Mysterious half-brother #1: Paterson or Wilson, Edinburgh

killearnan · Post by **killearnan** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:21 pm

I've got a couple cases of otherwise unknown half-brothers turning up on census returns; I'll post them separately to keep them distinct.

I first find, at 29 James St, St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, a Thomas Wilson, half brother, aged 16 b. Edinburgh, printer compositor, on the 1871 census living with William Paterson (b. abt 1837) and William wife Isabella (birth name Jacobina Isabella Bain Ralston) and their children.

Tracing back, I find Thomas Paterson aged 6 in 1861, living at 13 Horse Wynd, Edinburgh, with his father William Paterson, a tailor b. about 1811/2, and Williams' older children Adam, Helen, and Isabella.

1851 finds father William living at 2 Dunbar's close with children Charlotte, William, John, Isabella, Helen and Adam.

So I'm guessing that William's first wife Charlotte died before the 1851 census, and that he married (maybe; there's no second wife listed on the death record......and the variation in Thomas's surname could lead to the conclusion that his parents didn't marry) again between that census (as there's no wife listed) and the mid-18509s, when Thomas was born. His second wife then died before the 1861 census. He died shortly later, in 1862.

I was so hoping that Thomas was born in 1855 (that would have been too easy....) but I haven't found a birth record for him. I've also looked for a death record for his mother* but haven't found one for her or for Thomas. I haven't found Thomas in later census returns, either.......

* Just women named Paterson dying in Edinburgh from 1855 to 1861 provides lots of choices, too many for me to skim using SP, while adding Wilson as an alternate surname narrows it down too much, to women in their 70s and 80s.....

Any assistance greatly appreciated....
BJ

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:56 pm

Hey BJ......

Here's Thomas in 1881:

Dwelling: 8 Murdieston St
Census Place: West Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland
Source: FHL Film 0203574 GRO Ref Volume 564-3 EnumDist 24 Page 14
Marr Age Sex Birthplace
Thomas WILSON M 25 M Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Head
Occ: Carpenter
Jessie WILSON M 21 F Eddleston, Peeble, Scotland
Rel: Wife
William F. WILSON 2 M Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland
Rel: Son
John WILSON 6 m M Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland
Rel: Son

and before you say....but how did you find him in Greenock as a carpenter???? Well...at first I doubted seriously this was the right guy...but I persisted and searched on Ancestry in 1891 for a Thomas Wilson with occupation of "printer" in a reasonable age range anywhere....and you know there was only 1 and he was with a family and wife in St. Rollox but was listed as born Edinburgh and was a printer compositor....soooooo.....i quickly examined the ages of the kiddies and selected one young chap born approx 1880-1881 in Greenock and went looking for a BC...and 4 came up and I got lucky and chose right the first time......as the parents names were good and the father was a printer....so quickly taking the parents date of marriage and mom's mn I plugged these in to a marriage search on SP and there is only one and bingo....he looks good with a father named William Wilson, tailor, deceased and I'll let you find the mums name for yourself. Marriage is in 1877. So all in all I'd say the carpenter occupation was a mistake on someones part as shown on the 1881 census above!!!

Best wishes
Jean

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:45 pm

You know....... after firing this one off as I was leaving the office last night I didn't give it a second thought....but then at some point during the night it popped up and I started running it through my head and then had to get out of bed and read it again

.....Wow I thought to myself....I really blew that one!!! His father wasn't William Wilson...it was spose to be William Patterson!!! Crikey I've been here going back and forth and recreating and comparing notes and whew....thankfully.....I still think it's your mysterious Thomas's marriage!!! Compare the address of William Paterson and family in 1851 census to the one on Thomas's MC....it's gotta be him. As far as the parents names he's given....they might be right or they might be wrong...the jury is still out....and I'm still looking for a living mother in 1877......hmmmmmm

Best wishes
Jean

killearnan · Post by **killearnan** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:37 am

But I do think you are right - that's him. THANKS!

And this is a good reason for posting those thorny problems places like this; fresh eyes can make a huge difference.

So here's how I expect the conversation at the marriage registration went:
Registrar: Groom, what is your name?
Him: Thomas Wilson.
Registrar writes Thomas Wilson.
Registrar: Groom, what is your father's name and occupation?
Him: William; he was a tailor.
Registrar writes William Wilson, tailor..

Thomas neglects to say that his daddy was actually named William Paterson and the registrar doesn't ask, neither realizing that 130 years later a couple-greats-grandniece will be looking for Thomas and how he fits among her relatives.

(Runs in the family -- the half brother William I descend from managed to immigrate to the US with wife Isabella and all the kids except my great-grandma -- and leave no trace of that immigration in the famliy legend, despite the fact that great-great-grandma Isabella survived late enough to see my grandfather, the son of the one daughter who stayed in Scotland, arrive in the US and live in the same town.........And another of Thomas's half brothers managed to have a coupel kids with his wife several years after he last saw his wife, based on the various declarations on birth certificates of said children........)

So I'm guessing that the reason that Thomas settles on Wilson rather than Paterson is that his parents never married...... At least I'll go by that theory until I find evidence otherwise.

His marriage shows his mother as Mary Wilson m.s. Brown.

Am I the only one who has ever wished for ancestors or other collateral relatives named Cornelia MacHumplethwaite?

BJ
who does have a few of those less common names in her family tree.......if anyone is researching families named Learoyd or Restieaux, we are almost certainly related.......

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:47 am

Hi BJ

Glad to hear you agree. I"ve been fidgeting over this one for 3 days waiting for a comment

Gotta admit you got one convoluted family story there!!

I suspect you'd be bored to tears by now if you'd had it easy with a really unusual surname or two tossed in. Of course those don't always spell ease...matter of fact those unusual names can be darned hard to find for the spelling variations!!! I think your theory on the registrar conversation is 100% though.

Best wishes
Jean

Post by **emanday** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:51 am

BJ,

who does have a few of those less common names in her family tree

I know the feeling! I've yet to find anyone else researching my Girtrig, Gitrig, Girthrigg, Gerthrigg, Gerthridge, Girtridge, Guthric, etc... etc... etc... who seem to have originated in the Ayr region as far back as the 1600's. Can find no information about the origins of the name, or if it was even British!

Strangely, it is the only family I have been able to go that far back with!

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:28 am

Black's has one of the shortest entries I've ever seen.

GIRTHRIG Local. There is a Girtrig near Irvine, Ayrshire. John Girthrig in Redslap, 1712

David

Post by **emanday** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:52 am

DavidWW wrote:Black's has one of the shortest entries I've ever seen.

GIRTHRIG Local. There is a Girtrig near Irvine, Ayrshire. John Girthrig in Redslap, 1712

David

So you see my problem then

Does Black's have none of the other spellings?

I've got a John, born c1648, so he would have been about 64 by then. The names John and Thomas seem to have been regularly used right down the line.

However, You might remember that I've also got a 1666 Will/Testament (Yes, I'm still trying to decipher that) for a Thomas Girtrig. Bearing in mind how few of them there were, he and Black's John were probably related!

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:02 pm

emanday wrote:
DavidWW wrote:Black's has one of the shortest entries I've ever seen.

GIRTHRIG Local. There is a Girtrig near Irvine, Ayrshire. John Girthrig in Redslap, 1712

David
So you see my problem then Does Black's have none of the other spellings?

I've got a John, born c1648, so he would have been about 64 by then. The names John and Thomas seem to have been regularly used right down the line.

However, You might remember that I've also got a 1666 Will/Testament (Yes, I'm still trying to decipher that) for a Thomas Girtrig. Bearing in mind how few of them there were, he and Black's John were probably related!

'Fraid not !!, - but that's not to say that they're not lurking in another entry as unusual variants not in the main index. Some are fairly obviously close cognates of each other, some only possibly such; and my immediate suspicion re GUTHRIC would be a mistranscription of GUTHRIE

David

Post by **emanday** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:26 pm

Actually, the Guthric variant has shown up in respect of a pair of Girtrig sisters, but most of the other examples do, as you say, seem to be mistranscriptions of Guthrie.

I found one Guthrie family with the same naming pattern as my Girtrig lot and thought they might have decided to change to the more common Guthrie. Proved to be a red herring, though, as I traced tham back a couple of generations and they weren't the same family.