I am looking for the parents of my 4th great grandmother Isabella Neil. According to both the 1841 and 1851 censuses she was born in 1804 in Glasgow. In 1822 she married James Ross, a cotton weaver from Lesmahagow, and they had at least 12 children:
Thomas 1823, Jane 1825, Margaret Davidson 1827, John 1829, James 1831, Joseph 1833, Neil Rodger 1835, Isabella 1838, Isobel 1840, Robert Shirley 1842, George 1845-1907, Isabella 1850.
Isabella likely died sometime between 1851 and 1855, probably in New Lanark.
In 1871 census her husband was a lodger at 201 Mathieson Street. The head of the house was James Neil, a bookseller born in Glasgow around 1831, I wonder if he was a relative of Isabella's. James Neil's father was likely John Neil who was also a bookseller - born in Glasgow in 1795 according to the 1841 census, and 1800 in 1851. His spouse was was called Mary. I can't find any record of him after 1851 so I presume he died before 1855.
Going by the Scottish naming tradition with the first daughter and second son usually named after the mother's parents, I presume Isabella Neil's parents might have been John and Jane. The only spouses of John Neil/Niel named Jane/Jean I can find in the birth records in Glasgow between 1780 and 1820 are Jean/Janet Houston, Jean/Jane Thomson and Jean Stewart. John Niel/Neil and Jean Houston had a daughter called Isobel in 1793 - which is too early to be my 4th great grandmother. They also had a son called John Rodger in 1795 which could be the John Neil who was the bookseller - however according to the marriage record John Rodger Niel married Isobel Taylor in 1814, the bookseller's spouse was called Mary. His middle name being Rodger is interesting as Isabella had a son called Neil Rodger.
It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could help to clarify who were Isabella's parents.
