Catherine Philips to Denholm.

[MonicaL]

Catherine's death unfortunately won't help further  Just found it. She died at the Royal Infirmary in Canongate area in 1878. See below. Looks like husband William who reported her death had a big blank on the day and completely forgot her maiden name and her parents' names. That blank below is where her parents' details should have shown....

[wilcoxon]

Thank you for doing that ... . looks like we are stuck .
From the details you gave  on John and Bessie Duncan, I have found Bessie in 1861 and 1871 with William Knowles and his wife.
 
On 11 August 1831 Elspet Duncan married William Knowles at  Drumblade,Aberdeen
Elspeth was John and Bessie`s daughter and  probably William Duncan`s sister.

Elspeth Knowles baptism in  Sept 1838  has mother as Elspet Duncan. Lennox is another clue.
None of the other children's bapts were found, but that`s good enough for me.

1861
William Knowles  51  Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire
 Elsie Knowles wife   51 b Drumblade Aberdeenshire
 Eliza Lenox Knowles dau  16  b Drumblade, Aberdeenshire

and in 1861 Lasswade
William Duncan  41  Drumblade, Aberdeenshire
 Catherin Duncan  40 Dalkeith, Edinburgh
Jane Frances Knowles  visitor  24 b Drumblade, Aberdeenshire
Eliza Lennox Knowles  2 Mo b Lasswade

[MonicaL]

The Duncan family certainly falling into place isn't it. From the 1861 census entry you posted, looks like William Duncan's niece, Jane Frances Knowles came to Lasswade to have her illegitimate baby. There is this birth entry showing for her https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQWQ-MLX.

Re Catherine Phillips/Denholm issue, doesn't help that William Duncan and Catherine don't seem to be following any form of Scottish naming pattern that we can see for clues.

First born girls Margaret and Jane Burns  Father, as you mentioned, a Robert Phillips and showing on the OPR entry for the marriage. Has anyone looked at the original image of the marriage to see if there is anything added that might help? Nothing I can see in their list of children's names that help with clues back to maternal grandparents' names is there 

Monica

[wilcoxon]

Did you mean this marriage ?

Jane Burns Duncan married Robert King 26 Dec 1873 at the Manse  Lasswade. 
Jane Burns Duncan 26 servant abode Loanhead , Lasswade. Father William Duncan gardener, mother Catherine   maiden name  Philips.
 Witnesses Frances Clark, Robert Walker,

[MonicaL]

No, not Jane's which you mentioned earlier. I was thinking of William and Catherine's from 1844. Just had a look. This is what shows for her father Robert:

[wilcoxon]

Thanks. So we now know Robert was a "wright" in Dalkeith and dead by 1844.

I have been scouring different sites but still found nothing conclusive.  I suppose either of these could be Catherine`s father.
Midlothian (Edinburgh), Scotland, Extracted Parish Records Ancestry
Ancestry, but not on SP

Robert Philip     Burial    17 May 1840    aged 41 bc 1799
South Leith, Midlothian, Scotland,

Robert Philip   Burial     31 Jan 1841    aged 67 b c 1774
South Leith, Midlothian, Scotland,

 Clutching at straws  !
Marriage
Philip (Philp), Robert, wright, College Kirk p ., and Elisabeth, same p., d. of deceased James Blackadder, smith in Kirkcaldy 19 Jan 1796

Catherine born c 1822 .

 My  friend who I am doing this work for , her mother was baptised Jane Duncan Burns King,  so far I`ve not come across any  Burns, not on this Duncan line or the King line. There are no Denholm`s or Hook`s showing either.

[wilcoxon]

I`ve given up on Catherine Philips, but found some nice bits about her husbands brother in law William Knowles.
1851  Lessendrum, Drumblade 
William Knowles  51 gardener overseer  employing 5 labourers b Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire.

So it seems William  Knowles was the head gardener at Lessendrum house.

[MonicaL]

He certainly seemed to have been. A photo of Lessendrum House included here http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Erowerowe/Lessendrum.htm

Monica

PS: We have been banging our heads haven't we on Catherine Philips!

[wilcoxon]

Thanks , I`m trying to "pad" out the story / people with as much as  I can find about them, so far  apart from few illegitimate children they seem to have been  quite an ordinary lot.