Missing GG-Granny!

[KellyO]

Oooh Annette I can't wait to see what you have!!!

Kelly

[nelmit]

Hello Kelly,

I was sure I had posted this yesterday.

Anyway I remembered what it was but it led nowhere I'm afraid.



In 1871 there is Emma Graham age 13 living at Dean Bank Institution in Edinburgh.

I tried a search for her birth and the only thing that came up on the IGI was a submission where the mother's surname was Gordon. I could not find her under the name of Gordon or Graham in 1881.

May be just a coincidence but there is a death in 1890 at Edinburgh of a Emma Gordon age 30 indexed on SP.

Sorry I couldn't be of any help.

Regards,
Annette

[KellyO]

Not to worry Annette, I appreciate your help anyway. I have another couple of relatives on the tree like Emma, who seem to have appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly!

I will store away the info on Emma Gordon, cos you just never know if there was a Graham/Gordon connection. I have one ancestor who dropped their surname in favour of their middle name for some unexplained reason, which gave me great fun and games!

Anyway, thank you to you and everyone else for the time taken and the suggestions.

Kelly

[nelmit]

Hello Kelly,

I had a search of SP and, although there is a Emma Graham 1858 birth submission on the IGI, there is one actually indexed on SP at Dean, Midlothian. I wonder if this is the girl at Dean Bank in 1871? I don't know how your bank balance is at the moment but I'd be tempted to have a look at this birth entry for clues in case this is her.

Regards,
Annette

[KellyO]

Hi Annette,

I succumbed and spent a few more pennies on SP and looked at the birth cert for the Emma GRAHAM in 1858. The parents are as listed on the IGI, a James GRAHAM, a Commercial Traveller and Helen Gordon, no occupation.

I wish I could find some way of connecting this Emma. Her age could fit for being Thomas's mother and it could be her in the Dean Institution in 1871, if say, both her parents died.

Just like my "missing" G-Gran on the other side of the family, I have so many more questions and theories, than concrete answers on this one.

Why is it there are some branches of the family you can follow like a dream and then there are the stragglers like this lot that drive you half demented!!

Regards

Kelly

[Jack]

Hi Kelly,
I'd think you already have all these censuses, and they don't solve any problems.
They just say John LAING's birth is about 1859.
--
1861 cens RG9, 3154, Fol 25, Ed 4 p 1 (Thurnham - Lancashire)
Bruce Farm.
Margret LAING, head, marrd, 33, Mariners wife, b Scotland
Samuel LAING, son, 10, Scholar, b Liverpool
Marget LAING, daur, 3, ----------b Liverpool
Thomas LAING, son, 3, ---------b Liverpool
John LAING, son, 2,------------b Garston
--
1871 cens 685-1 Ed 75 p 2 (St. George)
27a Brunswick St. Edinburgh.
Margaret LAING, head, 38, ?Lennedun?, b Paisley
Margaret LAING, daur, 13, Scholar, b England
Thomas LAING, son, 13, Clerk, b England
John LAING, son, 11, Scholar, b England
Robert LAING, son 9, Scholar, b England
--
1881 cens 685-5 Ed 8 p 14 (Newington)
13 East Adam St. .......[with father-in-law William Mason]
Agnes LAING, daur, 18, ------------------b Edinburgh
Thomas LAING, 23, son-in-law, Comm. clerk, b Liverpool, England
~&~
1881 cens 685-1 Ed 127 p 16 (St. George)
13 Bellevue. ........[boarding with a Euphemia Brown]
John LAING, boarder, 22, Cab driver, b Sheils, England
~&~
1881 cens 685-2 Ed 99 p 13 (St. George)
59 Thistle St. ........[boarding with a Mary N. Turpie]
Margaret MARTIN, boarder, widow, 51, ------b Paisley ....[mother Margaret Laing?]
Robert LAING, boarder, 19, Cab driver, b England
--
1891 cens 685-2 Ed 7 p 6 (St. Andrew)
30 Greenside Row, Edinburgh.
John LAING, head, 30, Cabman, b Garston, England.
Helen LAING, wife, 23, --------b Galashiels
Tom LAING, son, 8, Scholar, b Edinburgh
John LAING, son, 6, Scholar, b Edinburgh
Richard LAING, son, 2, -------b Edinburgh
--
1901 cens 685--2 Ed 7 p 8 (St. Andrew)
30 Greenside Row. Edinburgh.
John LAING, head, 42, Cabman, b England
Helen LAING, wife, 32, -------------b Galashiels
Thomas LAING, son, 18, App Grocer, b Edinburgh
John LAING, son, 16, Vanman, b Edinburgh
Richard LAING, son, 12, Scholar, b Edinburgh
Archibald LAING, son, 7, Scholar, b Edinburgh
Peter LAING, son, 5, Scholar, b Edinburgh
====
This might be the wee Emma GRAHAM (b. Dean 1858) you've all been discussing - i know you have her censuses.
If it is, then she was probably away from her parents at a very young age.
It seems Robert & Mary TORRANCE may have split up by 1871?, and that's why Emma was in Dean Bank by then?
--
1861 cens 685-5 Ed 45 p 4 (Newington)
15 St. Leonards St.
Robert TORRANCE, head, 27, Carter, b Edinburgh.
Mary TORRANCE, wife, 29, -----------b Ratho .........[ms Welsh?]
Mary TORRANCE, daur, 4, ------------b Edinburgh.
Robert TORRANCE, son, 11 mos, ----b Edinburgh.
Emma GRAHAME, boarder, 3, -------b Edinburgh.
--
1871 cens 685-1 Ed 69 p 33 (St. George)
Dean Bank Institution.
Emma GRAHAM, inmate, 13, Scholar, b Edinburgh.
~&~
1871 cens 685-5 Ed 65 p 11 (Newington)
Maddon's Court, 112 Nicolson St., Edinburgh.
Robt. TORRANCE, boarder, 34, Carter, b Edinburgh.
~&~
1871 cens 644-1 Ed 28 p 9 (St Paul)
43 High St, Glasgow.
Mary TORRANCE, head, 36, Cotton store worker, b Linlithgow...[diff birthplace]
Mary TORRANCE, daur, 14, Weaver, b Edinburgh.
====
A rather tenuous connection of this Amy (below) to be Emma is her address of Greenside Place.
But this was in 1881.
In 1891 & 1901 John LAING was at 30 Greenside Row
Greenside Place & Greenside Row are very near to each other.
As regards birthplaces; are Dean & St. Cuthberts Parishes the same area?
--
1881 685-2 Ed 2 p 1 (St. Andrew)
2 Greenside Place ........[with a Robert Kennedy Restaurant keeper]
Amy GRAHAM , servant, 22, General servt, b St. Cuthberts, Edinburgh.
====
Jack

[KellyO]

Hi there Jack

Thank you so much for your input into this one. I didn't actually have the 1861 Lancashire census, so I really appreciate that one.

I think I said before that I had a theory that my John had fibbed about his age and I am starting to review that theory. I had come across an OPR entry in Renfrew in 1848 for a John, born to a Thomas LAING, Seaman and a Margaret MARTIN. (I am almost sure it could be them, given Margaret was born in that neck of the woods and there can't be many LAING/MARTIN combo's with the man being a mariner!) I think that perhaps Thomas and Margaret had a son called John who died young and that they used the name again, as they sometimes did then. The John I have always had as being born in England is definitely my GG Grandad. Now I have never attempted searching the English records so I could be in for a good time there!

I like your theory on Amy GRAHAM. Could it be Emma using a slightly different name? I will have wee think about that one. I cannot find birth records to definitely link the young John LAING and Richard LAING that are with John the elder in 1891. Need to save some more pennies for another good old root about SP. I just wish I could find out for sure what became of my GG Gran Emma!

No wonder genealogy ends up becoming a lifetimes hobby (and obsession!!)

Thank you again

Kelly

[gzmcwherter]

Some more info.
1851 Census
Lancashire, Toxteth Park, Borough of Liverpool
No 93 Hill Street
Ann Sanderson ,Head, Wid, 48, Lodging House Keeper, Cumberland, b Workington[?]
Margaret McKnight, Daug, Mar, 22, dressmaker, b do, do
Benjamin do ,GrangSon, , Scholar, Lancashire, b Liverpool
Margret Lang, Lodger, Mar, 25, Mariners wife, b Scotland
John Lang, do, 3,------------ b Scotland
Charles Cork, do, UN, 25, Painter & Glazier, Staffordshire, Stafford[?]

FreeBMD Births
Samuel Laing 1851 Oct-Nov-Dec West Derby Lancashire
Volume: 20
Page: 1065
Thomas Laing 1857 Jul-Aug-Sep Liverpool (1837-1934) Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 142
John Laing 1859 Apr-May-Jun West Derby Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 444

FreeBMD Deaths
John Laing 1852 Apr-May-Jun West Derby Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 266

IGI
SAMUEL LAING - Birth: 10 OCT 1851 Christening: 26 JUL 1853 Saint Peter, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father: THOMAS LAING Mother: MARGARET

Regards,
Gina

[KellyO]

Gina,

Thank you so much for the census and BMD info. I was finally right, there was a previous wee John who died young. I keep forgetting the English records start earlier than the Scottish ones. I feel quite sad about the wee one.

I may not yet have found my missing GG Granny, but thanks to you all I have some extra information on the LAING side of the family and a couple of theories to think about on GG Gran.

Thank you again to everyone who took time to help!

Best wishes
Kelly

[nmdonnellan]

Hello,

I am carrying out research into the Dean Bank Institution and I am keen to find out about the lives of the girls who attended the Institution particularly what impact attending the Institution had on their lives. I would be very interested to get in to contact with you about Emma Graham.

Detailed below is a summary of some information I have put together on the Institution.

The Dean Bank Institution was established in 1832 by a small band of women and worked from buildings in the Silvermills/Stockbridge area of Edinburgh from 1832 - 1912.
Prior to the establishment of the Institution a number of women inspired by the work in England of Elizabeth Fry “began systematically to visit the female wards of the Edinburgh Prison”. They recognized however that many of the female prisoners quickly returned to prison as they found it difficult to find employment. Their solution was to establish the Dean Bank Institution, a place where girls could be taken out of close association with hardened criminals and trained for domestic service. The Institution’s fiftieth anniversary report noted:

“The difficulty of finding employment suggested the idea of a “Home”, where those really anxious to do well might be taught and fitted for the service of employers, willing to give them an opportunity of recovering their position in life. A house at Dean Bank was taken, and in 1832, the Institution was opened. Entrance was entirely voluntary, and the expenses were met by the contributions of those interested, and the proceeds of washing and sewing done by the inmates”
It is important to recognise that the establishment of this Institution marked a significant step forward in social reform as it was the first such refuge in Scotland where its primary objective was the reformation of female prisoners (Ralston, 1984).

The Institution was run by a Ladies’ Committee who were also actively involved in the daily work of the home. Members of the Committee were well known and some not so well known social reformers and nineteenth century liberal political activists including Eliza Wigham, Louisa Stevenson, two sisters, Kate and Barbara Bell McLaren (members of the McLaren Family) and Elizabeth (Betsy) Fraser. Many of these are documented as key active reformers in the 1800’s not only for prison reform but also for the anti-corn laws, right to vote, the education of women (including law and medicine) women’s suffrage movement, anti-slavery movement, the right for education for all, the establishment of secular education. From its early days its Directors were the Lord Provost of the City, the Sheriff of the County, the Dean of Guild and other influential men of the City including the Governors of Edinburgh Jail.
Elizabeth Fry herself visited the Institution in 1834 and it was one of the first members of the Britain wide Reformatory and Refuge Union set up by the social reformer Mary Carpenter in 1852. The 1875 annual report of the Institution noted Dr. Barnardo’s comment that the Dean Bank children were “a set of girls …. that it does one’s heart good to look at”.

Due to receiving numerous applications for admission a second Branch Institution was opened at Boroughmuirhead in 1848. Dean Bank’s focus was by then developing towards being a Preventive Institution, taking girls off the streets and trying to train them for domestic service in an environment that gave them a sense of family life. Boroughmuir, on the other hand, was a Reform Institution, taking girls who had already been brought before the courts.
To more accurately reflect its work in 1870 at the suggestion of Mr. Smith, the Governor of Calton Jail, its name changed from the “Dean Bank Institution for Juvenile Delinquents” to the “Dean Bank Institution for the Religious, Moral, and Industrial Training of Girls”.

Kind regards,


Niamh