George Wilson, Airdrie convict to Aust- wife & child left behind in Scotland

[annmck]

Hi, all

George Wilson, a soldier & weaver of Airdrie b. abt 1792-94, pleaded guilty to forgery in Glasgow's High Court of Justiciary in Sep 1837 & was transported to NSW in 1838. I now have the transcripts of his precognition & trial, but it contains no reference to his family circumstances. 
 
His convict indent description mentions 2 tattoos, one of a scotch thistle on his right arm, & a blue  ring on his wedding finger, which led me to think a previous marriage may have explained why he didn't marry the mother of his Australian child.

Recently I found his transportation record in which he is described as having a wife & daughter but no names or ages are given. note, a witness at his trial, Jean Jack of the Common(?) Airdrie confirms this, stating that George and his unnamed wife and daughter lodged with her and skipped without paying. She believed they'd previously lodged with Mrs Glasgow in Airdrie.
 
This is now confirmed by his convict hulk record,  as is his claim to have been an old soldier-( his obituary stated that he fought at Waterloo)

 I'd like to find out what happened to the wife & daughter he left behind... (I've looked on familysearch, scotland's people etc without success, for a marriage to start with, and a census search seems out of the question without more to go on) and need help with discovering his military record.....Can anyone help, please?
 

[annmck]

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!

George's native place was Aidrie, according to his trial documents, but i can't find his birth/baptism record in any of the usual places.

Does native place always mean birthplace, or may it mean a place of residence only.

Any suggestions as to where someone so described may have been baptised....I have some maps but no local knowledge.

There's another post about George on this page which I've previously edited, but it's slipping away without any response.... 

Cheers, Ann

[mosstrooper]

Ann.
        I was raised only 2 miles from Airdrie, and still live quite near. I would like to help you but it could be difficult.
We always think things then were the same as today, but it was far from that. It was only in 1855 that registration
of Births, Deaths and marriages became compulsory and taken over by the State. Prior to that the records were
kept by the Church (not always kept well) and many people went through life without registering any Birth, Marriage or Death, Ministers were drunkards, Churches split because someone Sang Amen at the end of a prayer, Mice chewed the books, a lot is against us, but you have got this far and will probably know that.

Airdrie Library has quite a good Family History department, the population of Airdrie was not all that big in those days, perhaps they will have a record of the Weavers, they were the main Industry of the time.

James. 

[fifer1947]

Some names would be good    Did he have family by second wife?  Thinking he may have followed Scottish naming custom. 

One birth for a George Wilson caught my eye 18 May 1795 at Carnwath.

[annmck]

Hi mosstrooper & fifer1947!

Thankyou both for your replies...you both raise very good points.

I like your suggestion regarding weaving records, mosstrooper....and, yes, parish records are a lucky dip...my lot were RC, Anglican, Wee Frees & heaven knows what,  so I've had a range of researching experiences  ....

 Please look at the link here to the related  topic about John Christie in this forum, as it gives relevant names &  other details about George's situation. The child he had in Aus. with Janet Christie (whom he didn't marry) was called Maria Janet.....(Janet Christie's parents were John Christie & Janet Stewart/Stuart)...

 Did the Carnwarth birth record you found show any parent names? Should I be looking for a Maria/Mary mother for George, maybe......(I wonder what his wife & child back home were called, and how they fared after his conviction...)

Cheers, Ann

     http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,478424.0.html

[annmck]

Could a moderator please enable the link in the above post...it was fine when I previewed it, but seems to have disabled itself 

Thanks, Ann 

[MonicaL]

Ann

Normally you click to got to the link, but I copied and pasted it to the URL bar and it worked fine. Trying again for you

www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,478424.0.html

Monica

Added: Working fine now to clink and go direct to the link 

[Maggie1895]

As I am still searching for a George Wilson in Aidrie who disappears sometime in the 1850s I leapt on this thread, but my missing George is younger than yours

I did a quick look for Waterloo for you.  Assuming he wasn't a Captain, and it doesn't sound like it, there are a few:

Six x George Wilson(s), Private, are listed from:
2nd Life Guards
Royal Regiment of Horse Guards
2nd Btn, 69th Regiment of Foot (2 candidates)
13th Regiment Light Dragoons
1st Btn, 19th Regiment of Foot
also:
18th Hussars (this one is a Corporal)

From the little I know I would have thought a Scot could have been part of any of these.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge may be able to advise further.

Sorry it wasn't my George, but good luck with the hunt for yours.

[annmck]

Thanks, Monica & Maggie,

Maggie, aren't these Wilsons tricky!!

I did an online Chelsea Pensioners search a few days ago, but ran out of credits after looking at 14 of the
30 odd George Wilsons listed.

Some were born wrong county/country/time, some had only name & reg. details, ie no age/birthplace available.

I did find a George Wilson b Lanark, Lanarkshire, attestation papers for Royal Marines Chatham in 1810, age 18. He was with the 94th at discharge [no date or reason given (Folio 506 Att. forms 157/7/506)]

The birthdate is good, but is Lanark too much of a stretch from Airdrie? What would be the best way to follow this reference up long distance?

Of course, my George may be one of those for whom there are not enough army service details to allow satisfactory identification.  But, I live in hope......