RootsChat.Com

Caroline:

That’s excellent. Thanks. I think we are beginning to unravel this knot.

My records show Robert Steel (b: 8 Feb 1804, Abbey) having the following children:

William Steel – b: 10 May 1824, Abbey. Died before 1841.
James Steel – b: 18 Aug 1826, Abbey
Mary Steel – b: 5 Aug 1828, Abbey, d: 7 Jan 1905, Johnstone, m: Henry Logan 21 Jan 1850, Abbey. Also known as Mary Craig Steel.
Robert Steel – b: 3 Apr 1831, Kilbarchan
Archibald Steel – b: 10 Apr 1833, Kilbarchan
Eliza Steel – b: ~1843, Abbey
Martha Steel – b: ~1848, Abbey
John Steel – b: ~1851, Abbey
Isobella Steel – b: 6 Jun 1855, Abbey

This list has been compiled using the census data for 1841-1871, plus the LDS site. It corresponds reasonably well with the list from your Canadian connection.

The 1841 census is interesting. It shows Robert Steel (34, stonemason), Elizabeth Steel (51), James Steel (15), Mary Steel (13), Robert (11), Archibald Steel (7) and Isobella Steel (20) living together in Rankin St. So Elizabeth Robertson was still alive in 1841, but must have died pretty soon after that. The 16 years difference in age between Robert and Elizabeth is surprising. (I have yet to confirm this). Isobella Steel (20) is a mystery. The name carries on to the 1851 census, but there it must refer to his second wife - who this time is aged 12 years younger than him. The Isobella Steel of the 1841 census is maybe the daughter of a relative. Does that sound plausible?

My line comes down through Mary Steel and Henry Logan. They had 10 children, the youngest of whom was my grandmother.

Best Regards
Robert

Caroline: not on Ancestry. I have been using familysearch.org. Your earlier post suggests that we are not at the bottom of this mystery. I have Robert Steel marrying Elizabeth Robertson in 1823, with James being born in 1826. This conflicts with your family papers.

Marji: The reason why I have chosen Robert Steel as James Steel’s father is that Robert’s mother is possibly Bethia Craig. The name Craig appears as a middle name in later generations of the family. I accept that this evidence is thin, but there are many James Steel’s in the area to choose from at that time.

On the death certificate of Mary Steel (my great grandmother, b: 30 Aug 1828) it shows her mother’s maiden name to have been Isabella Robertson.
A Robert Steel married an Elizabeth Robertson on 19 Jul 1823 in Kilbarchan and had the following children:
William (b: 1824)
James (b: 1826)
Mary (b: 1828)
Robert (b: 1830)
Archibald (b: 1833)
This roughly agrees with the 1841 census for the Steel family in Rankin Street, suggesting that the Isabella, aged 20, listed in the census is Elizabeth, the wife of Robert.
The LDS site lists an Isabella Robertson Boyd being born on 21 Sep 1821 in Maxwelltown, Abbey (Paisley) to Robert Boyd and Isabella Robertson. This might be her if the other Isabella, aged 51, listed in the 1841 census is Isabella Steel’s mother. The LDS site also shows the marriage between Robert Boyd and Isabella Robertson, with the date given as ‘about’ 1820 in Maxwelltown, Abbey (Paisley).

Dear Chevalier

Thanks for your informative post, which I have been checking against my own records.

On my family tree, I have noted that the 1861 census shows a Jean McFarlane (Jane L McFarlane, born ~1845 in Kilcalmonell/Kilberry) living with the Peter McFarlane [7017] and Catherine McLellan [7026] family in Back Street, Tarbert Loch Fyne. You do not mention her. Do you think she would have been a relative or an unrecorded daughter? Are there any clues in your data?

Peter and Catherine died of cholera in 1854. The children survived and, I believe, were brought up by the Hay family, then Peter McFarlane [7018]/Janet Hay [7019], who you mention.

There had been several outbreaks of cholera in the region at that time and over the previous decade. The real tragedy is that bleaching power, a portable form of chlorine, still sometimes used to treat water in remote areas, had been available since 1800 from a factory in Glasgow. I think they just did not realise at that time that cholera was a water-borne disease.

Best Regards
Robert

Jan

I think we are related! I can also trace my family line from Peter McFarlane and Catherine McLellan, through Christina McFarlane and two generations of Peter McFarlane Black (Johnstone, Scotland), ending up in Cardiff, to where they moved in 1914.

Best Regards
Robert