Mystery of the Grieving Patton Heiress

[karenlee]

I still have waaaaaay to much time on my hands Gadget......... recovery process long and slow.  Still, stuff like this is keeping me from going nuts.

Karenlee

[KarenM]

Here's a birth registration......

William Pollock Beaton
Date of birth:  July 20, 1879
Father:  George Beaton
Mother:  Isabella Riddell
Occupation:  Farmer
Reg. No. 019668
County of Muskoka

Karen

[Gadget]

That looks so good, Karen 

Have you found the family on any censuses?

[Lumber-Jack]

Well folks, I am getting dizzy too and have not had time to absorb all the postings of today because my dog ate the top off a lamb bone and ended up with a blocked bowel which cost me $3000 to unplug!

But I thought it important enough to post this which I just got from Darlene:

William Pollock Beaton born 16 June 1833 Paisley Scotland
On the 1841 Census , Abbey Paisley, William is living with his grandmother and aunts at
# 8 Abbey Close not to far from the John and Janet Beaton and baby George.

The family is listed as:

Paton, Widow age 50
Paton, Elizabeth age 18
Paton Jean age 18
Paton Catherine age 14
Paton, Ann age 12
Paton, Annabelle age 10
Beaton, William age 6
 
This is the widow of James Paton and her name is Jean Paterson Paton.
Elizabeth Paton and Jean Aitkenhead Paton are twins born 9 August 1818.
Catherine Dick Paton is 14 born 24 December 1820.
(Catharine Dick Paton married Robert Allison 29 October 1857 and died 22 June 1861 in Paisley-her parents  are listed on both the marriage and death certificates as James Paton and Jean Paterson)
Flora (Florie) is the 1st child of James Paton and Jean Paterson born 24 October 1807.
Flora is John Beaton's first wife.

So far as yet I can't tie in Janet Paton and Flora Paton.

Back soon with a review of status.  Thanks, Lumber-Jack

[mjl]

G'day All,

I still think that my earlier suggestion on Janet Paton born and baptised in Gorbals in 1817 is a very good possibility, given that "our" Janet paton married in Gorbals - and birth dates get muddled over time, particularly when people were illiterate.

This Janet has a father Robert Paton - probably Robert George Paton born in Gorbals  in 1777 to George Paton and Helen McGee.
The names Helen/Ellen and George are used by Janet and John for their elder children, I know it is not precisely following conventions but there are various reasons for not doing so, inlcuding the recent death of a relative etc.  If our Janet's father is Robert George then using George for the first son of the second mariage makes it a pretty good match I think.  Gorabls is not all that far from Paisley as well.

My ealier post information on this Janet Paton was as follows:
"There is a Janet Paton born 18th July 1817 and baptised 31st July 1817 in Gorbals, Lanarkshire, her parents were Robert Paton and Jean Inglis who were married on the 6th December 1813.  I haven't found any siblings for Janet but they may have been baptised in nearby church as this was an area with a rapidly growing population due to the development of factories in this period.  This Janet's father is probably Robert George Paton, born 18th May 1777 and baptised on the 28th May 1777 in Gorbals. His parents are George Paton and Helen McGee.  I've found three other children for this couple, Robert born 1771, Barbara born 1774 and  George, born 1775, all baptised in Gorgals.

I haven't found anything on Jean Inglis."

Regards,
Marg

[Lumber-Jack]

I promised that I would try to do  review of the recent postings....here goes though like many of you I find it hard to keep it all in perspective.....lists are not conducive to drawings of family trees! When all of this is over , or as over as I am willing to go(!) I will write it up and post a link for you all to access.

Sooooo:

We have been trying to apply Scottish naming protocols  with mixed  success.
 
John Paton's parents are Hugh Paton and Mary Brown, his wife Margaret Dickie's are likely Adam Dickie and Mary Cunninghame ( thanks Gadget). Note that this is not the same Mary Cunningham who is the second wife to that John Paton  who was born  in 1701.
 
But John Beaton does not seem to have followed strict naming tradition and used either Hugh or Adam in naming any children in either of his marriages to Flora or Janet. Checking with Darlene, the names of John Beaton's parents remain unknown despite very extensive searches of East India Records, British Army Records, burials and births at sea  remembering that his father was buried at sea and John was born on the South African Cape. Could they be William and Jean if John followed tradition and named his first children with Flora Paton after his father and  her mother......we have now established those children to be William Pollack Beaton and Jean Paterson Beaton. We also have located William in the 1841  census living with his Paton grandmother and aunts.

John Paton was a wright/blacksmith and Margaret's  small will is unlikely to have been the inheritance referenced on the original "Janet" charcoal ( thanks Gadget). It is now most likely that it is  this Margaret Paton( nee Dickie) who is cited as living with the Beaton's in the 1841 Scotland census.

Yes it was John Beaton who died during the Atlantic crossng in 1842...I am trying to locate the burial in Quebec and discover the ship "Renfrew" ( the Olive Branch Site has not yielded much so far).

The history of the adopted son Henry Gilchrist, the home child, is a real Canadian story which will have to wait for later.....the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) has done a magnificent job of documenting the home children and that is where I would go to first.

I must post on the Ayrshire Board for a  Stewarton tombstone erected to the death of John Paton January 1829.

Nagging in the back of my mind is the editor of janet's obit seemed to know more than he published.

We actually still have not absolutely proven who Janet Beaton/ Paton's childhood family really is unless someone can challenge me on this assertion. A familial  link to Flora would be very helpful. A  will  of a known Paton ( like Hugh's, though I still do not know what Hugh Paton did to make a lot of money) which names Janet or a known relative of hers in Canada ( remember the lawyer who supposedly claimed his share) would be pretty conclusive.
Marg's Janet Paton born and baptised in Gorbals in 1817 has a strong naming convention basis which I cannot yet rule out.

That's about it....hope I have not missed anything significant. Thanks again for all the sleuthing!  Lumber-Jack

[Gadget]

Morning Everyone 

One thing that we might not have investigated is the cousin (a lawyer) who went back to claim the inheritance.

If we take 'cousin' here to mean an offspring of one of  Janet Paton's parents' siblings rather than a more lose definition of 'a relative of same generation'  that was often used, then it could be a Paton, a Dickie (if that was her mother's name) or, if we're unlucky,   the descendant of a female whose married name could be anything 

I'm away for most of today, so won't have much time to spend on any searches.


Gadget

[karenlee]

Hi All

SP shows the following Wills for Hugh PATON.  Which area of Scotland are we contemplating being right for this family?

Karenlee

[Gadget]

Renfrew(Paisley)/Lanark/Ayr, I think, Karen