Illegitimate great grandfather Glover/Clark?

[Sunnycj]

Jessie McLean died 21/12/1897 Rathven, informant grandson A. Glover - so this confirms the 1881 census.   Her parents stated as John McLean, general labourer, deceased and Annie nee Grant, deceased.

Spent a long time on this last night and it's going to get more complicated.   Jessie only becomes McLean on 1881 census, 1891 census and her death in 1897.   Prior to this the family name was McLennan!!

In 1871 in Rathven (Buckie):

Jessie McLenan  single      37 (?this is wrong, should be 49)  no birthplace shown on transcripts
Mary McLenan       15           born Buckie
Jane McLenan  11                 born Buckie

Took a long time to find this 1871 entry which was the last one I found due to Jessie's details and spelling of surname.

1861 Census - Rathven

Jessie McLerman (as transcribed on Ancestry)  single  28   born Forres
Mary Clark   daughter      5              born Rathven
Jane Wilson  daughter      1                  ditto
Ann McLerman  mother  81   formerly Hind's wife
Ann Grant 14   niece

As you can see in this census Jessie's 2 daughters have got their fathers surnames - checked births and Mary registered as Mary McLenan 23/10/1855, Buckie, Rathven, illegitimate daughter of Jessie.
So her father clearly a Clark.    Jane's birth as McLennan born 16/11/1859 Buckie, Rathven, illeg. dau. of Jessie.   Jane's father clearly a Mr. Wilson.  Again Jessie's age is out.

1851  Rafford, Moray

Ann McLennan   71  widow                   born Cleator, Ross-shire
Janet McLennan  dau.   29                    born Forres
Janet McLennan  granddaughter 5         born Rafford
Ann Grant  granddaughter  3                      ditto

Ignored this census for a while until I remembered that Jessie is a pet form of Janet.

1841 - possible entry for mother Ann McLennan in Rafford and possible entry for Jessie as Jess McLennan in St. Andrews Llanbryd, Moray but can't be sure of either.

However, from Jessie's death certificate her parents shown as John McLennan and Annie, nee Grant.   Can find no baptism with parents as shown, nor a marriage between the pair.

I did then find a marriage between a John McLennan and Ann Matheson on 1/1/1814 Forres and 4 birth entries of children of this pair:

Ann b.30/11/1817, bp.11/12/1817
Christina b.24/12/1820, bp.18/1/1821
Janet b.1/11/1822, bp.16/11/1822
Christian b.24/9/1824, bp.25/9/1824

So, is the surname on Jessie's death certificate of her mother being a Grant a mistake, should it actually be Matheson - if so, then Jessie/Janet could be Janet bp.1822 above.

Annette

I'm blown away by your dedication and sleuthing! I don't know where to begin haha! Thank you so much I've been at this for the best part of a year

This is amazing, thank you!, So much info I just wish the family was a little easier to follow I wonder why it's grant and not matheson in the first place? 

Also any suggestions for tracking down James Glover?

[Forfarian]

I suspect that James Glover might be an even harder nut to crack, even assuming that Mary was being truthful when she told Alexander about his father.

I don't imagine that there are many diamond cutters in or near Buckie! So presumably Mary was working away from home when she fell pregnant, and came home to have the baby. I know there is a diamond cutting industry in London, but I am not aware of there being any nearer Buckie, so that would be a topic to look into. A quick search online is not helpful because it produces lots of results for present-day diamond cutting services.

There is no mention of a James Glover in LIBINDX http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp.

I had a look in the Rathven Kirk Session records but found nothing. It's possible there might have been a paternity case in the courts, but so far it doesn't appear in https://www.scottishindexes.com/default.aspx, though more cases are being added all the time.

If he didn't leave the country, he should be in the 1881 census. According to FindMyPast there are 229 James Glovers born between 1825 and 1865 in the 1881 census. It would be a longish but not impossible job to look them all up and see what their occupations were, and I think that would be the best way to go about looking for him.

I see that in the 1901 census he was married to an Elizabeth; that Alexander Glover and Elizabeth Jemim* Ross were married in Edinburgh in 1900, and that Elizabeth Jemima Ross or Glover died in Edinburgh in 1920 aged 39. Do you have a copy of that 1900 marriage certificate? What does it say about Alexander's father?

[Sunnycj]

I suspect that James Glover might be an even harder nut to crack, even assuming that Mary was being truthful when she told Alexander about his father.

I don't imagine that there are many diamond cutters in or near Buckie! So presumably Mary was working away from home when she fell pregnant, and came home to have the baby. I know there is a diamond cutting industry in London, but I am not aware of there being any nearer Buckie, so that would be a topic to look into. A quick search online is not helpful because it produces lots of results for present-day diamond cutting services.

There is no mention of a James Glover in LIBINDX http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp.

I had a look in the Rathven Kirk Session records but found nothing. It's possible there might have been a paternity case in the courts, but so far it doesn't appear in https://www.scottishindexes.com/default.aspx, though more cases are being added all the time.

If he didn't leave the country, he should be in the 1881 census. According to FindMyPast there are 229 James Glovers born between 1825 and 1865 in the 1881 census. It would be a longish but not impossible job to look them all up and see what their occupations were, and I think that would be the best way to go about looking for him.

I see that in the 1901 census he was married to an Elizabeth; that Alexander Glover and Elizabeth Jemim* Ross were married in Edinburgh in 1900, and that Elizabeth Jemima Ross or Glover died in Edinburgh in 1920 aged 39. Do you have a copy of that 1900 marriage certificate? What does it say about Alexander's father?

I think you're right, I have a find my past account so I'll definitely go through it and track him down one by one it seems to be the best way though I'll take a look at the index you have linked.

I have both marriage certificates for alexander I can link to if you needed, but the only thing it says about the father is James Glover / Diamond Cutter / Deceased. Nothing more really

[Forfarian]

Ah. So he was deceased by 1900, therefore (assuming Alexander was telling the truth) that greatly narrows the time period to look at.

[Sunnycj]

Ah. So he was deceased by 1900, therefore (assuming Alexander was telling the truth) that greatly narrows the time period to look at.

I hope that helped, it's the Diamond cutting that gets me, someone once told me there was two or three in Scotland but I have no idea how to find him in any as suggested above the results just show modern day diamond cutting

[Forfarian]

I think trawling the census is the only way to do this, but of course it will only work if he was in Britain in 1881.

[Sunnycj]

True I'm fairly sure he would be in Britain by that time (hopefully) man I wish this side of the family tree was a bit simpler