Scotland trip – May 2017 – day 5

I’m aiming to write and post a little bit each day about the family history research I’m doing, and what I find, during a week staying​ in Edinburgh. But for personal privacy, the posting of these travels on AFamilyHistoryBlog will be delayed by a few days, and will not necessarily be in day by day order! Some of these posts may be given later tweaks, with added photos, etc.

Update; You can now see all the posts from my May 2017 Scotland trip, here;
Day 1 – day 2 – day 3 – day 4 – day 5 – day 6 – day 7 – & day 8 & the big family gathering.

General Register House, from North Bridge, Edinburgh.

National Records of Scotland, General Register House, Edinburgh.

I spent a large part of the day in the National Records of Scotland, Historical Search Room at the General Register House. I arrived before their doors opened at 9am. When I got into​ the search room I was immediately handed 3 of the “Kirkcaldy Burgh Register of Deeds” books that I had requested when I registered​ on Friday.

So I began by looking in the oldest of ​these books, at a record involving “Issobel WYSE”, the wife of “James OLYPHANT”, and her sister, “Janet WYSE” (wife of John [S~~irkar]). The old writing is difficult to interpret, so I got permission to photograph the pages that I was interested in, so that I can work on them from the photos, more carefully, later. James OLIPHANT and Isobel WYSE are the first (oldest) couple that I have in my OLIPHANT / HUTCHISON family tree (my 8x great-grandparents). So this entry in the “Register of Deeds of the Burgh of Kirkcaldy”, adds the names of Isobel’s parents.

I then turned to the latest book of Deeds, containing several entries that I wanted to look at. First was the “Trust Disposition and Settlement by Henry OLYPHANT, in favour of George DOUGAL, and others”.

Next; the “Disposition and Deed of Settlement by Henry OLIPHANT, to His wife”; img; 9868 – 9873, followed immediately by the “Deed of Agreement among (Henry’s) widow & children, and Mutual Discharge”; img; 9867 – 9884 (9885).

There was a lot in all this! More than I can process in a day! So by 1pm, I had had enough of the Kirkcaldy Burgh records! The first book had already confirmed for me the names of Isobel WYSE’s parents (something I think I had a suggestion of from searching the IGI, but this is the first confirmed source!).

So then I turned to some pieces that I wanted to look at, about the BARRON family in West Lothian. I had ordered 2 off-site records to look at; the marriage contract of Janet BARRON and Henry HARDIE, in 1684, then a collection of papers from c.1708, apparently about a dispute between Janet BARRON and one of her sons; Henry HARDIE. I photographed these. There may well be evidence in there to connect them to Elizabeth BARRON (m. William WALKER!)! I then ordered some of the documents about the BARRONs of Preston, and it appears to confirm my suspicion that there is NO link between these two families, proving Hardy Bertram McCall to have been wrong about this.

By 2:30pm I had had enough, so wrapped up what I was doing, handed back the documents I had out, and left the Register House to find some lunch in the nearby Waverley Mall.

After lunch, between about 3 & 4pm I had a wander around the National Gallery, where I saw one painting by E.A.WALTON, among several other by the Glasgow Boys. I then went to the Edinburgh Central Library for about an hour, between 4 & 5pm to look at some OPR micro-films.

Old WALKER papers – Contract of marriage betuext William Waacker and Elizabeth Barron

This is the first in a series of posts about old papers of the WALKER family, from Kirkliston, West Lothian, Scotland. I will compile a list of these papers HERE.

In January 2014 (just after I began this blog), I came home from a family gathering with an old wooden box from my aunt, stuffed full of old WALKER family papers. Many of these papers date from the 1800’s and early 1900’s. But I’m going to start by posting the contents of one particular envelope – labeled “Old Wills etc. of the Walker family”. The contents of this envelope all date from the 1700’s, and I’m going to start with the oldest document of them all – probably the oldest of any document that I’ve yet handled. It’s a marriage contract is dated “17th May 1728”.

Please click on the images to see the scans at full resolution. Transcribed text appears in a Maroon colour below each scanned image. Then there are some notes of my own at the end.

Cover; Transcription of cover;

Contract of mariage
betuext

Wiliam Waacker
and
Elizabeth Barron

Page 1; Transcription of Page 1;

At Carshall the seventeen day of may on[e] thousand seven hunder and #
tewentie eight years it is appointed matrimonially contracted —- — #
and finnally ended betuext the parties following they are to say William #
Waacker in Punchunla, he for himself
     and Elizabeth Barron, lafull daughter to the deceast Thomas #
Barron in Carshall with special advice and consent of her sd brother Thomas #
on the other part in manner following that is to say ye sd William Waacker #
and Elizabeth Barron have accepted & be their presents accepts and take each other #
to be their lawfull spous & faithfully promises to solemnieze the mariage with all #
conveninl speed & sollemneity requisit in Contemplation of the which #
mariage the sd William Waacker hereby binds & oblidges him his heirs execur- #
-or succors To provid and have in readiness of his oun proper means & effects all and #
haill the soume of four hundereth — — — merks scots money & [shail] #
betuext and the term of martimess next to come and to take and add the soum to #
the locher underwritten to be payed by the sd Thomas Barron taking the burden upon his #
for his sd sister Elizabeth the soum of three hundereth merks scots money making in hail #
the soume of seven hundereth merks money forsaid and to wear #
Imploy and bestow the same upon houses lands or @rent and to take the rights and #
securities therof in favers of himself and his fuller spoues the longest liver of them #
tuo in conjunct fie & and lifrent and to the children to be procreat be- #
-tuext them in fie whilk feleazeing on third part of the sd soum of #
Seven hundereth merks to be disposed of all the pleasur of the first decea- #
sser he or she and the other two pararts to the surviver their hairs #
exers or asigness and how oft the sd soum beis uplifted the sd William #
Waacker binds & and oblidges him his hair and successers aas oft #
of new again to Imploy the samen to the effect above writen and #
[..]ever lands heritages tenements good gear of oyers the sd #
William Waacker shall happen to conquise or suceed to dureing #

William Walker
Elizabeth Barron
Thomas Barron

Page 2; Transcription of Page 2;

And whatever lands heritages tenements goods gear or oyers the sd William #
Waacker shall happen to conquise or suceed to dureing the sd marriage #
He binds and oblidges him and his fore[sd] to take the rights and seccuriets yr of #
to himself and his fuller spous the longest lived of them two in lifrent #
and to the children of the marraige in fie whillks felleazeing on thrid #
part therof to the pleasure of the first deceaser & the other two #
to the surviver their hairs exer or asaigness.

For the which causes on the other part the sd Thomas Barron hereby binds #
and obledges himself to contend and pay to the sd William Waacker or Elizab- #
-eth his fuller spous the soum of three hundred merks scots money & that #
betuixt the date hereof and the term of martimess next to come in name #
of locher with his sister and for more seccurity both and all parties consents #
to the registration hearof in the books of counsell and sesion or any oyer #
Judges books comelent within this Kingdom to have the strength of ane #
decreet Enerponed thereto that letters of horning on six day warning #
and others needfull may pass hereon in form as effairs and constituts #

     Their presence in wittness hereof both the sd parties #
have subscrived their with their hands (writen by James Barron brother #
to [ye] sd Elizabeth upon stampt paeper befor both place day moneth and #
year of god above written befor these wittnesses, John Lieshman in #
Craigie, James Waacker in Corstorphin rige, Thomas Honis- #
-sun in Douphington, Thomas Harde in West Craiges, John #
Barron wright in Portsbrugh, James Barron writer hereof #

William Walker
Elizabeth Barron
Thomas Barron

John Lishman, witt
James Waker, witnes
Thomas Honison, witness
Tho Hardie, witness
John Barron, witness
James Barron, witness

Notes;

Terms used in the text;

• solemnize;     http://www.thefreedictionary.com/solemnized
• Scots Merk; =14 shillings (originally 13s 4d, or ⅔ of a Scottish pound). For more details, see Wikipedia, or TheReformation.info.
• martimess = Martinmass; see Wikipedia
• oyers ? (I’m not sure what is meant here!)
• Waacker – the writer of the text clearly mis-spells the Walker surname repeatedly. It is “Walker” because that’s how William Walker signs himself on both pages.
• wright; probably a carpenter, a worker of wood – Wikipedia.

Locations;

I believe that “Carshall” (named at the beginning of the document) lay N.W. of Gogar Mains, on the south side of Gogar Burn – about where the carpark of Edinburgh airport now sits!). Old maps from the National Library of Scotland use several different spellings, including; Kersshall, Kershall, Claywalls, & Clay Was. Parish registers of the time record Thomas Barron as a “tenant in Clay-walls”.

Likewise “Punchunla” appears on these old maps with several different spellings – the most regular (I believe) being “Punchinlaw” or “Puncheonlaw”. It lay on the south side of the road which runs N.E. out of Kirkliston towards Cramond and Dalmeny. It appears to have been part of the Carlowrie estate.

“Douphington” (which I believe is Dolphington) and Craigie lay further up the same road as Puncheonlaw. On the maps they appear due north of Carshall/Kershall.

West Craiges (or West Craigs) lays East of Gogar, towards Corstorphine village.

“Corstorphin rige” (or Corstorphine Rigg”) lay north of East Craigs, and west of Clermiston.

Portsbrugh; probably Portsburgh – the area of central Edinburgh, south of the castle – Wikipedia.

Witnesses;

Thomas, James, & John Barron are Elizabeth Barron’s brothers. I’ve not found out anything else about James or John! But from Corstorphine parish registers (which I’ve viewed on microfilm, and from IGI transcriptions) I have details of Thomas Barron, “tenant in Claywalls”, marring Anne Bartholomew (or Bartleman) on 17th February 1727, and having 5 children christened between 1729 and 1744.

James Walker in Corstorphine – I don’t know where he fits in! He is presumably a relative of William Walker – most likely a brother! I am aware of a well recorded Walker family living in the Corstorphine area, dating back to the early 1600’s (I obtained details from a visit to the Corstorphine Heritage Centre in 2008). (Also see HERE). I suspect there is a link here somewhere! I have just found a transcribed record HERE of James Walker in Corstorphine Rigg, married to Isabel Dowie, with a son, John, chr.19/12/1730. A number of other records of these names appear to show their marriage in Cramond in Nov. 1729, and a number of children christened in several different parishes.

John Lieshman in Craigie – I don’t know if he’s a relative. The envelope labeled “Old Wills etc. of the Walker family” also contains the Disposition of John Lishman, and the “Discharges” by his heirs in response (which I will post to the site later). William Walker appears to have been John Lishman’s executor. The surname “Leshman” appears in a family tree of “Walkers in Corstorphine”, so John Lieshman might be a cousin of William Walker!

Thomas Harde in West Craiges – When I googled “Baron family Gogar” I found this publication in Google Books. Originally published in 1890, “Some Old Families”, by Hardy Bertram McCall contains a chapter on the Hardie family (p.51), including Thomas Hardie “tenant of West Craigs” (who is a witness in the document, above). Thomas Hardie grew up at Gogar Mains, and his mother was a “Janet Baron” (shown in a Baron family tree in Some Old Families, p.53). So although its not shown in McCall’s tree, it looks highly likely to me that Thomas Hardie would be a cousin of Elizabeth Barron.

Thomas Honison in Dolphington – I have no other details about him! The surname may be mis-spelt!

I would be really interested in any other information that anyone may have about the people mentioned above, particularly if it can prove (or disprove) any family relationships to William Walker and Elizabeth Barron. Please leave a comment below, or use the Contact Page to get in touch.

Currently William Walker is my earliest known ancestor in the direct male line (my 5x Great-Grandfather – see HERE ), and I’d love to have more evidence for my assumption that Elizabeth is related to the Baron family recorded by Hardy Bertram McCall in “Some Old Families”.

A history of the WALKER family

The following history was originally compiled and written by T.G.A. WALKER, circa 1957. The versions of this history that I’ve seen don’t contain any notes as to his sources for the information. And while some sources must be from old family papers (which I have seen, and which remain in the family), others remain a mystery.

This history was retyped, with minor edits and corrections, and with some additional information/details inserted in italics, by M. WALKER in 2004, with further additions/editing in response to further research at several subsequent dates. I endeavour to explain my edits to the text, and my sources, at the end.

By tradition, the Walker family came originally from the district around PERTH and at some date not known moved to a farm, now no longer in existence, called PUNCHEONLAW [or Punchinlaw] which lay north-east of the village of KIRKLISTON, on a back road towards Cramond, just west of Edinburgh.[i]

William Walker of Punchin Law moved to the farm of HIDDLEFAULDS [or Hiddlefolds] now in the parish of Broxburn, but historically in Kirkliston parish, in the year 1745, being a tenant of the Earl of HOPETOUN; he also farmed for a time at OVERTOUN of KIRKNEUTON, which he had taken over from his brother, David Walker, who had died, it seems, without issue.

William married Elizabeth BARRON (or BARON) of Corstorphine on 14^th June 1728 and they had two daughters, twins, Isabell and Janet, born 23^rd August 1729 and three sons, James born 5^th August 1731, Thomas born about 20^th October 1735, and William, born 27^th January 1739,[ii] of whom James took over the farm on the death of his father in 1768. James married Janet Flint in May 1766 and they had a son, John, born on 13^th Jan 1772 along with two daughters; Mary, born 23^rd June 1767, and Elisabeth on 1^st October 1769.[iii] John was “irregularly” married to Isabel Neil in May 1816.[iv] She was born in February 1788. John took over the farm on the death of his farther in 1817. James died 4^th April 1817, aged 85, and Janet Flint died 12^th Dec. 1817, aged 79.[v]

At about this date the family took over the lease of the adjoining farm of Kilpunt (or Kilpont), also on the Hopetoun Estate, making the two farms into one. In the course of time the farm buildings of Hiddlefaulds were used for other purposes, and a row of farm cottages were put up with the stones. [Records indicate that the Walker family was still living at Hiddlefaulds in 1842, but were living at Kilpunt by the time of the 1851 census.]

An anecdote of the times with it’s general lawlessness is the story of a Walker of about these times who had a horse stolen during the night and when daylight came, tracked the thief and came upon him in a wood some miles away. They fell to with their swords, and the thief was run through, and Walker came back with his horse.

There are more details of the family of John Walker than previous generations. He had two sons and four daughters;

• Janet   .  . b. 19 Aug. 1816  .  married William HUNTER, baker, of Broxburn.
• James .  . b. 24 Jan. 1818  .  married Margaret JOHNSTON in 1847.
• John .  .  . b. 29 Oct 1820   .   d. 15 Nov. 1825
• Isbel  .  .  . b. 26 Mar 1822
• Mary  .  .  . b. 15 Dec 1824   .  [married John KERR]
• Barbara  . b. 21 Feb 1827   .  [married David BARTHOLOMEW]

  

  Photo of Kilpunt from the south (composite of two photos)
  taken on 28th June 2005

John Walker died in [Aug.] 1840 and James carried on the farm at Kilpunt. [Isbel MacNeil died in about 1860]. James married Margaret Johnston at Bathgate in 1847. She came of a family of much distinction, they owning the newspaper ‘The Falkirk Herald’ and who had brothers who were prominent Bankers in Glasgow.

The sister of James [i.e. Janet] who married Wm. Hunter of Broxburn had a son who went to Natal, [South] Africa as an engineer, who planned and built the railway there [was manager of the Natal Railway, abt. 1880’s.].

James was well known in Edinburgh, where he had a house, and did much entertaining, among his guests was a Mr Necker, an International Banker and important in his day, who came from Switzerland.

He [James] had family as follows;

• John Johnston .  .   b. 21 Jan 1848        d. 19 Nov 1891 in N.Z.
• Margaret Young (twin)                                d. 13 May 1891
• James   .  .  (twin)  .  b. 19 Oct 1849        d.  4 May 1851
• Isabella Neill .  .  .  .  b. 3 May 1851        m. Thomas ALLAN
• Jemima Janet .  .  .  b. 30 Mar 1854
• Mary .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  b. 9 Feb 1856         m. John BRASH
• Thomas George   .  b. 4 Mar 1858        m. Helen Black CADZOW
• Elizabeth Barron  .  b. 7 Oct 1860         d. 14 Oct 1882

John [Johnston] Walker went to New Zealand in 1869 and was manager of a large Sheep Station at Edendale until 1877, when he decided to start on his own, and took up a virgin block of land on the Otamakapua Block. In 1891 he went to Feilding to have treatment for a severe attack of fever and was treated by a Doctor Charlton without success, and died on 19^th November 1891. On his retirement from the sheep station, where he was most popular, he was presented with a very handsome gold watch and chain.

On the death of James Walker in 1881 the farm at Kilpunt was carried on by Thomas George Walker, who married Helen Black Cadzow at Bangour [just north of Livingston, West Lothian], on the 19^th June 1894.

Their family;

Born at Kilpunt         ( up until 1898)

• Helen Cadzow WALKER  b. 31 May 1895           m. Jeremiah INNS
• James Hope          “             b. 3 July 1896              d. 16 Mar 1917
• Isobel MacNeil     “             b. 22 Feb 1898            m. Henry W. GEORGE

Born at Hyde Hall, Buntingford, Hertfordshire (1898 – 1904)

• Beatrice Margaret             b. 3 Aug 1900              d. Feb. 1972
• Mary Winifred                     b. 14 Feb 1903            d. 18 Apr 1996

Born at Symonds Hyde, Hatfield, Hertfordshire (1904 – .)

• Ethel Marian                         b. 4 Nov 1905             m. Lyle STEWART
• Thomas George Allan     b. 24 June 1908        m. Linnaea C. ELLIOTT

 Notes;

[i] T. G. A. Walker writes of “a farm called PUNCHIN LAW (spelling doubtful) which lay close to the farm of THREE-MILE-TOWN on the Linlithgow to Edinburgh road, about three miles from Linlithgow.” But viewing old maps of ‘Linlithgowshire’ (West Lothian) online at www.nls.uk/maps (at July 2005), two maps (dated 1818 and 1820) identify a farm of ‘Puncheon Law’ laying in the parish of Kirkliston, north-east of Kirkliston village (quite some distance east of Three-Mile-Town). No other locations of a similar name are evident on these maps.

[ii] These dates and the names of Elizabeth Barron and Isabell, Janet & William Walker, come from OPR 667/1; Kirkliston parish records on microfilm. Viewed 29^th June 2005 at the Scottish Genealogy Society; Family History Library, 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.

[iii] Dates and the daughters’ names come from OPR 667/1; Kirkliston parish records on microfilm. (as note 2).

[iv] “John Walker and Isabel Neil, both of this parish (Kirkliston) were irregularly married and had their marriage confirmed by the session.” Entry dated 25^th May 1816 from OPR 667/1; Kirkliston parish records on microfilm. (as note 2). The fact that their 1^st daughter, Janet, was born less than 3 months later is a hint at what was going on! Looking into the Kirk Session records might provide additional information of interest about this.

[v] Dates of death for James and Janet taken from a tombstone in Kirkliston kirkyard on 28^th June 2005.

 Additional notes/comments;

Since first re-typing the above history, I have discovered the original family papers which must have been the source for much of the history – particularly the early parts. (I plan to post images and transcriptions of those documents onto this site in future). So the following notes have a lot to do with the extra details that I have so far gleaned from these documents.

I remain unclear about where the idea comes from, of the WALKER family “coming originally from the district around Perth“. I have yet to see any evidence for that!

My suspicion is that my WALKER family is connected to WALKERs who lived in the neighbouring parish of Corstorphine for at least 2 or 3 generations prior to the family that I have firm details for. A lot of work into WALKERs in Corstorphine has been done by Norman WALKER, from Australia, who traces his WALKER family back to Corstorphine in the early 1600s.

I have seen no evidence for William’s brother, “David“, who is supposed to have farmed at Overtoun of Kirknewton! But among the family papers, William’s disposition shows that he left the farm at Overtoun to “Thomas, my youngest son“. This suggests that William and Elizabeth’s third son (also called William, b.1739) had died at a young age – as he is not mentioned in his father’s disposition.

On-line I have seen someone making a connection between William Walker (b. 1739) and a marriage in 1774 between a William Walker and Catherine Muir. But based on the family documents that I’ve seen, particularly the disposition of William WALKER (Snr.), I see no evidence for such a link to be made. (If anyone can provide me with clear evidence of that link, I will happily revise my assumptions. This site is all about sharing evidence.).

WALKER ancestors

In no particular order I’m making several posts to show my known ancestors, in a “pedigree view”, starting each pedigree with one of my great-grandparents (for people’s personal privacy I will not give details of the more recent generations).

The Roman Numeral in front of a name indicates the generation (counting backwards) and the number of “great”s that you need to add to describe their relationship to me. i.e.

• “-i-” = my “great-grandparent”,
• “-iv-” = my “4x-great-grandparent”.

Click the numeral to link to any posts tagged with that individual’s name, or to all the posts tagged with that surname (if the individual person doesn’t have a tag).

If someone’s name is highlighted as a hyperlink, you can click that link to an external webpage with information about that person. I generally favour entries on Wikipedia, though other sources may come up if there is nothing on Wikipedia, or if the alternative offers better information.

Here are the WALKERs.

 -v-[ William WALKER, b. cir 1694, d. 01/01/1768, Kirkliston, m. 14/06/1728, Kirkliston/Corstorphine.

-iv-[ James WALKER, b. 05/08/1731, Kirkliston, d. 04/04/1817, Kirkliston, m. 23/05/1766,

-v-[ Elizabeth BARRON (or BARON), b. ???, d. ???

-iii-[ John WALKER, b. 13/01/1772, Kirkliston, d. ??/08/1840, m. ??/05/1816, ?.

-iv-[ Janet FLINT, b. 1739, d. 12/12/1817, Kirkliston.

-ii-[ James WALKER, b. 24/01/1818, Kirkliston, W.Lothian, d. 06/05/1881, Broxburn, W.Lothian, m. 23/02/1847, Bathgate, W.Lothian.

-iv-[ George NEIL, b. ???, d. ???, m. ???

-iii-[ Isobel NEIL, b. 05/02/1788, Uphall, W.Lothian, d. 1860

-iv-[ Barbara DOUNS, b. ???, d. ???

-i-[ Thomas George WALKER, b. 04/03/1858, Kilpunt, Broxburn, W.Lothian, d. 19/10/1951, Radwell, Hertfordshire, m. 19/06/1894, Bangour, to Helen Black (“Nellie”) CADZOW.

-v-[ John JOHNSTON, b. 19/04/1723, d. ???, m. ???

-iv-[ Thomas JOHNSTON, b. 22/07/1755, d. 18/05/1831, m. 05/12/1785,

-v-[ Margaret WEIR, b. ???, d. ???

-iii-[ John JOHNSTON, b. 25/09/1786, d. 09/05/1872, ?, m. ???

-v-[ Patrick MAIR, b. ???, d. 1796, m. ???

-iv-[ Margaret MAIR, b. 22/03/1767, d. 25/10/1838,

-v-[ Jean AITKEN, b. abt 1726, d. 1819

-ii-[ Margaret JOHNSTON, b. circa 1818, d. 15/09/1890, ?

-iv-[ Thomas YOUNG, b. abt 1747, Ecclesmachan, W.Lothian, d. 17/03/1824, m. 29/12/1772, Muiravonside, Stirling.

-iii-[ Margaret YOUNG, b. abt 1794, d. 29/06/1878, ?

-v-[ Alexander SMITH, b. ???, d. ???

-iv-[ Mary SMITH, b. 01/02/1753, Muiravonside, Stirling, d. 27/04/1820

-v-[ Mary FISHER, b. ???, d. ???

 
Click here to download as a PDF file;
WALKER ancestors – Jan2014version.

* Sources;

A history of the WALKER family – written by T.G.A. WALKER in about 1957, based on older family papers and his own research. [See details here]

Old Parish Registers (OPR) on microfilm. Particularly no.667 – Kirkliston, and no.678 – Corstorphine. I’ve viewed these (for the most part) at Edinburgh Central Library. I have also used the Scottish Genealogy Society Library in Edinburgh.

WALKER family tombstones in Kirkliston parish churchyard. I have seen these myself. But there are also now several websites where you can obtain transcriptions and photos of these tombstones. Take care with the transcriptions on these websites though! I have a difference of oppinion with at least one of them about the reading of an age of death on a very weathered tombstone!

1851 Census – My own search of the 1851 census, in Kirkliston parish. Viewed on microfilm at Edinburgh Central Library.

Letters from Janet WALKER – to me, in 2008, including transcriptions of some very old family papers. I hope to see the original papers for myself very shortly! These old papers are almost certainly a source of some of the information in T.G.A.WALKER’s “A history of the WALKER family”.

Monumental Inscriptions [M.I.] records, at the Scottish Genealogy Society library, Edinburgh.

JOHNSTON family of Bathgate – A printed family tree compiled by Alexander A. CUTHBERT, circa 1906 – a copy of which is among WALKER family papers. [See details here]

“Sampler” by Mary YOUNG – Elder sister of Margaret YOUNG (m. JOHNSTON). Sampler dated 1789. This sampler, and a later one by Margaret JOHNSTON (b. abt 1794) are framed and in the possession of the WALKER family. Initials contained on these samplers, of siblings, parents, grandparents, etc, helped me to identify records of those generations in the IGI.

International Genealogical Index (IGI) – My own searches of the index, used mainly to double-check other sources. Not to be fully relied on by itself. Given the chance I like to look at the OPR microfilms (from which the IGI is transcribed), which tend to contain many more details than the IGI.

My apologies if I’ve missed any particular sources or credits that I should have given. I believe that these are my major sources.

Names and locations of interest

In this post I’m going to try and list all the surnames and locations that are of interest to me on this site. I expect to come back to add to or edit this list from time to time. [See the Names of Interest pages for updates].

SURNAMEs here are written in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Place names are written with just the first letter in Capital. These places might be individual houses or farms, the parish, village, or town where someone lived or worked, or a wider geographical area.

Alternative spelling variations will be shown in italics. These will appear (in brackets) following what I consider to be the main spelling, or themselves followed (in brackets) by the main spelling.

I will attempt to use all these names as “Tags” in any posts that relate to that name.

So, in no particular order;

HUTCHISON, OLIPHANT, & BARKER – all in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

WALTON, & HENDERSON – in Renfrewshire, Scotland

SWAIN, TWITE

MAWER – in Sibsey, Lincolnshire.

WALKER – in Kirkliston, West Lothian.

JOHNSTON – in Bathgate, West Lothian.

FLINT – in West Lothian

BARRON (vari.; BARON) – in Mid Lothian / West Lothian.

CADZOW (vari.; KADZOW) – in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

ELLIOTT –

FRY – from Wiltshire / Bristol.

EYRE – from London.

BUCKNALL – in Stroud, Gloucestershire.