Marriage Record Falconer 1855

[Terri Kessler]

Hi,

I am looking for the marriage record for Helen or Ellen Falconer who married William Stewart.  They were married July 1855, Berwick on Tweed, Scotland.  I have looked on Scotland’s People, Ancestry, Find my Past, nd Family search and cannot find anything.

1861 Scotland Census Record shows her as Helen Stewart b 1829
1871 Scotland Census Record shows her as Helen Stewart b 1833
1881 Scotland Census Record shows her as Ellen Stewart b 1832
1891 Scotland Census Record shows her as Ellen Stewart b 1836

I have the birth record of her child that states her maiden name of Falconer and that they were married July 1855 Berwick on Tweed.  Her burial record shows her name as Ellen Faulkner Stewart d 1900.

Any thoughts or help is appreciated.

[Forfarian]

My first thought is that Berwick on Tweed is in England, not in Scotland, so there is something odd there.

Do the birth certificates of all their children say July 1855 in Berwick on Tweed, Scotland?

[Terri Kessler]

Hi,

The birth certificates of the children say the following:

Catherine Stewart - Parents married Apr 1856, Berwick
Alexander Stewart - Parents married July 1855, Berwick on Tweed
Ellen Falconer Stewart - Parents married April 1855 Berwick
William Stewart - Parents married June 10, 1855, Berwick on Tweed.

Does not say England or Scotland. All different. I have tried looking both places.

[Forfarian]

Hmmm. Rather a lack of agreement

Have you found Helen/Ellen in the 1841 and 1851 censuses?

[rosie17]

Hi Terri can't help with finding a marriage but is this the family on the 1871 Census
Address 48,New Row Perth Burgh
Helen Stewart age 33 born about 1833 England
Helen Stewart age 9 born about 1862 Perth
Kate Stewart age 7 born about 1864 Perth
Alex Stewart age 5 born about 1866 Perth
William Stewart age 1 born about 1870 Perth

1861 Census same address
William Stewart age 30 born Dunkeld  railway guard
Helen Stewart age 32 born Tweed( bersaid transcription error on Ancestry ) you might have the original copy on SP

Rosie

[rosie17]

Going by the burial record for Ellen Faulkner Stewart 1900 West Derby her address is shown as
49,Romily street West Derby Lancashire is this not the family on the 1891 Census at this address
Ellen Stewart age 55 years born Berwick on Tweed
Ellen F Stewart age 28 years born Perth
Alexander Stewart age 24 born Perth

As I see you have Ellen Stewart on the 1891 census in Scotland ?

Rosie

[rosie17]

This might be a possibility for Helen Falconer
Non Parochial Registers
Helen Falconer born 22 September 1831
Baptism 9 October 1831
Berwick Upon Tweed  Northumberland
Denomination Scotch Church
Father David Falconer
Mother Alison Markle

On the 1841/51 censuses Berwick Upon Tweed Northumberland

Rosie

[Forfarian]

Who was the Helen Falconer or Stewart who died in Arbroath in 1889 aged 61?

[Forfarian]

1861 Scotland Census Record shows her as Helen Stewart b 1829
1871 Scotland Census Record shows her as Helen Stewart b 1833
1881 Scotland Census Record shows her as Ellen Stewart b 1832
1891 Scotland Census Record shows her as Ellen Stewart b 1836

Actually, the original census doesn't say that. The census never gives a year of birth. It tells you the age the person claimed to be on census day. The year of birth is often introduced in what claim to be transcriptions but are in fact interpretations, and by 'calculating' the year of birth by subtracting the age from the census year the answer is wrong three times out of four.

The 1861 says she was 32. Census day was 7 April, so if her age is accurate she was born between 8 April 1828 and 7 April 1829.
This is obviously incompatible with her age as recorded in the later censuses, so she could have been born any time between 1828 and 1836.

William and Helen/Ellen and family are in Liverpool in 1881 and West Derby in 1891. Not in Scotland.

There is a 55-year-old Helen Stewart in Perth in 1891 but she is Helen Nicoll, widow of Farquhar Stewart, and the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses all give her birthplace as Blairgowrie.