any illumination gratefully received
Ruth