Can anyone help me find a birth in 1849?

[Lou]

I have come up against a complete brickwall in trying to trace the birth of my gt gt grandmother.

Her name was Margaret Wright and she was born 11th April 1849 (according to her bible which we have). Her father was called Walter Purdie Wright who was a tailor in Jedburgh.

Now comes the confusing part lol.

On her marriage certificate it gives her mother's name as Isabella Bell ..... on her death certificate it says Mary Anne Chambers . Our first thought was that maybe there was a second marriage for her father Walter and the name was entered incorrectly by her son in law on the death certificate perhaps not knowing about her birth mother. However .... Walter and Mary Anne were already married by the time of Margaret's birth !!! so this is no second marriage.

To top this off I cannot find Margaret living with Walter and Mary Anne on any census records ..... even when she was a child. I would LOVE to find a record of her birth to find out which one of these women is her mother.

Is she adopted? in which case why state her birth mother on her marriage on her marriage certificate and not her birth father?

Is she the result of an affair Walter had? she certainly considered Mary Anne to be her mother .. she moved in with Margaret and her husband after Walter's death, would Mary Anne have been so accepting of a child that was born as a result of her husbands affair?

Where on earth was she living as a child?

can anyone help?

[AndrewP]

This family group appears in Jedburgh in the 1851 census.
WRIGHT WALTER 24
WRIGHT MARY ANN 36
WRIGHT JAMES 5
Unfortunately there is no image available on ScotlandsPeople, so you would have to order the page from them, or view the cemsus on microfilm.

The same family group can be found in Jedburgh in 1861. Still no Margaret.
WRIGHT WALTER 39
WRIGHT MARY A 46
WRIGHT JAMES 15
WRIGHT BETSY 9

There is this 1861 family group also in Jedburgh in 1861, apparently with a Margaret of suitable age.
WRIGHT THOMAS 49
WRIGHT BETSY 39
WRIGHT JOHN 21
WRIGHT BETSY 18
WRIGHT THOMAS 16
WRIGHT MARGARET 11
WRIGHT DANIEL 9
WRIGHT MARGARET 7
WRIGHT JAMES 0
A look at the census page shows that Margaret (11) should be Mary, so this is unlikely to be her.

All negative. I wish I could have found something positive to offer.

All the best,

AndrewP

[nelmit]

There is an interesting visitor in the Wright houshold in 1851.

Piece: SCT1851/792 Place: Jedburgh -Roxburghshire Enumeration District: 5
Civil Parish: Jedburgh Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 809 Page: 11 Schedule: 50
Address: 29 Cannongate
Surname First name(s) Rel Status Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
WRIGHT Walter Head M M 29 Tailor (Journeyman) Roxburghshire - Jedburgh
WRIGHT Mary Ann Wife M F 36 Fife - Cupar
WRIGHT James Son - M 5 Scholar Roxburghshire - Hawick
BELL Margaret Vistor - F 11 Scholar Roxburghshire - Jedburgh

regards,
Annette M

[nelmit]

Could this be the same Margaret in 1841?

Piece: SCT1841/792 Place: Jedburgh -Roxburghshire Enumeration District: 3
Civil Parish: Jedburgh Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 3 Page: 8
Address: Pleasants

Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
BELL Robert M 25 Sawyer Roxburghshire
BELL Isabella F 25 Roxburghshire
BELL John M 4 Roxburghshire
BELL Margaret F 4m Roxburghshire

Regards,
Annette M

[paddyscar]

Hi Lou and Welcome to TalkingScot!

I see Andrew has already found census returns.

Perhaps Margaret was born to Isabella Bell who raised her until she was 6 or 7. If Isabella went into service or remarried, she may have chosen to leave Margaret with Walter's family. She may even have died and Margaret went to live with remaining family. Have you been able to identify if any of Walter's, or Mary Ann's siblings were Isabella, who may have married a Bell?

It may be that no thought was given to her 'birth mother' when her husband registered her death, because Mary Ann had lived with them as Margaret's mother.

Just a few options,

Frances

[nelmit]

Forgot to say I found the census records on FREECEN.

It might be worth a check of Margaret's age on the original 1851.

When did you first find her on a census Lou and did her age tie in with your bible?

Kind regards,
Annette M

Extracted what I now believe to be misleading info.

[AndrewP]

It might be worth a check of Margaret's age on the original 1851.

Hi Annette,

That census page is marked "no image" on ScotlandsPeople, so the microfilm would have to be checked to be sure. However, the ScotlandsPeople index places Margaret Bell (age 11) on the same page as Walter, Mary Ann and James Wright, so they go along with the same age for her.

All the best,

AndrewP

[nelmit]

It might be worth a check of Margaret's age on the original 1851.

Hi Annette,

That census page is marked "no image" on ScotlandsPeople, so the microfilm would have to be checked to be sure. However, the ScotlandsPeople index places Margaret Bell (age 11) on the same page as Walter, Mary Ann and James Wright, so they go along with the same age for her.

All the best,

AndrewP

Hi Andrew,

It does make her age a good bit out but for a Margaret Bell to be living in the same household seems too much of a coincidence.

It will be interesting to see Lou's later sightings.

Kind regards,
Annette M

[Lou]

Thankyou for the replies

I have found Margaret and her Husband (Robert Rae) on the 1871 census in Gateshead, and on the 1881 census in Hawick, I have also found Margaret on the 1891 and 1901 census living in Hawick as a widow .... all birth dates match the one given in the bible.

I had found the Margaret Bell a bit too much of a coincidence to completely ignore, even given the age discrepancy,especially when on one census (which I annoyingly cannot find now but I think it may have been the 1861) I found there to be an entire family of Bell's living in the same building ! there was even an Isabella Bell amongst them but she was far too young to be my Margaret's mother....at least I hope so, she would have been about 7 years old

Truth be told I was about to assume that the mother's name must have been incorrectly entered on the marriage certificate after all everything else points to Mary Anne being her mother until my uncle said he had heard a rumour that Margaret was indeed adopted by Mary Anne and Walter as she was the illegitimate child of a servant girl (Isabella's occupation is listed as servant). What I don't understand tho is why Walter would be named as her father if this was true? Preferrable to lie than to leave the name blank?

Would it have been common for an illegitimate birth to have gone unregistered legal or not?

[Lou]

Have you been able to identify if any of Walter's, or Mary Ann's siblings were Isabella, who may have married a Bell?

Hi Paddyscar ..... there is something that did not occur to me at all. Walter did indeed have a sister called Isabella. As yet I have no idea what happened to her but I'm certainly going to find out now lol.