John Crawford

[Kit]

I've had a few Crawford posts on here lately and I've hit a wall.

What I know if that John Crawford married Jean Tucker in 1777 Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland. They had children, the monst commonly mentioned anywhere are James b 1783, Andrew b 1789 and Joseph Tucker b 1791.
John was a merchant in Port Glasgow and died in Broadfield in 1813.

There are a lot of newspaper reports and book mentions over issues with John's will and later Jean's will. On James' baptism John is referred to as John Jr, leading me to think his father was also named John.

I have found some Boyd's entries on FMP that say John's parents are Andrew Crawford and Agnes Cooper (or Couper, Cowper). I've found plenty of books stating Andrew and Agnes married and that he was a merchant in Port Glasgow but nothing mentioning their children.

Another Boyd's entry says Andrew's father is named John so that might be where the Jr came from in John Jr, or Andrew and Agnes had another, older son, named John that died.

So what I'm asking is if someone could help me work out if Andrew or a man named John is my John's father.

[kiterunner]

Scotland's People has the will of a John Crawford, smith in Port Glasgow, from 1785. Does the Boyd's entry about Andrew give his father's occupation?

Have you looked at baptism entries for John jr's children to see whether there are witnesses' names that might be clues?

[kiterunner]

Also, if we had a full list of John and Jean's children, and ideally the names of Jean's parents, then if they followed the traditional Scottish naming pattern, we might be able to figure out the names of John's parents from the children's names. That is, if neither John nor Jean was previously married?

Found these on FamilySearch so far, all at Port Glasgow, but there must be several more to fill in:
Joseph Tucker Crawford 5 May 1791
Agnes Crawford 8 Sep 1794
Jane Crawford 9 Dec 1796
Stephen Rowan Crawford 22 Jan 1798
Margaret Crawford 6 Jun 1802
John Bute Crawford 25 Mar 1804

[Kit]

I've found Andrew's father in Boyd's lists. He is John Crawford Lord Provost of Glasgow and he married Euphemia Anderson.

I don't know if Euphemia is a common female name of the time but my James has a daughter of that name.

John and Jean's children are:
Margaret b 1778
James b 1783
Andrew b 1789
Joseph Tucker Crawford 5 May 1791
Agnes Crawford 8 Sep 1794
Jane Crawford 9 Dec 1796
Stephen Rowan Crawford 22 Jan 1798
Margaret Crawford 6 Jun 1802
John Bute Crawford 25 Mar 1804

The names I added to Kate's list are in blue and I have their baptisms. There are no witnesses mentioned.

There are possibly 2 other children but I ran out of credits and if they are John and Jean's children they died young.
John born 1774 (before the marriage)
Alexander born 1778 but he is unlikely given Margaret's birth. I would have to buy the proper certificate, not download the image so I'm not going to prove or disprove this one.

Boyd says differently :
1. Elizabeth d. inf
2. Andrew d. inf
3. James as above
4. Twins stillborn
5. John lost at sea in 1805
6. Andrew-John Bute as above

Jean's father is Joseph Tucker, on their marriage certificate he was a merchant in Greenock.

John (husband of Jean) was John Jr for Margaret and James' baptisms but not Andrew's. I haven't bought the rest on scotland's people.

I've just looked on Boyd's for Joseph Tucker and found one that looks like him. It says he is married to Margaret Montgomerie (familysearch had a birth for Jean with mother Montgomery but I couldn't find a marriage so was not sure.) It lists Jean's marriage but doesn't mention her husband. It also says he had another daughter Sarah married to Archibald Ritchie.

I also think it is my Joseph as Jean's will leaves money to her nieces Margaret Montgomerie Ritchie and Dorcas Giels (Giels being the surname of Joseph's second wife Christian).

I hope this answers everything and makes sense. Sorry have to take Jr to the Drs so will be back later.

[Shona]

Originally Posted by Kit

I've found Andrew's father in Boyd's lists. He is John Crawford Lord Provost of Glasgow and he married Euphemia Anderson.

I don't know if Euphemia is a common female name of the time but my James has a daughter of that name.

Euphemia (often shortened to Effie) was a popular name in Scotland.

[Shona]

This is an aside to the query, but wanted to post it before I forgot (still have episodes of being a bit fuzzy-brained following recent illness!).

James Crawford married Sarah Russell (your 5 x great grandparents, I think). At the age of 23, their daughter Jean/Jane Tucker Crawford married James Ewing of Strathleven - an MP and super-wealthy. He was in his 60s when he married. The Ewing family made money in the sugar trade, as did Sarah's ancestors. I suspect that the Crawfords also had connections with the slave trade.

Lots about James Ewing here:
http://www.glasgownecropolis.org/pro...f-strathleven/

And here is Strathleven House where James and Jane/Jean Tucker Crawford lived:
http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/lei...thleven-house/

[Shona]

This case heard in the House of Lords states that Stephen Rowan Crawford was the fourth son of John Crawford and Jean Tucker. The book in which the case is reported is from 1829.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...awford&f=false

According to another report on the various court cases associated with this family, John Crawford and Jean Tucker's son, Andrew Crawford, died intestate in 1825.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...201825&f=false

[kiterunner]

If Boyd is right about there being an eldest son called Andrew who died in infancy, that does point to John's father being called Andrew, but it isn't definite proof.

[Uncle John]

Originally Posted by Shona

Euphemia (often shortened to Effie) was a popular name in Scotland.

Famie is the abbreviation used in my wife's family. "Oh, we're at Aunt Famie's" means there's exactly one cake, sandwich etc. per person for tea.

[Kit]

Originally Posted by Shona

This is an aside to the query, but wanted to post it before I forgot (still have episodes of being a bit fuzzy-brained following recent illness!).

Thanks for the information. I've been wondering how you have been after being sick. It sounded quite scary.

Jean Tucker Ewing was also taken to court over her handling of her husband's estate. I haven't looked into that fully though. Sounds like she didn't learn from her own experiences with her father's will.

I hadn't realised the age gap before Jean and James though. I couldn't imagine marrying a man that much older.

You could be right about the slave trade. I had a look at that link on the Slave Trade BBC thread but only one name came up that I knew, currently can't remember the name though. In that case it looks as though my man got the profits from someone else as he was their creditor, rather than saying he was in the slave trade. Once I can confirm further back I might find more information, although they may have ceased being in the trade for the timeframe the website is looking at.