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Tag Archives: Helen MCNAB (1844-1929)

MUIR, James (1842-1924)

09 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by theirownstories in Muir Family

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Agnes Wilson RUSSELL (1875-1945), Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen Ramsay MUIR (1874-1951), James MUIR (1843-1924), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), John MUIR (1872-1921), John ORMSBY (1856-1927)

WATSON1900-006a

James MUIR b: 26 January 1843 in Maybole, Ayrshire, d: 26 December 1924 in Dean Cottage, 11 Maybole Road, Ayr, Ayrshire. (Photo from the author’s collection)

Places lived:

  • 1843 January 26 born in Craigokean /Craigenroy [?], Maybole, Ayshire
  • 1865, November 21 in Tunnoch, Maybole, Ayrshire – Farm Servant, (married Helen McNAB b: 1844 October 21, in Glenhouse (Glenluie), Kirkoswald, Ayrshire)
  • 1865 December 19, in Crosshill, Kikmichael, Ayrshire – Farm Steward, (daughter Jane MUIR born here)
  • 1867 February 28 – grandfather James MUIR died at Craigenroy, Maybole, Ayrshire (family lived there since James birth in 1843?)
  • 1868 June 06, in Damside, Sorn, Ayrshire – Coachman (Domestic) (son William MUIR born here)
  • 1870-1872 in Beoch, Maybole, Ayrshire – Farm Overseer, (1870 June 13, son James MUIR born here), (1872 April 30, son John MUIR born here)
  • 1874 February 19, in Knockton Cottage, Maybole, Ayrshire – Shepherd (daughter Helen Ramsay MUIR born here)
  • 1876 June 03, in Low Milton, Maybole, Ayrshire – Bower, (son David MUIR born here)
  • 1878 – 1882 in Slaphouse by Ayr, Ayrshire – Dairyman (1878 May 18, daughter Mary MUIR born here)  (1880 August 6, son George Kennedy MUIR born here)  (1882 October 23, son Gilbert MUIR born here)
  • 1882 – 1886 in Slaphouse or Robbsland?
  • 1886 – 1889 in Robbsland by Ayr, Ayrshire – Dairyman  (1886 January 7, son Thomas MUIR born here)  (1887 January 20, daughter Jane married Thomas WATSON here) (1889 June 03, father William MUIR died here)
  • 1890 – 1906 in Mainholm Farm, St. Quivox – Farmer,  (1890 May 05 – mother Elizabeth MANSON died here)  (1894 December 12, daughter Helen married John ORMSBY here)  (1902 December 12, son John married Agnes RUSSELL, John’s address Mainholm)  (1903 August 27, daughter Mary married Duncan GRANT here)  (1906 December 04, son George Kennedy married Helen DICKSON, George’s address Mainholm)
  • 1907–1924 in Mainholm Farm or Dean Cottage?
    (1907 February 8, son Gilbert married Alison GILMOUR, Gilbert’s address Beresford Lane, Ayr)
  • 1924 December 26, died at Dean Cottage, 11 Maybole Road, Ayr, Ayrshire – Farmer (Retired)

Photos from the author’s collectionIMG_0081

  • IMG_0075IMG_0076

MUIR, James (1870-1947?)

20 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by theirownstories in Muir Family

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Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), James MUIR (1843-1924)

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 09 August 2013]

James MUIR was born 13 June, 1870 at Beoch Farm, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the third of the ten children of James MUIR and his wife Helen McNAB. WATSON1900-007At the time of James’ birth, his father James was the farm overseer and was home to register the birth. As the second son, James’ name broke with the Scottish naming pattern for children as his mother’s father’s name Kennedy McNAB was not repeated.

Photo right: James’ parents James Muir and Helen McNab, photo portraits hanging in the author’s home. The portraits are large as can be seen by the 6 foot bookcases.

During James’ childhood the Muir family frequently moved as his father continued to seek out employment opportunities that would support his growing family.

The 1871 census found the Muir family still at Beoch Farm. In the 1881 census, James, and an additional five siblings, lived at Slaphouse Farm, by the Slaphouse Burn on the outskirts of Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. James’ father James was now a ‘bower’ (probably a farmer who tended cattle). James was a ‘scholar’, the normal term for schoolchild. After Slaphouse Farm, the Muir family moved to Robbsland Farm, where on 20 January 1887 at James sister Jane MUIR, 21, married local tenant farmer Thomas WATSON, aged 32. (Although James had nine siblings, Jane is mentioned specifically here as I believe James kept in touch with her, at least initially.)

James, 17 at the time of his sister’s marriage to Tom Watson, would have completed his schooling and would have either found work off the farm, or perhaps was expected to now spend full days as a farmer.

In the 1891 census, James, now 20, was not with the family. Where was he? And where to start searching for him?

The only clue I had was cryptic note left by my deceased father Thomas Watson ACTON, which said “James (Jimmy) Muir went to England?” My father’s note, including the question mark, was all I had to go on. What had been my father’s source? It would have been his mother Helen McNab WATSON who was James’ niece and who had lived in Scotland during the period of this story.

I had another corroborating piece of information, slight as it was. A cousin, Donald SLATER who had been researching independent of my efforts, had produced a family tree that said “Home: England for James MUIR”.

Using the theory that there just might be some truth in family stories, I searched the 1891 census for England. This search was more fruitful than I could have imagined. While ‘James Muir’ is an extremely common name in Scotland, it didn’t prove so much so in England. A search yielded several hits for James Muir, however only one was born in 1870 in Ayrshire, Scotland. This James Muir was a greengrocer, who lived at 13 Butcher Row, Holy Trinity Parish, Coventry, Warwickshire, England. This James, although only 21 years old, was married to a Margaret Helen [surname not given in the 1891 census] with a family of two children: Margaret Helen MUIR (3) and James William MUIR (2).

Was this the correct James Muir? And how to tell? Although was not solid proof, I had several pieces of evidence. This James was the correct age and had the correct birthplace. And, if he followed the naming pattern for his children, he would name his first son ‘James’ after his father – which this James had done. This would seem to help point to his parents being James Muir and Helen McNab.

However, the James I wanted had grown up on farms. What was he doing as a ‘greengrocer’? Perhaps he had had enough of farming and had decided he wanted to go into business. Perhaps he had never wanted to be a farmer and left the farm as soon as he could. He had at least one Watson nephew (son of his sister Jane married to Tom Watson) who had vowed that he would not “spend his life following the rear-end of a horse that was pulling a plow” with all the inherent dust, flies and horse manure. If James felt this way it may have caused a rift with his father who would have expected him to follow in his farming footsteps. As a result, James may have left Ayrshire for England and the perceived greater opportunities.

Seeking irrefutable evidence that this was the correct James in Coventry, I ordered his marriage registration to Margaret Ellen McCUTCHION from the English General Register Office in the anticipation that his parents would be named. No such luck, however several other corroborating pieces of evidence were identified. The marriage, which occurred on 17 January 1888 at the Church of St. David, Parish of St. David, Birmingham, County of Warwick was between 18 year old James Muir, a fishmonger, and 19 year old Margaret Ellen McCutchion. This was the correct age for James (born in 1870), and as a somewhat early age for marriage, it was not likely that the registrar would have made that up. [parental consent was still required for marriages between the ages of sixteen and eighteen; James obviously convinced the registrar that he was eighteen – although technically he wasn’t for another six months]. Also, the groom’s father’s name was listed as ‘James Muir’, which was correct.

However, just when I thought the evidence was falling into place, a wrong note; the occupation of the groom’s father, James Muir, was listed as ‘publican’ and I knew that James’ father was variously a farmer, land overseer, bower, retired farmer – but never publican. However the registrar also indicated that Margaret’s father Samuel McCUTCHION (who lived in the same Parish and would have been known to the registrar) had no occupation. Perhaps the registrar: had placed the occupation opposite the wrong name; had not understood James’ accent; or was worse the wear for drink. Or, perhaps James, in order to look more presentable to his future father-in-law, had not mentioned that his father was a farmer, but instead enhanced his father’s occupation to that of a business to make himself a more suitable son-in-law. All these are possible.

I had one other piece of evidence that now fell into place. I have mentioned throughout these stories the box of unnamed photos that I had inherited. As explained in an earlier post, I knew from the provenance of the box that it had belonged to my great-grandmother Jane (Muir) Watson, and that no photos had been added that did not relate to the MUIR or WATSON extended families. Some of the most puzzling ones had been taken by a photographer in Coventry, England. I also knew from the considerable research that I had done to that point in time that I had not identified any families had connections to ‘Coventry, England’.

WATSON_unkn_0011 WATSON_unkn_0010 WATSON_unkn_0009WATSON_unkn_0012

Photos above: from the author’s collection

Are these photos sent by James of his family to his sister Jane? Are the top two photos of Margaret and James on their wedding day, dressed in all their finery? I hope that someone who reads this story will have a similar photo, or one that can be used for comparison for identification purposes.

James continued to live in Coventry for the rest of his life. In the 1901 census, James, 30, born in Scotland (right age, right birthplace) was now a cab proprietor. He and his wife Margaret Ellen and their four children lived at 17 Chapel Street, Coventry, Warwickshire. As well as the two children identified in the 1891 census, Margaret Ellen (12) and James William (10), Harold David MUIR (2) and Evelyn Victoria MUIR (2 months) had joined the family. James in-laws also lived with them: Samuel McCutchion, 56, fish merchant and his wife Sarah, 47.
In the 1911 census, James, 41, born in Ayr, Scotland (right age, right birthplace), still lived at 17 Chapel Street, Coventry. He was a widower. He was a motor mechanic, as was his son, 21 year old James William. His eldest child, 22 year old Margaret Ellen was a fish saleswoman. His other children Harold David, 12, Evelyn Victoria, 10 are identified, also Reginald Gilbert MUIR, 7 had joined the family since the 1901 census. His birth in 1904 places the death of James’ wife Margaret Ellen to the 1904-1911 period.

I have not identified James’ date of death, however a search of Coventry records (since James showed no signs of leaving Coventry) on Ancestry.com free BMD index has a James Muir, died 1947, 77 years old (right age for birth date of 1870) (Source: Registration District Coventry, Warwickshire, volume 9c, Page 634) Hopefully someone will have a copy of his death registration with both his parents identified.

Although the following has not been proven, the children of James and Margaret Muir appear to be:

Margaret Helen MUIR b: Bet. July–September 1888 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, d: Aft. 1914 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England? married Walter H. WOODROFFE m: Bet. January–March 1914 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England.

James William MUIR b: Abt. 06 December 1889 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, d: Bet. October–December 1971 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England? married Sarah E. HUGHES m: Bet. October–December 1912 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England.

Harold David MUIR b: Bet. July–September 1898 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, d: Aft. 1924 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England? married Drusilla HOLLICK m: Bet. April–June 1924 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England.

Evelyn Victoria MUIR b: Bet. January–March 1901 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, d: Aft. 1922 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England? married David ALLUM m: Bet. July–September 1922 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England.

Reginald Gilbert MUIR b: Bet. April–June 1904 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, d: Bet. July–September 1968 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. married Margaret V. S. HIRD m: Bet. July–September 1927 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England

ORMSBY, Henry (Harry) (1911-1983)

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Ayr, Brickrow Farm, Ormsby Family, Scotland

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Andrew ORMSBY (1848-1928), Annie Young SPROAT (1907-1993), Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen McNab Steel ORMSBY (1895-1976), Helen Ramsay MUIR (1874-1951), Henry Ormsby (1859-1924), Henry ORMSBY (1911-1983), John ORMSBY (1856-1927), Margaret Wilson ORMSBY (1904-1992)

[for Harry’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information added and / or images added  02 December 2014]

Henry (Harry) ORMSBY was born on 10 June 1911 in Brickrow Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland, the eighth and youngest child of John ORSMBY and his wife Helen Ramsay MUIR. Harry, as he was always known, was named after his uncle Henry ORSMBY and was a benificary in his uncle’s will. Family events provide a glimpse of Harry’s life. Only 16 when his father died in 1927, responsibility for the farm and family fell to him as he was the only surviving son. Harry made the trip to the Registrar’s Office to register his father’s death. Three months later, Harry again made the trip to the Registrar’s office; this time to register the death, at Brickrow Farm, of his uncle Andrew Ormsby.

Harry lived with his mother Helen and sisters Helen (Nellie) McNab Steel ORMSBY and Margaret (Peggy) Wilson ORMSBY at Brickrow Farm. In 1929, two years after his father died, he was the informant of the death of his 85 year old grandmother Helen MUIR (maiden surname McNAB) at Brickrow Farm. Cause of her death was ‘senility’ and she had been cared for by the Ormsby family for some years.

Harry was close to his Muir cousins, the children of his uncles Gilbert MUIR and George Kennedy MUIR. On December 16, 1931 Harry, 20, was witness to the marriage of his cousin Annie Clement MUIR to James COLVILLE at 11 Maybole Road (‘Dean Cottage’) in Ayr. (for Muir family cousins see page ‘James and Helen (MCNAB) MUIR Family’ under heading ‘MUIR’ top of screen)

On January 3, 1940 Harry was again a witness to the marriage of a Muir cousin, this time when James Douglas (‘Douglas’) MUIR married Phyllis HEATH, at North Church in Prestwick, Ayrshire.

Harry and James appear to have been close cousins since, when Harry (36) married Annie Young SPROAT (40) on 29 January 1947 Douglas was a witness to their marriage.

Photo below: left to right; ________, Harry, Annie, and ‘Douglas’ Muir. Photo from the collection of E. H. of South Africa.

Henry Ormsby's Wedding

Annie was born on 27 December 1907 in Skerrington Mains, Hurlford, Ayrshire, Scotland to John SPROAT and Isabella NELSON. Annie’s father had a small land holding just across the road from Brickrow Farm so she and Harry had known each other for years. Annie moved to Brickrow Farm, where her rather formidable and domineering mother-in-law Helen lived. Peggy, Harry’s sister Margaret, took a housekeeping job in East Kilbride and took their mother Helen with her to give the newly married couple more space to themselves at Brickrow Farm.

Harry and Annie continued to farm at Brickrow until Harry’s retirement, aged 65, in 1976. Throughout this time, family from Canada stayed in touch and visited whenever they were in Scotland.

WATSON1977-000-Don-Slater

Photo left: Annie, Harry and Margaret Ormsby, taken Alloway, Ayrshire Scotland in 1977 by Elsie (Watson) Slater from Winnipeg. Brig’O’Doon in the background. See Donald Slater’s Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek for this an other family photographs.

WATSON1983-006-Annie-HarryPhoto left: Harry and Annie Ormsby in Ayr, about 1982

WATSON1984-004-Tom-Peggy-Annie WATSON1984-005-Annie

Photo left, L to R: Thomas (Tom) Watson ACTON, Margaret (Peggy) Wilson ORMSBY and Annie

Photo lower left: Annie, Both photos taken 1984 in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Harry and Annie continued to farm Brickrow until they retired when they moved to 18 Duchvay Place, Coylton in Ayrshire. After Harry’s death on 20 January 1983 in Heathfield Hospital, Ayr,
Ayrshire Annie contined to live in Coylton. She died July 8, 1993 in Ballochmyle Hospital, Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland.

ORMSBY, Mary Manson Muir (1896-1900)

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Brickrow Farm, Ayr, Scotland, Ormsby Family

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Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen McNab Steel ORMSBY (1895-1976), Helen Ramsay MUIR (1874-1951), James MUIR (1843-1924), Jane MANSON (1813-1890), Jane Muir ORMSBY (1897-1983), Jessie Ross ORMSBY (1899-1921), John ORMSBY (1856-1927), Mary Manson Muir ORMSBY (1896-1900)

[for Mary’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

Mary Manson Muir ORMSBY was born on 14 August 1896 in Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland. She was the second of John and Helen Ramsay [MUIR] ORMSBY’s children. Her given name Manson was after her maternal great-grandmother Jane MANSON who died six years previously at Mainholme Farm in Ayr where Helen’s parents [James MUIR and Helen McNAB] lived.

Mary died at age four on 30 July 1900 in Brickrow Farm. Cause of death was scarlet fever, a contagious childhood disease. Until vaccine was developed for scarlet fever in 1924, it was a major cause of death. Mary’s sisters Helen (Nelly) [Helen McNab Steel ORMSBY], Jane (Jean) [Jane Muir ORMSBY] and Jessie [Jessie Ross ORMSBY] were all young children at the time and there would have been concern that they would die of the disease as well.

Below, Mary’s father John ORMSBY signed her death registration on July 30th 1900.

ORMSBY, Helen (Nelly) McNab Steel (1895-1976)

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Brickrow Farm, Ayr, Scotland, Ormsby Family

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Agnes Elizabeth (Nancy) ACTON (1892-1981), Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen McNab Steel ORMSBY (1895-1976), Helen Ramsay MUIR (1874-1951), Helen STEEL (abt. 1821-1913), Henry Ormsby (1859-1924), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), John ORMSBY (1856-1927), Thomas WATSON (1887-1951)

[for Helen’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 1 April 2013]

Helen (Nelly) McNab Steel ORMSBY was born on 26 February 1895 at Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first of John and Helen (Ramsay MUIR) ORMSBY’s children. She was named after both her maternal (Helen McNAB) and paternal (Helen STEEL) grandmothers, perhaps an indication that her parents had difficulty agreeing on a name.

Right is a photograph of Helen – on the back of photo “Helen Ormsby, 1914” in her mother Helen’s hand writing. Helen (the daughter) was 19 years old in 1914. This portrait was taken at the Studio of Henderson & Son, Prestwick and Ayr. The photograph is from the collection of an Orsmby family descendant who still lives in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Helen (the mother) sent this photograph to her sister Jane (Jean) (MUIR) WATSON in Saskatchewan. Jean’s son James Muir WATSON had recently married Agnes  (‘Nancy’) Elizabeth ACTON in Saskatchewan and the two sisters may have exchanged photographs of their children at the time. [see posting 29 April 2012 for a description of the 1914 WATSON-ACTON marriage in Saskatchewan]

WATSON1911-ORMSBY familyPhoto left: standing, left to right is Nelly’s uncle Henry ORMSBY and her cousin Thomas WATSON. Nelly’s mother (Helen Ramsay (MUIR) ORMSBY) and Thomas’ mother (Jane (MUIR) WATSON) were sisters. Nelly is sitting on the left; to Nelly’s left is an unknown woman, possibly a MUIR cousin.  The photograph was likely taken in Ayr, Ayrshire as there is no record of Nelly having travelled. The date is prior to 1912 as Thomas Watson, a chauffeur, immigrated to Canada in 1912. Photo is from the collection of Donald Slater, (for Donald’s other family photos see www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek).

Known as ‘the cook’, Helen worked in Ayr as a cook and housekeeper. She never married and died, aged 81, on 26 August 1976 in Heathfield Hospital, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland of ‘pernicious anaemia’.

MUIR, John (1872-1921)

01 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Muir Family

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Agnes Wilson RUSSELL (1875-1945), Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), James MUIR (1843-1924), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), John MUIR (1872-1921)

(see page ‘James and Helen (MCNAB) MUIR Family’ under heading ‘MUIR’ top of screen)

(post edited 14 September 2012, 14 December 2012, 06 April 2018)

Help needed – is John MUIR one of the unknown people in the photo used in the banner of this blog?

Since my last post I have been to Ayr Scotland, home of many of my ancestors. A trip to the Ayr Cemetery on Holmston Road brought to light this little gem about my great-uncle John, the brother of my great grandmother Jane MUIR:

“In Loving Memory of my dear husband John MUIR, [died] Dean Cottage, 9 December 1921 aged 49 years. Also his wife Agnes W. R. MUIR 30 December 1945, aged 70 years”

I was surprised to see this Memorial Inscription as my deceased father had left a note saying that John had ‘gone to Kenya’. I had been able to locate the dates of John’s birth and marriage, and some census records, but then had lost him, I presumed to ‘Kenya’.

Clearly John had not died in Kenya. What was the story here?

John was born at 6:30 AM, on 30 April 1872 in Beoch, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. His father, James MUIR, was a farm overseer at the time of John’s birth. John was the 4th child and 3rd son of James and his wife Helen MCNAB. Eight year old John was with his family at Slaphouse Farm, Ayr in the 1881 census. He attended a local school, likely Alloway, with the rest of his siblings. His father James occupied the position of ‘bower’ (probably a farmer who tended cattle) at Slaphouse Farm. (photo below).

Slaphouse Farm, Ayr, Scotland.

Photo taken by the author November 2010

By the time of the 1891 census John lived with his family at Mainholme Farm, just outside Ayr. James, John’s father was the tenant Farmer of Mainholme. Unmarried, John was 18 years old, had completed school and worked as a ‘farmer’s son’ full time at Mainholme. Ten years later, in the 1901 census John, 28 years old, still lived with his family at Mainholme Farm and worked full time on the farm. By this time several of his nine siblings had left home, married and started their own families.

The 1901 census also lists Agnes Wilson RUSSELL, whom John married  on 12 December 1902. The marriage took place at the Athole Arms [Hotel] in Ayr. John was 30 yrs old and Agnes 27.

It is possible that John and Agnes appear in the family photograph used in the banner of this blog, which was taken about 1900 outside Mainholme Farm where John’s parents still lived. No photograph of John or Agnes has yet been found or identified for comparison.

Agnes, was born 8 November 1875 at New Barns, St. Quivox, Ayrshire to James RUSSELL, labourer, and Isabella WILSON. In the 1901 census Agnes is living with her 65 year old father James (woodman (estate)), mother, brother David RUSSELL, 27, woodman (estate), and 25 year old sister Anna Bella RUSSELL. Place of residence is New Barns, St. Quivox where they had lived at least since the time of the 1881 census.

For 20 years after the marriage of John and Agnes, they disappear from normal documentary evidence. They do not appear in the 1911 census in Scotland – at least I haven’t found them yet.

The next thing known for certain about John is that he died at Dean Cottage in Ayr on 9 December 1921. He was only 49 years old. Cause of death was ‘tuberculosis of bladder and prostate’ which had been diagnosed for at least 12 months. His occupation was listed as ‘farmer’. Dean Cottage, where John died, was the home of his parents, James and Helen (MCNAB) MUIR, retired famers, both of whom were still living.

John’s wife Agnes was the informant of his death so we know that she was also in Ayr at that time.

Agnes, who lived for another 24 years, died on 30 December 1945 at 82 Brownside Drive, Glasgow. Her usual residence was 45 Loudon Road, Newmilns.

Did John and Agnes go to Kenya? John had worked all his life on farms; did he use this experience to branch out in a new country? This is possible as others from Ayr, including possibly at least one of John’s brothers, had gone to ‘Africa’ to work as farm managers or labourers. With John’s agricultural experience was he a farm manager on one of the big Kenyan estates? Did John and Agnes go to Kenya shortly after their marriage and come back to Scotland when they learned that John was seriously ill? If so, is that why John died at the home of his parents? This might be the case if they returned to Scotland without the resources, or time, to acquire their own living arrangements before John’s death.

A thread of a clue about John and Agnes’ location between their marriage in 1902 and John’s death in 1921 is offered in Agnes’ 1945 death registration and ship passenger records. At time of Agnes’ death she was identified as the widow of John MUIR, Farm Manager. A search to date of passenger records both leaving and returning between the UK and ‘Africa’ in the 1902-1921 period has produced only one clue, but it may be significant: On 1 March 1913 the ship ‘Goorkha’, arrived in London, England from Mombasa, East Africa. Two of the passengers are “Mr. J. MUIR, 40, Farm Manager’ and Mrs. A. MUIR, 35”. The names, ages, date, occupation, and place of departure fit. Is this John and Agnes?

The informant of Agnes’ death in 1945 was a niece with the surname GRAY.  Hopefully more research will turn up information about the missing years in John and Agnes life, and whether or not they were in Kenya. And whether John is one of the people in the photo used in the banner of this blog. With this information we could help John and Agnes tell TheirOwnStories.

WATSON, Helen McNab (1890-1967)

17 Thursday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Alexander Hunter WATSON (1895-1934), Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen McNab WATSON (1890-1967), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Jane Muir WATSON (1899-1988), John McConnell Muir WATSON (1903-1994), Joseph Francis ACTON (1886-1972), Mount Oliphant Farm, Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), William Watson Muir WATSON (1892-1973)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ )

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Helen McNab WATSON (always known as Nell) was the third child and first daughter born to tenant farmers Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (MUIR) WATSON. Her birth on 10 September 1890 occurred while her parents were still trying to earn a living at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. Within about three years the family started the many moves throughout the Lowlands of Scotland that would characterize the next twenty years of her life before she immigrated to Saskatchewan in 1910.

Photo above: Helen (Nell) McNab Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

Nell was named after the Scottish naming pattern for children; as the first daughter she was named after her mother’s mother Helen McNAB. What do we know of Nell’s first years? As the eldest daughter she would have been expected to help her mother with the five younger children, cook, clean for the whole family and do farm work such as feed the chickens, milk cows as well as attend school. She also learned to shoot and hunt; perhaps rabbit stew featured on the Watson family menu. In later years she was an avid reader and enjoyed gardening, activities than must have had a genesis in her early years.

As soon as she had completed school, about age 15, she would have been expected to work away from home as a domestic servant to help augment the family’s income. We know this as she sent a postcard (below) from Ayr to her father in Kiersbeath, Dunfermline, Scotland on 22 September 1905, the message on the postcard “Down here at the races for three days, N.W”.

(The post card sent by Nell, to her father at Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Nell had just turned 16 twelve days before this postcard was sent. The owner of the ‘Wm. N. WATSON’ store in the postcard was Nell’s half 1st cousin – but that is a story for another time.)

In June 1906 when Nell was 16, her older brother Jim, 17, immigrated to Canada. Three years later her brother William (Bill) also immigrated. This changed Nell’s perception of the world. Postcards from the time show that the family was in constant contact and sent newspapers to Jim and Bill now working as farm labourers in Manitoba. No doubt conversations had started to convince the parents Tom and Jane to immigrate to Canada as well.

In March 1910. Nell, with her parents and siblings Alex, Jane and John boarded a ship in Glasgow and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 6 April 1910. Near Wolseley, Saskatchewan Nell found work with the Campbell family, and with Mrs. George Page Campbell, formed a happy work-friendship relationship as Mrs. Campbell shared Nell’s interest in reading, gardening and issues of the day such as women’s suffrage. [Women in Saskatchewan were granted the right to vote in 1916.]

On 10 March 1915 Nell married Joseph (Joe) Francis ACTON, a local farmer. The marriage took place at the farm home of her parents. For this photo, which appears to have been taken at a photographer’s studio, the young couple probably travelled by horse and cart to Wolseley and dressed in their wedding finery once they got to the studio.

scan0007

A receipt from about this time may be the list of items the young couple needed to set up house:

(Story to be continued)

MUIR, Jane (1865-1933)

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Muir Family, Watson Family

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Helen MCNAB (1844-1929), Helen Ramsay MUIR (1874-1951), James MUIR (1843-1924), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932)

(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ )

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Photo below: Jane (MUIR) WATSON, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

Jane MUIR was born 19 December 1865 in Crosshill Village, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first child born to James MUIR and Helen McNAB.  From an early age Jane, as the eldest child, was likely given responsibility for her younger siblings. She seems to have had a particular bond with her younger sister Helen Ramsay (MUIR) ORMSBY who remained in Scotland. It was a bond that these sisters shared throughout their lives, even though geographically separated by an ocean at the time of their deaths.

The family moved frequently as James changed employers and jobs in an effort to support the growing family. By 1878 the family had established some degree of permanency when James, now a ‘Bower’ (probably a farmer who tended cattle) moved his family to Slaphouse Farm, by the Slaphouse Burn on the outskirts of Ayr. Three more children, Mary, George Kennedy and Gilbert, were born between 1878 and 1882 while the family lived at Slaphouse.

On 20 January 1887 at Robbsland, Jane, 21, married local tenant farmer Thomas WATSON, aged 32. The eleven years difference in their ages was normal for the time when men often delayed marriage until they could afford to have a family. The marriage, conducted by William Granger the Minister of St. Leonard’s Parish Church in Ayr, took place in the bride’s home of Robbsland as was common at the time.

(story continued in posts 14 May – 22 May 2012)

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