Alexander Blair and Jean Sproul

[jablair]

Until 3 days ago I knew very little about Alexander Blair (brother of my gr-gr grandfather, Peter Blair) other than he was born 07 Dec 1797 in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, the son of Peter Blair and Elizabeth Bell. "Family history" said "Alexander and family came to Canada about 1814, he being sent as a soldier" and listed children    Peter, Alexander, John, Margaret, Jeanie, and Mary (born in Canada). The "family history also said "Alexander’s son Alexander had one son John by first marriage and daughter Sarah by second marriage".

We always assumed that Alexander and family either stayed in Canada or came to America, but could never find any information on the family.

Then 3 days ago I found Alexander's service record that showed he enlisted in the 71st Regiment of Light Infantry on 09 Apr 1820 and was discharged on 24 Nov 1846 at Chatham. The records also showed he spend almost 7 years in Canada.

Armed with the name Mary born in Canada and the fact that the military records showed that Alexander retired in 1846 in the UK, I did a search of the 1851 Scotland census, looking for a Mary born in Canada. Lo and behold, I found her living in Glasgow, along with her mother Jean and 5 siblings, all named in the "family history" as children of Alexander Blair and wife unknown. To make it even more certain the 6 children were born in various places including Ireland, England, Canada, and Scotland, consistent with a military family. The "family history" indicated that Alexander died in 1857 but he wasn't mentioned in the 1851 census.

Later I went through GRO Regimental Birth Indices (1761 to 1924) on Find My Past and found all the children that were listed on the census, plus a couple of others that weren't in the census or in the "family history". Further research showed that Alexander Blair married Jean Sproul in Paisley on 08 May 1820, a month after he enlisted. I still haven't found a death for Alexander Blair.

After 3 days of searching the censuses, and birth, marriages, and death records, I've been able to build the following family tree:

Generation 1

1. Alexander Blair-1 was born on 07 Dec 1797 in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland. He died on 17 Mar 1857. He married Jean Sproul on 08 May 1820 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, daughter of Andrew Sproul and Elizabeth Stivenson. She was born on 25 Nov 1804 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland (Abbey). She died on 19 Mar 1887 in Bothwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Children of Alexander Blair and Jean Sproul are:

_________i. Grace Blair, B: 1825 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

_________ii. James Blair, B: 1827 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

_________iii. John Blair, B: 1828 in Chatham, Kent, England.

_________iv. Margaret Blair, B: 1830 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

_________v. Elizabeth Blair, B: 1833 in Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland; Fort George.

_________vi. Jean Blair, B: 1835 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

_________vii. Peter Blair, B: 1837 in Caisleán an Chomair, Kilkenny, Ireland; Castlecomer, D: 10 Feb 1920 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland; 51 Abbotsford Place, M: Amelia Craig, 01 Apr 1904 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Camlachie.

_________3. viii.  Alexander Blair, B: 1840 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland, M: Sarah Ann Wilson, 19 Aug 1870.

_________ix. Mary Blair, B: 1842 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

Generation 2

2. Alexander Blair-2(Alexander-1) was born in 1840 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland. He married (1) Sarah Ann Wilson on 19 Aug 1870, daughter of David Wilson and Annie Albert. She was born in 1852 in British Subject, At Lear. She died in 1879 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He married (2) Elizabeth. She was born in 1852 in England.

Children of Alexander Blair and Sarah Ann Wilson are:

_________i. Edith Clara Blair, B: 13 Aug 1871 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

_________4. ii.    Alexander David Blair, B: 18 Jan 1873 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

_________iii. John Frederick Blair, B: 21 Dec 1876 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, D: 14 Feb 1952 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, M: Marjory Sylvia Maslen, 1944 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Child of Alexander Blair and Elizabeth is:

_________i.    Sarah Pattison Blair, B: Apr 1889 in Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales.

Generation 3

3. Alexander David Blair-3(Alexander-2, Alexander-1) was born on 18 Jan 1873 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He married Elizabeth. She was born in 1877 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Children of Alexander David Blair and Elizabeth are:

_________i. Thomas Blair, B: 1899 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

_________ii. Alexander Blair, B: 1900 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

If anyone has any information on this family or is related to this family, I'd love to hear from you.




Scottish DNA - Better than Life Insurance

John

______________________________

John A. Blair

Haywards Heath, England

Blairgenealogy WebMaster

http://blairgenealogy.com

[ev]

hi John 

did you find alexander on the 1841 census
the freeCEN website has an Alexr. Blair age 40 sergeant 71st regiment in
Aberdeen Aberdeenshire(depot 71st reg light infantry)
he is on the 1st page and his wife and children seem to be there on the following pages

ev

[jablair]

Hi Ev,

Thanks for the information about the 1841 census. The names and the dates do fit my Alexander Blair family. The data also brings up an interesting question. According to Alexander's service record, he spent 6yrs 9mns in Canada. We also know he and the family were in Canada sometime in 1842 because his daughter, Mary, was born their in 1842. This is confirmed by the 1851 census and the regimental birth records. But he was discharged on 24 Nov 1846 in Chatham. If he left for Canada right after the 1841 census was taken and stayed there until just before his discharge, he would have been in Canada for a maximum of just over 5 years. I can only assume that this was his second tour in Canada and that he must have gone to Canada sometime earlier in his career.

A second question that puzzles me is that our "family history" says Alexander had six children: Peter, Alexander, John, Margaret, Jeanie, and Mary (born in Canada). The 1841 and 1851 censuses bear this out. The regimental birth records also list these six children, but also list Grace - 1825, James - 1827, and Elizabeth - 1833.  The regimental birth records are the only place I have seen these children mentioned. I've searched other military records and couldn't find any other Blairs in the 71st that could be the father of these children. My best guess is that if these are children of Alexander they died at a very young age.

Are you related to Alexander? If so we're cousins.

Thanks again for the information on the 1841 census FreeCen. I would never have found it on ancestry.com.

Scottish DNA - Better than Life Insurance
John
______________________________
John A. Blair
Haywards Heath, England
Blairgenealogy WebMaster
http://blairgenealogy.com

[ev]

i'm not related

looks like the 71st were in Canada a few times

http://www.britisharmedforces.org/li_pages/regiments/hlli/high_71stfoottl.htm

the children may well have died young
if they were born abroad there maybe no other records to help prove that Alexander was the father 

ev

[jablair]

Hi Ev,

Thank you so much for the link. I looked at the rest of the website and found a page with a list of books. One of them was "Historical record of the Seventy-First Regiment, Highland Light Infantry" which I found online and was able to download as a pdf file. It give a fabulous timeline of the 71th during the time Alexander was in it.

As for the 3 "mystery" children the regimental birth records show:
Grace Blair - 1825 Edinburgh
James Blair - 1827 Edinburgh
Elizabeth Blair - 1833 Inverness

Thanks again for the link.

Scottish DNA - Better than Life Insurance
John
______________________________
John A. Blair
Haywards Heath, England
Blairgenealogy WebMaster
http://blairgenealogy.com

[flst]

There's a Grace Blair in the 1851 census born circa 1825 in Edinburgh. She's a servant, in Liff & Benvie, Angus. I cannot find her in the 1861 census. She may have got married, or died.
flst

[jablair]

Thanks for the information. I also found that entry in the 1851 census but I'm still not certain she is the daughter of Alexander and Jean. The "family history" does not mention her and Grace is not listed with the rest of the family in the 1841 census.

The Regimental birth records do list a Grace Blair born 1825 in Edinburgh in the 71st Regiment, but the records don't indicate who the parents were.

For the time being I'm keeping her in the family, with a question mark.

Scottish DNA - Better than Life Insurance
John
______________________________
John A. Blair
Haywards Heath, England
Blairgenealogy WebMaster
http://blairgenealogy.com

[flst]

I'm sure many children would have left home & be working by the age of 10 in those days.You might be lucky & find some of the family as witnesses of weddings, baptisms etc.or informants on close family death certificates!
flst