Ruth Blair – Page 162

Alexander Lauder, Margaret Brown and Family

Alexander Lauder was a blacksmith, as was his father before him, who spent his whole life in Paisley Renfrewshire Scotland. His parents were Robert Lauder and Helen Forsyth and Alexander was baptized on 8 July 1810 in the High Church parish in Paisley. Alexander was the oldest of seven children.

On 29 November 1835 in Paisley Abbey Alexander Lauder married Margaret Brown. It is believed that Margaret was also born in Paisley circa 1814.

In the 1836 Renfrew directory for Paisley Alexander Lauder is listed as copper and tin-plate worker at both 17 High Street and 21 New Smithhills Street. He lived at 91 High Street. In Pigot’s 1837 directory Alexander is listed as a smith at 17 High Street.

Alexander is found in the first three Scottish censuses. In 1841 he is living at 10 Smithhills Street in Paisley. He is 30 years of age, a smith and born in Renfrew. His wife, Mrs. Lauder, is 25 and born in Renfrew. There are two children in the family Robert aged 4 and Margaret aged 1. They are both born in Renfrew.

In 1851 Alexander is 40 years of age and a smith master; he employs four men in his smithy. His wife Margaret is 35 and born in Paisley. The children are Robert age 13 who is already an apprentice smith, Margaret age 10, Elen [Helen] age 8 and Alexander age 5.

The family is living at 6 Cotton Street in the 1861 census. Alexander is 50, a widower, and an engine smith. His new job description is a sign of the changing times and the industrialization of the country. Robert, his son, is 24 and an engine smith. Margaret age 21 and Helen age 19 both are both spooler’s in a mill. Janet McNair Lauder is 10 and a domestic servant. Alexander is 16 and he is a plumber’s apprentice.

Although the census records do not show this, Alexander went through a lot in the years between 1851 and 1861. His wife Margaret was buried on 11 November 1851. She was 37 years of age and died of decline.

Since Alexander was left with a young family that needed caring for he remarried. Alexander married Flora McDonald on 27 December 1853 in Abbey parish in Paisley. Flora died prior to 1861 so he was widowed twice in less than 10 years.

Alexander died on 13 April 1865 in Paisley. He had been ill for six months with Phthisis. His son Robert Lauder was the informant.

Margaret Lauder married John Rankin. Helen Lauder married Robert Neil. Alexander Lauder married Margaret Paton and Janet Lauder, or Jessie as she was known, married George Forsyth. It is believed that Robert Lauder married Margaret Clark.

Paisley was known for the weaving industry and in particular the Paisley shawl but with industrialization many weavers were put out of work. The change of Alexander’s job description from smith to engine smith shows he was keeping up with the times. There is also a long history with thread making and up until the late part of the last century the industry was thriving. Paisley is also an ancient town and with the Abbey was a centre for learning. Paisley is one of the largest towns in the country and the largest town in Renfrewshire. There is also a strong connection with the Royal Stewart family. Its history reaches back past the sixth century.

High Street, Smithhills Street and Cotton Street are near the centre of Paisley and fairly close together so the family did not move far. They stayed close to the White Cart Water which flows through Paisley.

Jane Hamilton’s Bible

Leave a Comment / By Ruth Blair

On my bookshelf there is a small leather bound King James Bible with a side clasp. The licensing information on the inside page reads “Edinburgh, 14th May 1859” On the back of the front cover is a small family history written by my grandfather. “Jane Hamilton daughter of Adam married Tom Blair* and died at 21 on the birth of her son John who married Elizabeth Rankin of Ardrossan Scotland only issue Thos. H. B. who married Norah M. Campbell of Glasgow [he then lists his year of marriage, children’s names and year of birth] *Tom remarried – other Blair’s”. I was told by my grandfather that this Bible belonged to Jane Hamilton.

Jane Hamilton Bible — Bible of Jane Hamilton

My grandfather was a great one for writing small notes of things he remembered about the history of the family. I have a small collection of sheets of paper and old envelopes with notes written on them.

Finding out more about Jane Hamilton was one of the first items on my list when I started researching the family. I was lucky my grandfather had listed her parent’s names as well as her age. As is usual with family stories there were a few mistakes in the details.

Jane Hamilton married Thomas Blair on 11 February 1868 at 36 St. James Street. The banns were read at the Free Church of Scotland in the Parish of Middle Church Paisley. Thomas was 23 years of age and a coach proprietor and Jane was also 23 years of age and a mill worker. Thomas’ parents were Thomas Blair and Helen Brown. Jane’s were Adam Hamilton and Jane Smith. If Jane was 23 at the time of her marriage then she was not 21 when she died.

Her son John was born 7 June 1868 also at 36 St. James Street. Jane died on 18 February 1869 at 36 St. James Street, Paisley Renfrew Scotland. She died of gastric fever. This was sometimes referred to as bilious fever or typhoid fever. So John was about eight months old when his mother passed away.

36 St. James Street was the home of Adam Hamilton and Jane Smith. Adam and Jane married on 19 May 1839 in the parish of Middle Paisley. They had three children Robert, Ann and Jane. There may be two more daughters named Margaret and Janet.

John, Adam’s grandson, is found with the family in the 1871 Scotland census and in 1881 he is with his father and his second family. John did not have much time for his father and was not with the family in the 1891 census.

So the note written in the Bible of Jane Hamilton by my grandfather had some truth to it. He probably heard the stories from his mother as his own father died when he was very young. John Blair may not have known the details of his mother’s death. John stayed close to the Hamilton family and my grandfather was the executor of Ann Hamilton’s estate when she died.

Cluster Research: How it can help you break down some brick walls

4 Comments / By Ruth Blair

Every genealogical researcher has come up against a brick wall in their research. Hopefully it is not one that is insurmountable but can be broken down. Have you ever done a cluster research project to help you break down that brick wall?

A cluster research project, or sometimes called a reconstruction or reconstitution project, requires that you search all the collateral lines of your family to find additional data that will hopefully break down that brick wall. It can also be a one name study in a particular area to see if familial links can be found. The process can be more difficult if the name is a common one but that just increases the challenge. Remember searching for spelling variations of the surname is another important step in the process.

I have used this method for clients and was able to get one client’s family back to a place in Ireland where he found a marriage for the couple who came to Canada. This information was found by doing a one name study over three counties and five townships in Ontario. The information did not come from the client’s direct line but from a newly found collateral line. It was a long process but was well worth it.

You might start with doing research in one county but find you will have to cover more area in your search. This is especially true if the area in the county where the family is from is near a border. You must be flexible in where your research takes you.

Do not limit yourself to the criteria with which you started the project. If you suddenly find a record that takes you to a new county follow that lead. If you do not follow the lead you may miss the link that brings the research all together. Add this new information to your research plan and continue on with your research.

This is a process I also use for my own research. It has worked well for proving a family story wrong and for proving one right. It also has not worked a few times but you never know unless you try.

Organization is critically important to the project. You have to be able to keep track of all the records searched as well as the people found. It can become difficult when you have several with the same name and have to distinguish between them. Only you can decide the best way to organize the data gathered in the project. I have used a genealogy program and a spreadsheet as well as paper and pencil. They have been used singularly or together. Research plans, research logs and source citation sheets are all very important.

A good book on the subject is “Family History Problem Solving through Family Reconstitution Techniques” by Andrew Todd. It is published in England.

It can be a large undertaking to do this type of research but the result can be the bulldozer you need to break down that brick wall you have been banging your head against for years.

Author name: Ruth Blair