Helen Browning, w/o John Aikenhead

[trekcuber]

So, my GGGGGGgrandparents were John Aikenhead b1746 and Helen Brownine. This is what I know:
John Aikenhead of EK was married to Helen Brownine of EK on 16 Apr 1780 in East Kilbride.
They had 3 children: James, Agnes and Mary.
John was the s/o James Aikenhead and Ann Fleming, baptized in Blantyre. But, they did not have another son so it is a bit harder to pinpoint the parentage of Helen Browning (as she appears on James's birth and Agnes's death).
Looking through all surviving baptisms, I see that the neighboring parish of Avondale holds the most records for a birth of Helen. Here's what was there:
BROWN, HELEN to ANDREW BROWN/ on 23/11/1750
BROWN, HELEN to ROBERT BROWN/ on 06/08/1748
BROWNEN, HELEN to WILLIAM BROWNEN/ on 24/01/1752
This one sticks out to me, as there are other children baptized under Browning. Heres a list of all children baptised to a Wm from 1740-60:
BROWN JAMES WILLIAM BROWN/ M 11/04/1753
BROWN LILY WILLIAM BROWN/ F 17/11/1746
BROWN MARIAN WILLIAM BROWN/ F 08/11/1744
BROWNING JEAN WILLIAM BROWNING/ F 11/11/1753
BROWNING JEAN WILLIAM BROWNING/ F 28/02/1756
BROWNING JEAN WILLIAM BROWNING/ F 28/07/1755
BROWNLEE JANET WILLIAM BROWNLEE/ F 10/02/1742 621/ 10 62
The thing is, I'm not entirely sure which mother belongs to which child (and Jean being baptized 7 mts after on same day seems a little strange). These are all of the marriages that took place from 1735-57 in Avondale:
BROWN WILLIAM JANET ALSTON/FR242 (FR242) 30/11/1739
BROWN WILLIAM MARION PATERSON/FR244 (FR244) 25/11/1743
BROWNEN WILLIAM MARY BROWNEN/FR246 (FR246) 11/04/1747
BROWNING WILLIAM MARGARET STEEL/FR250 (FR250) 09/12/1753
BROWNING WILLIAM AGNAS WILLSON/FR243 (FR243) 19/08/1744
BROWNING WILLIAM MARGARET STEEL/FR10 (FR10) 11/01/1754
I think that the Wm-Mary Brownen marriage might be the right one, as Helen's daughter was Mary and the baptism was under Brownen, but .
So, Any thoughts? Is there any way to differentiate the Brown/Brownen/Browning children? Does anyone think Helen's parents could be Wm and Mary Brownen?
Thank you!

[Neale1961]

Have you considered that Helen’s mother was Agnes?

[Neale1961]

I assume that John AIKENHEAD was previously married to Mary. So Helen BROWN will be a second wife, and likely to be younger than John.
Interesting to note the 2 banns for his marriage are recorded thus:

AIKENHEAD   JOHN   HELEN BROWN/FR551 (FR551)   25/07/1779   
643/    20 225   East Kilbride

And

AIKENHEAD   JOHN   HELEN BROWNINE/FR551 (FR551)   16/04/1780   
643/    20 225   East Kilbride

Note different spellings for Helen’s surname.
I wonder why there was such a large gap between banns? 
What information do you get from the 2 marriage banns about Helen?


Baptism to consider:
BROWNLIE   HELEN   JOHN BROWNLIE/AGNES MCFAIT FR141 (FR141)   F   23/05/1762   
628/    10 148   Cambusnethan

[trekcuber]

Have you considered that Helen’s mother was Agnes?

No, but that is a very good point to make (and I probably should look into that).

What information do you get from the 2 marriage banns about Helen?

I am attaching the copy of both marriage bans, I could not find much relevant information though. I'd assume they are the same person but could be wrong.

BROWNLIE   HELEN   JOHN BROWNLIE/AGNES MCFAIT FR141 (FR141)   F   23/05/1762   
628/    10 148   Cambusnethan

That baptism would make sense!

I assume that John AIKENHEAD was previously married to Mary. So Helen BROWN will be a second wife, and likely to be younger than John.

Where did you find evidence of a prior marriage? I haven't seen anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything out there.
And thank you!

[Forfarian]

I agree with trekcuber that Helen Brown/Brownin/Brownine/Browning are all likely to be the same person.

A wedding was supposed to take place within 40 days of the proclamation of the banns if I recall correctly. Perhaps something happened to prevent the wedding taking place within 40 days of the first proclamation, so they had to be proclaimed again? A death in the family perhaps, or one of the couple became ill?

As for her parentage, I don't know. We think that her husband John Ai(t)kenhead was the son of James Ai(t)kenhead and Anne Fleming, in which case you would have expected them to name a daughter Anne. So I don't think that anything can be reliably deduced from the names of their children.

John A could have been married before. We think that he was born in Blantyre in 1746, in which case he was 33 or 34 when he married Helen Browning, so it's not impossible that he was married before.

There is a marriage of a John Ai(t)kenhead to Mary Granger in 1770.
John Aikenhead in the parish of Cambuslang and Mary Granger in this parish pro; March 11, 18 and 25th 1770. [East Kilbride Parish Register]
1770. Mar 28. John Aikenhead and Mary Granger in Kilbryde. [Cambuslang Parish Register]

Unfortunately there are no recorded children to this couple (though there is a Jean in 1771 at Broadleys, Cambusnethan, father John, no mother named); and there is a home-grown candidate for John Ai(t)kenhead in Cambuslang, baptised there in 1744 but given name not recorded in the Cambuslang parish register.

[Neale1961]

There is a marriage of a John Ai(t)kenhead to Mary Granger in 1770.
John Aikenhead in the parish of Cambuslang and Mary Granger in this parish pro; March 11, 18 and 25th 1770. [East Kilbride Parish Register]
1770. Mar 28. John Aikenhead and Mary Granger in Kilbryde. [Cambuslang Parish Register]

This is the marriage that I thought possible. I was thinking that if John was born in 1746, there might be a marriage earlier than 1780, at age 34.

If Helen was born in 1862, she was young (17 yrs) , & I wonder if she was required to wait until 18 to marry - hence the 2nd marriage bann?? Don't know, but just thinking out loud.

[trekcuber]

So, regarding the HELEN b 1762 d/o JOHN BROWNLIE & AGNES MCFAIT in Cambusnethan, there is a marriage for Helen Brown on 13/06/1789 in Cambusnethan. There weren't any children within 10 years of marriage.
Looking through all other baptisms from 1755-1763, these are the ones I haven't eliminated:
HELEN to WILLIAM BROWN/JANET JOHNSTON FR298 06/05/1761 Crawford and Leadhills
HELLAN to JOHN BROWNLIE/ on 26/10/1761 in Bothwell.
The marriage in 1777 in Bothwell I think belongs to the Helen b1757 d/o Robert Brownlie in Bothwell.

[Forfarian]

If Helen was born in 1862, she was young (17 yrs) , & I wonder if she was required to wait until 18 to marry - hence the 2nd marriage bann?? Don't know, but just thinking out loud.

At 17 she would have been legally old enough to marry; and if she had been too young to marry legally, the minister would not have proclaimed the first lot of banns.

[trekcuber]

So, after a bit of searching, I found this burial record (which I believe is Helen Browning-Aikenhead, as Scot women keep their maiden name).
BROWNING, HELEN 76 died 13/01/1828 East Kilbride
The information that is obtianed when you view the record is
Helen Browning of Kilbride died of Body Flux on 13 Jan 1828 and was buried on 15 Jan, aged 76.
I can't find a record of another person that could be this Helen, so I am assuming that it is unless someone here can find something suggesting it isn't.
This would compute to a birth of 1751/52, and these are the following births in that range for *el*n Brown* (in Lanarkshire):
HELLEN to JOHN BROWN/MARGARET BROCK 19/04/1752 Barony
HELEN to WILLIAM BROWNEN/ 24/01/1752 Avondale
HELEN to ALEXANDER BROWNLEE/ ___ BELL 21/02/1751 Biggar
HELEN to PATRICK BROWNLIE/JANET LEIPER 28/09/1751 Glasgow
I'd say that the Brownlee/Brownlie baptisms probably isn't the w/o Jno Aikenhead -- which leaves Barony and Avondale. Strictly speaking, if the date is right from the record, then the birth is between Jan 1751 and Jan 1752. That would put Barony out- and leave Avondale.
Does this make any sense? Any feedback is appreciated!