Spink Family .. Arbroath COMPLETED

[New Zealander]

Spink Family .. Arbroath

Looking for any information or persons with a connection to the Spink family.

They were lighthouse keepers in north east Scotland in particular the Bell Rock Lighthouse near Arbroath.  In particular William Spink(father), William Spink (son), David Spink (son), a James Spink etc.

Rose Barbara Jane Spink (daughter of David Spink and Margaret Grant) was my great great grandmother who emigrated to New Zealand in 1874.

Happy to exchange information and resources in tracing this family.

Alex G

[hdw]

Hello Alex. I have a long-standing interest in the Spink families of Auchmithie and Arbroath, so I decided to try and trace the people you mention.

You may know a lot of this already, but David Spink and Margaret Williamson Grant were married in Arbroath in 1850. In 1861 they were living on the island of Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth, off Kinghorn, and David, aged 40, was a "Principal Light Keeper". Also on the island was a William Spink, 50, "Principal Light Keeper".

David Spink was born in Arbroath in 1820 to William Spink and Margaret Turnbull. William died at Lady loan, Arbroath, in 1857, aged 75, and is described on the death-certificate as "Seaman, Northern Light-house Service". I imagine he was one of the boatmen who ferried the lighthouse staff out to their posts and supplied them with food, etc.

Wm. Spink and Margaret Turnbull and many of their descendants (but not their son David) are mentioned on a headstone in Arbroath Abbey graveyard. You can read the details in the Scottish Genealogy Society vol. "Pre-1855 Gravestone Inscriptions in Angus, Vol.2, Seacoast", ed. by Alison Mitchell. It's number 1294 and there's a plan of the graveyard included.

William Spink's parents were James Spink, "pilot and fisherman", and Helen Smith. I haven't checked, but I think they may have lived in Auchmithie prior to the mass exodus of fisherfolk to Arbroath. Some of my own male Spink ancestors were fishermen/pilots in Auchmithie.

If you are researching Spink ancestors you should subscribe to the Auchmithie Roots forum, which has lots of knowledgeable people posting and answering queries. You can find it at

http://auchmithieroots.freeforums.org/index.php

Harry

[New Zealander]

Harry

Thank you for this information.

Alex G

[New Zealander]

Greetings David

Thank you for your reply on the Spink family.  I have now had more time to analyse properly.

Not sure where I got my information now but might have been off the Bell Rock Light house site but there are some differences.  I have to say that I tend to agree entirely with yourself and I wonder if you would comment please?

I have recorded William Spink born 30.05.1794.  You say he died aged 75 at Lady Loan in 1857 .. that would make David's date of birth as 1782 and not 1794.

I wonder if you have a date of birth for Margaret Turnbull, William's wife?  I have recorded that as 06.01.1803.  If this is correct then she was 16 years of age(3 months short of 17 years) when their son David was born on 23.04.1820.

I have also recorded the parents of William Spink (wife was Margaret Turnbull .. parents of David Spink born 1820)  as William Spink who married Margaret Spence (born 01.01.1772) at St Vigeans, Angus on 06.09.1793.  You have recorded the parents of William Spink as James Spink and Helen Smith.


Would be interested in your comments.

Once again thank you for your interest.

Regards

Alex G

[hdw]

Hello Alex. I think you're a bit mixed-up between your Harrys and Davids and Williams! I'm Harry, and it was William (not David) Spink who married Mgt. Turnbull.

The inscription on their headstone in Arbroath Abbey churchyard reads as follows, in the abbreviated form used in the Scottish Genealogy Society volume -

1847. Wm Spink 9.7. 1857, 75, w Margt Turnbull 17.6.1839 59, s Thos 24.11.1835 26, da Jessie 2.1836 16, da Margt 9.2. 1855 39, s Jas 19.8.1864 47, da Mary d Arbroath 13.8. 1880, 57, by s Wm lightkeeper 27.8.1889 80 (2w Janet Adair 21.10. 1877 65, da Mary McCrackan 16.10. 1853 5.8. 1858, 1 w Sarah Anson 20.3. 1847 33).

When William Spink(Turnbull) died in 1857, his death was registered by his son James, and it was James who said his father was 75, and that his parents had been James Spink and Helen Smith. This latter couple are recorded in the St. Vigeans OPRs as resident in Auchmithie.

I've found Margaret Turnbull's death in the Arbroath OPR for 1839, and it confirms that she was 59.

I don't think we are allowed to include attachments with our posts here, so if you want to send me a private message with your home email address, I will send them on to you that way.

It's possible, though not certain, that your James Spink who married Helen Smith is the James born at Auchmithie in 1742 to James Spink and Margaret Cargill. In that case, he was a brother of not one but two of my own ancestors - David Spink and John Spink.

I also had ancestors in Arbroath called Milne, which is the same name as your Mill, as in Bella Mill (local pronunciation and spelling of Milne).

Harry

[New Zealander]

Hi Harry

My apologies for the mix up with names.

There is no doubt that David Spink(born 1820)married Margaret Grant (in 1850 ?) and that they were my great great great grandparents.

Have checked this information against Scotland's People.

Can find a William Spink born 1782 and died 1857 (age would be 75 years)

Can find a William Spink who married Margaret Spence on 06.09.1793 who I believe were the parents of my William Spink who married Margaret Turnbull.  This is not the same person as your William Spink?

Cannot find a Margaret Spink/Turnbull born in 1780 and who died in 1839 aged 59 years.    There are two other deaths of this name in 1845 and the other in 1849.

Can Scotland's People be wrong or incorrect??

my e mail is :-  (*)

Regards

Alex G

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[hdw]

When you see the death-certificate of William Spink who died in 1857, aged 75, you'll see that it says he was married, but doesn't give his wife's name. However, his headstone in Arbroath, set up by his son, specifically gives the same date (1857) and age (75), then goes on to give Margaret Turnbull as the name of his wife. And William's death-certificate, carrying information provided by his son James, gives William's parents as James Spink and Helen Smith. So I can't understand what you find so hard to believe about this! Admittedly, William's birth circa 1782 doesn't seem to have been entered in the St. Vigeans OPR, but there's no doubt about who he was. Given his date of birth in or around 1782, how could he be the son of William Spink and Mgt. Spence who weren't married until 1793?

I'll send the relevant attachments to your email address.

Harry

[New Zealander]

Harry

Thank you for your e mail

This is not difficult to understand.  There are conflicting records, Scotland's People and that recorded on the headstone in Arbroath.

Do you have a birth Certificate for David Spink born 01.05.1820 ?  This is the same David Spink who married Margaret Grant and are my great great great grandparents.

The David Spink born on 01.05.1820 .. his parents were:-

1 01/05/1820 SPINK DAVID WILLIAM SPINK/MARGT. TURNBULL   ARBROATH /ANGUS 272/00 0060 0008

This record is from Scotland's People.  What is more certain then that?

Believe we are talking about two different families here .. two different Davids and two different William's.

Cheers

Alex G

[weemanswife]

Hi

There is a tree on Ancestry  which seems to be researching the same Spinks.

I entered Rose Barbara Jane Spink 1790-1810 and it came up with a Tree and a Barbara J Spink.

Of course it could  Harry's.

Weemanswife