Neighbouring Families

Dardarroch, Dunscore, Dumfriesshire in 2006 – NOT Woodhead of Dardarroch

Eight years ago, I posted on the rootsweb message board regarding my BROWN ancestors farm, Woodhead of Dardarroch, in the parish of Glencairn. Recently someone replied that their ancestor was boarding with some BROWNS at Woodhead Cottage on the 1891 census. By 1891, James BROWN had died and his widow, Sarah (nee DOUGLAS) had moved away.  However, it is too much of a coincidence that the BROWNs still living at Woodhead were an entirely separate family as my BROWN’s had lived there since at least 1824 (discussed in this post).

I had long ago noticed the many BROWN families at and around Woodhead.  Now it was time to find out exactly how these BROWNs were connected.
Dardarroch via Get-a-map
First, I located William Brown at Woodhead Cottage on the 1891 census.  As you can see in the photograph above, Woodhead is quite a large house.  I presume Woodhead Cottage is the smaller part attached to the main building where the other family units lived together.  By this time, James’ widow and youngest son had moved to Keir where they lived in another home named ‘Woodhead Cottage’.
Woodhead on the 1891 census
I searched back for William BROWN (b.1829) and found him at Woodhead Cottage in all but 2 censuses.

Edited: It is here where I made a dangerous mistake.

! I found a William BROWN living at Shillanland (or Shillingland) with his uncle James FERGUSSON and a Jane and Sarah FERGUSSON.  I suspected one of these women (both listed as James’ sisters) was William’s mother.  Also listed was John BROWN (b. 1831) – I had discovered a brother to help with my search.

In 1841 the FERGUSSONs and BROWNs were all living at Burnhouse where the head of the household was a William FERGUSON and possible wife Mary.  This time Sarah was recorded as Sarah BROWN so is apparently William’s mother.  Since the 1841 census doesn’t record the relationships to the head, I will need to find records to prove William FERGUSON is his grandfather.  I will also search for a marriage between Sarah FERGUSSON and a BROWN. !

I now realise that this William BROWN is not the one at Woodhead from the 1861 census through to the 1901 census. A simple traceback through the censuses show that the head of Woodhead Cottage in 1891 is the son of George BROWN and Catherine McDOWAL – living at Woodhead from.  I now need only prove that George BROWN is the brother of my James BROWN

 

Edit 2: The picture at the top of this post is NOT Woodhead of Dardarroch as I mistakenly believed, it is actually a house called Woodhead in the nearby village of Dunscore. 

Next steps:

  • Find marriage record of Sarah FERGUSSON and BROWN
  • Find birth record of William or John BROWN
See following post – Neighbouring Families – Part 2

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Chiropody at Trentham

I’ve finally managed to scan some of my grandmother’s photos that I brought back from my holidays.
This one appears to be a photograph of a sketch:
‘Chiropody at Trentham’ – Buchan 1916
On the back, my grandmother has written “Done by Charles Buchan during WWI.  He was in medical unit doing chiropody“.
Charles BUCHAN was my grandmother’s father.  She had written a letter to me years ago, when I first became interested in family history, in which she told me:
“Dad had a slight heart problem (valve) so had not been accepted for active service & ended up in medical corp & it was there that he did his training (or experience) in CHIROPODY (lots of feet there to practice on) & on returning to NZ, decided to set himself up as CHIROPODIST much to Grandma Reid’s disapproval. ‘Why on earth would he decide to out on his own, when CLUFFS (or whoever) would have been more than happy to re-employ him?'”
Grandma REID was Charles’ mother-in-law, who seemed to be a rather stern sort (maiden name – Janet HUNTER – grandaughter of James BROWN).  I’ve tried to research ‘Cluffs’ and its variations but came up blank (any help from New Zealand would be welcome).
While trying to find out more about Trentham Military Camp, imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this page from Archives New Zealand :

There was no mention of Charles by name or any further information on his drawing but a look around provided me with another World War One sketch by my ancestor:

Swabbing While You Wait – another drawing by Charles Buchan, 1916

I had never seen this picture before and got very excited.  I will be contacting the archives to see if I can obtain a copy of the second image or at the very least if they will credit the images to Charles.

Trentham Camp and Upper Hutt District, 1914-1918 via New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

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More Antenuptial Fornication

Applegarth Church, Dumfriesshire, Scotland via geograph
This is almost a continuation of my post about antenuptial fornication but I have decided to post separately as I am still not sure whether this is the same person.

In the Dumfries Kirk Sessions of 1822 (which are searchable online), James BROWN was “named as the father of Jean Smith’s child; [and] gave satisfaction for this in the parish of Applegarth” (Archive Ref: CH2/537/12).  I believe ‘gave satisfaction’ (in this sense), meant that the father gave monetary compensation to the parish for their support of the child.

So was this James BROWN my ancestor, who appeared in the Dunscore parish records 6 years later for antenuptial fornication?  With such a common name I cannot be sure but I can assess the likelihood of it being the same man for future reference.
First, was he old enough to be involved in this?  Although I don’t have his birth record, the 1851 census suggests he was born in 1801, which means he would have been 21 at the time – a prime age for this kind of crime. 😉
James Brown and family on the 1851 census
(Interestingly, their neighbour, Andrew Lorimer (appearing at bottom of image above) was the certifying physician on James’ death certificate.)

Next, was he near enough to be involved?  Applegarth is roughly 20 miles from Dunscore and about 30 miles from my James’ home, Glencairn.  Not a short walk, but not impossible distances.

Map showing locations of Applegarth, Dunscore and Glencairn (Moniaive) in relation to each other via multimap

So I can’t rule out my James Brown as the father of Jean Smith’s illegitimate child and I have kept hold of this genealogical tidbit. To get any closer to proving this, I would need to check for further information in the Kirk Session records and the Applegarth parish records for any further information on Jean SMITH and her child.

Next Steps:

  • Check for further information in the Kirk Session records
  • Check Applegarth parish records for the child’s birth

Update: Checked Applegarth, Dunscore, Glencairn and Lochmaben parishes (via ScotlandsPeople) for any birth with Jean SMITH as parent (between 1800 – 1825) and any SMITH birth (between 1816 – 1825) – no likely entries found (all have listed fathers).

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Antenuptial Fornication

A post by The Professional Descendant reminded me of my own ancestor’s indiscretion.
It’s easy to think that people were more chaste in the past.  This may be true, but a journey through the parish records shows that people back then also indulged in sex before marriage or as the Victorians preferred to call it, ‘antenuptial fornication’.
Whilst looking through the Dunscore parish records for births and marriages, I found an entry for James BROWN’s proclamation of banns, for which he paid 3 shillings on June 10, 1827. (James was originally mentioned in this post).
James BROWN & Janet CURRIE’s marriage proclamation – Jun 1827
I believe the next entry for June 16, shows his marriage although the bride’s name appears different.  In January the next year, the couple were blessed with their baby girl, Jane.
BROWN, Jane [Legitimate Daughter] of James BROWN & Janet CURRIE, Whitecairn. Born 11th January 1828.
Someone must have done the maths though, because two weeks later James paid 3 shillings and 6 pence as a fine for antenuptial fornication.
James BROWN’s fine for antenuptial fornication – Jan 1828
Janet would have been about 2 months pregnant when they announced their intentions to marry back in June.  It is possible that Janet did not know she was pregnant but I think they were both aware when they decided to marry.  I wonder what must have gone through their heads – were they fearful of their secret being discovered?  How did their families react? Apart from the church fine, did they suffer any other repercussions or did it not matter now the child was legitimate?

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