Events
Date of Birth: about 1821.
Place of Birth: Peebles, Peebleshire, Scotland.
Date of Baptism: 20 September 1830.
Place of Baptism: Barns, Peeblesshire, Scotland.
See the Evidence section.
Date of Death: 10 May 1878.
Place of Death: Leydens Close, Dalkeith, Midlothian.
The death is recorded in the statutory registers.
Relationships
Father: William Stewart.
Mother: Jane McDonald.
See the Commentary section.
Partner: Agnes Fotheringham.
This relationship is recorded in the kirk session minutes (see the Evidence session below), and is strongly supported by DNA evidence.
Spouse: Mary McKay. Married July 1850 in Peebles.
The banns are recorded in the parish register.
Children (with Agnes):
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Jane Stuart, also known as Jeannetta Greaves (born 28 August 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland - died 13 December 1913 in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada) married (1) George Brewster 13 April 1865 in Innisfil, Simcoe, Canada West; married (2) William Ashdown.
Children (with Mary):
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Margaret Stewart (born 20 June 1850 in Lilliesleaf, Roxburghshire - died 7 March 1924 in Bothwell, Lanarkshire) married John Downie 26 April 1869 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
Jane Stewart (born 24 September 1852 in Lilliesleaf)
Mary Stewart (born 11 October 1855 in Dalkeith, Midlothian - died 18 September 1929) married Andrew Ovens.
Agnes Stewart (born 31 May 1859 in Dalkeith) married John McCourt.
Nicholas Stewart (born 28 April 1862 in Dalkeith - died 10 July 1932 in Edinburgh) married Henry E Nelson.
William Stewart (born 18 June 1865 in Dalkeith)
Evidence
from a transcription of Catholic baptism records at Traquair House:
William Stewart, son of [blank] Stewart and Jane McDonald, born at Peebles, baptised at Barns, 20 September 1830.
Sponsors Mr and Mrs McKinna
from the 1841 census:
(Parish: Peebles; ED: 4A; Page: 5; Line: 1170; Year: 1841)
Parish Number: 768
Civil parish: Peebles
County: Peeblesshire
Address: Edderstone Stable
William Stewart, 20, born Peeblesshire, ag lab
Robert Dickson, 20, born Peeblesshire, ag lab
James Docherty, 14, Peeblesshire, ag lab
from the Peebles register:
William Stewart Ploughman of Upper Kidston and Mary McKay both of this parish gave in their names to be proclaimed in order to marriage which was done on Monday 24.th June 1850 and twice on the following Sunday and no objections offered.
from the 1851 census:
(Parish: Peebles; ED: 3A; Page: 4; Line: 16; Roll: CSSCT1851_198; Year: 1851)
Parish Number: 768
Civil parish: Peebles
County: Peeblesshire
Address: Lyn’s Mill Farm House
Alexr Home, 56, head, born Melrose, Roxburghshire, farmer of 68 acres employing 3 lab
Isabella Home 20, daughter, born Peebles, Peeblesshire, farmer daur
Euphemia Stewart, 16, servant, born Peebles, Peeblesshire, house servant
William Stewart, 29, servant, born Peebles, Peeblesshire, farm lab
William Tait, 15, servant, born Peebles, Peebleshire, farme lab
(Parish: Peebles; ED: 4; Page: 3; Line: 1; Roll: CSSCT1851_198; Year: 1851)
Parish Number: 768
Civil parish: Peebles
County: Peeblesshire
Address: East Gate south side
Mary Stewart, 23, head, born Peebles, Peeblesshire, agricultural labourer wife
Margaret Stewart, 9 mo, daughter, born Peebles, Peeblesshire
from Peebles Church of Scotland kirk session, Minutes (1827–1860) CH2/420/10
Peebles 16 May 1852.
….Compeared Agnes Fothingham for the sin of fornication with William Stewart at Upper Kidston:...
from the Lilliesleaf parish register:
Stewart
William (son of the late William Stewart who resided at Woodhouse Peebleshire) and Mary Mackay his wife had a lawful daughter born at Peebles on the 20th June 1850 named Margaret.
Stewart
William (as above) and Mary Mackay his wife had a lawful daughter born at Bewlie-hill in this parish on the 24th September 1852
Birth entry from the Statutory Registers:
Stewart, Mary, present, female, born 1855 Eleventh October 4 h 30 m A.M. at Donaldson’s Close, Dalkeith
Parents: William Stewart, Foreman of Gas Work, 36 Years [old], [born] Peebles, [married] 1850 - Peebles, [issue] 2 Girls Living; Mary Stewart, Maiden name Mackay 24 years Her 3d child Peebles. [signature] William Stewart Father; [registered] 12th October, 1855 at Dalkeith Wm Barrie Registrar
from the 1861 census (Parish: East Dalkeith; ED: 7; Page: 14; Line: 18; Roll: CSSCT1861_123)
Registration Number: 683
Registration District: Dalkeith
Civil parish: East Dalkeith
Town: Dalkeith
County: Midlothian
Address: Donaldson’s Close
Wm Stewart, 38, head, born Peebles, Peebleshire, agricultural labourer
Mary Stewart, 30, wife, born Peebles, Peebleshire
Margaret Stewart, 10, daughter, born Peebles, Peebleshire
Jane Stewart, 7, daughter, born Lilliesleaf, Roxburgh
Mary Stewart, 5, daughter, born Dalkeith, Edin’rshire
Agnes Stewart, 2, daughter, born Dalkeith, Edin’rshire
from the 1871 census (Parish: Dalkeith; ED: 7; Page: 2; Line: 12; Roll: CSSCT1871_155 )
Registration Number: 683
Registration District: Dalkeith
Civil parish: Dalkeith
Town: Dalkeith
County: Midlothian
Address: Leyden’s Close
William Stewart, 48, head, born Peebles, Peebleshire, miner
Mary Stewart, 40, wife, born Peebles, Peebleshire
Mary Stewart, 14, daughter, born Dalkeith, Edinburgh
Agnes Stewart, 10, daughter, born Dalkeith, Edinburgh, scholar
Nicholas Stewart, 8, daughter, born Dalkeith, Edinburgh, scholar
William Stewart, 6, son, born Dalkeith, Edinburgh, scholar
Death entry from the Statutory Registers:
William Stewart, coal miner, married to Mary McKay
[Died] 1878 May Tenth 3 h. 20 m. A.M. Leydens Close Dalkeith
Sex: M
Age: 61 years
Name of father: William Stewart, General Labourer deceased
Name of mother: Jane Stewart M.S. McDonald deceased
Cause of death: Phthisis Pulmonalis 2 months as cert by J. Still Thomson Physician Dalkeith
Informant: Mary Stewart Daughter present
Registered: 1878 May 16th J.B. Dyer Registrar.
Commentary
William’s parentage:
In 1878 at his death registration, William’s daughter Mary named William’s parents as William Stewart, general labourer, and Jane McDonald, both deceased. His baptism is recorded in 1830 in Traquair House Catholic mission registers, but he seems to have been born several years earlier, before his mother’s marriage to Robert Ward in 1825. William’s father is named as “the late William Stewart who resided at Woodhouse Peebleshire” in the baptism record of the younger William’s first daughter. (William’s mother Jane McDonald also lived at Woodhouse, with her husband Robert Ward.)
William’s age is somewhat inconsisently given in documents. The evidence is:
1855 (his daughter Mary’s birth registration, informant William himself): age 36.
1861 census: age 38, born Peebles, Peeblesshire.
1871 census: age 48, born Peebles, Peebleshire.
1878 death registration (informant his daughter Mary): age 61.
The implied birth dates range from about 1817 to about 1823.
There appears to have been only one Jane/Jean McDonald of the right age living in Peeblesshire in the period, and DNA evidence ties her to the William of this page: a documented descendant of that Jane’s sister Nicholas shares significant amounts of DNA with me and two other documented descendants of William (10 cM, 24 cM, and 24 cM). The paper-trail trees make clear that the connection must be through the McDonalds. There is additional evidence that this relation is real: the William of this page named one of his daughters Nicholas.
There is other DNA evidence, but for that the paper-trail trees are less complete and so the relevance less certain. It seems likely that the elder William had at least one other illegitimate child: Janet Stewart, born in Dalkeith about 1829, whose mother was Margaret Lyon. This is suggested by DNA evidence, but I have not uncovered enough paper evidence to establish the identity with certainty.
References
Ancestry.com. 1851, 1861, 1871 Scotland Census [database on-line].
Parish register for Peebles at FamilySearch.org [digital images]
Parish register for Lilliesleaf at Scotlandspeople.gov.uk. [digital images]
Peebles Church of Scotland kirk session, Minutes (1827–1860) CH2/420/10. Digtal images at Scotland’s People [scotlandspeople.gov.uk]
Statutory registers at Scotlandspeople.gov.uk. [digital images]