Rankin Family in New Monkland/Airdrie

[DonM]

Not Robert of Wm Rankin/Jean Shaw. Robert died 1841 and was single.  Brother John died in 1843.

The brothers operated the Petie (Pettie) Castle Mill.  John's wife was Agnes Darnley so its not their son Robert either he was born well outside the timeframe.

William/Jean had 4 children (missing Janet) only three are recorded perhaps they paid for two.  But, they bounced around. John was born at Shank, Robert at Little Drumgraes and Jean at Timpins.  Janet no idea.

The Mill was originally owned by Robert Muirhead. In 1850 they still owed Muirhead £693 and with assets of only £793  I would say they went broke.  Btw...Jean Shaw's father (William) and Muirhead were 1st cousins.

Another Robert in New Monkland became an artist and moved to the Carolina's, he graduated with his Masters in Art in 1818 from Glasgow. He returned to the UK when their civil war started then returned to the U.S. at its end.  He died there 1868/69. A bio stated he was the son of John/Margaret Rankin of New Monkland so likely Mclintoc.  He has 2 sculptures in the Smithsonian.

So you are left Isabella's son b 1796 in Airdrie and a unknown number of unrecorded or lost births and New Monkland has many of these.

Don

[trekcuber]

I just checked the surviving records in Old Monkland and there was a Robert Rankin baptised to a William Rankin on 02/03/1788. This Robert seems to have the siblings Wm b1790, Mary b1778, Margaret b1783, Jane b1776 & Agnus b1785.

[sancti]

Caledonian Mercury 26 November 1818

[mosstrooper]

Photo of Meikle Drumgray Church & School, St Dominics in the 1940s, I have photos of Pupils taken in the early 1930s with no names.

There was also a Rankine family from Longriggend a few miles away who owned and ran the first Bus Service in the area, my Father drove for him and my Grandfather who could read & write carried out the Banking services for the company. and was Bus Inspector.

James Kerr.

[mosstrooper]

Forgot the photo

[Forfarian]

Not Robert of Wm Rankin/Jean Shaw. Robert died 1841 and was single.  Brother John died in 1843.
The brothers operated the Petie (Pettie) Castle Mill.  John's wife was Agnes Darnley so its not their son Robert either he was born well outside the timeframe.

John Rankin, labourer, Rigghead, New Monkland left a Trust Disposition and Settlement dated 19 October 1843 in which he named his wife Agnes Darnley as executor, and mentioned his children Mary, Agnes, Andrew and Alexander, and his grandson John, son of his deceased son Robert.

Is it a coincidence that at Rigghead in 1841 is a household consisting of Robert Rankin, 25; Andrew Rankin, 22; and Alexander Rankin, 15? Robert Rankin married Elizabeth Aitken in October 1841, and their son John was baptised on 3 April 1842. He is with his mother and his Aitken grandparents in 1851. So Robert must have died between April 1842 and October 1843. Probably the one for whom the mortcloth was hired in New Monkland in October 1842.

In the 1841 census John R at Patie Castle was 74 and Robert was 70. I note the baptism of John R in 1765 and Robert R in 1767 to John R and Janet Muirhead. Are these not the John and Robert at Patie Castle in 1841?

Robert, son of William R and Jean Shaw, was baptised in 1786 and would have been been just 65 on the date of the 1841 census.

There is a mortcloth payment for a Robert Rankin in July 1841 in New Monkland,and an inventory of Robert Rankin, residing at Patie Castle, who died there in June 1841, made up by Agnes Darnley or Rankin, widow of John Rankin, labourer at Rigghead. The document states explicitly that John Rankin in Rigghead and Robert Rankin in Patie Castle were brothers german and that John died on 11 January 1844; and both testaments were confirmed on 2 January 1850.

What is the evidence for this Robert being the son of William R and Jean Shaw rather than the son of John R and Janet Muirhead?

[Forfarian]

Additional evidence which I think is sufficient to prove that trekcuber's Agnes Rankin was the granddaughter of William Rankin and Jean Shaw.

Agnes Rankin married Alexander Aitkenhead (my second cousin four times removed) in 1844. She died in Glasgow in 1886, and her death certificate gives the names of her parents as Robert Rankin and Janet Neilson. I can't find a baptism, but as trekcuber said in his initial post there were two brothers whose death certificates give the same parents, and Robert Rankin and Janet Neilson's marriage is on record in New Monkland in 1816. So that's the starting point.

Alexander Aitkenhead and Agnes Rankin had ten of a family. One of their sons, George Jeffrey Aitkenhead, emigrated to Canada and then moved to the USA, where he founded a dynasty. In his later years he wrote a long memoir of his life. I had a copy of this but after extracting the information I was interested in about his Aitkenhead connections I donated it to the National Library of Scotland, so I don't have it to hand.

However trekcuber has sent me an extract saying that George Jeffrey Aitkenhead's mother Agnes Rankin's cousin was minister at Bishopton, and that the minister's daughter was drowned in a sailing accident.

I've looked into this. Erskine Parish Kirk is at Bishopton, and the minister of Erskine from 1872 to 1892 was the Reverend John McIlraith, born in Airdrie. His daughter Josephine Richardson McIlraith was indeed drowned on 20 July 1881 when a yacht capsized and sank in the Gareloch.

The Reverend John McIlraith married Josephine Richardson Wallace in 1855 and his marriage certificate gives the names of his parents as Hugh McIlraith and Jean Rankin.  I can't find a marriage but their son John was born on 13 August 1816 in New Monkland, which fits with Rev McIlraith's age and birthplace in the census.

Finally, there is a death in New Monkland on 22 November 1866 of Jean Rankin, widow of Hugh McIlraith and daughter of William Rankin and Jean Shaw. Informant is John McIlraith, son.

If, as George Jeffrey Aitkenhead says, the Rev McIlraith was his mother's cousin, it follows that his grandfather Robert Rankin and the Rev McIlraith's mother Jean Rankin must have been brother and sister, and therefore that Robert Rankin was also the son of William Rankin and Jean Shaw.

Comments, anyone?

[trekcuber]

Not Robert of Wm Rankin/Jean Shaw. Robert died 1841 and was single.  Brother John died in 1843.
The brothers operated the Petie (Pettie) Castle Mill.  John's wife was Agnes Darnley so its not their son Robert either he was born well outside the timeframe.

What is the evidence for this Robert being the son of William R and Jean Shaw rather than the son of John R and Janet Muirhead?

I agree with Forfarian, this is some additional information that I have that might make things a little more clear.

So, my 3rd Great Grandfather, George Jeffrey Aitkenhead (1859-1940, son of Alexander Aitkenhead and Agnes Rankin(e) 1823-1886) in his memoirs states that in the 1880s, he went to the wedding of his mother's cousin (Rev John McIlliath of Bishopton Parish Church)s's daughter. He also states that the daughters sister, Josephine, drowned shortly after the wedding.

In reality, John's name was Rev John McIlraith 1816-1892 of Erskine, Renfrewshire, son of Hugh M and Jean Rankin (https://mediasvc.ancestry.com/v2/image/namespaces/1093/media/dbb3c82f-bf42-4c45-8c37-f244224b15f7.jpg?client=trees-mediaservice&imageQuality=hq&maxWidth=1920&maxHeight=952.5). He married Josephine R Wallace in 1853 and moved to paster the the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam, where a number of his children were born. After serving in Amsterdam, he moved to Bishopton in Erskine to Paster there. 2 of his daughters were Elizabeth 1856-1937 md Allan Crombie 1880 and Josephine Richardson 1858-1881, which also lines up with the diary's statements about the Rev.
So I believe there is sufficient evidence that shows John McIlliath and John McIlraith are the same person. Here are some census records:
1841 New Monkland
Jean Ranken 55
John Mc Israith   20
Jean Stafford 7
George Stafford 5
(Jean and George were baptized in New Monkland to Henry Stafford and Jane Rankin in 1833 and 35 respectively).
In 1851, at 10 Commonside Street, Airdrie
Jane Meiklerath   Widow 70  Tambourer
William Meiklerath  Son 24  Tailor (baptized 1824 to Hugh M and Jean R)
In 1851, at Kempoch Street, Gourock
Revd John McIlwraith 32  Minister of Gourock
Jane Stafford  Niece 17
George Stafford Nephew 15
1861 New Monkland
Jean Mcilraith   77   Head Tambourer Pauper
William Mcilraith 33   Son Tailor

Jean's death certificate gives William Rankin and Jean Shaw as her parents, and it seems extremely likely that her brother Robert b 1786 is the same as Robert Rankin b bef 1798 d 1822-1830 husband of Janet Neilson. (Keep in mind that Robert's first son was William 1817-1891-- which this father would align with that). Robert was listed as a tailor on his children's death certificates, and there is also the following military record -
UK, Regimental Registers of Service, 1756-1900
Name: Robert Rankin
Age: 26
Birth Date: abt 1785
Birth Place: New Monkland, Lanark
Military Date: 1 Aug 1811
Unit: 91st Foot Soldiers, 2nd Battalion
Occupation: Tailor
I think there's a good chance that this is him, as the occupation and birthdate align.
So, does anyone have any comments, questions etc? It's always great to hear from people about these sort of things.