RootsChat.Com

Odd that the biggest cemetery in Dunfermline District is missing...

Not sure if this link will assist - https://www.fife.gov.uk/kb/docs/articles/community-life2/bereavement-services/burials

The short answer is "no". Breach of the peace in the 19th century was somewhat ill-defined in law. It was a catch-all term for a whole series of forms of behaviour that it was felt should be criminal, but fell below the solemn offence of mobbing and rioting (See M. Christie - Breach of the Peace pub. Butterworths 1990).

What was required was disorderly conduct or a departure from generally acepted standards of decency and propriety. The need for the offence to have a public element, which caused such problems in the early 21st century, was not yet clear in case law. Drafting of charges pre-1887 could lack precision, and minor cases seldom troubled the appellate courts. Being almost always prosecuted in the summary courts, it was not until 1954 that a preferred wording for the charge came into use.

Neale/Isabel

That's helpful. Counting back from 1808 fifty years gives a birthdate in 1758 as expected. That predates the parish register by six years.

All we know of Janet Banton/Benton etc is that she was from "Glasgow or thereabout", which could easily cover most of North Lanarkshire and perhaps some of Dunbartonshire.

Incidentally, you are correct that there are errors in Hew Morrison's copy of the Register published in 1911. Robert and Janet's daughter Janet was baptised on 30th October 1803 (missed from HM), and the child baptised on 30th November 1804 was indeed William.

A sponsor appears to have been the person who presented the child for baptism if a parent was not present, so I presume Robert was absent and the record should be read as "Janet, the wife of Robert, presented the child as sponsor"

Isabel:

Yes, Donald MacHearlish b. 1765, d. after 1841 was my ancestor.

 "Iye" is a phonetic translation of Aiodh, a common name on Clan MacKay (sons of Aiodh).

Marriage at the age of fifteen (indeed under twenty was regarded as young) in crofting communities was so rare that it would have been remarked upon; it is far more likely this was the marriage of Tearlach's brother Robert MacAlister than his son Robert MacHearlish. Indeed, when Donald MacHearlish married in 1795 aged 29 he was still regarded as "young", as he had not yet established a trade for himself. I have only found one local marriage where the spouse was under twenty, and that is the subject of comment on a gravestone, details of which I cannot recall, and which are sadly no longer online as Fotki closed the site some years ago following the death of the photographer.

This does leave the difficulty that Robert MacAllister's daughter Barbara's birth (presumably around 1770-75) is missing from Hew Morrison. It's perhaps dangerous to presume that handwritten 18th century records will be 100% accurate.

I will look at my tree later on and revert.