Trying to piece together my "orphan" grandfather's story

[stewrat83]

I wonder if someone can give me a new direction on this as I'm starting to go round in circles and can't see a way forward.

My maternal grandfather was always referred to in the family as having been an orphan. I understand "orphan" in those days could mean a lot of things other than both your parents had died.

He was born 26/12/1903 at 220 Hope St, Glasgow, registered as illegitimate by his mother Helen Wilson (hotel waitress). Here it looks like he was called Jamie Wilson.

He turns up in Kinloch Rannoch in the 1911 census in a boarding house with several other boys and a housekeeper. The story in the family is that the lady of Dunalastair Estate brought "orphaned" boys from Glasgow, gave them an education and a trade and jobs on the estate. It's quite likely his mother was still alive at this point - but not certain - and agreed to this boarding out.

Next (and only other) record is his marriage in 1930 when he is calling himself Ian Stewart Wilson, and listing his parents as Alexander Wilson (waiter) and Mary Wilson (ms Stewart) - both deceased.

So was he "adopted" by these people after 1911, and is the surname a coincidence or were they related to him already? Was his mother still alive then? Is it notable they were both dead by 1930 - or were they perhaps older when they adopted him?

Did he just make them both up?
Having his "new" mother's maiden name as his middle name suggests maybe not. He never spoke of his parents - maybe he thought of this couple as his real parents and they died - so he was a "real" orphan.

My problem is that so far I haven't been able to find a couple by that name - nor their deaths.
Neither have I been able to reliably place his birth mother in a family.

I've contacted the relevant dept in Glasgow Council about the adoptions or "boarding out" and twice they've said someone will reply but they never have. I've contacted  Dunalastair Estate and they have no records.

Any suggestions for new avenues, approaches I might take to get past this block?

Thanks

Stewart

[aghadowey]

There are several possibilties here. Perhaps he wasn't raised by his mother and didn't know the name of either parent so made up the names when he got married or perhaps he just provided the details he believed to be correct.

Are you sure you've got the correct birth certificate?

No luck finding a Helen Wilson but perhaps try Ellen Wilson or Helen/Ellen Stewart.

Another idea is to see if there was such a couple as Alexander Wilson and Mary Stewart but it looks like you've already thought of that.

Voting lists and directories might provide further clues.

[tidybooks]

Hi Stewart,

Not got any direction yet, but how were you able to prove that Jamie born 1903 to mother Helen Wilson, is the same Ian Stewart Wilson who married, and his parents were Alexander Wilson and Mary Stewart. Are you thinking that Alexander Wilson is a sibling of Helen or father of Helen?

Tom

[stewrat83]

The birth and marriage certificates came from my grandfathers documents.

He was known throughout his life as Ian but it was also known that his proper name was James - and he named his first son that.

Yes I'm thinking likely scenarios include Alexander Wilson could be a brother or parent of Helen, but it's not obvious what the sequence of events could have been.

In 1911 James/Ian was boarded out in Kinloch Rannoch - an understandable situation with a single parent mother, but not so much if he had been adopted by Alexander and Mary, so assume they are not in the picture then.

Given that he seems to have successfully learned a trade and worked as a joiner - and stayed in Kinloch Rannoch, meeting his wife there - its not clear at what point he would have needed Alexander and Helen to step in and adopt him, especially as it would have presumably had to have happened in a quite small window between 1911 and whenever he became independent.

I can imagine an uncle or grandparent adopting him, but would have thought it more likely to have happened before/instead of being boarded out.

All of which points to Alexander and Mary being fabricated. But it seems a big step to take the name of a made up adopted parent as your middle name - and to pass that name down as a middle name of your daughter (my mother). That makes them seem more likely to be real.

[avm228]

Have you been able to find out:

- who was at 220 Hope St in 1901/1911?
- who was the lady of the Dunalastair Estate at the relevant time?

[avm228]

Another question: who was the head of household at the boarding house in 1911?

I see from another thread of yours that the address was Craig Var cottage: www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,609185.10.html

[Shirleyjjj]

Maybe the couple who brought him could have been any relative / aunt /older sister/ older brother and his wife ect and he just thought they were his parents ?

I have two instances in my family were the older sister and her husband brings up 3 siblings as parents died there was an immense gap between the ages - as you have been looking for a married couple -could they have been some other sort of relatives even grandparents?

[stewrat83]

220 Hope Street seems to have been multi-occupancy, with something like 26 schedules listed for 1901 - no I haven't been through them. That may have to wait until my next trip to the ScotlandsPeople centre.

The lady of the estate at that time would have been (according to the current incumbent) either Mrs Bunten (who hailed from Glasgow originally) or her daughter Jeannie de Sales La Terriere.

The Housekeeper at Craig Var (only adult listed) was Margaret Ross.

Looking that up has just reminded me of something that may be significant ...

In 1911, my grandfather is listed in the census as James Stewart Wilson, so it appears something significant had happened by then to change his name. I think the Ian/James may be somewhat interchangeable, but the Stewart middle name has appeared after birth.

Perhaps he had been already adopted by Alexander and Mary, been renamed, and then orphaned when they died - all before going to Kinloch Rannoch?

[GR2]

Re a middle name which suddenly appears. There are various possibilities.

One is that it is the father's surname. It was quite common for an illegitimate child whose father does not appear on the birth certificate to have the father's surname there as a middle name.

Another possibility is that he was called after someone named James Stewart. I have come across a number of people called, e.g. after a maternal grandfather, say John Smith, where they are registered or, in pre 1855 instances, the baptism register calls them "John" and the "Smith" only appears later as a middle name. The trend for having middle names developed throughout the 19th century.

A third possibility, for older people, is that they just adopted a middle name in later life. I know of one person who did that as his wife and children all had middle names and he thought he should not miss out.