PRESTON SIBBALD SCOTT WATSON WELSH CARLYLE in Haddington

[Fordyce]

Trying to find the parentages of John PRESTON & Marion WATSON, marr 1816, who had three sons born Haddington: James Sibbald (1817), John (1820), and Thomas Scott (1825). I've never been able to explain those middle names of Sibbald and Scott.

But I've now discovered that son John PRESTON died 1865 in Greenock Renfrewshire. Also, that he specified in his Will (dated 1849) that his children shall be brought up by his "cousin John Emily WELSH" in Haddington. This cousin is female John Amelia WELSH ("Jackie"), and she is the cousin of Jane Baillie WELSH the wife of Thomas CARLYLE the famous satirist and writer.

Turns out that the mother of John Amelia WELSH is Elizabeth SCOTT the daughter of Thomas SCOTT (& Margaret FORREST). He looks to be the origin of the name Thomas Scott PRESTON.

An executor of the Will was John WATSON tobacconist in Haddington. I can identify his family as going back to Adam WATSON b 1750 Haddington and this makes it likely that the executor is second-cousin of the deceased John PRESTON.

But I cannot connect my PRESTONs & WATSONs with Thomas SCOTT, nor can I find any similar route back to any SIBBALDs, the nearest being a John PRESTON & Agnes SIBBALD couple in Stenton, ELN.

Can anyone help with more info on the Thomas SCOTT family, the candlemaker/tobacconist WATSONs, and any local James SIBBALDs?

[hume]

Hi Fordyce,

From Freereg:

James Sibbald, b. 4th August 1817 (bapt. 8th September) - witnesses William Farguson [sic] and Adam Elder
John, b. 12th May 1820 (bapt. 11th June) - Arch. Watson and William Fergie
Marion, b, 18th December 1822 (bapt. 25th December) - William Fergie and Andrew Cathie
Thomas Scott, b. 25h August 1825 (bapt. 2nd September) - Mr. Aitheson and William Irving

All in Haddington to John Preston and Marion/May Watson ...

1841 census:

Address: Church Street, Haddington, Haddingtonshire
John Preston, m, 70, slater (journeyman), b. England
Marion Preston, f, 60, -, b. in county
James Preston, m, 20, blacksmith (journeyman), b. in county
Thomas Preston, m, 15, blacksmith (apprentice), b. in county

I assume you have found the bapt. of a Marion Watson in Haddington, 1782 to Adam Watson/Marion Tutch? This would fit well with the above.

John's birth/parentage will be difficult I'm afraid. His marriage will likely not include any details because it's pre-1855 so you may need to rely on naming patterns.

Cousin wasn't always used in the same way we use it today, same with "step-[relation]". The connection could be further out than first appears.

hume

[Fordyce]

Thanks for your response. I appreciate that 'cousin' doesn't necessarily mean 'first-cousin' but I do think there has to be a reasonably close familial relationship between John PRESTON and his 'cousin' John Amelia WELSH. As things stand, it must surely to be through Thomas SCOTT on the WELSH side. On the PRESTON side, it is more likely to be via Marion WATSON than John PRESTON by virtue of the executor John WATSON, although I have noted that both John PRESTON (b c1766) & Thomas SCOTT (b c1760) were slaters, so that's at least something in common.

I already have John PRESTON's family's OPR and census info. Although the 1841 census has him E = born England, the census entry was originally N = born Scotland with the N crossed out and replaced with E. Furthermore, he was in the army and his discharge papers record him as having been born in Aberlady. So that's all clear then!

Yes I do have the 1782 baptism. The surname of Adam WATSON's wife is very unusual, if not unique. The 1782 surname is better transcribed as TUTEP. The name seems to be TUTTUP or TUTTOP, there being one line traceable back to Archibald TUTTOP & Katharine TROTTER who had a son John in 1733 Haddington. At least that proves TUTTOP is (or became) a real surname, and not a simple mis-reading of TROTTER as I first thought. So, I've come round to conclude that the parentage of Marion WATSON is indeed Adam WATSON & Marion TUTTEP, and she was b 23 Dec 1758 Haddington to Archibald TUTTUP & Alison MUNDY (so married at quite an early age of 18).

This is progress! But there's still nothing to connect the SCOTT and PRESTON/WATSON sides, nor to explain the SIBBALD middle-name.

[April]

John and Marion were irregularly married in Edinburgh and this record shows that Marion's father's name was Archibald. 

April

[Fordyce]

An intriging marriage record from Edinburgh! I had gone through the Haddington OPR at Haddington library years ago, but the Edinburgh OPR itself had slipped through my net. And this was in the days when the IGI didn't show the father's name for marriage records!

But the father in the 1785 baptism record is clearly written as 'Adam' rather than 'Archibald'.

On both occasions the father's job was 'Cooper', so I do believe we're talking about the same person. But named Adam or Archibald? I believe Marion Watson's father's name is Adam because:-
1. There are two records for the marriage Adam Watson & Marion T* and three records for three children to that couple (1779, 1782, 1785).
2. There is nothing for an Archibald Watson & Marion T* couple.
3. There are no records for a Marion Watson born to an Archibald
4. Archibald is a recurring Tuttup forename, but is not a Watson forename.

Why the mistake in the Edinburgh OPR? The one and only Archibald Watson I'm aware of was witness to John Preston (his nephew) baptism in 1820. It makes the most likely case that Marion's brother Archibald is alive in 1820 and their father Adam (b 1750) had died by 1816. Many marriage OPRs explicity state Cautioners, who generally would be the father but if the father was deceased then typically would be a brother. In this case, therefore, Archibald would be Marion's Cautioner. I can see how the clerk could get the father's and the son's details mixed up, and I conclude this has happened in this case.

A further implication is that Marion's elder brother John isn't around, so possibly he's deceased too.

Thanks for adding to my knowledge of this family. I'll get to the bottom of all this somewhen or another!