Euphemia LAING, died Coull 1835

[Seaton Smithy]

I have not found a marriage for Peter Smith and Margaret Cocker.

Margaret Cocker married Patrick Smith in Tullynessle and Forbes in 1764.  I understand that Patrick and Peter were interchangeable names for Gaelic speakers.

[Forfarian]

I understand that Patrick and Peter were interchangeable names for Gaelic speakers.

Not only for Gaelic speakers. 

See https://www.whatsinaname.net/php/search.php?action=search2&search_name=patrick

[mowhit]

Hello
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query.
I think Loanhead of Corse is the key. It appears there are William (1771) and Euphemia living there and also William(1758) and Elizabeth Sutor/Soutar living there. It could be the two are related and may be cousins.
William and Elizabeth had 7 children. Charles 1779-1857, Elizabeth/Elspet 1781 who married Alexander Clerihue, William 1784 my likely great, great grandfather, Helen 1786-1814, John 1788 -1862, Barbara 1790, David 1798.
I have Elizabeth/Elspet's baptism. William Smith of Lonhead a daughter, Elizabeth 28th Oct 1781.
I understand that Elizabeth/Elspet are interchangeable like Patrick/Peter. On a census Elspet is wife to Alexander Clerihue in Tullynessle.
 I now know that William and Euphemia had an Elspet born in 1814 and a Margaret born 1799. Margaret married Robert Fiddes.
I have a book Your Father and I by Isabella G MacLean which thought that Elizabeth 1781 and Margaret 1799 were sisters as their sons who became ministers were thought to be cousins. It is possible Margaret and Elizabeth were maybe cousins.
Did you know there were other Smiths living at Loanhead?

I was looking at the Drumin connection.
Katherine Stewart only daughter of Gordon Stuart married Reverend George Forbes of Leochel Cushnie and would have lived at Corse. Is it possible that a Smith came with her to Leochel?

[Seaton Smithy]

Not only for Gaelic speakers. 

See https://www.whatsinaname.net/php/search.php?action=search2&search_name=patrick

Thanks, Forfarian.

[Seaton Smithy]

I have a book Your Father and I by Isabella G MacLean which thought that Elizabeth 1781 and Margaret 1799 were sisters as their sons who became ministers were thought to be cousins. It is possible Margaret and Elizabeth were maybe cousins.

Thanks for clarifying that, mowhit. I do think the author has made a leap there, perhaps because both of them had sons who became clergy, and perhaps because they both had a father named William Smith.

Unfortunately, the only thing I really know about Loanhead is that William (1771) and Euphemia died there within a fortnight of each other.  I did find some records that showed there were people named Laing living there later and wondered if they were related Euphemia.


It may be that the two Williams were cousins.  It would be terrific to find the connection.

[Seaton Smithy]

Hi mowhit

I have just seen your tree on Ancestry.

I see you have Patrick/Peter baptised as Peter Smith in 1734 in Leochel-Cushnie, father Alexander Smith.

I had been looking at a potential baptism as Patrick Smith in 1733 in Tough, father John Smith, as his sons Thomas, William and John were all born in Tough.

Your tree does potentially make William (1758) and William (1771) 1st cousins, which makes Elizabeth and Margaret 2nd cousins and the two sons 3rd cousins. That could explain why William (1771) and Euphemia came to be living at Loanhead at the time of their deaths.

Are you in contact with any Smith men who descend directly from William (1758)?

[Seaton Smithy]

Hi mowhit

I see in your tree you have Rev Alexander Clerihue as dying at the manse in Killearn, Stirlingshire in 1865.

There are several records showing Rev John Fiddes at Killearn. This does appear to be a potential connection between the families.

The ecclegen.com site shows Alexander accepted an appointment to Nassau, New Providence in 1863:

http://www.ecclegen.com/ministers-c/#CLERIHEW%20ALEXANDER

I found this newspaper report showing officiating a wedding in Nassu in 1864:

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00076890/00799/2x?search=clerihew

I have seen the record of his memorial in Stirlingshire at Find A Grave, and while the photo is not clear, it appears from the memorial that he died in Nassau not Killearn:

https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2019/238/202310175_b396d0d9-8b83-4953-bb7c-d008d4a6a621.jpeg

EDIT: A report of Alexander being indisposed in Nassau in 1865:

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00076890/00809/2x?search=clerihew

EDIT: Notice of Alexander's death (with his obituary on the next page):

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00076890/00828/2x?search=clerihew

(Apologies for the edits, I found the Nassau Guardian archive site difficult to search.)

[mowhit]

Dear Seaton Smithy,

thank you for clarifying The Clerihue place of death and all the information from Nassau. That's great detective work.

It stated in eclegen.com/ministers that there was a cousin connection between the mothers of Fiddes and Clerihew. I found that they were more likely to be second cousins as their fathers are likely to be cousins who were both living at Loanhead at one time or another. Living at Loanhead, the mothers were also more likely to be close like sisters and may have lead to the confusion that they were sisters.

As the fathers were more likely to be cousins, I looked into this possibility and have found the connection between Peter 1734 and Alexander 1737 and thought it might just be a strong possibility and Peter's birth year was a strong possibility. Tough and Leochel Cushnie were neighbouring districts.

Without census records and death records it does get more complicated!

i have no other link to Smiths other than my own line.

I have done a DNA sample through Ancestry and can get some indication of family connections. I appear to have a link to Alexander 1737.

[Seaton Smithy]

Thanks, mowhit

There are several descendants of William Smith and Eupemia Laing who have tested at Ancestry, but confirming Williams's father and potentially his uncle are getting beyond the reliable time frame for autosomal DNA.

I have also tested for y-DNA and I am interested in finding a male-line descendant of William (1758) who would may be interested in doing the same.