Hi,
Re William's siblings and parents. For many years I had thought that William's parents were James McIntosh and Isabella Nisbet. They married in Dunbar in 1794, whilst James was in the East Lothian Cavalry. They had children James (b. 1807), David (b. 1809), William (b. 1812) and Jean Brown McIntosh (b. 1816), all born in Edinburgh. Whilst I was unable to trace the parents, and brothers James and David, I was able to trace Jean Brown, as she married Robert Roycroft, a Waterloo Veteran, and the Family sailed to New Zealand in 1847 to start the Roycroft Dynasty there. I am in touch with many of them and James McIntosh is No.1 in their Family Tree!
The proof that William was James' son is rather nebulous, so I was advised by a paid researcher to discount it. Hence I know of none of William's earlier relatives. I suppose this 'brick wall' led me to have my DNA tested. When the Hayes match turned up and this lead me to be 'suspicious' of the Jessie's children born prior to her marriage to William.
Regards & Thanks, Gordon McIntosh