Hi all,
I've been puzzling over my 3xgreat-grandfather' birth and childhood for a while now. He was born Andrew Craig in 1884, illegitimate, to Margaret Buttler and Andrew Craig. Margaret was working as a dairymaid in Campsie at the time, and father Andrew was working as a ploughman on Devol Farm, which I believe is just north of Paisley.
Father Andrew was present at the birth and went along to sign the register, but I can find no trace of him outside of that certificate. He doesn't seem to be working at Devol Farm in neither the 1881 not 1891 census.
In 1887 Margaret had another illegitimate child, John, and while the father wasn't recorded on the certificate, I found that the father was a Thomas Tierney through the Sheriff decree records. She doesn't seem to have taken Andrew Craig to court for support - does this, coupled with Andrew being present at the birth and his son being named after him, suggest he at least took responsibility for his son?
Andrew Jnr is in the 1891 census living with an Ann Breen, the relationship being "adopted". They're living in Campsie. I'm not sure what Ann's relationship is to Margaret and Andrew Jnr, but in the 1861 census she's living at the same farm as Margaret's parents and is also an Irish immigrant like Margaret's parents, suggesting she either knew Margaret since she was born or is related in some way. In 1891 son John is living with Margaret's sister Sarah and her family in Baldernock. I can't find Margaret in the census for 1891.
Margaret marries John Berry in December 1891 in Inchinnan, and come the 1901 census both boys are back living with her and going by the surname Berry. Andrew used Craig in adulthood, and his father's identity was known, appearing in both his marriage and death certificates.
So, my questions are - where was father Andrew Craig at any time other than the day his son's birth was registered? Where is Margaret in 1891? What are the implications for there being a record of her taking one child's father to court for payment but not the other?
My main goal would be to one day learn more about father Andrew Craig. It's tantalising having a name and place of work but not being to pick him out in any other records.
