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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Stirlingshire => Topic started by: ahtraM on Friday 22 January 10 23:15 GMT (UK)
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Hello everyone. This my first post, so I hope I'm in the right place.
I am hoping that someone will be able to help me find this couple. They are named as parents on my Gt Gt Grandfather's marriage certificate (William Stevenson and Janet Henderson married on 28th March 1856 at Newmarket, Bannockburn). The marriage certificate states that William and Janet were both 21 at the time and that they both came from Bannockburn.
Robert is listed as a "Labourer" and Fanny McAlpine appears as "mother".
I have only been able to find one family with a Robert as father, Fanny as mother, with a William of roughly the right age, and with a Francis (who appears as a witness on the marriage certificate, and who I am hoping is a brother and not a cousin), and they appear on the 1841 and 1851 Census in the Parish of St Ninians.
I can't firm up any information as although ages are given on the Census forms, I can't find a Birth certificate for either Fanny or Robert, a Marriage cert/Proclamation for them, or Death Certificates either. Of course "Googling" a combination of "Robert Stevenson" and "Fanny" brings up Robert Louis Stevenson. :o
I have tried Fanny/Fannie/Frances/Euphan/Euphemia/Eupham and McAlpin(e), and I can't find a trace of her. And of course Stevenson is a common name in that area so Robert is a problem too.
I would appreciate any help which you can give me with this couple.
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Haven't spent alot of time on this one and have to go out now but here's what you have to consider.....
I've seen the 1851 census that looks like it might be your family. They are:
Robert Stevenson age 67
Fanny Stevenson age 57
Robert Stevenson age 33
John Stevenson age 31
Francis Stevenson age 25
Janet Stevenson age 22
James Stevenson age 20
William Stevenson age 18
Margaret Stevenson age14
I've found them on the 1861 in St. Ninians and this is who is in the household at that point:
Robert Stevenson age 78
Robert Stevenson age 40
John Stevenson age 38
Janet Stevenson age 29
Margaret Stevenson age22
Thomas Stevenson age 4
I've found the son Francis from the 1851 lot dying and his son informant saying the mum's maiden name was BIRKHILL (not McALPINE!) I've found a death for patriarch Robert Stevenson above in 1866 named as the husband of Fanny BIRKHILL. I found the death of son Robert naming Fanny BIRKHILL as mother. I'm not finding Fanny's death though so it well could be in the unfortunate slot on 1851-1854 being just prior to statutory registration in 1855. I'm truly wondering if it's possible your William stated his mum's name wrong in 1856. It wouldn't be the first time! I think you should do alot more lateral searching and see if this family can intersect with your line in more ways than the name Francis being a wedding witness. I'm really thinking you have the right family....just need to have better proof!!
Best wishes
Jean
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OK I'm back.....
Got the death of Fanny....no wonder you couldn't find her....she's mis-indexed as a Janet. Handwriting on the original isn't even questionable either!!!
1861 STEVENSON JANET BIRKHILL F 63 ST NINIANS /STIRLING 488/00 0014
Bad news though is there are no parents named for her. This doesn't help connect her to your William yet....but I bet if you completed a contact form on the www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk website and told them you'd hunted yourself crazy for Fanny.....and she's incorrectly under Janet.....you might get some credit re-imbursement. Doesn't hurt to ask!!! ;)
Best wishes
Jean
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Jean
Thank you very much for your replies. You have confirmed everything I thought. I found the same family as you in the 1841 and 1851 Census, and by the 1861 Census Fanny had "disappeared". I assumed that she had died between 1851 and 1854, and other than the official Census, as a family they seemed to prefer not to put anything down on paper. I found her "husband's" death certificate in 1866 which has his wife as Fanny Birkhill, so I am not at all surprised that Birkhill seems to be coming up as her true name. The name given on my gggrandad's wedding certificate is Mcalpine (but that is the ONLY place I can find Fanny Mcalpine).
What I had not been able to find was her death certificate, which you say actually has her as Janet Birkhill. This then changes her from Fanny McAlpine to Janet Birkhill, on scotlandspeople arghhhhhhhhh I had been wondering about Mcalpines changing their names, so Birkhill seemed reasonable, but I would NEVER have thought of looking under Janet.
What has happened though is that with only the bear minimum of information which I gave you, you have come up with EXACTLY the same family as me, albeit with the conundrum of Fanny's true name, and a 100% connection to my gggrandad. The main thing which still bothers me is that in the 1851 Census the William in this family is a coalminer, whereas by the time my gggrandad married in 1856 he was a Printer (on the Marriage Certificate). BUT, I DO have a Robert as father, Fanny as mother, William and Francis (all appearing on the Marriage Certificate) and that William came from Bannockburn. The family of Robert Stevenson in the 1841 Census has this same combination of people and living in Bannockburn. So, with the information you have now given me about Fanny/Janet McAlpine/Birkhill, I now have a bit more information to try to firm this family up, and the connection to my gggrandad.
I had been totally blocked, and it is nice to find someone else agreeing with the conclusions I have come to, and.......finding Fanny's Death Certificate.
Thank you so much
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I noticed the occupation change too....miner to printer. I also noticed though that the Francis sibling is a miner changed to dyer. What would be fantastic is to find a niece or nephew living in the household of your William or William as an informant (with matching signature!) on one of the records of the proposed siblings or some further evidence there is truly a fit. I think there is a fit....I want there to be a fit....but technically there is no provable fit yet. Frustrating!!! :-\ I was hoping McAlpine would end up being a surname of some other family member of generation but that doesn't seem to be the case yet either. Hard to say where that came from. Hard to say too where Birkhill originates. You'll see that in that spelling it's not common to Scotland. With no parents named for Fanny/Janet you could be at a dead end with her.
Best wishes
Jean
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Jean
I think you are right. I haven't got a proven link, so I still have some work to do to tie my gggrandad into "this" family.
I had more or less decided that Fanny was probably going to be a dead-end with this line, but I really wanted to find out her true identity before I put her to one side. There is a village near where I live called Birkhill, so that name jumped off the page at me. I found it amazing to find her name could be Birkhill, especially as that village is nowhere near Bannockburn. Almost definitely no link with the village, but, a strange wee co-incidence.
I'll continue trying to tie up loose ends but thank you for your input. As it ties in with what I had found out before I hit the frustrating McAlpine/Birkhill/Fanny/Janet brickwall I feel I can concentrate on rounding off Fanny as an ancestor.
Again thank you, especially for discovering Fanny mis-indexed under Janet :o
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Of course, when I thought of the village near me named Birkhill, I decided to see if there is any information about a Birkhill nearer Bannockburn, and found an Estate called Birkhill in the 17th Century and Birkhill House and umpteem Birkhill connections to Cambusbarron and even the Parish of St Ninians (which contains Bannockburn) ::)
Fanny has proved a bit of an enigma, and it may be that her name simply comes from the area she came from.
I even wondered if as a McAlpine her parents generation may have changed their name to something else. All speculation and no use in my quest, but, it is nice to find that although Birkhill may be an unusual name, it seems to have been all around her in placenames from where she lived during her life.
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Jean
I had to come back and thank you for the help with Fanny Birkhill/Mcalpine. I have been uploading documents for the children of the family and in amongst all of it, (there are a lot of children) there is a Marriage Certificate for Fanny and Robert's son Robert and his wife Isabella. His parents are listed as Robert Stevenson and "Fanny Birkhill Stevenson, M.S. McAlpine". So, we have managed to tie the McAlpine and Birkhill together as the same person. A sad note is that Robert and Isabella were married for less than three months before Robert died. :'(
It was a totally unexpected Eureka moment, and I now feel that as Fanny's Death Cert lists "Parents unknown", that I have probably gone as far back as I can with this line. I cannot thank you enough for finding Fanny wrongly indexed as Janet, and giving me the incentive to just keep ploughing on.
I also took your advice and contacted Scotlandspeople to point out that Fanny was wrongly indexed as Janet. Have to wait and see what they say.
I'll just keep ploughing on with Fanny's husband Robert and see, if after all this time, I can find a breakthrough with him (his parents are listed as Robert Stevenson and Catherine Mackieson on his Death Cert, so I think I will now concentrate on him. Strange how you become a bit obsessed with one of your ancestors. Fanny has been that one for me.
I cannot thank you enough for your help.
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That is fantastic news!!! Congrats on the breakthrough!! :D Now you can see from example just how critical it is to examine all the records with close scrutiny. While we're not certain just what Fanny's maiden name was....Birkhill.....McAlpine.....or whatever....we can be quite certain that you have the right couple and siblings to go with your William. We all have those special mystery ancestors that tend to niggle us more than all the others. :)
Continued success....and hope that SP comes back with a good response for you!!
Best wishes
Jean
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You may have these hypotheses ....
Starting with: Robert Stevenson and Catherine Mackieson
with Son Robert 67 in 1851 Census
From OPRs .... [Not LDS entries]
ROBERT STEVENSON Christened 26 APR 1783 Saint Ninians
with parents ROBERT STEVENSON and KATHARINE MACKIESON
Children of Robert and Catherine/Katherine:
MARGARET STEVENSON Christened on 29 DEC 1776 Saint Ninians
JOHN STEVENSON Christened on 19 DEC 1778 Saint Ninians
CATHARINE STEVENSON Christening on 19 DEC 1780 Saint Ninians
ROBERT STEVENSON Christened on 26 APR 1783 Saint Ninians
FRANCIS STEVENSON Christened on 07 JUN 1788 Saint Ninians
JAMES STEVENSON Christened on 03 OCT 1790 Saint Ninians
WILLIAM STEVENSON Christened on 02 SEP 1795 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
From traditional Scottish naming patterns ....
Robert Snr's father may have been John
C/Katharine's father may have been John or Robert
C/Katharine's mother may have been Margaret
Robert Snr's mother may have been Margaret or Catharine
Also, there may have been a Francis, a James, a William as siblings of Robert Snr and/or C/Katharine
Mackieson = McKesson ?
OPRs ...
FRANCIS MCKESSON Christened on 19 JAN 1746 Lecropt, Perth, Scotland
Parents: ROBT. MCKESSON and MARGT. MILLER
LILIAS MCKESSON Christened 04 MAR 1749 Lecropt, Perth, Scotland
Parents: ROBT. MCKESSON and MARGT. MILLER
LDS entries
James McKesson Christened on 16 MAY 1736 Lecropt, Perth, Scotland
Katharine McKesson Christened on 20 JUL 1752 Lecropt, Perth, Scotland *****
Parents: ROBT. MCKESSON and MARGT. MILLER
Possibilities:
OPRs
ROBERT STEVENSON Christened on 12 OCT 1755 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
Parents JOHN STEVENSON and MARGARET WALKER
All listed children .....
JAMES STEVENSON Christening: 13 JUN 1748 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
JOHN STEVENSON Christening: 28 DEC 1749 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
MARGARET STEVENSON Christening: 23 SEP 1751 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
ROBERT STEVENSON Christening: 12 OCT 1755 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
JEAN STEVENSON Christening: 31 JUL 1757 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
ABRAHAM STEVENSON Christening: 14 JUL 1759 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
JOHN STEVENSON Christening: 24 FEB 1761 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
ALEXANDER STEVENSON Christening: 19 JUN 1763 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
JEAN STEVENSON Christening: 19 JUL 1765 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
WILLIAM STEVENSON Christening: 17 APR 1768 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
OR ...
OPRs
ROBERT STIVENSON Christened on 05 MAY 1752 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland ***********
Parents JOHN STIVENSON and MARGARET GLEN
All listed children .....
JENNET STEVENSON Christened on 07 AUG 1745 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
WILLIAM STEVENSON Christened on 26 OCT 1747 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
ALEXANDER STEVENSON Christened on 19 SEP 1749 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
ROBERT STIVENSON Christened on 05 MAY 1752 Saint Ninians, Stirling, Scotland **********
Cheers
DDJJAKE
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DDJJake
What can I say! Thank you very much for all that information. I had started down the road sorting out Robert and his parents Robert and Katharine, but this will help me confirm what I have found or will find. A lot of the names which appear in the first grouping of Robert Stevenson and Katharine Mackieson children, are almost exactly the same names as the children of Robert Stevenson and Fanny Birkhill McAlpine. The final grouping you gave me is also names which have appeared in recent generations of my family, (over and over) if you change Jennet to Janet.
I've been following the Scottish naming patterns etc and it is such a help when you hit a brick wall, to actually be able to pull that one out of the hat to see if it gets you through the brick wall.
I had moved onto another branch of the family, as I was all "Stevenson-ed out" after the Fanny McAlpine/Fanny Birkhill/Janet Stevenson false leads, but now that you have given me all this information it has put a new sprint in my step.
Cheers and thank you very much for this help
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Hi ahtraM from DDJJAKE
I replied to you because I am an auld Bannockburn laddie who noticed this in your first post...
William Stevenson and Janet Henderson married on 28th March 1856 at Newmarket, Bannockburn ... I lived in Newmarket, Bannockburn for 7 years in the 1950s and 1960s and my surname is Henderson, and later taught a Jim Stevenson at High School. However, my Henderson tribe are not related to your Janet (as far as my detailed ancestry shows) Och!
Are you a Bannockburn native?
I also lived in Birkhill Road, Cambusbarron before moving to Bannockburn!
Aye,
DDJJAKE
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Hi DDJJake
No, I'm not sure I've even been to that part of Stirling. There doesn't seem to be any connection to Bannockburn after my GGrandad Robert (William and Janet Henderson's son) left Bannockburn, although all roads seem to lead back to St Ninians for so many of the various strands of my Family Tree.
I only discovered the "Birkhill Estate" connection after Jean confirmed Fanny had Birkhill as a second name on so many documents, and then decided to ferret about to see if I could find out if the name Birkhill was possibly connected to a placename as well as a Surname - having a village called Birkhill nearby lit that lightbulb. That's when I discovered all the street names called Birkhill in the vicinity.
Sad, I haven't found a long lost relative this time, but thanks for all the info you have given me. Much appreciated.
Cheers
ahtraM
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This caught my eye whilst searching old posts as my Dad's aunt Fanny's maiden name was Fanny Birkhill Jenkins. She was born in about 1897 to William Jenkins and Catherine Stevenson. Catherine was the daughter of Francis Stevenson (mentioned above as dyer's labourer), so the name was certainly passed down through the generations! At the time of her marriage (to my Granny's brother, William Munro) she was living in Muiralehouse, Bannockburn and her occupation, if I'm reading it correctly, was a 'briquette worker'.
Sandy
PS I wondered if Birkhill name may be Scottish pronunciation of Birchall. IGI shows number of Fanny Birchall's in England in early 1800's.
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Sandy
I've spotted the Jenkins connection in the past, and have been trying to work around various Jenkins Trees I have seen. Yes, there must be a connection as my relatives lived in Muiralehouse, Bannockburn, and when you check "Tom Paterson Genealogy" you often find several houses in one street occupied by siblings after their marriages.
I have found that Fanny Birkhill/McAlpine Stevenson seemed to be very averse to documentation. I can find no birth certificate for her, or her children, although her husband's parents seem to have recorded births.
I really do wonder if her family just took the name Birkhill from the Birkhill House Estate which is so close to where she lived (and where they may even have worked). It does seem a strange coincidence to have the name Birkhill with an estate of that name so close by, given that Birkhill seems to be a very unusual Scottish name, together with Fanny's apparant dislike of having her name documented (until forced to by official Registers came into effect).
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Hi Ahtram
I'm inclined to believe your relative was a McAlpine and that Birkhill was her middle name and that the middle name and maiden name have got mixed up in some of the records. I have McAlpines from the Bannockburn / St Ninians area in my ancestry and, like you, can find very few records for them. One of them (a Robert McAlpine) was a coalminer in the area and was born around 1800, like your relative, and I can find no definite record of his parents, birth or even marriage. I just have his name and occupation from his daughter's death record. At that time the main records were the church records and I think people may have been obliged to pay to have their children baptised. So if your family wasn't church-going, or couldn't afford it, or if the records haven't survived there might be no record to access today.
If your relative's maiden name was Fanny Birkhill McAlpine, there's a chance an even earlier ancestor was named just Fanny Birkhill. I have several instances in my family tree where girls named after a grandmother were given their grandmother's maiden name as a middle name. As you don't have details of Fanny's parents it's impossible to know if this is the case.
IF this is the case, the 'original' Fanny Birkhill could either have married a McAlpine or your relative's maternal grandfather, but as you don't have her parent's name it makes it very difficult to search for anything, especially as you are now going back to the middle of the 18th century! It gets even more difficult to find anything given that this 'theoretical' original Fanny Birkhill could have been born outside the area and the spelling of her name could have been quite different. Even if the Birkhill estate wasn't the original root of the Birkhill name, it could easily have influenced the spelling of a similar sounding name.
Wish I could be more help. Good luck with solving this problem!
Sandy
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Hi Sandy
I have just seen your post. I think we have hit the 1745 Rebellion influence with the McAlpines. My feeling is that they were averse to being recorded anywhere, and it would appear that even Fanny's own children were not totally sure of her maiden name, as she appears as "Birkhill" or "McAlpine" in various certificates. The one which ties it all together is her son Robert's marriage certificate where she is listed as "Fanny Birkhill Stevenson" maiden surname "McAlpine". There is also the possibility that she may have married someone called Birkhill before she married my relative....and round we go again.....
Of course, what didn't help was the amount of time I spent looking for combinations of "Fanny", "Birkhill", "Mcalpine" and "Stevenson" only to be told that Scotland's People had wrongly filed her under "Janet Stevenson"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course her death certificate not having parents names, and no sign of a marriage certificate seems to have brought definitive proof to an end. I'll keep dipping back into her background in the hope a Eureka moment will start things moving again. Thanks for your thoughts....I'll try to follow more of the McAlpine families in Bannockburn to see if I can make any tenuous links which may lead to a real find.
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Just an update on the confusion surrounding Fanny Birkhill McAlpine Stevenson. I have recently found a newspaper Obituary for her, and it would appear that she was a foundling in the vicinity of Birkhill....so the probable reason for that name. The newspaper article (dated 24th January 1861) says
"STEVENSON - At Bannockburn Muir, on the 17th inst., Fanny Birkhill, wife of Mr Robert Stevenson, in the 63rd year of her age. Deceased was found 63 years ago at Birkhill, Parish of St Ninians, and strange to say no trace could ever be got of her father or mother
Obviously there is no way to trace "Fanny's" parents........unless it was the Laird and the scullery maid ;), so that just leaves the question of where the "McAlpine" in her name came from, (as it appears on so many certificates). Possibly she was adopted by a family called McAlpine. ??? Her name throughout my search has been as fluid as it could possibly be, but I wonder, if in such a close knit area such as Bannockburn, that perhaps they did know who the mother was, and that "Fanny" might be the only of her names which doffs a hat at her true parentage. ???
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Hi Ahtram
That's a fascinating discovery. Made me wonder who was living at Birkhill when she was found. If I have the right place (Birkhill House near Cambusbarron), it looks like it may have been in the hands of a family called Muschet. A doctor, John Muschet was head of the household at time of 1841 census. It's possible his father, Patrick, may have been the occupier at the time Fanny was left there. He too was a doctor and a prominent citizen of Stirling, which might be the reason that location was chosen to leave the baby.
Sandy
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Sandy
That is interesting to hear that the owner of Birkhill house at that time may have been a doctor, because other than at a Church, it would make sense at that time to leave a foundling at a Doctor's house.
I think being found at Birkhill explains the "Birkhill" part of her name, but of course that leaves the "Mcalpine" part....unless she was adopted by a family called Mcalpine, or even married/lived with someone called Mcalpine before she married Robert Stevenson. I can't think of any other reasons for the name "Mcalpine" to appear on documents. Even though it is the end of the line searching for her forebears, there may still be wee snippets of facts which can round out her life.
Thanks for that info. I'll do a wee bit of research on Birkhill House and the families who lived there, just for "background". It's amazing how often "gut feeling" can help researching ancestors (as long as you don't go down the wrong family line as a result of not making certain of your facts)
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Hi,
Fanny & Robert Stevenson are my hubby's 3 great grandparents. Their daughter Cathrine married James Taylor, Their son Robert m. Isabella Stevenson. 4th child born was named Fanny Barr Taylor and she married Stewart Houston Inglis, their daughter Isabella Inglis m. John Thew.
Fanny Birkhill/McAlpine has been one great brick-wall for me....
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Just an update on the confusion surrounding Fanny Birkhill McAlpine Stevenson. I have recently found a newspaper Obituary for her, and it would appear that she was a foundling in the vicinity of Birkhill....so the probable reason for that name. The newspaper article (dated 24th January 1861) says
"STEVENSON - At Bannockburn Muir, on the 17th inst., Fanny Birkhill, wife of Mr Robert Stevenson, in the 63rd year of her age. Deceased was found 63 years ago at Birkhill, Parish of St Ninians, and strange to say no trace could ever be got of her father or mother
Hi,
Would you please share where and which paper you found the Obituary in. Fanny Birkhill was hubby's 3 gr. Grandmother.
Many Thanks
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Hello Mrs BT
Apologies for the delay in posting a response to your query here. I think I found the article on Genes Reunited. It was definitely listed in the Stirling Observer dated 24th January 1861.
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Hello Mrs BT
Apologies for the delay in posting a response to your query here. I think I found the article on Genes Reunited. It was definitely listed in the Stirling Observer dated 24th January 1861.
Thank you for your reply. I did find death notice. 😊