Help finding information on Alexander Smith

[Blairvadach]

Hi folks
I am looking for and help/ advice in trying to find information regarding Alexander Smith,

I know that he married Mary Bain in 1895 in Auchterader, Perthshire. Mary died in 1905 and Alexander remarried in 1907 to Cecilia Mitchelson.
Alexander and Mary had 4 children ( the youngest, William is my grandfather)
I know he was a gas stoker and in the 1911 census they were in Stranraer and in the 1921 they were in Renton, Dunbartonshire.
According to these census records he was born in Kinney, Aberdeen.
According to the two marriages his parents were Alexander Smith and Betsy Paterson.
I can not find any birth records for Alexander born 1870 or any marriage for his parents….

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Cheers

[Isabel H]

This might be his first marriage on ScotlandsPeople:
SMITH
ALEXANDER
BAYNE
MARY
1894
329 / 6
Auchterarder

Are you sure the censuses give his birthplace as Kinney? Could it be Kemnay?

Added. Sorry, just realised it's Alexander's parents' marriage you are looking for.

[Forfarian]

As Smith is the commonest surname in Scotland, can you tell us some more please

- where and in what years were the four children born and what were the given names of the first three?
- who is the James Smith, 35, on the same census page in 1911?
- was Mary the one who died in Auchterarder aged 38, mother's surname Hally?
- what was the occupation of his father Alexander Smith senior?
- do his marriages show his mother's name as plain Betsy Paterson or as Betsy Smith MS Paterson?
- is his age consistent between his marriage certificates and the 1911 and 1921 censuses?
- was he in Auchterarder in 1901: Alexander, 31; Mary, 35; Lilly, 6; Nelly, 4; Rebecca, 2?

[softly softly]

 Alexander was born Kenmay c1869 according to last census available.

SS

[Blairvadach]

Hi Forfarian

Yes, that’s them in the 1901 census. They had another son, William in 1904 b in Auchterarder. ( my grandfather)

On the marriage certificates it’s Betsy Smith MS Paterson.

Yes, Mary maiden name Halley…..there’s a story behind this…..she was born in Auchterarder….parents Lillias Halley and refuted father was James Bayne ( they married later). However, Mary was adopted by a local family called Gorrham….. had census information.

Mary’s mother was a witness to her marriage.

Alexander senior was a ploughman on the first marriage and a farmer on the second….according to the marriage records

Don’t know anything about James Smith on this census

Thanks for your help

[Forfarian]

Hmmm.

There is only one record of an Alexander born in Kemnay 1867-1871 with mother's name Paterson but he is Alexander Stevenson, born 1 February 1869, parents Alexander Stevenson and Ann Paterson.

Could he have been illegitimate? Or could his mother have been widowed and later have married an Alexander Smith?

Ann Stevenson or Paterson, mother's maiden surname Smith, died in Aberdeen in 1910 aged 64. Could that be relevant?

Alexander Stevenson and Ann Paterson also had a son Burnett George Stevenson, born 1870 in Kemnay, died 1872 in Aberdeen. In 1871 Ann Stevenson, 25, born Keith is in Aberdeen with sons Alexander, 2, and George, 1, both born in Kemnay.

Or is all this a trail of red herrings?

[Blairvadach]

Hi Forfarian
Thanks for your help.
Your thoughts make sense.

According to the 1921 census records Alexander was 52 ars old and 7 months..
This would mean he was born in December 1868!

I have been searching for his parents for years and years…….one day I will find them 
Cheers

[Forfarian]

Well.

There are 8 births of Alexanders in Kemnay in 1868-1869. See screenshot.

Booth, Fraser, Mackie, and Reid are still in Aberdeenshire in the 1881 census.
No sign of Horn, Maitland, or Marr.
And we know about Stevenson.

So it looks very much as if Alexander might have been a bit creative with some of his information.