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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Stirlingshire => Topic started by: helenmcasmith on Wednesday 11 June 08 09:09 BST (UK)
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My great, great great grandmother was Ann Anderson (born 1836 in Slamannan – parents were William Anderson and Elisabeth Gray and she was the second wife of John Duncan). I also have records of a Henrietta Taylor Anderson and a Robert Anderson, her brother and sister.
I had difficulty tracking William Anderson (Ann’s father), but a contact provided me with a death certificate for a William Gillon Anderson who died in 1856 (also Slamannan) and it seems likely that this is indeed the father of Ann Anderson. His parents were John Gillon and Margaret Anderson (who married in 1777), so my question is, why would William take his mother’s surname? According to OPRs, he was born in 1787 and baptised William Gillon. Is there a great local scandal of the 1700s/1800s that I don’t know about which would have caused him to drop the Gillon surname? Any help appreciated.
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Hi there,
I think I'm the one that provided you with the information on William Gillon/Anderson. I have just spent the whole of today trying to find out more about the family. William's parents John Gillon and Margaret Anderson were married on 28 Mar 1777 but had their banns called on the 7th Mar 1777. Their witnesses were James and John Anderson and the groom was from Bathgate and the bride from Muiravonside. There were only three John Gillon's christened between 1730 and 1760. One to James Gillon and Margaret Borthwick in 1733 in Linlithgow, another to Andrew Gillon and Agnes Shaw in Torphichan in 1735 and the third to John Gillon and Margaret Rice in Leith South in 1750. As he says he is from Bathgate, I can only assume that his parents are James Gillon and Margaret Borthwick which means he was forty-four when he married Margaret Anderson. Margaret was twenty-five and I assume her parents were James Anderson and Margaret Binnie or Binning. They had three children in Muiravonside - John in 1748, Thomas George in 1750 and Margaret in 1752. I have been trying to link this family with Gillon of Wallhouse and I actually downloaded John Gillon of Wallhouse's will of 1600 but I cannot read it!
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Here we go again. I've redone the family tree now three times. I'm surprised any Gillon can trace back farther than 1700. The Torphichen christenings are missing between 1692 and 1697 and 1712 and 1714. Torphichen marriages are missing between 1714 - 1808. Bathgate christenings are missing between 1684 and 1722 and no marriages in Linlithgow between 1719 and 1730. However, I set myself a spreadsheet showing the various Gillon families between 1600 and 1777 when my John Gillon married Margaret Anderson, and filled in where the blank records would be. John christened his eldest son Andrew which would indicate his father's name was Andrew. Andrew Gillon and Agnes Schaw were married in Bathgate 4 Nov 1732 but moved to Torphichen. The christening record of their son, John 26 Oct 1735 in Torphichen says, "To Andrew Gillon and Agnes Schaw in Wallhouse Loanend (?), a son called John. Witnesses John Gillon and John Lermouth." The christening record of their daughter Janet 18 Nov 1733 says, "To Andrew Gillon and Agnes Schaw in Wallhouse Loanen, a daughter called Jannet witnesses John Gillon and Jas. Walker." For some reason, by the time they had William christened 16 Apr 1738 in Torphichen, they had moved. "To Andrew Gillon and Agnes Schaw in North Alderton (Adderton ?) a son called William witnesses John Mitchell and William Thomson." Now was Andrew Gillon another son of Alexander of Wallhouse born between 1712 - 1714? Or was he another illegitimate son? My other concern with this being the father of my John is that my John Gillon would be forty-two when he married Margaret Anderson.
If John (Andrew) is not my John Gillon then the only other possibility from Bathgate is that of Alexander Gillon the younger of Wallhouse and Elizabeth Muir. They had three recorded children. Margaret christened 21 Apr 1739 in St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh; Ann christened 5 Jul 1741 in Bathgate, and Alexander christened 15 Sep 1745 in Bathgate. From 1745 until the 1760's not only was the country in a turmoil but the Presbyterian church had a couple of breakaway sects which disrupted the parishes of Torphichen, Linlithgow and Bathgate. No doubt records have been lost or not kept and there is some doubt whether Alexander actually married Elizabeth Muir. If John Gillon was the product of this arrangement, his son William might very well have changed his name to Anderson, feeling perhaps that this name was not his legally.
The bottom line...I can't prove where John Gillon came from other than "Bathgate".
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Can I draw your attention to these documents which describe a Court of Session case between Lord Torphichen and a John Gillon, described as a Builder over work being done at Torphichen Preceptory. Between the years 1762 and 1774 ad.
They were fighting over the right to sit in the chief seat in the Church, John Gillon of Wallhouse
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_099/99_167_172.pdf
James.
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It's been a year but I've answered my own question on who was John Gillon who married Margaret Anderson in 1777 in Muiravonside. On the marriage entry it states John Gillon in Bathgate and Margaret Anderson of this parish. However, on checking Margaret Anderson's birth in Muiravonside in 1752, I found the page contained all the christenings in Muiravonside from 1747 to 1754. It must have been a small community. In it, as both parent and witness were John GLEN. He had a son John christened 26 May 1751 and the witnesses were James Anderson (Margaret's father) and Andrew Stewart. At Margaret's christening 15 Oct 1752 Andrew Stewart is a witness and John Glen was entered but scratched out. I guess for some reason he couldn't attend. I don't have direct proof but I suspect that John Gillon was actually John Glen, the godson of James Anderson and husband to James' daughter Margaret. It really does pay to actually look at the physical page of the Old Parish Registers and not go just on IGI entries. It seems very likely that the Glens and the Andersons had a close relationship and that young John moved to Bathgate, no doubt for an ag lab position. He came back to Muiravonside to marry Margaret in 1777 and they then moved back to Bathgate.
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I love happy endings.
James.
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Heaven help anyone else researching this family. It started out with William Anderson. Luckily his son mentioned on William's death entry that his original name had been William Gillon and that his parents were John Gillon and Margaret Anderson. Now it turns out the last name was Glen! I still wonder why William reverted to his mother's surname but I guess I'll never know.
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My great great grandmother was Janet Anderson, born 1831 and a daughter of William Anderson and Elizabeth Gray. I was also surpised to find that her father's death certificate stated Gillon as his middle name. Janet Anderson had a daughter Janet born in 1849 - my great grandmother - in Slamannan. Janet Anderson then went on to marry John Thomson and nine of a family. She also had a sister Christian Anderson who was born in 1824. She died ae 45, a widow in 1870 in Slamannan and had one daughter Elizabeth Carr. Henrietta and Ann would appear to be the youngest in the family. Robert their brother was the informant on Christian's death certificate. I too also found it odd that they were all brought up as Andersons and not Gillons.
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Hi Violet B. - I don't have that child in my tree. Mind you, I have no christenings for William Anderson and Elisabeth Grey from 1826 to 1834. Did you find a record, if so, would you mind sharing so I can put her on my tree? I have Christian in 1824 and I have Henriette in 1834, and I have a Helen in 1839. I've also got a Jean, John, James, Margaret and Mary. All older than Christian. I've also never found a marriage of William Anderson (Gillon) and Elisabeth Grey. Have you found anything? Thanks so much for posting.
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Hi, Thanks for reply. I do not have a birth certtificate for her but her death certificate gives her parents as William Anderson and Elizabeth Gray. My great grandmother's death certificate had her mother recorded funnily enough as Jessie Gillon, later married John Thomson. By the time she married John Thomson she was using Anderson. I have the same family names as yourself, with Robert,1823 and Elizabeth 1826 and Janet 1831. I have not found a marriage certificate either. All the census forms show her born in Slamannan and also my great grandmother Janet lived with William and Elizabeth according to the 1851 census anyway. I have recently spoken with a relative from the Thomson side who also thought they were related to the Gillons of Wallhouse. More questions than answers in this family history!!!
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I am having difficulty with this family as I have proven certificates for Matthew Duncan marrying Helen McAlpine in 1904 (Matthew's parents being John Duncan and Anne Anderson). Matthew was born in 1877 and there was a long list of children on the census returns listed below. On the parents marriage certificate, Anne Anderson's parents are listed as William Anderson and Elisabeth Gray. I have tracked the family through various census returns, checking and cross referencing dates, but on downloading the death certificate for Anne Anderson, her parents are listed as Robert Anderson and Jane Howieson!! Everything else on the certificate checks out (such as the death being reported by her son, Alexander Duncan). I know there were lots of Duncans in the Haggs area, some at Braeface and some at Thomaston (were these farms??) Is it possible there were two John Duncans married to two Anne Anderson?? James died in 1882 and his parents were confirmed on the death certificate as James Duncan and Janet Paterson (which is the same as his marriage certificate); as was the address of Braeface, Haggs.
Census Returns
1891 Matthew was aged 13 living at Braeface, Haggs with Ann Duncan (his mother - a widow) aged 53; Agnes aged 10 and Annie aged 2(illegitimate daughter of Jessie);
1881 - Matthew was 3 living at Thomaston Haggs, with James (father) aged 58, Ann (mother aged 45), Robert 22, David 20, Alexander 17, Jessie 11, Ann 6 and Agnes 1
1871 - the family were at North Thomaston - James and Ann (ages are wrong on ancestry) Thomas 20, John 15, Robert 12, Alexander 7, David 10, ELizabeth 4, Janet (jessie) 2.
1861 - James 38, Ann 27, James 15 and William 14 (from James' first marriage); Thomas 9, John 4 and Robert 1 - living at Upper Thomaston.
Any help regarding the mystery of Anne Anderson's parents, greatly appreciated as my certificates don't confirm what was expected. PM me if you want more info or snippet extracts from certificates.
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The only thing I can suggest at this point is that William Anderson and Elisabeth Gray's thirteen year old son Robert Anderson managed to get Ann Howieson with child and little Ann grew up thinking her parents were actually her grandparents until later in life. The other suggestion is that Alexander didn't know who his mother's parents were which is entirely possible if she stopped speaking to her parents. And of course the third suggestion that there are indeed two James Duncan's married to two Ann Anderson's. I ran into that with my Penman family. I had two Willliam Penman's and wife Margaret in Airth at the same time. Here is a reference to Ann's birth from Scotland's People. If you haven't looked at the actual hard copy, it might give a little bit of a story. Then again maybe not. (STIRLING 489/00 0030 0045)
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I wonder if you have a Margaret Gillon married to a James or John Wilson anywhere in your records?
I have my Grandfather's marriage certificates (2) and he states his parents were James Wilson and Margaret Gillon (first married 1894 - Bathgate)
His second marriage states his parents were JOHN wilson and Margaret Gillon (1934)
I have been searching this family for YEARS now and was most interested in your posting regarding lost records - SP cannot find my grandfather's birth (1872 Renfrewshire Paisley) nor his parents.
My Grandfather gave his children middle names - Anderson, Waugh and Sangster amongst them.
I found the Waugh connection but cannot find the Anderson or Sangster connection.
They lived in Bathgate, Falkirk and Avonbridge.
This has been posted quite a few times on Rootschat - so I hope readers will forgive me for trying again.
Thanks
Hazelnuts
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Hi:
I just came across the posts relating to Anderson-Gillon.
Does William Anderson born about 1814 and married to Janet Stewart, show up in any of your family information?
Hoping some of you still connect with this site.
Dave Anderson
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Duplicate thread on the same family
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=86209.msg6643140#msg6643140
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Yes - still researching this ANDERSON/DUNCAN/GILLON family and still on Rootchat.
I haven't been looking at this branch for a while, so will get back on it. I am now at the stage of checking all the ANNIE Duncans, as she appears on different certificates as Ann, Anne or Annie. There were two Anne and James Duncan couples in the Haggs/Denny area (an Annie Duncan married a James Duncan). I think I gave the name John on my original post but in actual fact it was JAMES Duncan who married Ann/Anne/Annie Anderson. Hope to have more info soon.