Old WALKER papers – JOHNSTON samplers

This is one in a series of blog post about some old papers of the WALKER family, from Kirkliston, West Lothian, Scotland. See a list of these papers HERE.

In the Walker family we have these two framed samplers which are full of genealogy information.

One sampler was done by Margaret JOHNSTON (my paternal Gt-Gt-Grandmother, born in 1818), when she was “aged 8” (circa 1826-27). This sampler contains a series of initials on two rows, begining half-way down, which appear to be those of Margaret’s parents and siblings. Each pair of initials is beneath what appears to be a crown;

J.J. – M.Y. – M.J. – T.J. – J.J. – I.J. – J.J. – C.J.

• J.J. = John Johnston, b. 25/9/1786, d. 9/5/1872 (father)
• M.Y. = Margaret Young, chr. 14/11/1793, d. 29/6/1878 (mother)

Children;

• M.J. = Mary Johnston, (dates unknown!)
• T.J. = Thomas Johnston, b.abt. 1816, d. 8/12/1892
• J.J. = John Johnston, b. 1/4/1821, d. 6/10/1906
• I.J. = Isabella Johnston, b.abt. 1823
• J.J. = James Johnston (twin), b.abt. 1826, d. 10/12/1845
• C.J. = Charles Johnston (twin), b.abt. 1826, d. 24/10/1868

Photo of Margaret JOHNSTON (unknown date)

For further details of the above, please see the JOHNSTON family tree.

Here (right) is one of two photos I have of an adult Margaret JOHNSTON (I also have one of her husband, James WALKER, from the same date).

The date of this photo is unknown, but I guess about 1848. The name and address of the photographer, on the reverse, suggests a date between 1848 and 1865.

The second, older sampler appears to be by Mary YOUNG (b, 1777); the older sister of Margaret Johnston’s mother, Margaret YOUNG (b. 1793, Ecclesmachan, W.Lothian). At the bottom of this sampler there is a confusion of names and initials, some of which (it suggests to me) may be later additions to the sampler in an attempt to represent the whole family, including siblings not born when the sampler was origionally made! But at the top – 3rd line down – there is a clear set of initials of family members;

3rd row;

• * T.Y. – M.S. – A.Y. – J.Y. – M.Y. – A.Y. – T.Y. – J.Y. * A.S. – M.F. *

Bottom 1/3rd;

• * THOMAS YOUNG * MARY SMITH *
• MARY YOUNG / 1789 * JY * MK * AY *
• CY * WY
• JY, AY, TY, J(Y), – – – * TY, MS *
• MY / A(LE)XA(—) SMITH * MARY FISHER *

Note; the letter “J” might alternatively be an “I“. I have transcribed it as a “J” because that is what fits with the matching records I’ve found; see below.

Using the initials identified in this sampler (above), I searched the IGI transcriptions of parish registers and was able to find what I believe to be closely matching details for birth/christening dates. Death dates are based on notes I’ve found among family papers about tombstones in Abercorn Churchyard, West Lothian, some of which I’ve been able to confirm through images available at BillionGraves.com as follows;

from the 3rd row;

• T.Y. = Thomas YOUNG, b. circa 1747, d. 17/03/1824. (father)
• M.S. = Mary SMITH, b. 01/02/1753, Muiravonside, Stirling. d. 27/04/1820. (mother)
• A.Y. = Alexander YOUNG, chr. 04/02/1774, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian.
• J.Y. = John YOUNG, chr. 09/01/1776, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. 13/10/1844.
• M.Y. = Mary YOUNG, chr. 11/12/1777, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. 04/06/1845.
• A.Y. = Alexander YOUNG, chr. 23/02/1780, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. 18/12/1805.
• T.Y. = Thomas YOUNG, chr. 24/01/1783, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. 27/12/1811.
• J.Y. = James YOUNG, chr. 06/06/1785, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian.
• A.S. = Alexander SMITH, (dates unknown). (maternal Grandfather)
  
• M.F. = Mary FISHER, (dates unknown). (maternal Grandmother)
  

Missing from this row of initials are 4 younger siblings, which might hint at the date when it was done. The missing siblings were;

• William YOUNG, chr. 18/04/1788, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian.
• Charles YOUNG, chr. 09/09/1790, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. 05/07/1844.
• Margaret YOUNG, chr. 14/11/1793, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. 29/06/1878
• Robert YOUNG, chr. 07/06/1796, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian. d. ? (an infant).

The bottom third of the sampler begins clearly with the parents’ names; THOMAS YOUNG and MARY SMITH, then the name MARY YOUNG (who’s handywork I believe this sampler is), and a year; 1789, which presumably represents a completion point for this sampler. The very bottom row appears to name the maternal grandparents; ALEXANDER SMITH and MARY FISHER.

If you could shed any more light on these families and their relations, perhaps through other original family documents, please leave a comment below or use the Contact Page to get in touch. Thanks.

JOHNSTON family, of Bathgate, West Lothian

Among WALKER family papers there is a fabulous, printed family tree titled “GENEALOGICAL CHART OF THE JOHNSTON FAMILY, BATHGATE”. This tree begins with James JOHNSTON, “at and previous to the year 1692. Farmer (at) East Mains of Ballencrieff, Dykeside, and Nethermuir, Bathgate (West Lothian)”, and his wife; Elizabeth SMITH.

Ballencrieff, Dykeside, and Nethermuir are farms that lay just north of the town of Bathgate.

The tree covers 7 generations of the JOHNSTON family and their descendents. It appears to have been compiled by an Alexander CUTHBERT, who had married into the JOHNSTON family in 1888. Although no date is given for when this tree was compiled, the last date it contains is the death of a John JOHNSTON (a banker in Bathgate) in October 1906.

(Google Books has an entry for this publication HERE, giving a publication date of 1909.)

While the earlier generations were farmers, the tree shows that (partly through marriage) some in subsequent generations became involved in printing and publishing in Falkirk (owners of the Falkirk Herald newspaper and the origins of the Johnston Press), and in banking in Bathgate.

I have scanned this tree (see image below). The tree is on a large sheet – 26 ¼ x 16 ½ inch (66.8 x 41.8cm), so this image is a combination of 6 x A4 scans stitched together in Photoshop.

Please click on the image to view the scan at full resolution.

I attach 2 PDF files produced using the “Family Tree Maker” software on my computer;

• An “outline descendant” report, containing the basic names and dates, &
• A full “Genealogy report“, containing additional details about people.

Most of the information in these files comes directly from this original printed tree. Some of this is collaborated by other family documents. I have also done my best to check it against records that are accessible on microfiche, or in a transcribed form online (e.g. parish registers, censuses, etc.), and to add any extra details that I find from those sources.

This tree forms part of my WALKER ancestry which you can find out more about HERE.

If you share a connection with this tree, please do leave a comment below, or get in touch via the Contact page.

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.