Leith -Robert Skinner, Alan and Margaret Bryce, James Philip

[jennyblain]

OK, I'm back to looking for anything that helps me with who James Philip is - b. about 1779.

There is a connection with a Robert Skinner, wright in Leith. He was witness to baptism of James Philip's daughter Mary in 1803. Then a later son was named Robert - and witness was a Robert May. But I've found nothing else about Robert May.

So this is about Robert Skinner. He married Margaret Bryce in December 1773 in South Leith, and they had a son, Robert (who later became a cooper, married Katharin Frazer, and had a son, another Robert in 1800) b. 1777.
Margaret was daughter of Alan Bryce, Boatbuilder in Leith. And it's certainly the wright (not his son the cooper) who was witness to Mary's baptism.

Does anybody know anything about these families? I'm speculating about how many people a boatbuilder's yard might be employing in the 1790s and 1800s. Around that time there seem to have been five shipbuilders in Leith - but where do 'boatbuilders' fit in? Small scale?

Any ideas welcome!
Jenny

[Currie]

Hello Jenny,

Here are some early, up to 1830, references to Leith Ship-builders in the Caledonian Mercury.

Thursday, April 25, 1805; “Alexr. Hill, Shipbuilder, Leith.”
Thursday, July 21, 1814; “Robert Menzies, ship Builder, Leith.”
Thursday, January 19, 1815; “Robert Dryburgh Cunynghame, ship-builder, Leith.”
Thursday, May 30, 1816; “Alexander Sime, shipbuilder, Leith.”
Saturday, March 11, 1826; “George Hay Anderson, shipbuilder in Leith.”
Saturday, May 13, 1826; “Thomas Morton, shipbuilder, Leith.”

And for Boat-builders.

Monday, January 25, 1808; “Alexander Hill, ship and boat builder in Leith.”
Saturday, July 8, 1826; “Peter Lata Wilson, boat builder in Leith.”

The entry for Alexander Hill has him as a ship and boat builder, so I guess he did all sizes.

Here’s a bit of light reading “The Ship-builder’s Complete Guide”, 1826.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=IYw ... q=&f=false

All the best,
Alan

[jennyblain]

Thanks Alan!
I've been playing around a bit with these newspaper reports, myself... Hard to get anything though there's a lot of other interesting stuff in the Edinburgh Advertiser!

Feel I'm going round and round in circles, trying to pin down possible relationships between these Leith wrights and carpenters...

All best,
Jenny

[LesleyB]

Hi Jenny
Next time you are at NAS a good dig about in the sasine abridgements may prove worthwhile - I certainly found these very useful for my Leith shipbuilding family as often family relationships are given. The abridgements are now all digitised and can be searched and viewed on the PCs at NAS.

Best wishes
Lesley