RootsChat.Com

Thanks very much, Fiona, for your speedy response. Unfortunately I do not know of any link between my own forebears and any of these Herriots, Whitecross's  and Watts. Good luck with your ankle operation. Thanks again!

Bob

Hello flashMinor! I think that we are probably 4th cousins, perhaps one or two generations removed. Yes, Mary Steele b. 5 Jan. 1802 in Coldingham was a direct ancestress of mine. She, with her husband John Clezy (who had earlier been Rector of Selkirk Academy) and their children, emigrated to South Australia in 1849. As you remarked, many of Mary's Steele siblings also came to South Australia around the mid-1800s. These included Elizabeth (Mrs. John Disher) who preceded the Clezys; Isabella, who accompanied the Clezys; Robert Moore Steele; and your ancestress Margaret (Mrs. John Gordon).

One of the daughters of  John & Mary Clezy was Isabella Steele Clezy. She married Rev. William Brown (a Methodist clergyman) and they had a daughter who was my paternal grandmother.

Sharon, you mentioned that a family bible had ended up in Rochester, NY. We are living in Western New York at present, although we spend part of our time in Australia.

Bob

Sharon,

In regard to the 1703 marriage of William Clazy to Katharin Liongat in Hutton, Berwickshire, I wonder whether Katharin's last name has been mis-read. I confess that I haven't seen a photograph of the actual marriage entry, but in checking on FamilySearch I found that this marriage is the sole occurrence of the name 'Liongat' or 'Liongate' anywhere on their website. I suspect that the name really was
'Lidgat(e)' or possibly "Ludgat(e)'. Although the IGI has only 7 Lidgats in Britain (& only one of those in Scotland), it has about 425 LidgatE events. More than half of those are in England (including 27 in Northumberland) but 194 are in Scotland (including 92 in Berwickshire, 14 in Roxburghshire, and almost all the others in the Lothians). The Berwickshire entries include large concentrations in Chirnside and Duns. The name 'Ludgate' occurs quite frequently in England, and there are also about 110 Scottish Ludgate events listed, including 32 in Berwickshire. So . . . my guess is "Katharin Lidgat(e)".

Some time ago you asked about the book "Pae Dirt". A few years ago, when living in the New York metropolitan area, I consulted this little book in the NY Public Library, and I have photocopies of a few pages which interested me. Much of the work deals with Paes, Peays etc. in North America. However, pages 1-5 discuss the family background in Scotland, and traditions which suggest a French Huguenot link (as with the Clezys and Paulins). Pages 7-23 consist of summarized details of Pae entries in Coldingham, Chirnside and other Berwickshire parish registers, occasionally with brief notes by author Phyllis Richards Kyle. For the baptism of Margaret Pae, 10 Feb. 1771, she has the note "Is this the Margaret who married James Steele in 1793?" From the details Kyle compiled a likely descent can be seen from Archibald Pae to his son Alexander (m. Janet Kay 1706), to his son Archibald (m. secondly to Mary Anderson in 1739), to their son Alexander (m. Elspeth Allanshaw 1766), to Margaret Pae who married James Steele.

I am descended from Isabella Steele Clezy, one of the younger daughters of John Clezy and wife Mary Steele, who emigrated to South Australia in 1849 on the "Anna".

Best wishes,    Bob