RESEARCH JOURNAL - NEWS FROM
OUR ANCESTOR RESEARCH
Sir Alexander Fleming Connection -
Jill is distantly connected (by marriage) to Sir Alexander Fleming who is
credited with first discovering the benefits of penicillin.
Unknown sibling of Ian's 2nd great grandfather, James
McQueen is discovered - this sibling was born out of wedlock to the woman
who would eventually be his 2nd wife, before he married his first of 3 wives.
Sad family losses - both Ian and Jill lost their
father and mother respectively in 2001.
Made contact with long lost cousin in Canada
Jill's Fraserburgh ancestors are mentioned in a book
Jill's Craig ancestors from Brechin are well
documented in a Gealogical publication - just located the author in time
Alexander FLEMING was born at Lochfield Farm, near Darvel in Loudoun, Ayrshire, Scotland on 6th August, 1881. His mother was Grace MORTON, his father's 2nd or 3rd wife. Grace was born on the 6th March, 1848 in Galston, Ayrshire. Grace had a brother, James MORTON, born 24th May, 1841 in Galston. James married Janet RAMMAGE on 2nd June, 1871 in Mauchline. James & Janet had a daughter, Janet, born on the 23rd March, 1872 in Sorn Parish, Ayrshire. Janet MORTON married John McKean HOWAT on 31st Dec, 1895 in Mauchline. John's parents were Robert HOWAT & Agnes Couper McKEAN who married in Dreghorn on 18th Sept, 1860. Robert HOWAT's parents were Peter Thomas HOWAT & Janet STRACHAN who married in Kilmarnock in 1831. Robert had a brother, Peter, born about 1845 who married Margaret FREW on 14th July, 1866. Jillian is descended from Peter & Margaret. I'm sure you managed to follow that, but just in case you did not, just follow this link for a graphic tree diagram of the connection. Sir Alexander Fleming connection. Thank you to Amanda Lodge, a fellow STRACHAN/HOWAT Researcher for advising me of the possibility of this connection.
For some time now I believed that Ian Malcolmson was descended from the only surviving child of James McQueen and Ann Henry who married in 1861, at Ellenbank, Kirkcudbright. There were 5 children but all died young, except William Henry McQueen who married Helen Millar Moore in Dumfries in 1888. Or so I thought?? Now James had 3 wives, 1st was Jessie Richardson, then Ann Henry and finally Sarah Paterson. Information obtained from various sources, including a death certificate, suggests very strongly that James and Ann had an illegitimate child, Henry McQueen born 1851 in Borgue, Kirkcudbright. Thus this child was born before James married his first wife. Life must have been very complicated. Most exciting is that I am in touch with a descendant of this Henry McQueen in Canada.
Ian's father, John Malcolmson, died of a heart attack on 15th December 2001, aged 76. He will be sadly missed by his only son, his daughter in law and grandchildren.
Jillian’s
mother, Annie Wallace Howat Morrison, aged 78, passed away peacefully on the 28th
October, 2001. She died after a nine month illness. She is sadly missed by her 3
children and son-in-law.
One of life’s amazing coincidences has just occurred. I
(Ian) have been trying to locate relations in Canada. I used the Canadian Internet Phone directory to locate some
possibilities. Having found some I was going to write a letter to them. A few days later, without even having put
‘pen to paper’ in pops an e-mail from a 2nd cousin from Canada from
the family I had been searching for.
His surname is NORMAN and is descended from my grandfather Stirling’s
sister, Marion McGregor Stirling. He
had just found this web-site and recognised the Stirling ancestors.
FRASERBURGH
ANCESTORS MENTIONED IN BOOK
The Taylors and McLemans are
mentioned in a book called "The Christian Watt Papers" edited by
David Fraser. The book is available
through a very well known Web book seller.
In 1880 Christian Watt, was a woman of 47 who was destined to be a
patient in Cornhill, the Aberdeen hospital for patients with metal disorders,
for most of the next half century. To
pass the time she started to write down recollections of her life. She was born in 1833, into an ancient family
of Broadsea, near Fraserburgh, in the district called Buchan, on the north-east
cost of Aberdeenshire. She started work
as a domestic servant at the age of 8 and one half years old, and thenceforth
seldom knew rest or peace. One of Jillian's great great grandparents are William
McLeman and Barbara Sim. On page
116 of the book, at the bottom you will find "Willie McLeman (not
Jill's ancestor), 34 Broadsea was returning home from sea-fowling with his
gun when he noticed movement under an upturned boat. He was amazed - it was my son George, who had no home after 72
was vacated. He was too old at fourteen for the authorities to take an interest
in him. Willie McLeman took him to his home where his wife, Liza Cardno's
Jeanicky, made him welcome to stay until he married. Willie McLeman's mother was Barbara Sim,
a first cousin of my mother-in-law." The Willie McLeman referred to was a
brother of Jill's great-grandmother, Christian West McLeman who married
Alexander Taylor. The Taylors lived at 73 Broadsea, next door to Christian's
family. The book is a very interesting account of the hard life endured by many
people in that time period. The book is
published by Caledonian Books and has the ISBN number 0 9506607 8 7.
BRECHIN CRAIG
ANCESTORS WELL DOCUMENTED IN BOOK
The Internet really is a
wonderful invention. About Christmas
time 2000 I posted a message saying that I was looking for the Ancestors of a
James Craig or Middleton (Jill's grandfather) as this is how his name was
entered in his marriage certificate when he married Elizabeth Taylor in
Fraserburgh. His mother was Jane Smith Craig
who was married to a William Middleton (deceased), then to a Neil McDonald. I believe I also mentioned that there might
be a Brechin connection which was a vague recollection of Jillian herself. A couple of months later I received an
e-mail from someone who had no connection with our family but informed me that
she had found the birth of a James Middleton and a James Craig in Brechin in
1883 and a Jane living with a Neil McDonald in Peterculter (near Aberdeen) in
1891 with a James Middleton in the household.
Then in early April 2001 I was contacted by another researcher, in
Canada, who was researching Middleton.
She told me that some time ago she had come across a book detailing
the ancestry of a Smith family in Brechin and that, although not related to her
research, she had photocopied some of the pages in case she ever came across
someone researching this family. Now
she has! She has sent me information
and it is definitely Jill's ancestors. The
information goes right back to the late 1500s.
Further more she has sent me the possible address of the author who
lives in Canada. We
wrote to
him as we cannot find a copy of the book to purchase. The book is written by John Craig Cooper and is entitled " A
Cooper family from north east Angus, Scotland : with families of Lindsay, Aitken, Smith, Craig, Myers, Scott, Bruce,
Skene, Harrow and
Thomson". ISBN/ISSN 096962770x
20th June 2001. We were very
sad to find out that John Craig Cooper, the Author of this book had died in
early June. Our condolences go out to
all his family. I am indebted to John's daughter who has sent me a copy of
the book.
