Stewarts of Arran

ihenderson73 · Post by **ihenderson73** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:22 pm

Hi all

I have managed to determine that an ancestor of mine by the name of John Henderson (born in Sliddery, Arran in 1804) married a lass called Margaret Stewart (also from Arran) in 1836.

Having found out which County was responsible for the collation of Arran's Parish Records, I have successfully tracked down John Henderson's birth record.

According to the birth record for one of their children Margaret is approximately 11 years younger than John. Therefore, I have carried out a search of the Arran birth records using as much information as I could glean from her death record.

Although the search that I've carried out has elicited 7 highly plausible birth record matches between 1817 and 1829, none of them shows the birth of a little girl called Margaret. However, one of the birth records shows that the family had a little girl called Mary who's year of birth is not exactly 11 years after John Henderson's, but isn't too far away from it either.

Can anyone tell me if it is at all likely that Mary Stewart is actually the Margaret Stewart that I'm looking for? I've checked all of the available documentation that I have, and she is definitely listed on things like children's birth certificates as Margaret rather than Mary.

TIA

Ian

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:02 pm

Hi Ian
Just a couple of things to check here before I look further....

John Henderson (born in Sliddery, Arran in 1804) married a lass called Margaret Stewart (also from Arran) in 1836.

Did you get the info that she is also from Arran from the OPR marriage, or from census returns?

According to the birth record for one of their children Margaret is approximately 11 years younger than John.

Are their ages mentioned on the OPR birth entry? If so that is very unusual. ....Or is it an 1855 SR birth entry?

... had a little girl called Mary who's year of birth is not exactly 11 years after John Henderson's, but isn't too far away from it either.

Is Mary 11 years older or 11 years younger than John?

Have you seen the family on the 41 and 51 census ? Do you know when she died? Her death, if after 1855, might hold some clues. Do the names of their children give you any clues as to Margaret's parents' names?

Best wishes
Lesley

ihenderson73 · Post by **ihenderson73** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:16 am

Hi Lesley

At the moment, I'm unable to unearth the OPR marriage for John and Margaret. However, the birth record for their daughter Mary (15 August 1855) shows that both of them were born on Arran. Furthermore, it shows that John was 50 when Mary was born, whilst Margaret was 39.

The only 1841 census that I've been able to find is for the Newton-Upon-Ayr parish, and shows John Henderson as the head of the household with Margaret as his wife. That makes sense given that Mary's birth record states that her parents got married in May 1836, although it doesn't give an exact date.

Margaret died on 17th February 1872, John having died on 5th July 1871. Both died in Newton-Upon-Ayr. Margaret's death record shows that her parents were John Stewart and Flora Cumming, both deceased.

I'm not getting a huge number of clues from the names of their children - so far, I've found evidence of children called James, John, Archibald, Margaret, Alexander, Mary and Henry. All of those names were lifted from the 1841, 1851 and 1861 census returns, and I've managed to get birth records for all bar two of them. It also looks to me as if two of Mary's siblings had died by the time she was born.

Hope this helps.

Ian

Post by **AndrewP** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:23 am

Hi Ian,

A parent search on the online IGI gives the following as children of John Stewart and Flora Cumming.

MARGARET STUART - Christening: 15 AUG 1815 Kilmory, Bute
MARY STEWART - Christening: 04 MAY 1817 Kilmory, Bute
CATHERINE STEWART - Christening: 28 AUG 1821 Kilmory, Bute

Kilmory is one of the many parishes where the online version of the IGI gives only the female births or baptisms from the OPRs.

All the best,

AndrewP

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:26 am

Hi Ian
Thanks Ian - that gives us a little more to go on.

... had a little girl called Mary who's year of birth is not exactly 11 years after John Henderson's, but isn't too far away from it either.

Is Mary 11 years older or 11 years younger than John?

Sorry about that one - I was clearly having a dense moment!!

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **AndrewP** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:31 am

Hi Ian,

This lot show up using a parent search for John Henderson and Margaret Stewart on the online IGI.

JAMES HENDERSON - Christening: 21 MAY 1837 Newton-On-Ayr, Ayrshire
JOHN HENDERSON - Christening: 24 MAR 1839 Newton-On-Ayr, Ayrshire
ARCHIBALD HENDERSON - Christening: 09 MAY 1841 Newton-On-Ayr, Ayrshire
MARY HENDERSON - Birth: 15 AUG 1855 Ayr, Ayrshire
HENRY HENDERSON - Birth: 07 FEB 1859 Ayr, Ayrshire

From your research, do these show up as being one family?

All the best,

AndrewP

ihenderson73 · Post by **ihenderson73** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:50 am

Hi Andrew

The people that you've found are five of John Henderson and Margaret Stewart's 7 children. The other two that I have are the ones that I can't find birth records for - they only seem to exist on census returns.

I think it's probably safe for me to assume that the Margaret Stuart that was born on Arran in 1815 is probably the Margaret Stewart who later married John Henderson and is one of my ancestors.

By the way, I've decided that both of you ROCK - the help I've had from both of you over the last 24 hours or so has been amazing!

Regards

Ian

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:48 pm

Hi Ian

I think it's probably safe for me to assume that the Margaret Stuart that was born on Arran in 1815 is probably the Margaret Stewart who later married John Henderson and is one of my ancestors.

It certainly looks safe to assume that the Margaret that Andrew found on the IGI, Christened on 15 AUG 1815 Kilmory, Bute, is your Margaret Stewart/Stuart as the parents' names match those on her death entry.

Your next step might be to go and find the OPR entry on Scotlands People, as that may just give a little more information, if you are lucky, such as, father's occupation or maybe the place where they lived, or sometimes there are wiitnesses to the christening who might be relatives which all adds to the information you have, though sometimes on an OPR birth there is no extra information - you just have to chance it, and if there is extra info then that is a bonus!!

Best wishes
Lesley

StewL · Post by **StewL** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:34 am

Looking at the BVRI this son crops up to John and Flora

STEWART, James Christening
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 10 Aug 1819 Recorded in: Kilmory, Buteshire, Scotland
Father: John STEWART
Mother: Flora CUMMING
Source: FHL Film 1041084 Dates: 1744 - 1855