Marriage record gives the names of the parents of both parties. The ages are given as 20 for John Finnie and 25 for Barbara Shearer. Note, however, that Barbara was illiterate - her "mark" was witnessed rather than her signature, and it likely that she did not have a clear idea of her date of birth (or she preferred as many of us do, not to admit our ages). Unless 2 Barbaras were born to William Shearer and Jane Adam, however, the date is correct. See Scotlandspeople (ppv) for both marriage and baptism records.TivHiI would agree that Barbara (my great greatgrandmother) was indeed several years older than John. I have both their death certificates - John died at age 55 in 1899, and Barbara at age 77 in 1913. Census records also reflect this age difference. On John's death certificate, it gives his parents as Francis, farm overseer, and Jane (Hay), deceased, so it would seem that Francis outlived his son. I know Barbara had my great grandfather illegitimately in 1855. There is also a William Mathieson, aged 12, who appears on the 1871 census as W Son, as opposed to Son, against Francis, aged 6. I suspect William may also be an illegimate son of Barbara - I have seen his name elsewhere in a census record, and I think he was living with Barbara's mother. If any of these census records or death certificates are of interest please let me know.
