A Barlow in the Ayrshire Militia

[Salamander]

Hello,

I have been tracing a Barlow ancestor and have hit that proverbial brick wall that springs up in front of most of us at some point in our research!  I was wondering if anyone could lend a fresh pair of eyes and perhaps local knowledge to enlighten me?

My subject is John Barlow and his wife Margaret (nee Ervine).  I found them on the 1861 Scotland Census, with John working in Ayr as a "Bugler in the Ayr Militia".  In the next census (1871) he is listed as working as "Corph Sleffboyshire Nielston".  I have no idea what this is, but have tentatively deciphered "Corph" as Corporal.  Can anyone tell me what this is?  Interestingly, their son Edward is listed in the 1871 Census as "Bugler Shoff Ayshire Iniss", so I guess he followed his father into the Militia?  Can anyone suggest where I might learn about the Militia?

Any comments would be gratefully appreciated!

Kind Regards

Sal

[hume]

Hi Sal,

I guess you are using Ancestry to find John and Margaret. As you probably know, their transcriptions have a lot of errors. Some will never be guessed at, so it's best to just view the original image! All the census are available at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

Here's the 1871:
Address: 44 Harbour Street, Ayr, Ayrshire
John Barlow, head, mar., 54, Corpl Staff Ayrshire Militia, b. England
Margaret ", wife, mar., 42, dressmaker, b. Ireland
Edward ", son, unm., 22, bugler Staff Ayrshire Militia, b. Ireland
Margaret ", dau., unm., 13, scholar, b. Ayr, Ayrshire
Sarah ", dau., unm., 10, scholar, b. Ayr, Ayrshire
Sophia ", dau., unm., 7, scholar, b. Ayr, Ayrshire
Anne Maria ", dau., unm., 5, scholar, b. Ayr, Ayrshire

You can read a bit more about the Militia here: http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/galleries/ayr800/ayr_military.htm

hume

[Salamander]

Dear hume,

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my enquiry!

Yes, you are correct, I am using Ancestry at the moment, and aren't their errors simply frustrating?    The original is certainly less confusing and my sincere thanks to you for taking a look and adding it here for me.  The link you provided was also very helpful and interesting.

Kind Regards,

Sal

[S Barlow]

We have the same ancestor...  John Barlow was my gr gr gr grandfather.  ...  Sylvia

[Salamander]

Hello Sylvia, I do hope that you have had better results than I have in researching this family.  It has been some time since I visited this line of the tree, so your post comes as something of a pleasant surprise!

May I ask whom you descend from?  Our line comes via a William John, who was a son of John and Margaret.  However, I have not been able to confirm this with certainty.

Regards

Sal

[MaxD]

The word Staff in his rank description would indicate that he was a regular soldier on the permanent staff of the (part-time) militia. 

Might be worth investing a few pounds in the book at

 http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-599-390-C

maxD

[S Barlow]

Sal - John & Margaret's son Edward married Mary Martin.   Edward & Mary's  son John married Jane Shaw.  John & Jane had a daughter named Margaret and a son named Edward.  That Edward (b) 1896 was my Grandpa.  Edward married Jessie McCrorie in 1918 and they had 4 daughters and one son Edward.  That Edward (b) 1922 is my Dad, who married Mary Evans Ritchie in 1952.