John Watson's Institution, Edinburgh

[DavKars Hobby]

I am new to this type of site and am looking for any help on how to continue my investigations beyond my current roadblock(s). Here are some of them.

1The latest census I can access is 1921. My mother was born in 1921 possibly  a month after the census was taken. Do I have to wait 10 more years until the 1931 census or is there another resource?

2. My mother was born with the surname Dickson and was the 5th daughter of Henry Dickson with no brothers. Her maiden name on the certificate when she married in 1943 was Dickson Daniels with her father as James Daniels, not Henry Dickson which suggests (to me) she was put up for adoption after she was born and adopted by the Daniels family for reasons currently unknown.

3. Her (adoptive?) father James Daniels is listed in the 1921 census as  "official" at John Watson's Institution in Edinburgh. What kind of Institution was this in 1921 and does the word "official" signify he was an employee there or an inmate/patient/pauper or something else?

4. When I lived in Edinburgh before I emigrated to Canada in1973, George Watson's was a charter school which I assumed meant it was a private school similar to Fettes I don't know if there was a linkage between John Watson and George Watson or if this is purely coincidental. that they each started a school/institution.

5. The census date was June 19th 1921 and my mother was (inconveniently) born on June 26th 1921 and does not appear on the listing for James Daniels under the John Watson's Institution entry. To trace my history on my mother's side I have to determine whether to follow the Dickson line or the Daniels line - suggestions as to what might have led to the change of surname?

6. In 1921, what kinds of circumstances or events could lead a child to be born with one surname and then have a change of surname when both families seemed to continue otherwise intact?

[AlanBoyd]

You might have been better to have posted these as separate questions, because this thread is likely to get baroque.

John Watson’s Institution: from an advert in the Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser, March 1927

The principal objects of the Institution are the Maintenance and Education of Fatherless Children of the Professional Classes, such as Clergymen, Officers in the Army and Navy, Legal and Medical Practitioners, and the like, until they attain the age Fifteen.

The advert gives an address for the Treasurer at 18 Melville Street.

[AlanBoyd]

Wikipedia page here:

http://tinyurl.com/9tsbhty4

closed in 1975, so you did overlap!

[DavKars Hobby]

Is it possible to edit and split into several posts as you suggested? I can't see an edit option. Thanks for the info.

[AlanBoyd]

Here it is in the top LH corner of the 1923 OS 6 inch map. As the Wikipedia article explains, it is now part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

http://tinyurl.com/49a4rbeu

[Neale1961]

Do you have your mother’s birth certificate?
What information does it give about both parents?
What address is recorded?

[mckha489]

Have you Henry and his wife and the other 4 daughters on the 1921?
What are the details there?

[Forfarian]

Might you be confusing John Watson's Institution with George Watson's College?

John Watson's was basically an orphanage. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Watson%27s_Institution

George Watson's is a large private school, perhaps similar in some ways to Fettes College. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Watson%27s_College and https://www.gwc.org.uk/

[MonicaL]

From the general index result for 1921 in Leith South, Edinburgh:

Henry Dickson 29
Margaret Menny Dickson 28
Susan 6
Isabella 5
Margaret Menny 2
Margaret L 1

Henry Greig Dickson and Margaret Mennie LAW married in Leith South in 1914.

Margaret Mennie Law or Dickson (mother's maiden name Smith) looks to have died in Edinburgh in 1982 at the age of 87.

Henry Greig Dickson died at the age of 85 in 1976 in Edinburgh. Mother's maiden name recorded as Greig.

Agnes your mum sadly died at the age of 31 in 1953 in Edinburgh.

I am sure you have all these details already. Just adding here for background to your post.

Monica

PS. Welcome to RootsChat from me