Dumbarton was Janet's home parish at the time of her marriage to Samuel Duncan. Samuel emigrated to Canada in 1846, leaving her in Scotland. The 1851 census describes her as “unmarried.” One gets the impression that the couple had separated.
Events
Date of Birth: about 1800.
Place of Birth: Kincardine, Fife, Scotland.
In the 1851 census of Scotland, Janet is 51 years old and born in Kincardine. She is 40 years old in the 1841 census (Ages were rounded down.) Her birthplace is given as Stirlingshire, although since that is where they were living, the 1851 census seems more reliable here. The biographical sketches of her sons Archibald and Robert, cited below, both state that Janet died at the age of 48 in 1854. Her sons were presumably the informants for these sketches. The 1851 census is the most trustworthy record here, absent other information, especially since Janet herself was almost certainly the informant.
Date of Death: 1854.
Place of Death: Scotland.
The biographical sketches of her sons Archibald and Robert, cited below, both state that Janet died in 1854. The sketch of Robert specifies that she died in Scotland. However, it is conceivable that the Janet Flokert who married “Jean Jack” 20 November 1859 in Muiravonside, Stirlingshire, was the Janet of this page.
Relationships
Father: Archibald Flockhart.
Mother: Helen Yule.
See the Commentary section. This relationship is verified by DNA.
Spouse: Samuel Duncan (1800 - 1886). Names given up for 19 November 1825 in Dumbarton, Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire, Scotland and married 9 December 1825 in Muiravonside, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
The parish registers record the marriage.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Samuel Duncan (born 24 September 1826 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland; baptized in Laurieston Reformed Presbyterian Church).
Archibald Duncan (born 27 September 1827; baptized in Laurieston Reformed Presbyterian Church in Falkirk; died 13 April 1901) married Agnes Hill 22 January 1861 in Keppel township, Grey County, Canada West.
John Duncan (born 3 July 1829; baptized 8 August in Laurieston Reformed Presbyterian Church).
Helen Duncan (born 13 November 1830; baptized 26 December 1830 in Laurieston Reformed Presbyterian Church, Falkirk - died 28 July 1873, buried Flamborough, Hamilton, Ontario) married (1) John Patterson 18 September 1853 in Polmont, Stirlingshire; married (2) David Mather 20 May 1863 in Wellington, Canada West.
Janet Duncan (born 16 October 1832; baptized in Laurieston Reformed Presbyterian Church, Falkirk) married Alexander Hay 22 June 1851 in Falkirk and 30 June 1851 in Laurieston, Falkirk.
Margaret Duncan (born 28 December (or 28 September) 1834 in Laurieston, Falkirk - died 24 May 1914 in Dorset, Ontario, Canada) married Adam Crozier 20 January 1860 in Galt, Canada West (United Presbyterian Church).
Robert Duncan (born 8 or 9 August 1837 in Stanrigg, Stirlingshire - died 22 September 1910 in Beresford, Union, South Dakota) married Mary Wallace Meikle 28 July 1858 in Woodstock, Oxford County, Canada West.
Thomas Duncan (born January 1839; baptized 27 January 1839 in Laurieston Reformed Presbyterian Church, Falkirk).
William Duncan (born 20 July 1840 in Muiravonside, Stirlingshire - died 4 February 1925 in Cannon Falls, Goodhue, Minnesota) married Lucy Dinah Harwood 30 August 1865 in Kane, Illinois.
Evidence
1851 census (James Street, Falkirk)
-Janet Flockert, head, unmarried, female, aged 51, [occupation] Flowering Muslin, [born] Kincardine, Perthshire
-William Duncan, son, unmarried, male, aged 10, [born] Muiravonside, Stirling
Commentary
On Janet’s parents:
In the 1841 census, Janet’s age is given as 40 (ages were rounded down) and her place of birth as Stirlingshire. In the 1851 census, Janet’s age is given as 51, almost certainly by Janet herself, as the only other member of her household was her 10-year-old son William, and her place of birth as Kincardine, Fife. In a pair of biographies, of Janet’s sons Archibald and Robert, written in South Dakota in the 1890s (probably not independently), Janet is said to have died in 1854 at the age of 48.
I take the 1851 census information to be the most reliable, as the informant was very likely Janet herself. The age is corroborated in the 1841 census, and as the 1841 census was taken in Stirlingshire, and the rest of the family born there, the Stirlingshire birthplace given for Janet in that census is a likely error.
There are a couple of reasons for supposing that Archibald Flockhart and Helen Yule were Janet’s parents.
Archibald and Helen had children around the year 1800 in the Kincardine area. They were married in 1795 in Alloa, about 6 miles from Kincardine, and their first child, Helen was baptized in Clackmannan, about 4 miles from Kincardine and where Helen Yule the mother was from. The next two children, John and Margaret, were baptized in 1797 and 1800 in Tulliallan, (the parish which contained Kincardine). Archibald and Helen are known to have had other children whose baptisms are not to be found: Peter, born about 1809 in Alloa; Thomas, born about 1813 in Clackmannan; and Robert, born about 1816. Probably also another Margaret, born about 1810. Genuki notes of the Tulliallan church, taking information from “The Old Statistical Acount” of the 1790s, that “an exact account of the births and deaths is not to be expected in this place, for several of the Seceders do not registrate their children’s births.”
I am not aware of any other Flockharts having children in Kincardine in the time period.
Another reason to suppose that Archibald and Helen were Janet’s parents is the naming pattern of their first children. The most common naming pattern in the period was to name the first son and second daughter after the father’s parents, and the first daughter and second son after the mother’s parents (although, of course, this was far from an absolute rule). Samuel’s first son and second daughter are arguably named after his parents (although, of course, in this case “Samuel” and “Janet” were also the names of the father and mother of the children themselves). It would be fairly normal then, if the second son (Archibald) and first daughter (Helen) were named after Janet Flockhart’s parents.
February 2025 update: This parentage has been confirmed by DNA.
The hypothesis I am considering is that the Janet of this page was one of the children of Archibald Flockhart and Helen Yule. I give my reasons above for considering this likely.
This hypothesis is particulary suitable for being tested by DNA, because Archibald, Helen, and several of their children moved to the area of Dundee, whereas the eldest daughter, named Helen, had already married and did not make the move. This, according to my hypothesis, is also the case with Janet. I have a relatively complete family tree in the time period, and I have no reason to expect I have a cluster of cousins whose families come from Dundee, except if Janet were a daughter of Archibald and Helen.
What is more, several of the descendants of the younger children of Archibald and Helen moved to various places in North America, widely spaced out. The descendants of Janet also mostly moved to North America. They mainly married people who were not close genetically to Archibald and Helen, usually people who were not even from Scotland. This means that the branches of the genealogical trees of the DNA matches that could plausibly account for the matches are quite limited in number.
I have looked at the trees of the descendants of the children of Archibald and Helen who moved with them to Dundee. Some of them are basically complete at the relevant time period and well researched. My tree is also close to complete at the relevant time period. I can see no plausible path for a recent DNA connection between the matches and me besides that of a common descent from Archibald Flockhart and Helen Yule.
There are 8 descendants of Archibald and Helen’s younger children who turn up as approximately 4-5th cousins of me in Ancestry’s DNA database. One of them shares a 29-cM segment with me, too long to be a plausible false positive.
Taken together, the DNA evidence very strongly supports the hypothesis, which was originally based on paper evidence. Taking all evidence together, Janet’s parentage is sufficiently established.
Details are below:
(1)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan, by paper trail.
AH, BP, and JT are children of a great-grandson of Margaret Flockhart (a daughter of Archibald Flockhart and Helen Yule) and George Wright, by paper trail.
RW and AH share 10 cM over 2 segments. They are fourth cousins once removed by paper trail.
RW and BP share 13 cM over 2 segments. They are fourth cousins once removed by paper trail.
RW and JT share 11 cM over 1 segment. They are fourth cousins once removed by paper trail.
(2)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan by paper trail.
HG is a 4th-great granddaughter of Margaret Flockhart through a different child of Margaret than in (1).
RW and HG share 11 cM over 1 segment. They are fifth cousins once removed by paper trail.
(3)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan by paper trail.
MS is a 3rd-great granddaughter of Robert Flockhart (a son of Archibald Duncan and Helen Yule) by paper trail.
RW and MS share 15cM over 1 segment, They are fifth cousins by paper trail.
(4)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan by paper trail.
DE is a 3rd-great granddaughter of Robert Flockhart (a son of Archibald Duncan and Helen Yule) through a different grandchild than in (3), by paper trail.
RW and DE share 29 cM over 1 segment. They are fifth cousins by paper trail.
(5)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan by paper trail.
CB is a 3rd-great grandson of Thomas Flockhart (a son of Archibald Duncan and Helen Yule), by paper trail
RW and CB share 8 cM over 1 segment. They are fifth cousins by paper trail.
(6)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan, by paper trail.
IG is a 2nd-great grandchild of Thomas Flockhart, through a different child of Thomas than in (5), by paper trail
RW and IG share 14 cM over 1 segment. They are 4th cousins once removed by paper trail. (The segment also appears in two of IG’s children.)
(7)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan, by paper trail.
CC is a 2nd-great grandchild of Thomas Flockhart, through a different child of Thomas than in (5) or (6), by paper trail
RW and CC share 18 cM over 1 segment. They are fourth cousins once removed by paper trail.
(8)
RW is a 3rd-great grandson of Janet Flockhart and Samuel Duncan by paper trail.
AM is a niece of CC in (7) by paper trail.
RW and AM share 16 cM over 1 segment. They are fifth cousins by paper trail.
Mistaken parentage
Several online trees give Janet’s parents as William Flockhart and Christina Wishart. This hypothesis was first suggested to me almost 30 years ago by a Duncan researcher, based solely on the fact that the location of the baptism of this Janet was not (extremely) far from where Janet was later living, and the date not (very) far off what was suggested by other evidence. The researcher felt that it was very possibly wrong. Later researchers, perhaps frustrated by the lack of Janet’s actual baptism in indexes, seem to have converted this very tentative hypothesis into a quasi-fact in several online trees. As I show above, this is now known to be simply wrong.
References
“AncestryDNA ThruLines for Archibald Flockhart” database report, AncestryDNA. Accessed 18 February 2025.
“Archibald Duncan, Sr.” in Memorial and Biographical Record of Turner, Lincoln, Union and Clay Counties, South Dakota (Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1897), pp. 90-91.
“Robert Duncan” in Memorial and Biographical Record of Turner, Lincoln, Union and Clay Counties, South Dakota (Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1897), pp. 77-79.
Janet Flockert household, 1851 census of Scotland. Piece 479, folio 29, page 46.