Spence family, Avondale, Lanarkshire. Help needed!

[Lodger]

Hello Heather,
No luck with any of those names in Hamilton parish churchyard, sorry. Most of the inscriptions are pre 1860 and my guess is that by then the churchyard was overflowing and the Bent, being a nice new, well laid-out cemetery, looked like a better place to spend eternity!
The town council may have put a restriction order on the old burial ground, as you know, it is right in the middle of the new town (as it was then) and probably it was a bit smelly in the hot weather!
If you can supply the parents names for Buchanan/Gebbie etc I will check the Relief Congregation baptism register, it runs from 1776 to 1800.

Lodger

[bella379]

Thankyou so much for searching so quickly.  William Buchanan's parents were James Buchanan and Janet Douglas.  It doesn't say on his DC where he is buried but it is 1862 and I know that Hamilton Parish Churchyard closed 1860.
His son William Buchanan (weaver) died  aged 30 in 1855 and on the son's DC states his mother Martha Gebbie was deceased.(D.C states that this William Buchanan (son)  was buried in Parish Churchyard Hamilton  as certified by John Grinton - Sexton)
Martha Buchanan (nee Gebbie)  was on the 1851c at Young St. aged 55.
She had a brother John Gebbie and sister Isabel Gebbie (both 60's unmarried on the 1851census but were not on 1861c. No idea of their parents but there was a Grace Gebbie aged 69 died Hamilton April 1867 and she was married to Matthew Thomson (weaver). Her parents were William Gebbie and Janet Paton (could be a clue).
 
I  had thought  that my David Wilson born 1776 would have been buried there in pre 1855.   His parents were James Wilson and Jean Stirling. His wife Marion Wilson (nee Lang) who died Jan 1860 was buried in Parish Churchyard Hamilton  (certified by James Wright Undertaker).

My ggg grandmother was Janet King married to Smellie Frame. She was from Dalziel but they married in Hamilton in 1834 and lived at 5 Union St.  She died 1841 -1851c.  I would love to know more about her. 
Over 30 years searching, I really appreciate your looking .Thankyou, Heather

[Lodger]

Hi Heather,
All I could find in the Relief Church baptism book were  children of William Gebbie (sometimes Gibbie) weaver in Hamilton and his spouse Janet Patton -

Catrean, born 2nd May 1780, baptised 7th May 1780.
John, born 6th July 1782, baptised 7th July 1782.
Joseph, born 22nd Sept 1784, baptised 25th Sept 1784.
Isabel, born 15th Nov 1785, baptised 20th Nov 1785.

There may have been other children, I don't know. Sometimes they were all entered at a later time, perhaps when the parents could afford to have the names put in, or perhaps they moved to another church.

Hope this helps a little. Dalziel was full of Kings, a very important family, some of them quite rich, so there may be good documentation out there! King the builder from Dalziel built the long wall in Bothwell Road Hamilton for the Duke of Hamilton, it runs all the way along the racecourse to Bothwell Brig, it was built about 1820 and still going strong!

Lodger.

[bella379]

Thankyou so much for that information. 
On 1851 census in Holme St. Hamilton
I found the following:
John Gebbie (Head) (U) 68 years HLW Born Hamilton
Isabella Gebbie (Sister (U) 65 years Tambourer Born Hamilton
Jean Buchanan  neice (U) 20  Tambourer born Hamilton

Jean Buchanan was the daughter of my William Buchanan and Martha Gebbie who lived at 9 Young St. along with grandchildren named Hamilton on 1851 c and then grandchildren Hamilton, Wingate and Simpson on the 1861c. 

I think I can be fairly certain that Martha Gebbie and John and Isabella Gebbie were siblings and that their father was William.  I shall now try to trace the names Catrine (Katherine) and Joseph.  Gebbie is such an unusual name especially in Hamilton.  I have found some in the surrounding area and will now go back to my notes. 

Thankyou so much.

My gggg grandparents were Mungo Lang and Jean Stirling (Yes, I had two Jean  or Janet Stirlings).  These were the parents of Marion Lang who married David Wilson (parents James Wilson and Jean Stirling). In census records Marion was born in Hamilton and died 1861.

Is there by any chance any early record of a William Smellie Frame and Janet Smellie who married around 1800? Supposed to be the parents of my ggg grandfather William Smellie Frame (Smellie or Smallie Frame) who lived in Union St. and died 1860 and this was the record on his DC. 

I know I am being greedy but if you have any of these records at hand, they may contain some of the answers.   Thanks again, Heather (Australia)     

[Lodger]

The only thing I can find is again in the Relief Church baptism book -
2 children of Mungo Lang, weaver and his spouse Isobel Riddle (or Riddell)
James born 8th Sept 1777. (No baptism date)
Marrion born 5th May 1780 and baptised 7th May 1780.
I know the mother's name is wrong but Hamilton was a small town so there couldn't have been many "Mungo Lang's" in the place, perhaps this one is another generation or it is another wife?

Also,
1 child of William Lang and Janet Russell.
Mary, born 15th DEc 1785 and baptised 18th Dec 1785.

There was a James Wilson and Isabel Lang, 3 children for them,
John born 1793, Jean born 1796 and William born 1799.

The names Smellie (Smillie) and Frame (Fram) abound all along the south bank of the Clyde in Hamilton, Stonehouse, Dalserf and Glassford parishes, and many more.  So I can't really help there I'm afraid.
Good luck with your research.

[bella379]

Thanks again Lodger.

I was aware of some births   in Hamilton to the Mungo Lang and Janet Liddle but not of a daughter named  Marion.
These were  Agnes 1766, Martha 1769, Martha (2) 1771,  James 1773, Martha (3)1774, Isobel 1775. These from parish records.

 My gggg grandmother Marion Lang was also born 1780 or 1781.  She died on 15.1.1860 and was 78 yrs when she died according to her DC.  Her son David Wilson signed the cert. as informant and named her parents as Mungo Lang and Janet Lang (maiden name Stirling).  Wonder whether this was an error as his paternal grandmother was also janet or Jean Stirling.  This Mungo Lang/ Janet Riddel is the only record I have found   

Thankyou again for being so kind to do the look ups.  They have opened up more avenues.  Heather.

[Lodger]

Heather,
This Mungo Lang and Janet Riddel have to be yours.
The information on the 1860 death certificate sounds very suspect, if as you say, the other granny was Stirling, then I would tend to think the informant was mistaken.  Who knows just how educated - or uneducated he was, or if he was very upset at the time, endless reasons why he gave the wrong information. 
I usually tell people not to just grab the first one that sort of fits, but in this case I'd make the exception.

Lodger.

[CeciliaR]

Hi Lodger, Firstly, thank you for the look ups in Hamilton cemetery which you have done for a distant cousin of mine, Heather.  I'm one of the descendants of the Gebbie/Lang families.  Heather has passed on the information you have found for us.  Apart from the family history I share with Heather, I also have another branch of my family who have lived in the Hamilton area.  The Ritchie family.  My great grandfather Robert Ritchie married a Margaret Wilson.  Margaret had a sister Marion, from whom Heather descends.  Their parents are our common ancestor. 
My GG Grandfather Daniel Ritchie and his wife (though no marriage has been found in my 20 years of searching) Eliza (Elizabeth) Gray (Kisseck?) are both supposed to have been born in Lanarkshire, possibly Lanark.  They had their children in Antrim Ireland and although my GGrandfather Robert Ritchie married lived and had most of his children in Hamilton, I have not been able to fine what became of his siblings - wether they also went to Scotland or not.  Robert and his wife Margaret migrated to Australia in 1886.  Roberts father Daniel died in Belfast.  His Mother Eliza was still in Belfast in 1887 but I have not found her death there and wondered if she returned to Scotland to live with other family members.  If you think you could help me in any way on my Ritchie/Gray line, it would be greatly appreciated.
Regards, CeciliaR

[prophetess]

Hi Eel and any that may be intrested,
I was at Strathaven Cemetery yesteday helping my daughter look for her OH family, I took about 140 photos which I downloaded to the pc today, I havent had time to go through then, but I did see quiet a few Spences , Alot of Stewarts, Flemmings, and I will be going back again, not sure when as I live in Argyll, but once I have gone through them, i cna let you know what names I have at the moment.
it might not be until next week though
Sybil