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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Inverness => Topic started by: Kevin Malley on Sunday 10 July 22 19:26 BST (UK)
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Hi
Struggling to find BMD for my 3x Great Grandmother Ann Fimister. Her husband James McDonald died in 1874 his record states widower of Ann Fimister. They had only one son to my knowledge John McDonald born around 1852 in Inverness. In 1861 census son John aged 9 is living with paternal grandmother Jessie McDonald nee Garden in Inverness.
The fact I can't find a birth record for son John or a marriage record for James and Ann makes me suspect he was illegitimate?
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I wonder if she died when John was born :-\
Do you have James as a widower in 1861/1871?
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Which James McDonald death was he in 1874 - age 63 67 or 77? When & where was he born?
When son John married - does his marriage cert confirm Ann's name as Fimister
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I have James (Steamboat Agent) as a boarder at an Inn in Tobermory owned by a Mrs McPhail in 1871 census. He is condition is unmarried, would that mean never married?
James death 14/7/1874 43years old, Carrick St, Glasgow.
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Son John's marriage
15/8/1876
in Lennoxtown to Annie McCahill
Parents
James McDonald Steamboat Agent decd
Annie McDonald M.S. Filster? decd
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Are you sure you have the right 1861 entry? If Jessie McDonald was James's mother then she was a child when she gave birth. In 1861 she is 45 - born 1816
James McDonald is 46 on the 1871 entry & 43 on the death entry
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Also James condition is unmarried in 1851 census.
Back then he is a lawyers clerk (22) living with his mother and siblings at Plainfield Cottage, Inverness
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Jessie grandmother is around 55 then not 45 in 1861 don't know why it's off 10 years. She was born around 1805 in Auldearn, Nairnshire.
James was born 5 Sep 1830 in Inverness
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I have been looking from a different angle, as John McDonald born 1852 does seem to be illegitimate.
I was looking for any Ann Fimister in 1851 census who might be a possible mother.
I can see a 13 year old girl, and a 50 year old house servant.
I wonder if the girl Ann (born 11 Nov 1837) is possible, as she would have been 15- 16 when John was born.
Ann FIMISTER is the daughter of Isabella FIMISTER (age 40) widowed shopkeeper of Young Street Inverness. I am not sure that this Anne ever married - in 1881 census she is still living in Young St with her mother and sisters, working as a dressmaker. She is not with her mother in the 1861 or 1871 census.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181180438/anne-femister
I also wonder about a May FEMISTER who is age 36 and a seamster living in Davies Square, Inverness. She is with her 76 yr old mother (pauper), and a child who appears to be May’s illegitimate child - Robert THOM age 5. This May Femister does not seem to marry either, and is found on later census living with her son Robert THOM.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181185841/may-phemister
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Where is John in the 1871 census?
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James is a boarder in an Inn in Tobermory in the 1871 census.
Yes I did spot that young Ann Femister who didn't live far from James. Its possible that James 23 and Ann 15 had a child I think. Not nice from a modern perspective but very possible. Also different religion factor may have been an issue with marriage.
Problem is how do you prove it.
Where some illegitimate children's births just
not recorded?
Thanks Neale
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Before civil registration not all children were baptised or recorded, even those who were legitimate.
I know where James was in 1871, but where was his son John?
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Sorry yes
I'm not sure if I ever found him on 1871 census yet. Probably more because John MacDonald is a common name. Will double check. He is an Innkeeper at Commercial Inn, Lennoxtown in 1876. Don't know how he ended up in Lennoxtown from Inverness.
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Reply#8 Neale 1961 -
May not be any help to Kevin but the May Femister you mention is my husband's 2 x Great Grandmother. I can confirm that her son Robert Thom was indeed illigitimate. May sometimes Marjory Femister - spelling differs over various records and is sometimes Fimister, Phemister or Phimister just to confuse matters.
Could May and Ann have been sisters? There is that possibility and I will go over my records to see if I can connect the two ladies.
Dorrie
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Worth a look thanks Dorrie
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Kevin, from what you have said, father James showed as single when he died in 1874?
The details for John's mother, Ann Fimister, came from son John's marriage and death regs? Apart from her name, any other info given for her on these registrations? Alive or deceased, other surnames etc.
Monica
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Yes James death it states, widower of Ann Fimister but in every census I've found him in he's single/unmarried.
John's death 1881 Lennoxtown aged 29 it states mother as Anne MacDonald M.S. Garden deceased. This is an error by his wives family I think as Garden is his grandmother's maiden name.
John's marriage 1876 Lennoxtown it states his mother as Annie McDonald M.S. Filster or Fikster it reads. Also deceased. Maybe he wasn't to sure of his mothers surname
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Could May and Ann have been sisters? There is that possibility and I will go over my records to see if I can connect the two ladies.
I don’t think they will be sisters. In the 1851 census, they are in different households. May with her mother Mary, and Ann with her mother Isabella.
If we have identified the correct Ann Fimister, her father, John, had died in 1849. It could be that her child John McDonald was named after her father.
I would look for that Ann in the 1861 and 1871 census, and see if you can find any link between John and that Fimister family.
At least you have a name of both parents, which is quite often not the case with illegitimate children.
John does seem to have known her name, and to me that suggests some sort of contact, although it might have been minimal.
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Yes that's a good point neale I never really considered. If the child was legitimate James most probably would have named him Alexander after his father. So possible his mother named him John, definitely