I know this thread is from many years ago, but if the original posters are still around I can identify the little boy with some certainty.
He was Alexander Clark, born c1843 in Georgetown, British Guiana, and he is still at Barr School in the 1861 census, boarding with the schoolmaster, William Conner.
He married in 1864 in Kilmarnock, which gave his parents as Duncan Clark, wood cutter (deceased) and Cecilia Clark nee Hutton (deceased).
The reason I am sure he is the black boy in 1859 is that one of Alexander's sons was Willie Clark(e), who was one of the earliest black footballers, playing in the early 1900s with Bristol Rovers, Aston Villa, Bradford City and others.
What I haven't been able to do is establish the identities of Alexander's parents. I am guessing that his father, Duncan Clark, was white as there was a recruitment drive for wood cutters to go to British Guiana in the 1840s, and Cecilia Hutton was native Guyanese.
Curiously, one of the previous schoolmasters at Barr School was the Rev Duncan Clark, but he died in Scotland in 1850 and I can be pretty sure he was not the father. Possibly a relative of his, though.
If anyone can shed any light on Alexander's father or mother I would appreciate it.
|