Parents of Ann Henderson (abt 1853 -1923)

[Flattybasher9]

Hi Heather, my wife's family come from Skene. We have "Masson" as a middle name in some of the links in her part of the family tree. There was a Masson family who were residents at Westhill School house in 1891. He was the teacher. His wife was Mary. They had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. Were these the ones who "adopted" William?

Regards

Malky

[HEATHEREDD]

Hi Malky

My William was brought up with John Masson whose wife was Annie McLennan but they stayed at East Auchronie, Kinellar, a small farm  (which is near Skene) William was their only family. I havent investigated John's family so not sure if your wife's  Masson relatives are related. I know that John Masson died at Kirktown Skene on 7 Feb 1925 aged 84 and he was married about 27.6.1867 as I have a copy of the banns recorded at Kemnay

Heather

[Flattybasher9]

This is slightly strange.

William is listed as a "boarder" with the "Masson" family at Burnside Croft, Newhills in the 1881 census.
By 1891 the "Masson" family have moved to, and he is missing from the East Achronie census list, which would suggest that he was not "adopted" by the "Massons", but just mistakenly listed as a "Masson" by the 1881 census recorder.  He then may have found out that he was illegitimate, and adopted the "Masson" surname. I come to this conclusion due to the size differences of East Achronie and Burnside Croft. At East Auchronie, Annie's mother, father and a domestic servant was living with them. There is no mention of William. William would have surely stayed on as a "son" to help with the farm.

Ann Henderson married Robert Bain. I can't find a birth or marriage record that would tell me the names of her parents. Can you help?
They married at Skene in 1878.

Regards

Malky

[HEATHEREDD]

Hi Malky

Not sure where he was in 1891 yet but in 1897 when he married he was a gentlemans coachman at Tertowie house which is nearby and gave his address as East Auchronie and I have photos of him in his uniform. His wife to be stayed at Backhills, Kinellar in 1891. He certainly treated Mr & Mrs Masson as his parents and his first born daughter (my grandmother) was brought  up by this couple. She was born in 1897 and at that point he gave his address as Nether Mains Tertowie.

In 1891 he may have been travelling with the family at Tertowie House but havent checked that address yet to see if they were at home. I still have lots of things to check and I think the family moved around quite a bit later

Heather

[Flattybasher9]

"Not sure where he was in 1891 yet but in 1897 when he married he was a gentlemans coachman at Tertowie house which is nearby and gave his address as East Auchronie and I have photos of him in his uniform. His wife to be stayed at Backhills, Kinellar in 1891. He certainly treated Mr & Mrs Masson as his parents and his first born daughter (my grandmother) was brought  up by this couple. She was born in 1897 and at that point he gave his address as Nether Mains Tertowie.

In 1891 he may have been travelling with the family at Tertowie House but havent checked that address yet to see if they were at home. I still have lots of things to check and I think the family moved around quite a bit later"

Hi again Heather, can I take it that your grandmother's name was "Rachel". William's wife's father (Patrick) farmed Backhills at Kinellar.

"Ann Henderson married Robert Bain. I can't find a birth or marriage record that would tell me the names of her parents. Can you help?

I also can't find a record of her death (except the tomb stone & the disposition of the estate.)"

Robert Bain d   11 Feb 1913
Ann Henderson d   18 Feb 1923
Both buried at Kirkton of Skene, stone 8.

"but she did tell me that her Mum spoke about how upset she was when Henry George Bain was killed in an accident on 12.10.1918 and had kept the death announcement from the newspaper"

Harry George Bain d 12 October 1918 is also buried at that location.
Edward Polson Bain d  12 Jan 1884 is the 4th Name on the stone.

If you look at the Ann Henderson - Robert Bain 1878 Skene, marriage entry in Scotland's People you will find your answers there.

Regards

Malky

[RedMystic]

Not sure where he was in 1891 yet but in 1897 when he married he was a gentlemans coachman at Tertowie house which is nearby and gave his address as East Auchronie and I have photos of him in his uniform. His wife to be stayed at Backhills, Kinellar in 1891. He certainly treated Mr & Mrs Masson as his parents and his first born daughter (my grandmother) was brought  up by this couple. She was born in 1897 and at that point he gave his address as Nether Mains Tertowie.

Heather

Hi Heather,

I've found a "William Masson" in an 1891 census. He is listed as a farm servant at Mains of Shiels, Midmar Parish, Aberdeenshire. Would you think that this might be him? I'm not very good at Goggle maps & haven't determined if that is near Tertowie House or not.

It's definitely not exactly the same property. I note when I Googled Tertowie House that, though now abandoned, I see it was a 16th century home that became a residential school with an c1980 nuclear  bunker in the basement.

I'm just curious: if William had a wife, why was his daughter brought up by the Massons?

I'm also very curious about the comment you made back in July about the impact of Henry George Bain's death on your great grandfather. They would have been 1/2 brothers of course & apparently knew about one another (which would have been reasonable given they lived in the same small geographic area). Do you have any info on Henry George Bain's death? I only have that it was accidental and happened at the Mains of Kinmundy - as that's what's on the gravestone. Why, as you noted, was it kept out of the newspapers?

Cheers,

[RedMystic]

Hi again Heather

I've found a 1901 census for William Masson married to Susan at Backhill, Farm house, Kinellar. They have a daughter, Rachel (age 4), daughter Jane (age 1) and an un-named newborn (1 mos) . Is this my great grand uncle & you great grandfather?

Likely not as his occupation is shown as: Granite Stone Cutter. That doesn't align with the career you indicated he had.

You made a brilliant connection when you discovered his mum's name (Ann Henderson) on William's marriage certificate. How you arrived at that after his name had been changed to Masson is astounding.

Maybe Malky can answer this. Would something have to have been done legally / filed in paperwork when the name change was made from Henderson to Masson? (I found the 1881 census Malky found that references him with the Masson surname but indicating that he is a "boarder". Another brilliant find.)

Cheers,

[HEATHEREDD]

Sorry havent been in touch recently. Yes you have found my great grandfather. He did seem to move around alot and have various jobs. My grandmother was Rachel and William was still a coachman when she was born and they were at Nether Mains of Tertowie - she was born just over 2 weeks after they married. Jane was then born in 1899 and they were staying at Woodburn Cottage, Kinnellar and his occupation was stone quarrier. I had visited the registry office in Aberdeen where you can look at the paper registers and this is also how I found William originally as I knew how old he was, which parish he had said he was born and just looked at the likely year for a William with a mother Ann Henderson as I had by then got her name from his marriage certificate. Looks as if Rachel was still with her parents in 1901 but I presume she later went to stay with the couple she knew as her grandparents. This did happen quite a lot where there were a number of children.
I have still a lot to do on this part of my tree and must spend time getting all the bits of paper I have in some sort of order.
I do have a paper cutting about Henry Bain's death but cant lay my hands on it just now. When I do will e-mail it to you
Heather

[Flattybasher9]

"Maybe Malky can answer this. Would something have to have been done legally / filed in paperwork when the name change was made from Henderson to Masson? (I found the 1881 census Malky found that references him with the Masson surname but indicating that he is a "boarder". Another brilliant find.)"

Having checked my knowlege with the General Register's Ofice for Scotland, and being advised that my thoughts were correct, post the Statutory Declarations Act 1835, and pre The Adoption of Children (Scotland) Act, 1930, there were generally two ways of changing ones name. Formally, using the Declarations Act, or informally, just announcing that this is how you wished to be known. Depending on how this was done, an RCE would be posted or not, as the case may be.
I am willing to be further educated on the subject, if someone knows more information regarding the process.
I have added the links below.

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/regscot/change-of-name.html
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Will4/5-6/62/enacted
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/adoptions.asp

Regards


Malky