Doyle family, West Lothian (1860s & 1870s)

[Doddie]

Hi, I need help with a bit of a conundrum. I have included a link to one of my previous posts which provides some other related details to an adoption. This is quite a long (and convoluted) post, so I  hope you’ll please bear with me.

Does anybody have Doyle ancestors from the West Lothian area that may have had connections (marital, social or work, anything really) with any Stewarts from the Stirlingshire and West Lothian areas? I know this is a very broad question.

A coal miner, Michael Doyle came to Scotland from Ireland. In 1845 he married Mary Courtnay from Dumfriesshire. They had 13 children altogether, born between 1845 and 1872. Some were born in the Glasgow area, but after 1862 the rest of  their children were born in the West Lothian area - Mary Doyle in Torphichen (1863), William Doyle also in Torphichen (1864), Bartholomew in Bathgate (1866) , Thomas Doyle in Armadale (1870) and William Michael Doyle in West Calder (1872). The relevant Stewart family members who I have managed to trace so far (Christina Stewart, Duncan McLaren Stewart, Jane McLaren Stewart and Janet Dunlop Stewart) were born in Gargunnock near Stirling, but by the next generation some of the Stewarts were living in Bonnybridge. In the link (which doesn’t feature any names), the “married couple living in Northumberland” that I mention were Thomas and Evelyn Doyle who already had two children. Thomas (b. in the Newcastle area in 1886) was the son of James Courtnay Doyle (b. 1857), one of the Glasgow area born Doyle children. Therefore, the West Lothian born Doyle’s were his aunts and uncles. I am convinced that the fact that there was an adoption arrangement between two couples that were living so far away from each other (quite unusual?) suggests that the Doyle and Stewart families were already familiar with each other. I have been searching for a possible connection for about a year now but haven’t managed to establish one yet. I would be SO grateful for any help.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=890746.msg7646554#msg7646554


Regards

Doddie

[Doddie]

I forgot to include the following information in my original post. The child from Scotland who was adopted by Thomas and Evelyn Doyle in 1930 was named Norman Stewart. His birth parents were John Brown Stewart & Margaret Stewart (m.n. Wregg). Norman's adoptive parents changed his name to John Stewart Doyle. This is surely a very unusual choice. This is one of the main reasons why I an convinced there was  a connection between the Stewart and Doyle families.

Regards

Doddie