Tag Archives: James MUIR (1843-1924)

MUIR, James (1842-1924)

09 Friday Aug 2013

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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 in Muir Family

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[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, James Muir (1901-1902)

23 Friday Nov 2012

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

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

James Muir ORMSBY, born on 06 June 1901 at Brickrow Farm, St. Quivox, Ayshire, Scotland was the fifth child and first son born to John ORMSBY and his wife Helen Ramsay MUIR.  The choice of the name ‘James’ easily satisfied Scottish naming traditions as the baby’s father’s father was James [James ORMSBY] as was his mother’s father [James MUIR]. Finally a son – the heir apparent!

Little less than a year before James’ birth, on 30 July 1900 at Brickrow Farm, his three (3) year old sister Mary Manson Muir ORMSBY died of scarlet fever, a contagious childhood disease.  At the time of James’ birth, the Ormsby household was filled with four young children under the age of six (6), likely the parents were concerned that more of their brood would be felled by the dread disease.

Unfortunately James’ life was cut short, although not by scarlet fever. He died on 26 July 1902 at Brickrow Farm when he was just over a year old. Cause of death was ‘tabes mesenterica’ (duration two months) and meningitis (duration three days). The Orsmby family was without an heir.

Right: Cause of death from James’ death registration.

Tabes mesenterica is a wasting disease of childhood, accompanied by fever, which can be caused by drinking milk from cows that have been infected by tuberculosis. Mandatory pasteurisation laws were not passed in Scotland until the 1980s.

Why had James died, probably from drinking infected cows milk, when the other Ormsby children escaped this fate? Was James the only one to drink cow’s milk? Or just from that particular cow, although it is highly unlikely that only one cow in a herd would be infected. Was James not being nursed by his mother? Perhaps his mother Helen was not able to nurse her baby James? This situation could have added the emotion of personal responsibility as well as grief to a young mother who in the space of two years had lost two babies.

ORMSBY, Mary Manson Muir (1896-1900)

15 Thursday Nov 2012

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

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[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.

MUIR, John (1872-1921)

01 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by in Muir Family

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(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, James Muir (1888-1965)

16 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Watson Family

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(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ , for photograph of WATSON family see post 29 April 2012)

[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]

James (Jim) Muir WATSON [left on 10 June 1914] was born on 20 November 1888 at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland, second son and child to Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (Jean) (MUIR) WATSON. James was named according to the Scottish ‘naming pattern’; as the second son he was named after his mother’s father James MUIR.

Unlike his older brother Tom [Thomas WATSON], Jim did follow in his father’s farming footsteps. He would have been expected to work on the farm as he grew up, helping with the work when not in school. As he grew up, Jim saw firsthand from his father’s experience as a tenant farmer that there was no future in Scotland. Land ownership was tied up with a few individuals and he could never hope to rise above a tenant. Canada was a different proposition. The Canadian West was being settled and the newspapers were filled with reports of free land, rosy conditions and healthy life style. Hardy agricultural workers in Scotland were wanted and immigration agents travelled throughout the country, distributing posters and pamphlets extolling the benefits of life in Canada.

Jim did not resist the lure and on the 19 June 1906 he arrived at the Port of Montreal on the ship ‘S. S. Corinthian’. He was not yet 18 years old. After his arrival in Winnipeg he worked for a local farmer as an agricutural labourer. It is likely that he saved what money he could to send home to his family, possibly first to help his brother Bill [William Watson Muir WATSON] immigrate, and to eventually bring the whole family.

Sometime after the Watson family arrived in Saskatchewan in 1910, Jim left his farm labouring job in Manitoba and moved to the Ellisboro / Rosewood area of Saskatchewan to be with his family. It was here that he met Agnes Elizabeth ACTON, always known as Nancy. Jim, 26, and 22 year old Nancy were married at her father Samuel ACTON’s farm on 10 June 1914 (photo below).

A local newspaper reported on Jim and Nancy’s marriage in a column entitled WEDDING AT ROSEWOOD.

On Wednesday of last week one of the most popular young ladies in the district, Miss Nancy Acton, entered into the married estate, the happy bridegroom beng Mr. James Watson, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Watson who, since they came out from Scotland some four years ago, have been farming north of the valley. The wedding took place at the beautiful home of the bride’s father, Mr. S. Acton. A large company of friends and neighbors gathered on the verandah of the house which was gaily festooned with branches of trees, with the guests grouped around on the lawn.

Rev. D. B. Millard officiated, Mr. Thos Watson, of Winnipeg, brother of the bridegroom, acted as best man, Miss May Acton supported her sister as bridesmaid WATSON1914-006and Mrs. W. S. Oliver played the wedding march and accompanied the singing. The bride looked lovely in a gown of lace over white satin, with a prettily embroidered veil fastened to her hair with a wreath of white carnations, a bouquet of which she also carried in her hand. The bridesmaid was becomingly dressed in embroidered voile with a pink sash and pink carnations.

After the ceremony a sumptuous wedding breakfast was served on prettily decorated tables set out on the lawn under arches of trees and shade with foliage.

WATSON1914-003Many useful and handsome wedding presents were showered on the bride, including a gold watch and chain from the bridegroom and a cheque from Rosewood congregation, where for several years past she has acted as organist. The bridegroom’s present to the bridesmaid was a gold bracelet.

 Amid a shower of rice and confetti the happy couple, the bride attired in a suit of Alice blue and a white hat, left by automobile for Wolseley en route for a short honeymoon in Regina.

The family wedding photograph [see photo in post Sunday 29 April 2012] shows the whole family reunited in Canada. Aside from documenting the happy occasion, I have always believed that this photograph illustrated to the Watson family the opportunities that could be gained by immigration. By 1914 Jim had acquired some land which he would eventually own, and his bride Nancy was the daughter of Samuel Acton, one of the original pioneers in the area, a major land holder and member of the Rosewood school board. The large and industrious Acton family figured prominently in the district. Jim could never have married the daughter of a land owner in Scotland, nor hoped to own his own land. Canada was indeed the land of opportunity.

After their marriage Jim and Nancy lived from 1914 until 1945 on their farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley. A rough lumber shack was their first home for about ten years until the ‘new house’ could be afforded.

In 1945 after their son Richard William (Bill) WATSON returned from WWII military service, Jim and Nancy moved to Vancouver Island where they bought a small farm in the Saanich Peninsula area north of Victoria. They lived there for several years before moving into Victoria. Their son Bill continued to farm ‘the home farm’ in Saskatchewan.

Nancy and Jim Watson, on their 50th wedding anniversary

10 June 1964, Victoria, British Columbia

Jim and Nancy both died in Victoria; Jim on 17 October 1965 as the result of a car accident, and Nancy on 19 August 1981. They are both buried in the Ellisboro Cemetery in the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, close to where they lived and farmed for many years.

MUIR, Jane (1865-1933)

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Muir Family, Watson Family

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(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)