Events
Date of Birth: about 1819
Place of Birth: Peebles, Peebleshire, Scotland.
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.
See the Commentary section on the page of William’s daughter Jane Stuart/Greaves.
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 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.
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 Cloose
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. 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, with perhaps an earlier date being more likely. There were William Stewarts baptized in Stobo, Peeblesshire in 1819 and 1824, and in Tweedsmuir in 1816, but the parents in none of them were named William Stewart and Jane McDonald. In fact, no baptism of a William Stewart to these parents appears anywhere in Scotland in the implied birth date range.
A William Stewart married a Janet McDonald in Dowally, Perthshire, in 1809 and the couple had several children baptized nearby in the following years. It seems likely that they were unrelated
It is difficult to identify with certainty William, or his father William, in the 1851 or 1841 censuses.
There appears 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.
References
Ancestry.com. 1851, 1861, 1871 Scotland Census [database on-line].
Parish register for Peebles at FamilySearch.org [digital images]
Statutory registers at Scotlandspeople.gov.uk. [digital images]