Mary Johnston - Daughter of...

[Windsor87]

The death was registered by the widower, Alexander Johnston...

I have searched for a marriage certificate but have been unable to find one as this can sometimes list the father. The couple had 5 children, 4 of whom were born in St. Fergus between 1825-36. Four were baptised and Mary is described as his wife, so there should be a marriage record somewhere. The eldest should have been born c.1824, Hugh Johnston, but I can find no record of baptism.

I can find no marriage certificate for Mary's parents Mr Johnston and a Christian Grant. This could be because they either weren't married or, given the discrepancies in the given father's name, the widower made another mistake while registering the death!

[Windsor87]

I should point out that I did find a record of Hugh's death.

His mother is listed as ________ Johnston (Ms Johnston). 

[mirl]

How do you know Mary's mother is Christian Grant?

I can see ten baptisms on familysearch with Christian Grant as the mother and George Johnston as the father between 1786 and 1811, some in Dalkeith and some in Berwick, but none for a Mary.

If the surnames are the same, did she marry cousin?  If so, can you get the connection by following his line back?

[Windsor87]

How do you know Mary's mother is Christian Grant?

I can see ten baptisms on familysearch with Christian Grant as the mother and George Johnston as the father between 1786 and 1811, some in Dalkeith and some in Berwick, but none for a Mary.

If the surnames are the same, did she marry cousin?  If so, can you get the connection by following his line back?

The only mention of Christian Grant is on Mary's death certificate - which as we know could be problematic.

Mary's birth - according to the census was - in Marnoch which is in Banffshire. Her husband was St. Fergus - also Banffshire. If her father was a soldier I guess we cannot rule out them being down there at one point or another.

At present I have no idea if they were cousins, or if the surname thing is a co-incidence.

In terms of Mary's husband Alexander, his father (according to the death certificate) was Alexander Johnston, and his mother was Mary Park. Just to complicate things, his second wife was called Margaret Park.

The fact that his father was also Alexander Johnston may be what caused the confusion?