The birth of James Weldon (1849) has apparently been claimed by two women, sisters Mary and Margaret Hannah. I submit the following from the official records to document the story, and would be interested in others opinions as to where the truth may lie.

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1816-17 Mary Hannah born (date inferred from 1851 census and age at death).
Speculative OPR Baptism 883/Twynholm P104 27th February 1815
Mary, daughter of William Hannah & (No mother’s name) Largs
The baptism would have taken place a few monthe before William and Margaret married.
 

29 Apr 1820 Margaret Hannah born Ayr (OPR 578/100 11 Ayr)

6 Jun 1841 Census Mary Hannah shown as age 20 with family. Due to rounding she could have been between 20-24 giving birth between 1817-1821. No mention of Margaret (at age 21 she could have been elsewhere). Census of Kilbirnie shows a Welding family including James (15) who could be the father of James jnr. By 1851 the family has vanished.

2 Jan 1843  (Image A, Image B, Image C, Image D) Mary Hannah appears before Ayr Kirk Session accusing Thomas Stewart (Sailor) of being guilty with her of fornication, he acknowledging the accusation. 3rd April 1843 Mary was absolved from the scandal without paying a fine “on account of her poverty”. Mary Ann Stewart born around this time but apparently unrecorded. Thomas Stewart never appeared.

12 Nov 1849 Birth James Weldon (son of James Weldon / Margt. Hannah Catholic OPR Dalry MP 53 1 1 1 16) shown as “lawful” birth, born in Kilbirnie baptised 19 Nov 1849. No marriage has been found in Ayrshire (1845-1855)

30 Mar 1851 Census Mary shown as 35 yo daughter (of Margaret Lees, father William is now deceased), James Welding shown as 16 mo grandson. No mention of Margaret. No rounding in 1851 so (if accurate) Mary’s birth year would be circa. 1816. Interesting that Mary is shown 15 years older than in the 1841 census, so rounding down was probably applied giving her 1841 birth year at the lower end circa. 1817. Mary Ann Stewart shown as 9 yo granddaughter (of Margaret Lees).

James Weldon / Welding etc. (the father) not found in Kilbirnie or anywhere else in Ayrshire.

11 Nov 1851 (Image A, Image B) Mary Hannay obtains a Kilmarnock sheriff’s court judgement  against James Weldon (Fireman Glengarnock Iron Mill Kilbirnie) in absentia for payment of aliment of his child.

2 Jan 1854 (Image A, Image B) Mary Hannah appears before Ayr Kirk Session and accuses James Weldon of being guilty with her of fornication. On a subsequent session she again appeared and produced an Extract Decree of the judgement against James Weldon for “the aliment of his child”. James Weldon never summoned to appear.

29 May 1854 James “Hannah” baptised in Church of Scotland (OPR 578/110 257 Ayr) recorded as “natural” son of Mary Hannah, born 12 Nov 1849. No father is shown.

11 Dec 1854 James Weldon dies, Sandgate St aged 5. Cause of death probably tuberculosis.

25 Nov 1855 Mary Hannah dies age 39 (Stat Reg 578/1/497 Ayr) cause long term phythisis (tuberculosis), witnessed by nephew John Cooper.

6 Jun 1873 Mary Ann Stewart marries Robert Shannan in Ayr. Mary’s parents are recorded as Mary Stewart decd. (m.s. Hannah) and James Stewart (Farm servant decd.)

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The big question is: Are Margaret and Mary the same person?

My objections to this being true are:

1) The apparent difference in birth dates;
2) Why would Mary be identified in 1841 census and 1843 birth of Mary Ann, and yet be known as Margaret in 1849 at the birth of James Weldon, then Mary again in the 1851 census?
3) Mary already has a daughter in Ayr, why would she then be found in Kilbirnie 25 miles away as Margaret, then back in Ayr for the census with a 16 month old son.
4) Mary and Margaret are normally not interchangeable names (unlike e.g. Elizabeth and Isabella). Where they are interpreted that way it is usually because the abbreviation Marg^t.  in an original document is incorrectly transcribed as Mary. Not so in this instance.

Supporting the argument:

1) No birth OPR entry for Mary. As the first child it would seem reasonable to have one.
2) No death or marriage entries for Margaret so far.
3) Margaret not identified in any census so far.
4) Margaret possibly died between 1849 and 1851 otherwise she would surely be shown in the 1851 census with her son James. Only Mary is shown.
5) Margaret is not shown on the family headstone. Mary is mentioned.

So dear reader… What do you think? Please let me know by “return all” email or via the site contact page.

Bruce Hannah (May 2022)

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For those that have made it so far…

Rough transcript of Court Judgment as follows:

At Kilmarnock the Twenty ninth day of Nov Eighteen hundred and fifty one years sitting in judgement Benjamin Robert Bell Esq Advocate xx in an ordinary action raised before the sheriff court of said county at the instance of Poor Mary Hannay residing at Number xx Sandgate Street Ayr Pursuer against James Welden Fireman Glengarnook Iron mill Kilbirnie Defender the said sheriff substitute in absence Diserned and Ordained xxxx hereby Diserns and Ordains the said James Welden Defender to make payment to the said Mary Hannay Pursuer of the sum of one pound ten shillings stirling being the onlying(?) Expenses Attending the birth of a male illegitimate child brought forth by the said Mary Hannay Pursuer upon the Twelth day of November Eighteen hundred and forty nine of which the said James Welden Defender is the father.

Item of the legal interest thereof from and since the twelth day of November and in the time coming till paid but always with and under xxxx of the sum of six shillings sterling being the value of the goods furnished by the Defender to the Pursuer as mentioned in said action and of the interest corresponding thereto.

Item of the sum of Five pounds sterling yearly of Aliment for said child payable quarterly and per advance from the date and until the child attain the age of fourteen years complete.

Item of the legal interest in each quarter aliment from and after the same became or may become due and till paid.

Item the sum of One pound nineteen shillings sterling of taxed expenses of process.

Item the sum of six shillings sterling farther the dues of Extracting this decree and recording the sums.

Signed Nov. 1851.

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Notes on the 1841 Census (From Scotlands People)

The 1841 census (6 June 1841) is the earliest to provide details for the whole population. It contains less information than later censuses but is a helpful reference point for research in the Old Parish Registers. The main points to note are that:

You will find the name and occupation of each person but not their marital status
Head of household (and thus relationship to the head of household) are not recorded
Ages are rounded down to the nearest five for anyone over 15 years of age although this instruction wasn’t always followed as illustrated in the example below
Information about place of birth is less helpful than in later censuses and is given as:
yes if the person was born in the county
no if born elsewhere in Scotland
E if born in England
I if born in Ireland
F if foreign born
soldiers and sailors who were ashore were enumerated at their place of residence

It has long been a frustration to me that William Hannah (m. Margaret Lees 1815, Ayrshire) apparently had no parents. All attempts to trace his ancestors through the official records have, to date been in vain.

I still have no definitive proof, but am happy that the problem is now resolved “beyond reasonable doubt”. My reasons are given below, and I am more than happy to engage in conversation with anyone who feels I am “off the track” somewhere, or just plain wrong.

Let us start with what the records do give us. In the case of William Hannah we are told the following:

Marriage

William and Margaret married 27th May 1815. The OPR entry (Ayrshire, 612/1 10 p. 379) states “William Hannah in the parish of Dalmellington and Margaret Lees in this parish were three times proclaimed in order to Marriage on two Sabbaths and were married”. So it appears William came from Dalmellington, at a distance of about 13 miles from Ayr.

I normally assume when looking for a marriage that it occurs around 25 years of age (plus or minus) for a male. In William’s case this admittedly blatant assumption gives a birth year around 1790.

Census

The 1841 Census for Ayrshire (the first and last William would participate in) tells us that he was at the time living in Sandgate Street, and had his wife Margaret (Lees) with him.

The ages of William (40) and Margaret (35) are apparently wrong, possibly due to rounding down as was the practice, or a transcription error, or a combination of both.

However, doing the maths gives us a prima facie birth year of around 1801. If rounding down had been applied (as was the practice in the 1841 census) and his age was in fact 44 years, it would give a birth year of around 1797.

We know Margaret was born in 1786, so the 1841 census should have given an age of around 55. Maybe the Hannah’s just wanted to have fun with the census taker.

Death

Six years after the census the OPR entry (Ayr 578 130/131) gives us a date of death as July 2 1847. It also gives his age at 60 years, this probably supplied by Margaret to the recorder. If correct this gives a birth date of around 1787.

Possibilities

The OPR records only show two William Hannah’s being born between 1785 and 1788, both in Tarbolton, 18 miles from Dalmellington.

OPR entry (Tarbolton  619 10 p.200) for 1786 gives the following:- “William Hannah in Muirside had his son William in fornication baptised Aug 4th”

OPR entry (Tarbolton 619 10 p.204) for 1787 gives the following:- “John Hannah in Hillhead had his son William baptised Nov 25th 1787”

Researching both families doesn’t shed much light. Muirside William has no known siblings, possibly understandable under the circumstances.  Hillhead William appears to have had a brother James, born 1782. Neither entry gives me any cause for hope, given the birth places and lack of siblings.

Occupation

William’s occupation varies from record to record. The only consistent occupation is as a “tailor”, including in the two prison records (below). He also appears variously as labourer, town officer, bellman and fisherman.

Prison records

William had two short stays in Ayr prison. In 1841 his admission record has an age of 56, which gives birth year around 1785. In 1844 his record has an age of 58, giving a birth year around 1786. Both entries have a birth place of Dalmellington.

And that’s it folks!

There are no more official records yet found that can help pin William’s pedigree down.

However, let’s think outside the square.

OPR records, (church parish records prior to the introduction of statutory BDM records in 1855) can be prone to errors. The parish scribes had varying degrees of literacy skills and regional dialects encouraged “close enough” spelling of names particularly if unfamiliar to the scriber.

What if the obvious dates are just wrong, either deliberately contrived, mistaken, or well-meaning but fanciful wild guesses?

William Hannah and Mary McGill married on May 21^st 1781 according to the OPR (21/5/1781 Marriages 586 /10 359 Dalmellington). Theirs is the only marriage of a William Hannah recorded in the two decades from 1770 to 1790.

A search shows that seven children were born to the couple as shown below.

The OPR marriage and birth entries of the first two children appear to be recorded in the same handwriting, almost a scrawl. These are also spelled correctly i.e. “Hannah”. A change of scribe must have happened around 1785 as the later five children are recorded in a different handwriting, being more fluent. However, each of these entries shows the wrong surname, especially poor Mary who ended up a “Hanny”.

Looking at the entry for William (OPR Births 2/12/1792 586/ 10 203 Dalmellington) we find

There are a couple of things to note in this entry. Firstly the annotation in the margin is noted in a different handwriting the surname “Hannah”, unlike the surname in the entry itself. It appears that the final “h” has been added in later. The second is that the occupation of the father is recorded as “Taylor”, a variation of “Tailor”. Remember our William also had the trade of tailor. Did he learn this from his father?

In 1795 another entry appears (OPR Births 5/7/1795 586/ 10 209 Dalmellington)

Again note the change in surname in the margin. This was the second Andrew born to William and Mary. He survived until 1873 and is shown in the statutory records as being 77 years old when he died. His death record also gives his occupation as “Tailor”. As our William also claimed to be a tailor, there may have been at least two boys following in father William’s trade.

The entry for Mary Hanny (OPR Births 11/3/1798 586/ 10 215 Dalmellington) shown below.

This entry doesn’t show a correction in the margin; however William is shown as a “Taylor” again.

Also adding some certainty to the situation is the naming of William and Margaret Lee’s children as follows:-

Their first child, Mary, was born in 1816 (although no birth or christening is recorded) and was named either for William’s mother Mary McGill, or Margaret’s mother Mary Eagleshom.

The third child, Margaret (1820) was named for Margaret Lees.

The forth child William (1822) was named for William’s father (William).

To date no further BDM  records have been found to trace any of the children except for the second Andrew, and I am going to assume the child who is our lost William. There are no recorded death entries for William or Mary. Maybe further research will bear fruit.