Events
Date of Birth: about 1745
Place of Birth: unknown.
William’s age at death is given as 78 on his gravestone.
Date of Death: 12 June 1823.
Place of Death: Newark, Selkirkshire, Scotland.
Place of Burial: Yarrow, Selkirkshire, Scotland.
This information is given on his gravestone.
Relationships
Father: unknown.
Mother: unknown.
Spouse: Christian Little.
The baptism records of her daughters Jane, Mary, Margaret, Christian, and Elspeth give her name as Christian Little. The baptism record of her son Adam gives her name as Kitty Little. The baptism records of her children William and Helen give her name as Kathryn Little. The death record of her son William gives her name as Janet Little. The death record of her daughter Christian gives her name as Christian Turnbull.
Children:
Jane Crozier (baptized 2 April 1774 in Ewes, Dumfriesshire, Scotland - died 14 June 1845, buried 17 June 1845 in Erskine Presbyterian church, Montreal, Canada East) married John Linton 2 December 1796 in Ettrick, Selkirkshire.
Elspeth Crozier (baptized 9 October 1775 in Ewes).
Adam Crozier (baptized 5 February 1778 in Ewes - died 22 July 1844 in Canada West) married Margaret Beattie 2 December 1804 in Yarrow, Selkirkshire.
Mary Crozier (baptized 29 July 1780 in Ewes - died 16 June 1857 in Wilton, Roxburghshire) married William Pow 27 November 1803 in Yarrow, Selkirkshire.
Euphemia Crozier (born about 1782 in Langholm, Dumfriesshire, (some evidence gives 1793) - died 4 January 1856 at Water Low, Selkirk, Selkirkshire) married William Lockie 4 December 1814 in Wilton, Roxburghshire.
Christian Crozier (baptized 3 March 1783 in Ewes - died 5 December 1871 in Lilliesleaf, Roxburghshire) married Adam Stewart 7 January 1810 in Yarrow, Selkirkshire.
Margaret Crozier (baptized 15 May 1785 in Ewes).
Thomas Crozier (baptized 6 July 1786 in Roberton, Selkirkshire).
William Crozier (born at Wolfcleughhead, Roxburghshire, baptized 14 April 1790 in Roberton, Selkirkshire - died 12 February 1858 in Ettrick, Selkirkshire) married Jean Clyde 3 May 1820 in Yarrow, Selkirkshire. Author of The Cottage Muse.
Helen Crozier (baptized 2 January 1792 in Roberton, Selkirkshire - died 13 February 1868 at Bantree Bank, Hawick, Roxburghshire) married John Hogg.
Evidence
Baptisms of children
Ewes parish register:
1774 April 2d
Parents: Wm. Crozer and Christian Little Glendevan
Children: Jean
Witnesses: Mr Scott and Adam Crozer
1775 Oct.r 9
Parents: William Crozer and Christian Little Glendevan
Children: Elspeth
Witnesses: Wm. His[...] and Marg. A[n]derson
1777 Feb.r 5
Parents: William Crozer & Kitty Little in Glendevan
Children: Adam
Witnesses: [blank]
1780 July 29
Parents: William Croser & Christian Little a Daughter
Children Mary
Witnesses: [blank]
1783 Mar: 20
Parents: William Croser and Cristian [blank] in Woodbankend a daug:
Children: Christian
Witnesses: Andrew Rieve & John Armstrong
1785 May 16
Parents: William Croser & Christian Little at Mosspeeble a Daughter
Children: Margaret
Witnesses: in Church
Roberton parish register:
[1786 July 6] Baptized Thomas Son to William Crozier in Wolfcleughhead
1790 April 14 Baptized William son to William Crozier & Kathrin Little Woolfcleughhead
[1792 December] 9 Baptized Helen Daughter to William Crozier & Kathrin Little Woolfcleughhead
The inscription on William Crozier’s gravestone
To the memory of William Crozier who died at Newark June 12 1823 aged 78 years. Also William Crozier sheapherd Cacrabank who died on the 18th of February 1858 aged 64 years.
Commentary
The gravestone
The monumental inscription must be of the William Crozier of this page. The death registration of the younger William (12 February 1858, Ettrick) lists his father as William Crozier and his mother as Janet Little. The name Janet is inconsistent with other information, but the surname Little agrees. The author of Cottage Muse, describes in a poem his visit to his birthplace at Wolfcleuch-head, and also describes his residence in the 1840s in Wolfhope, in the neighbourhood of Cacrabank.
DNA evidence about William’s relationships:
There is evidence from DNA that suggests close relationships that William probably had, but the surviving documentation from the 1700s does not appear to be sufficient to pin the relatonships down exactly.
The DNA evidence involves people who share significant amounts of DNA with descendants of more than one of William Crozier and Christian Little’s children, and whose paper-trail trees strongly point to a Crozier relationship.
One such group has paper-trail connections to Gideon Crozier of Castleton, Roxburghshire. One person descends from Gideon’s son William (born in 1768) and several from Gideon’s daughter Helen (born in 1770). Gideon’s wife was named Helen Armstrong. The amounts of DNA are such that, if the Crozier line is indeed the source, as appears very likely from paper-trail trees, then William and Gideon must have been closely related, perhaps brothers or father-son. Gideon had children baptized in Castleton in 1755, 1762, 1765, 1768, and 1770. I have not located a baptism, marriage or burial for Gideon.
Another group (four identified so far) descends from the Ann Crozier who married William Gowanlock in 1842 in Hawick, Roxburghshire and then emigrated to New York state. I have not figured out who the parents of this Ann Crozier were.
A man whose family has lived in Northumberland over the past 200 years has a significant DNA match with me (a descendant of Willliam’s son Adam), with a descendant of William’s daughter Christian, and with two members of the group in the previous paragraph descended from the Ann Crozier who married in Hawick in 1842. Judging from the paper-trail tree, the match appears to orginate with an Agnes Crozier who married Adam Glendinning and had children baptized in Castleton, Roxburghshire in the 1760s and 1770s.
A large group of DNA matches to Croziers descends from John Rae and Elizabeth Allen, who were married in 1830 in Upper Canada, and who were both born in Scotland. The line seems to run through John’s parents, Adam and Janet, who are named in the marriage entry of John’s second marriage in 1866. I have not identified who Adam’s wife Janet was, but she is perhaps the key link. John seems to have been born about 1802, but I have not found a baptism.
There is Tennessee group of DNA matches who are descended from Thomas James Foster and whose connection to the Crozier family is completely unclear.
DNA evidence about Christian Little’s relationships:
There are a number of groups with DNA matches to Christian Little’s descendants who appear very likely, judging from paper-trail trees, to be related through the Little family, but surviving documentation from the 1700s makes it impossible to sure of the exact connections. “Little” was a locally common name.
One match with a large number of matches to Christian’s descendants descends from John Little and his son John Little who was baptized in 1830 in Canonbie, Dumfriesshire.
Another match descends from Mary Ann Little (born abt 1787 in New York state in a community largely composed of settlers from the Scottish borders) and her husband Charles Day.
A large group of matches descends from two children of John Murray and Mary Kennedy: David Murray (baptized in Canonbie in 1765 and died in Prince Edward Island in 1853) and Helen Murray (baptized in 1767 in Canonbie, and who also emigrated to the Maritimes.)
Another group descends from a Janet Little (1749-1816), but also descends from Croziers, so the connection is unsure.
References
Crozier, William. The Cottage Muse. Galashiels, 1847.
Hawick Archaeological Society (Scotland). Transactions of the Hawick Archaeological Society. (Hawick: The Society, 1856]-). 1933. “Memorial Inscriptions Yarrow Churchyard.”
General Register Office for Scotland. Scotland. Statutory Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths.
Parish registers for Ewes, Dumfriesshire; Yarrow, Selkirkshire; Traquair, Peeblesshire. General Register Office for Scotland. Old Parish Registers, Births & Baptisms. (Scotlandspeople).
Ewes parish registers. Digital images on FamilySearch accessed 17 February 2018.
Roberton parish registers. Digital images on FamilySearch accessed 17 February 2018.