Author Topic: Mary Sharp - Falkirk  (Read 2123 times)

Offline davidmilroy

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Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« on: Wednesday 20 June 18 01:50 BST (UK) »
Pulling my hair out with this brick wall. Any clues, help or ideas appreciated.

My great grandmother was Mary Wood (born Sharp). I have sourced her death record in 1927 in Glasgow and I know she was married in Belfast in 1878. From these records and census information for 1881, 1891 and 1901 she was born around 1853-54 in Falkirk. Her death record gives only her mother's name as Agnes Sharp, domestic servant (deceased), with no maiden surname and no details for her father. The Irish marriage record does not provide any parental details of the bride.

I can find no birth record for Mary to Agnes. The closest records are for a Mary born in 1854 to William Sharp and Mary Easton in Polmont and another born to John Sharp and Elizabeth Inglis in  Larbert. The 1861 census shows a Mary Sharp aged 7, with John and Elizabeth and another Mary with William and Mary in Bothkennar, but it seems William Sharp and Mary Easton are not married.
 
Mary's stated mother, Agnes Sharp, therefore remains a mystery.

William Sharp and Mary Easton had a daughter Agnes in 1841, but she does not appear in the 1861 census. There is also an Agnes born to a Joseph Sharp and Agnes Graham in Bothkennar in 1842 and she appears in the 1861 census as an 18 year old with her parents living very close to William Sharp and Mary Easton. It is very tempting to try and connect Mary Sharp to either of those Agnes's as a "secret" birth, but in either case the potential "mother" would be extremely young at around 12!

Don't know where to go next.
Wigtown:Milroy,Paterson,McClelland,Kelly/Miskelly,McPherson,Dodds,McCulloch,Stewart,Broadfoot,Donnan,Carnochan,Agnew,Blair/Blain,Jackson,Brown,McGill,Montgomery,Davidson,Donaldson
Lanark:Kay,Young,McAllister,Muir,Buchanan
Kirkcudbright:Hutchison,Robertson
Renfrew:Loudon,Harper,Miller,Anderson
Fife:Barnett,Mcdonald,Thomson,Lumsden,Wood,Pryde,Melville,Stevenson,Inglis
Moray:Sutherland,Waite
Stirling:Sharp,Grosart,Gray,Mitchell,Morison
Berwick:Craig
Ayr:Kennedy,Barclay,McKenna
Kinross:Henderson

Offline isobelw

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 08:50 BST (UK) »
As this is before the start of civil registration in 1855 the birth may simply not be recorded, particularly as it was illegitimate. The 1878 marriage certificate confirms this and states father not known. I don’t think either of the two couples you mention are relevant as in both cases Records show that they had a legitimate daughter called Mary.
In 1861 there is a family in Falkirk comprising Alexander and Margaret Sharpe and their daughter Agnes and also their 8 year old granddaughter Mary Binnie who was born in Falkirk. It is possible that Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Agnes Sharpe but listed under the name of her father. This is not uncommon. When Mary married her surname was spelt Sharpe.
Isobel
Clotworthy, McMahon, Saunderson, Culley (Ireland & Scotland)
Weatherall, Greer (Ireland & Scotland)
Hamilton, Johnston, Dawson, Rennie, Wright (Clackmannanshire)

Offline isobelw

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 09:12 BST (UK) »
On further investigation Mary Binnie looks to be the daughter of Mary ( sister of Agnes) Sharpe and Her husband George.
Clotworthy, McMahon, Saunderson, Culley (Ireland & Scotland)
Weatherall, Greer (Ireland & Scotland)
Hamilton, Johnston, Dawson, Rennie, Wright (Clackmannanshire)

Offline isobelw

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 09:26 BST (UK) »
However in 1861 in Falkirk there is also an Agnes Sharp age 30 with two daughters Mary Page age 8 and Jessie Dunlop age 13 months. Jessie looks to be the Janet Sharp born in Falkirk in 1860. If so, then possibly a case of the children being listed under names of their fathers.
Isobel
Clotworthy, McMahon, Saunderson, Culley (Ireland & Scotland)
Weatherall, Greer (Ireland & Scotland)
Hamilton, Johnston, Dawson, Rennie, Wright (Clackmannanshire)


Offline isobelw

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 10:34 BST (UK) »
From Familysearch - Janet Sharp daughter of Agnes Sharp born Falkirk 29th Dec 1859 ( recorded 1860). Janet is listed as Jessie Dunlop in 1861 census as per previous post. Agnes and Jessie (Janet) are at the same address in 1871 and 1881. In 1871 she is Jessie Sharp daughter of Agnes and they are living with Margaret Sharp (sister of Agnes) and Janet Sharp ( mother of Agnes). In 1881 she is Jessie Campbell ( wife of Thomas Campbell) and has her mother Agnes and aunt Maggie living with her. Agnes does not appear to have married and died in Falkirk in either 1884 or 1885 ( there are two Agnes Sharps of almost the same age dying on consecutive years).
It looks as if Agnes had two illegitimate daughters - Janet to ? Dunlop and Mary to ? Page and,as was common, listed them under the names of their fathers in 1861. Mary age 8 in 1861 is a very good match for your Mary.
Isobel
Clotworthy, McMahon, Saunderson, Culley (Ireland & Scotland)
Weatherall, Greer (Ireland & Scotland)
Hamilton, Johnston, Dawson, Rennie, Wright (Clackmannanshire)

Offline davidmilroy

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #5 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 16:51 BST (UK) »
Thank you so much Isobel. Once again I am indebted to the selfless efforts of a RootsChat contributor to help me along. This certainly gives me more food for thought. Your take on things has a truer ring to it than my initial fumbling. I had thought perhaps that e.g. William Sharp and Margaret Easton might have passed Mary off as their own child to save face and reputation, but probably that was a bit far fetched!

Two points if I may. I take it from what you say that you have access to the 1878 Irish marriage certificate for Mary and Alexander Wood? So far I only have a transcription, in which there is no mention that Mary's father was stated as unknown. Also, do you know if it is reasonable to assume that the absence of a father's name on Mary's death certificate is a fairly reliable confirmation of illegitimacy?

Thanks again

David.
Wigtown:Milroy,Paterson,McClelland,Kelly/Miskelly,McPherson,Dodds,McCulloch,Stewart,Broadfoot,Donnan,Carnochan,Agnew,Blair/Blain,Jackson,Brown,McGill,Montgomery,Davidson,Donaldson
Lanark:Kay,Young,McAllister,Muir,Buchanan
Kirkcudbright:Hutchison,Robertson
Renfrew:Loudon,Harper,Miller,Anderson
Fife:Barnett,Mcdonald,Thomson,Lumsden,Wood,Pryde,Melville,Stevenson,Inglis
Moray:Sutherland,Waite
Stirling:Sharp,Grosart,Gray,Mitchell,Morison
Berwick:Craig
Ayr:Kennedy,Barclay,McKenna
Kinross:Henderson

Offline isobelw

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #6 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 17:28 BST (UK) »
Hope this proves to be helpful. You can go onto the irishgenealogy.ie website and view the certificate for yourself free of charge. It actually states illegitimate, no father known on the marriage certificate so I think there is no doubt of her illegitimacy. Agnes Sharpe certainly had two children in Falkirk by different men and she never married. Mary is the right age for your Mary. It was common for mothers to provide pointers to the father of their illegitimate children either by giving them the father’s name as a middle name or by entering them like this on census returns. Janet(Jessie) was officially registered as Sharp but named Dunlop on the 1861 census before reverting to Sharp. She married Thomas Campbell under the name Sharp.
It might be worth checking out the death certificate for Agnes on Scotlandspeople. I suspect the informant will be Thomas or Jessie Campbell but you might strike lucky and find that Mary or her husband is the informant.
Isobel
Clotworthy, McMahon, Saunderson, Culley (Ireland & Scotland)
Weatherall, Greer (Ireland & Scotland)
Hamilton, Johnston, Dawson, Rennie, Wright (Clackmannanshire)

Online Forfarian

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #7 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 20:52 BST (UK) »
If I were you I would want to take a look at the minutes of the Falkirk Kirk Session. The Kirk Session is the committee of minister and elders that runs the affairs of the kirk, and one of the things that they really got stuck into was the eradication of sin and especially of fornication.

If they became aware that an unmarried woman was pregnant, or had had a child, they would summon her to appear in front of them and interrogate her about the identity of the father. Mostly the girl would name a young man who would then be summoned to appear, and also interrogated. The minutes record all these investigations and in most cases the outcome.

The Kirk Session minutes are in the National Records of Scotland. They have been digitised but are not yet available online. To see them you need to go in person, or get someone to go on your behalf, either to the Historical Search Room in Edinburgh or to one of the archives that has a link to the NRS. I know that Aberdeen, Glasgow, Hawick and Inverness have such links, but there are others.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline davidmilroy

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Re: Mary Sharp - Falkirk
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 20 June 18 23:42 BST (UK) »
Very helpful Isobel, and thanks again. It certainly looks a good match, but there's obviously not enough evidence to make it conclusive (and maybe there never will be). Still, it is definitely something further to work on. I took a punt on Agnes's death record. I chose the correct one but, as you suspected, the informant was Jessie Campbell.
David.
Wigtown:Milroy,Paterson,McClelland,Kelly/Miskelly,McPherson,Dodds,McCulloch,Stewart,Broadfoot,Donnan,Carnochan,Agnew,Blair/Blain,Jackson,Brown,McGill,Montgomery,Davidson,Donaldson
Lanark:Kay,Young,McAllister,Muir,Buchanan
Kirkcudbright:Hutchison,Robertson
Renfrew:Loudon,Harper,Miller,Anderson
Fife:Barnett,Mcdonald,Thomson,Lumsden,Wood,Pryde,Melville,Stevenson,Inglis
Moray:Sutherland,Waite
Stirling:Sharp,Grosart,Gray,Mitchell,Morison
Berwick:Craig
Ayr:Kennedy,Barclay,McKenna
Kinross:Henderson