Tracing Adam Colquhoun

[JustJean]

Well perhaps I have a lead on the mysterious law official that Adam reportedly was tending estate for in Ooty!

The middle name of Adam's son of BITTLESTONE really caught my eye. A small google search turns up a list of appointments from the Gentlemen's Magazine Vol 213. Nearly as I can ascertain this was from Aug 1862.

QUOTE
APPOINTMENTS, PREFERMENTS, AND PROMOTIONS.
The dates are tbose of the Gazette in 'which the Appointment or Return appeared.
CIVIL, NAVAL, AND MILITARY.
June 24. The following gentlemen, being Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature and of the Court of Sudder Adawlut, at Madras, have been appointed Judges of the High Court of Judicature for the Presidency of Madras, under the provisions of the Act 24th and 25th Victoria, cap. 104, viz. :—
Sir Colley Harman Scotland, knt., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to be Chief Justice of the High Court; and Sir Adam Bittlestone, knt., Judge of the Supreme Court; and William Ambrose Morehead, esq., Thomas Lunuden Strange, esq., Henry Dominic Phillips, esq., and Hatley Frere, esq., Judges of the Court of Suddtr Adawlut, to be Judges of the High Court. The following gentlemen have been appointed Judges of the High Court of Judicature for the Presidency of Bombay :—Sir Matthew Richard Sanssc, Knight, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to be Chief Justice of the High Court; and Sir Joseph Amould, knt., Judge of the Supreme Court; and William Edward Frere, esq., Henry Hebbert, esq., Alexander Kinloch Forbes, esq., Judges of the Court of Sudder Dewanny Adawlut, to be Judges of the High Court.
Richard Couch, esq., barrister-at-Uw, to be a Judge of the Mid High Court.
Mr. Alexander B. Manuel approved of at Consul at Gibraltar for H.M. the King of Greece.
ENDQUOTE

A further Google search on who Sir Adam Bittlestone was and there is this blurb from the Dictionary of Indian biography By Charles Edward Buckland

BITTLESTON, SIR ADAM (1817-1892)
Educated at Merchant Taylors' school: called to the bar from the Inner Temple, 1841 : Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, Madras, 1858-62 : knighted : and of the High Court, Madras, 1862-7o, when he retired : died Jan. 18, 1892.

Could Adam have used Bittlestone for his son's middle name becasue of a friendship wit this man?? The time and place surely fit.....

All conjecture I realize but looks quite reasonable to me...

Best wishes
Jean

[Proctor]

Hello Jean
Well spotted! I believe your supposition is correct that Adam had named his son after Sir Adam Bittlestone, the Judge, because it would appear that he also named my grandfather, after Sir Juland Danvers, the head of the railways in south India and also a distingished person, Danvers being my grandfather Francis George's his third forename.
Some other clues.. I have discovered a couple of other interesting entries which could possibly relate to Adam, and these are the names of three boys, James, Francis and Adam Colquhoun, along with Gideon Colquhoun; they sailed on a ship called the 'Champion' in 1843 from Bombay to Liverpool. I believe they are almost certainly brothers and very likely to have been the sons of James Colquhoun, a successful merchant, who had died in 1843 in Calcutta. Gideon is somehow related to James. Could the boy be Adam returning to the UK/Scotland, to be educated, who later returned to India(?) the same Adam I am seeking? I have not been able to make a connection... but you might
Anyway, thanks for your effpots and help.
Best wishes

Proctor

[JustJean]

The harder we try the more complicated this thing gets

Your mention of Gideon as a given name is more than interesting. I had viewed a birth of a Gideon in Scotland 1856 just a couple nights ago. His parents were Archibald Colquhoun who names himself as a Surgeon in the Bengal Service at the time of the birth. Archibald's wife was Felicia(ann) mn Anderson. Sadly we miss the valuable information of where and when they were married but some of the births of other children are in the IGI.

1. JANET COLQUHOUN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 29 JUL 1835 Benares, Uttar Pradesh, India

2. AGNES DEMPSTER COLQUHOUN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 27 MAY 1834 Juanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

3. FELICIA COLQUHOUN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 29 JAN 1837 Allahabad, , West Bengal, India

The family originally caught my eye as on the 1861 census Felicia and Agnes are listed as born India. Ancestry has the family poorly indexed in 1861 as:

Name: Archibald Colgahom
Age: 55
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1806
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Felicia
Gender: Male
Where born: England
Registration Number: 503
Registration district: Row
Civil parish: Row
County: Dumbartonshire
Address: Rocklie House Clyde St
Occupation: Surgeon E I C J Liew Edinr A G Not Practier
ED: 11
Household schedule number: 99
Line: 7
Roll: CSSCT1861_68
Household Members: Name Age
Archibald Colgahom 55
Felicia Colgahom 44
Agnes Colgahom 26
Florence Colgahom 10
Gedeon Colgahom 4
Joanna Cameron 45
George Riss 38
Jane Fotherington 23
Hanna Tomeger 18

Note that Archibald claims England as his birthplace.

When unusual given names occur with a common surname they are often indicators of relationship. Not a hard and fast rule but those kind of assumptions are about all you have to go on!

Have you chased this family before??

Best wishes
Jean

[JustJean]

Two other families that bear watching

1851 Census England

Name: Nina Colquhoun
Age: 34
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1817
Relation: Wife
Gender: Female
Where born: East Indies, Calcutta

Civil parish: Tiverton
Town: Tiverton
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Registration district: Tiverton
Sub-registration district: Tiverton

Household Members: Name Age
Nina Colquhoun 34 listed as Married
Gideon A Colquhoun 10 son b. East Indies, Balby Gaiop
Fredk Colquhoun 7 son b. East Indies, Maryuffespare Terbert
Evelyn H Colquhoun 4 dau b. East Indies, Maryuffespare Terbert
Edgar R Colquhoun 1 son b. Tiverton, Devon
Mary Coles 22 servant
Thirza George 19 servant

and then this one from 1871 Scotland

Name: Adam Colquhoun
Age: 25
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1846
Relationship: Son
Father's Name: Adam
Mother's Name: Jane
Gender: Male
Where born: Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Registration Number: 644/1
Registration district: Central District
Civil parish: Glasgow Inner High
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 5 Weaver St
Occupation: Cabinet Maker
Household Members: Name Age
Adam Colquhoun 64
Jane Colquhoun 47
Adam Colquhoun 25
Janet Colquhoun 20
John Colquhoun 16
Hom Colquhoun 13
David Colquhoun 11
Alex Colquhoun 8
Neil Connelly 21

From the birth of Alexander Howe Colqluhoun in 1861 (the handwriting is truly dire so you might want to get a better copy from GROS) it appears the parents were married in Lancashire somewhere....

and on the 1861 Scottish census father Adam is now listed as a Chelsea Pensioner...

Name: Adam Colquhoun
Age: 52
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1809
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Jane
Gender: Male
Where born: Glasgow, Lanark
Registration Number: 644/1
Registration district: Central District
Civil parish: Glasgow Inner High
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 4
Occupation: Light Porter Chelsea Pensioner

Household Members: Name Age
Adam Colquhoun 52
Jane Colquhoun 38
Robert Colquhoun 17
Adam Colquhoun 15
James Colquhoun 13
Janet Colquhoun 9
John Colquhoun 7
William Colquhoun 3
David Colquhoun 1

Just for the record the 15 year old son Adam just above marries Agnes Paterson in 1873 Central District Glasgow and then I lose him. Agnes remarries in 1892 and upon her death in 1933 the record states she was divorced from a Mr Colquhoun. The orignal MC entry does indeed have a divorce stamp but I'm not 100 percent certain what the Vol and Page are. If you were at all curious of what became of this Adam you could probably contact the NAS and get photocpies of the divorce record. I didn't find a death in Scotland for him.

Best wishes
Jean