Father's occupation

[ITBookworm]

Can anyone decipher the occupation of the father in the snip of this baptism record please? The entry is from the parish of St Nicholas in Aberdeen in October 1761

I have the whole entry as:

Robt. Whytet Clerk to the Gordon ?miln? Company by Helen N?ol his
spouse had a Daur born named Catharine; bapt by the revd Mr
Principal Campbell in presence of Jno Brodie excise officer & George Stra:
:ban Maltster.

Many thanks

[heywood]

I am assuming he is a Clerk at Gordon’s miln Company.
Is that what you mean?

If you search, ‘miln’ or ‘mylne’ is an old word for ‘ mill’.

Other searches show references to Gordon’s in this context.
See page 15 here:
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/242671/2/242671.pdf
‘Another bleach field advertisement in 1759 for the Gordon’s Milns Company …’

[emeltom]

According to the baptism entry on Scotland's People her mother's maiden name is Nicol

[ITBookworm]

I am assuming he is a Clerk at Gordon’s miln Company.
Is that what you mean?

If you search, ‘miln’ or ‘mylne’ is an old word for ‘ mill’.

Other searches show references to Gordon’s in this context.
See page 15 here:
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/242671/2/242671.pdf
‘Another bleach field advertisement in 1759 for the Gordon’s Milns Company …’

Many thanks for that. I was unsure if "miln" was an abbreviation for something or even if I was misreading it. If Robert and Helen Nicol is the correct couple his occupation in 1759 and 1764 is a weaver in Perth. Being a Clerk and a reasonably senior one in Aberdeen, if I am taking this correctly, didn't seem to match. I suppose if the company is a fabric mill, which newspapers seem to suggest, it is possible.... The number of variations of spelling for any Robert and Helen Nicol couple I can find is not helping!

Thanks again to you and emeltom

[David Nicoll]

Hi, you had me intrigued by the reference to 1759, Weddit is not a spelling I would have thought of.
Perhaps the difference between weaver and Weaver, in business for himself having learned the commercial side in Aberdeen?
Interested because of the name obviously, is that them getting married in 1751?

Happy Hunting

[hanes teulu]

Here's your Rob at work -
Aberdeen Press and Journal, 6 Apr 1761

[ITBookworm]

Hi David,

Thank you for your interest.

Weddit is not a spelling I would have thought of.

I didn't think of that variation myself - I had resorted to searching with a surname "w*t" by that point!

My starting point was the 1790 marriage in Kinnoul, Perth of "Elisabeth Weetit to Duncan MacGrigor" where her father is stated to be "the deceased Robert Weetit Weaver in the Isle of Bute".

Scotlands People only had one Elizabeth baptism to a Robert "Whittet" giving a mother Margaret Pitrikin but he is a Chaise Driver which didn't look likely. A lot of searching through the transcripts on FindMyPast gave me the Robert Whittet and Helen Nicol marriage in 1751 and the following children, occupations and locations.

1751: Marriage Robert Whittet & Helen Nicol - no occupation listed,  both of this parish   [Perth CofS]
1753: Jean Wittate Robert & Helen Nukel - no occupation listed   [Perth Associate Congregation]
1756: Hellen Wittate Robert & Hellen Nuckel - (not purchased)   [Perth Associate Congregation]
1757: Elizabeth Weddit Robert & Helen Nicol - father weaver   [Perth CofS]    Elisabeth Weetit on marriage and assorted other variants on her children's births
1759: John Weddit Robert & Helen Nicol - father weaver   [Perth CofS]
1761: 6 April 1761 listed in an advert in the Aberdeen Press and Journal for Gordon's Milns Bleachfield as "Robert Wittet" at their manufactory in Aberdeen
1761: Catharine Whytet Robt. & Helen Nicol - father Clerk to the Gordon's Milns Company   [Aberdeen CofS]
1764: William Whittet Robert & Helen Nichol - father weaver   [Perth CofS]
1766: Robert Wittet Robert & Helen Niccol - father Clerk to Mr John Blain Commissary of the Isles   [Rothesay CofS]
1769: Thomas Wittet Robert & Helen Niccol - father Clerk to Mr Blain Commissary of the Isles   [Rothesay CofS]

FindMyPast does have a baptism for "my" Elisabeth but it is currently unindexed on Scotlands People and I have queried that with them. I actually found it by fluke on the same page as her brother John so it is definitely in there.

I am still not 100% convinced that there aren't two Robert and Helen couples here but all the dates make sense and I need the location on the last two births to make this fit the reference on the 1790 marriage so....  Maybe it is Elizabeth thinking of her Dad as a basically a weaver even though he had been promoted beyond that by the time he actually was on Bute.

I haven't manage to find any newspaper records or deaths/burials so I think this is as far as I can go for now.

[ITBookworm]

Here's your Rob at work -
Aberdeen Press and Journal, 6 Apr 1761

Many thanks hanes tuelu for finding that. It confirms that the Whytet surname is indeed a variation on the Wittet family that I am researching