The eldest daughter of William Symington and Betty Benson, Elizabeth was baptized at Larbert on 23rd November1794. The witnesses were William Benson and Thomas Duncan. [1] She married John Rankine (1790-1848) [2] on 2nd June 1811 at Falkirk.
She died at Falkirk on 25th November 1846. [3]
Stirling Observer Thursday 3 December 1846 page 4: At Falkirk, on the 25th ultimo, Elizabeth Symington, wife of Mr John Rankine, eldest daughter of the celebrated engineer and steam-boat projector, Wm. Symington, Esq.
[1] GROS OPR Births Larbert Parish 485/10 page 326. Gives her name incorrectly as "Elizth. Symenton"
[2] Proprietor of houses. Son of John Rankine (1760-1807) and Janet Thomson
[3] Stirling Observer Thursday 3 December 1846 page 4 Issue 536 Death notice
THE CHILDREN OF ELIZABETH SYMINGTON AND JOHN RANKINE
1. JOHN RANKINE [1] born at Falkirk 8 October 1812, baptised 9 October; died 21 November 1870 at High Pleasance, Falkirk, aged 59 years. Civil Engineer [2] and Proprietor of Houses. Married Mary Andrews, 1 May 1836.
2. WILLIAM RANKINE born at Falkirk 14th April 1814, christened 17th April 1814; died 1822.
3. GEORGE RANKINE born at Falkirk 4th March 1816, christened 10th March 1816; died 1850
4. ELIZABETH RANKINE born at Falkirk 15th February 1818. Her death record is yet to be found. [3]
5. JANET THOMSON RANKINE born at Falkirk 5th June 1820; died 6th May 1906 [4] at Armadale, Scotland. Married John Smart Jeffrey (or Jaffrey, born 1819, died 18 January 1889 aged 80) 2 November 1844 at Slamannan, Stirling. Buried at Woodgate Cemetery near Armadale
Children: (This list is probably incomplete)
Jessie Jeffrey born c.1848; died 1890 at Armadale aged 42
John Smart Jeffrey born at Slamannan 19 November 1849; died Bo'ness 16 December 1901. [5] Watchmaker. Married Janet Kinloch who died 19 September 1924. Three sons and one daughter; eldest son John
Robert Rankine Jeffrey born 1851, who had several children including James Muirhead Jeffrey
Grace Symington Jeffrey born c.1859; married John Anderson 1877 at Armadale; died at Armadale 1910
6. MARY RANKINE born at Falkirk 25th May 1824; died 28 April 1887 at Denny. Married Thomas Dobbie Snr. 2 May 1846 at Denny.
7. AGNES RANKINE born at Falkirk 12th April 1826.
8. LILLIAS WADDELL RANKINE born at Falkirk 3rd October 1828; died 1844.
9. GRACE SYMINGTON RANKINE born at Falkirk 11th January1831; died 5 September 1896 at Kilsyth. Married Peter Rankin 30 June 1849 at Slamannan. Children: Henry, Grace, Peter, Janet
[1] Built model of the Charlotte Dundas and co-authored with his son, W.H. Rankine, the 1862 Biography of William Symington. His grandson, Major Robert Rankine, A.I.F., was awarded the D.S.O.
[2] See Death Certificate of W.H. Rankine
[3] An Elizabeth Rankine, born at Falkirk in 1818, married Thomas Marshall 1817-1875 at Slamannan in 1840. He was an illiterate journeyman shoemaker who was charged with a crime relating to drunken behaviour in 1868. Children include Thomas, bornc.1840, Elizabeth, born Slamannan 1841, James, born Slamannan 1843 and Robert, born Slamannan c.1853 (1871 census). She can be identified, living at Slamannan, in the Censuses from 1841 to 1871.
[4] Date from her gravestone
[5] Obituaries Linlithgow Gazette 20 December 1901 page 6; Falkirk Herald 21 December 1901 page 7