Mary Ross FMFMMFM

Sent you a pm Shona .. yes, in the 1841 Ellen was Helen .. and lots of surname variants - in Aus she was named Elizabeth Jeffrey on her headstone, but found her in 1851 as I think Bessy Jeffrey and Elizabeth Jaffrey in 1841 (luckily in the 1851 Kersmains is crossed out as pob) .. I have visited both places and stayed twice at Kersmains with the lovely young couple who are now tenants of the Duke of Roxburgh. Julie (oops sorry Liza!!)

[ElizabethHerts]

Originally Posted by tenterfieldjulie

Sent you a pm Shona .. yes, in the 1841 Ellen was Helen .. and lots of surname variants - in Aus she was named Elizabeth Jeffrey on her headstone, but found her in 1851 as I think Bessy Jeffrey and Elizabeth Jaffrey in 1841 (luckily in the 1851 Kersmains is crossed out as pob) .. I have visited both places and stayed twice at Kersmains with the lovely young couple who are now tenants of the Duke of Roxburgh. Julie (oops sorry Liza!!)

Go for it, Julie - we need all the help we can with our Scottish ancestors.

Thanks Elizabeth .. I think I'd better head for bed now .. off to Sydney on Monday.. I'll be in contact from there. Cheers. Julie

[ElizabethHerts]

Take care, Julie. We're off on a trip to - trying to plant a memorial tree in frozen ground!

[kiterunner]

I've just posted Mary's marriage on the Charles Laurie thread - Charles Loury married Mary Ross 22 Jun 1742 Nigg, Kincardine, Scotland. They had a daughter Isobel Lawrie born 29 Aug 1743 and baptised 4 Sep 1743 at Maryculter, Kincardine (all this is from FamilySearch.)

So it seems very unlikely that Mary was born in 1729.

If you view the image on Scotland's People there may be more info about Charles and Mary.

[ElizabethHerts]

Thanks, Kate. Will investigate when I'm able.

[Shona]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

So it seems very unlikely that Mary was born in 1729.

I thought the same, too, but...

This is the birth/baptism on Family Search.

https://familysearch.org/search/reco...r%3A1729-1729~

A public tree on Ancestry names two witnesses to the baptism as William Mores of Standing Stones and William Tait of Burnside, Crainoch. Also according to that tree, Charles and Mary had their last child in 1771 - which would make her 42 at the time.

It was possible to marry from the age of 12 in Scotland at the time - rare admittedly. But from the research I have done, very young marriages were more common in the north east of Scotland than other areas.

I also wonder if the social conditions in the late 17th century (which impacted into the 18th century) may also explain a very young marriage. There was severe famine in the area in the late 1690s and a quarter of the population died - women and the young were more likely to be affected. Perhaps this lead to people getting hitched and having children younger than usual. Knitting stockings was the main source of income for women and they started this work at the age of seven.

As you say, Scotland's People may provide the answers.

[kiterunner]

Yes, Shona, I saw that birth / baptism on FamilySearch, I just don't think it is likely to be the same Mary who married Charles. But hopefully the image on SP might have some info.

[Shona]

There is 1 match for a Mary Ross born in Kincardine between 1720 and 1730 on SP.

[kiterunner]

Nigg, where Charles and Mary got married, looks to be very close to Aberdeen, so I suppose it's possible that she was born in Aberdeenshire? There are a few possible baptisms in Aberdeen (on FamilySearch). It's a shame that Charles and Mary don't seem to have had many children, so we can't easily figure out Mary's parents' likely names from their children's names! (Two of their children were James and Isobel after Charles's parents.)