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William Paton
11/3/1779 - 28/2/1849
William was Calum's and Jamie's great great
great great great grandfather.
William was born during the reign of the British king George III at Sconieburn,
Perth, on Thursday, March 11th 1779 (OPR:387/7):
Sconieburn March Seventh One Thousand Seven Hundred
and Seventy Nine was born William Paton, Lawfully procreated betwixt John Paton weaver and Ann Watson his spouse and baptized
March Eleventh by the Revd Mr Ian Moody Minr at Perth.
As a young child, William grew up in Sconieburn watching his father John working as a
weaver on an handloom, and ended up taking up the profession himself, which he worked at until the age of 19.
But in 1797, everything changed. William joined up to become a soldier in Breadalbane's
Fencibles, a Perthshire regiment raised in 1793 by the Earl of Breadalbane, to replace the troops in Britain who had gone
off to fight the French.
William was recruited by Sergeant Robert Mckay of the Second Battalion on
Saturday, March 25th 1797, a fortnight after his nineteenth birthday. From the battalion's recruitment book (NAS:GD/112/52/544),
we get a detailed physical description of William. It tells us that he was aged 19 and born in the city of Perth
in the County of Perth. He was five feet, eight and a half inches tall, had black hair, brown eyes, a fair complexion,
and was a weaver by trade.
The fact that William was a weaver caused Sergeant McKay some real problems. William signed
up with four other gentlemen on the same day - George McKay, John Garvie, John Herres
and James McLagon - and it appears that most of these gentlemen were weavers too. They were recruited on
the 25th, but they told Sergeant McKay that they were not going anywhere until they had finished the webs they were currently
working on. The rules of recruitment which McKay was working to included the following note (NAS:GD/112/52/538/10):
III: You must take care not to inlist
any indented Apprentices, without previously getting up their Indentures discharged. Nor are you to inlist Deserters from
other Corps, nor any Weavers engaged with an unfinished web, unless he agrees to purchase it out of his bounty, previous to
his being attested.
The lads were obviously not going to buy their own webs! Sergeant McKay was under
some pressure to get them to the battalion's headquarters in Edinburgh. He received two letters from Captain J. Roy in Edinburgh
Castle, instructing him to hurry up in getting the problem sorted. McKay wrote the following letter to Roy explaining the
problem:
Perth, 24th March 1797
Sir,
I had the honour to receive your two letters and in
answer to the first letter, I wrote the commanding officer mentioning that the most of my party were weavers by trade and
some of them were committed to stay until they should find security to finsih and work the webs they had in the looms at the
time they were inlisted; and indeed the greatest part of them had webs incurring fines at that period, which they were obliged
to finish therefore I could not get them away until all these points were settled; but now I think it will be in my power
to march 8 recruits from here on the 28th March to head quarters, and I expect they will arrive there in due time.
I have the honour to be
Sir, your humble servant
Robert McKay,
Sergeant 2nd Battalion, 4th Fencibles
The problem was obviously sorted quickly, and on the following day, the 25th, William
became a private. Before he could join, he had to have a physical examination by a local qualified surgeon, and was then given
a bounty of money by Sergeant McKay as part of his enlistment.
On Monday, March 27th, 1797, Sergeant McKay was able to report in his weekly
recruiting return that he had sent William and the other four weavers to Edinburgh, in the charge of a Corporal Stewart (NAS:GD/112/52/499).
Curiously, all five of the weavers were listed in the return, but only William has his age, height and birthplace listed
again, the details for the other four remained blank.
On arriving in Edinburgh at the battalion headquarters, the new recruits had to be
kitted out in uniform, which they had to pay for themselves out of their recruitment bounty. Again, the recruiting orders
describe the uniform necessary:
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| The tartan worn by the Breadalbane Fencibles |
XIII: Each Recruit must purchase out of his Bounty, Necessaries according to the List annexed; the Recruiting
Officer reserving the sum of 3 Guineas out of the Bounty Money, for which the recruit will be supplied with Slop Cloathing,
immediately on his joining at head quarters.
List of Slop Cloathing and Necessaries to be furnished
for each recruit out of his bounty:
Slop clothing: scarlet jacket
with white cuffs, collar and buttons; a twilled white Flannel waistcoat; a pair of flannelled drawers; a bonnet and feather
Necessaries: three shirts with frills;
two pair of hose; two pair of shoes; a comb; a pair of brushes and black-ball; a black leather stock and buckle; a leather
rose; a haversack
William was stationed in Edinburgh Castle for several weeks, where he was taken as
a private into Captain William Maine's Company, a company within which he was to serve until his eventual discharge. He is
recorded as being present in the castle in the monthly return on May 27th 1797 (NAS:GD112/52/338). On June 17th,
he is again found listed there, in the "Return of the Country age, size and time of service of Captain Maine's in Edinburgh
Castle" (NAS:GD112/52/339). In this, he is described as aged 18 (not 19), 5ft 8inches tall, and born in Scotland, with the
column for duration of service left blank. On the monthly return dated June 28th 1797, William is again listed in the castle
at Edinburgh (NAS:GD112/52/340).
At some point in the next three months, William and his comrades were ordered on a
march to Fife. In the regulations on marches, we get an idea of how this would have occurred (NAS:GD/112/52/538).
The evening previous to a March, the men are
to parade in marching order, with every article of necessaries in their Knapsacks, which must be packed with uniformity according
to the order fixed for the battalion.
After this initial review, and a night's sleep, the men would be ready to march off
on the following morning, with the baggage train ahead of them and the officer in charge at the front. The way the men marched
was equally disciplined:
The March in open column is invariably to
be adhered to, the division to contain as many files as the breadth of the road will conveniently admit.
William is next recorded in the monthly company returns to headquarters for
October 1797, in which we learn that he has now been billetted in St. Andrews, Fife, as part of Captain Maine's Company. Then,
in the battalion muster at Kirkcaldy in April 6th 1798, we learn that William had been sent to St Andrew's,
where he was detached as a private, from between June 24th until December 25th 1797. William's battallion had some 149
privates in it, and was under the command of a Captain David Williamson. From the adjutant's rolls at the
Public Records Office in London (WO 13/3811), we learn that from 25th December 1797 to 24th May 1798 William was again quartered
at St Andrew's, receiving an average monthly pay of one pound and eleven shillings.
During this period,
William must have had a brief leave to return to Perth, although no such leave is listed in the battallion furlough book
(NAS:GD/112/52/560). But on Wednesday, 7th February 1798, he married Christian Hay in the Gaelic Chapel (St.Stephen's) in Perth. From their OPR record:
FEBRUARY 1798
Perth the Third
of February One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety eight contracted William Paton, Soldier in the second battalion of Breadalbanes
Fencibles and Christian Hay, Daughter to the Deceased Lauchlan Hay, Resident in Perth, Parties both in this Parish Elder Thomas
Robertson
The Persons before named were regularly proclaimed and married the seventh day of February said year by
Mr Duncan MacFarlan Minister of the Gaelic Chapel in Perth.
The Kirk Session records for Perth also give a note
of how much they had to pay to the church for the privilege (CH2/521/26/485):
7 March 1798 Contract Money
From William Paton and Christian Hay Three shillings and fourpence
The wedding took place in St.Stephen's Gaelic Chapel in Perth. This particular
church was built in 1788, after a fund raising drive by the town's other parishioners. The population of the town at that
time was mushrooming due to economic prosperity, and one of the results of this was an increase in the number of Gaelic speaking
Highlanders being attracted to the town from the surrounding countryside. The church was built for their needs, and the minister
of the church initially preached all of his sermons in the language of these Highlanders, Scots Gaelic, and as such, it
is almost certain that William and/or Christian were both Scottish Gaelic and English speakers. The 1845 Statistical Account of
Perth quite categorically states:
St. Stephen's is entirely for the Gaelic
population, which is limited, and not for the inhabitants generally (p.117).
The Gaelic chapel remained their church for a couple of years.
Two and a half weeks after his wedding, the Times newspaper of February 21st records that the Second Battalion of the Breadalbane
Fencibles had given a voluntary donation of 500L to the fund for national defence, in response to an appeal that had recently
been made by the Prime Minister William Pitt. The General Order Book of the
battalion in February outlines how each soldier, including William, had donated one day's pay each month towards the
fund, and that the money raised from his battalion had been the highest within the various Perthshire corps.
Although quartered in St Andrew's in Fife, on 6th
April 1798, the battalions of the regiment were mustered at Kirkcaldy in Fife, and from the muster roll we learn that there
were 149 privates in total in the Second Battalion; 35 were absent on leave, or sick, leaving 114 present for the inspection.
William is listed as "William Paton, private, detached".
From Friday, 25th May 1798 to Sunday,
24th June 1798, we learn that William was not on duty, and presumably returned to Perth for a brief period of R&R. But
in June, upon his return to duty, his regiment left Fife and marched to
Glasgow, marching through Queensferry, Bathgate and Airdrie, and by Sunday, August 19th had reached Ayr, where his company
was reviewed by General Drummond. The reason for the move was in case British troops in Ireland needed back up in countering
the United Irishmen rebellion. But by June the rebellion had been crushed.
On Wednesday, 22nd August, the regiment heard news
that a French force had landed at Killala, Ireland. Volunteers from the regiment were asked to go on an expedition to Ireland
to help counter this, but only half of them took up the cause, receiving a commemorative medal from Lord Breadalbane himself,
who had been inspired by their zeal. They set sail for Ireland on Wednesday, September 12th 1798, arriving at Carrickfergus,
and from there, marching on to Donegal. But it has now become clear from the surviving battalion muster rolls at the Public
Records Office in London and the Scottish Records Office in Edinburgh that William did not volunteer to go, and instead
stayed behind in Scotland.
What had happened was a major political realisation
on the part of William and the others who refused to go that they were not simply chattle, and that they did have the right
to do as they believed was correct. These were the days when France and the United States had already rebelled against their
rulers and had created republics for themselves after violent revolutions, and the same political thought was running
riot throughout Britain. The rebellion in Ireland was a part of this political awakening. But William and his colleagues knew
that their regiment had not been drawn up to put down the Irish - it had been created as a form of home guard to
defend Scotland in the advent of invasion. They weren't going anywhere.
The following description in George Penny's "Traditions
of Perth", recorded in 1836, outlines the reaction to both William's and his colleagues' refusal to go to Ireland (p.76):
These troops having been only raised as Scotch Fencibles,
when disturbances broke out in Ireland, no argument could induce them to serve in that country. Lady Breadalbane, who had
taken great interest in these proceedings, was so incensed at their obstinancy, that she is reported to have declared, that
she would raise a regiment that would march to the devil if she desired it. A third regiment was accordingly embodied to serve
in Ireland. By this time the new doctrines of the Rights of Man had been extensively spread through the country, and produced
an important change in the public mind. The officers who had formerly been in the service, now found it a different business
to deal with the men. They had acquired a knowledge of what was their due, and courage to demand it. One of the battalions
of Breadalbane Fencibles, had not received their arrears of pay and bounty: on the morning on which they were to march,
the regiment was drawn up in front of the George inn; when ordered to shoulder arms, each man stood immovable! The order was
repeated, but still not a man stirred. Upon enquiring into the cause of this extraordinary conduct, the officer in command
was informed, that not having received their arrears, the men were determined not to leave the place till these were settled.
This was a dilemma as great as it was unexpected. The paymaster had no funds at his disposal, and the Earl of Breadalbane
was not at hand. After much argument and entreaty, they were prevailed upon to march to Kinross; the officer pledging himself
that every thing would be settled there on the return of an express from the Earl. A mutiny broke out some time afterwards
in the first battalion; in consequence of which two of the men were shot, by order of a general court martial.
In the muster roll for Saturday, August
25th to Monday, September 24th 1798, William is listed as quartered for eleven days only - possibly he was
either redeployed to another location or perhaps sent on leave again? The next five adjutant's book's entries list him
as "in Scotland" only, until Sunday, February 24th 1799. From Monday, February 25th to Saturday, March
24th, William was "detached in Beith".
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| The 1798 Irish campaign medal depicting uniform of a Breadalbane Fencibles officer |
From the book A Military
History of Perthshire, we learn that the volunteers to Ireland from the regiment returned to Scotland
at the beginning of March 1799, and rejoined "the detachment from Ayr" towards the end of the month (p.162).
They had returned somewhat disillusioned that they were about to be asked to journey to the continent to campaign. This went
against their ethos, they were created to be a sort of "Dad's Army", whose duty was to protect Scotland in the advent of
invasion. Their trip to Ireland went above and beyond this call, and having basically worked as policemen, which was
not what they had expected to do, they had decided that enough was enough, and the order was given to return to Scotland for
disbandment.
(As an interesting footnote, the members of the regiment,
having served with Protestant Orangemen in Ireland, brought the notion of the Orange Order with them back to Scotland on their
return. Along with the Argyll Fencibles, they had been granted licenses in Ireland to allow their regiments to form Orange lodges within them. Arriving back in Scotland, these were
the first Orange Order lodges to exist in the country.)
On their return to Scotland, on April 2nd 1799, the battalion marched
to Paisley from Ayr, and on the following day, the battalion's final muster in the town recorded that there were 552 soldiers
of all ranks in the regiment, some 34 below establishment. Two weeks later, on April 18th 1799, the two battalions
of Breadalbane's Fencibles were disbanded. The disbandment order obviously came as a sudden surprise to the regiment, as noted
in the General Order Book, and Lord Breadalbane himself seems to have had not much prior warning of such an event happening.
The medals he had promised to the volunteers to Ireland were not ready by the time the disbandment order was given, and details
of the volunteers forwarding addresses had to be taken so that the medals could be sent on when they were ready. The final
adjutant's book, dated 24th April 1799, records that Private William Paton was "discharged, the battalion being disbanded".
William's wife Christian gave birth to their first daughter, Ann,
on February 14th 1799. Ann's birth entry in the OPR for Perth again confirms that William had previously been a weaver before
volunteering to join up.
Just after Ann's birth, the family moved to Carscroft (also written as Carr's Croft and Kerr's Croft),
where William went back to earning a living as a weaver. The manufacture of cloth in Perth was the town's biggest industry,
and the 1796 Statistical Account for the town gives a brief description of the trade:
The staple manufacture of Perth is linen, and of late, a considerable
quantity of cotton cloth. There are above 1500 looms employed in the town and suburbs; which manufacture of linen and cottons,
annually, about L.100,000 sterling value. Besides this, there is at least L.120,000 sterling more in value of linen, purchased
in the Perth market by dealers. These goods are wove in the surrounding country, and all pass through the hands of the traders
in Perth, so that the total of the linen and cotton manufactures, amounts to about L.220,000 sterling.
Perth woven wear included the renowned silesias,
the fine linen used for handkerchief manufacture, as well as coarse fabrics for hat linings, umbrella linens and window blinds
linens, and cotton shawl cloths, calicoes and muslins.
But unlike the other established trades in the city,
the Perth weavers did not have a trade guild, and had no right to be represented in the council or to exercise exclusive privileges.
There was a friendly society, known as the Pomarium Weavers' Friendly Society, after the area in which it was based, created
to help the families of the local area's weavers in times of difficulty, and William may have been a contributing
member to this, as Pomarium was literally only a few minutes walk from Carrs Croft.
By 1806, linen production in the town had almost completely given way to cotton weaving. In the 1806
publication "Memorabilia of Perth", the following describes the area to the south west of Perth in which the linen workers
lived, as well as the state of the industry (p.34):
Leonard Street, Powmarium (sic), the New Row, and the suburb of Earl's Dykes,
are almost entirley occupied by weavers. Perth was long a place of great consequence in the linen trade: the manufacture of
this article was very expensive, but it has now almost entirely given place to that of cotton. From this valuable plant, cloths
of every fabric and quality are woven to a very large annual amour.
Over the next few years, William and Christian set about the business of extending
the family. John was born in 1801, followed by Betty in 1803, William in
1806, David in 1808, and Helen in 1813.
By 1806, the family had become members of the West Church congregation in
Perth, and by 1813 had become members of the Middle Church congregation. The West Church, Middle Church and East Church were
in fact different wings of the same original church, but had become separate congregations after the Court of Session divided
the parish into three in 1807.
In 1814, William and his family, along with many of Perth's citizens, were undoubtedly affected when
the town was flooded. As a result of ice blocking the River Tay, the High Street was flooded on February 14th as far as the
King's Arms, resulting in people having to travel through the town by boat. A ship was sunk in the town's harbour and five
ships washed ashore, although no-one was killed by the disaster.
In 1820, the Perthshire Courier recorded the death of William's father, John
Paton, whilst walking on Marshall Place, near his home at Carr's Croft. No doubt the entire family would have been
devastated at the sudden loss of the head of their family.
In late 1831 or early 1832, William and Christian, living
in Carscroft with their younger children, were soon rejoined by their son William and his new wife Joan
Woodroffe, who had married in Edinburgh, where William had been working as a plasterer. Over the next three years, William
and Joan were to have three children, and the cottage at Carscroft soon began to get increasingly crowded. Joan,as well
as being a mother, no doubt helped Christian with the pirn winding to help William senior at the loom, whilst her husband
continued to work as a plasterer in the town.
Life in Perth was becoming quite civilised in the early
part of the 19th Century, and as such, the population rose, with a continuous influx of Highlanders from the surrounding districts
drawn to the city. In 1821 the population was 19,068; by 1831 it had risen to 20,016. Gasworks were erected in
the city in 1824, and a water supply for the city and its suburbs was built in 1830.
A picture of everyday life in the city is again recorded
in the 1837 Statistical Account:
Fairs.- There are two weekly fairs or markets in the city, on Wednesday and Fridays. That held on Friday
is the principal one. The chief business is among the farmers of the neighbourhood, who convene at the cross, give and receive
intelligence on the subject of current prices, or of whatever in any way affects the agricultural interests of the country.
It is the day when butter, eggs, &tc are brought in for sale, and when, as was particularly the case in former times,
housewives lay in their stock of provisions for the week.
But there are also what may be called great fairs or
markets in the course of the year. 1.The first of Luke (the first of hail ouk of March.) It is held on the first Friday of
that month. Horses and cattle are sold at it. - 2.Palm-sun-even. It is held on the first Friday of April. Cattle, barley,
lintseed, and grass seed are sold at it. - 3. Midsummer. It is held on the first Friday of July. It is a season of holiday
enjoyment among the peasantry, when they repair to the town to meet with one another. Farm servants were formerly hired on
this day. The sale of hores and cattle is usually great. - 4. St Johns Day. It is held on the first Friday of September. The
principal articles sold at it are salted butter and cheese. - 5. Little Dunning or St Dennis. It is held on the third Friday
of October. It also is a butter and cheese market, and is the understood time for hiring servants for the year. - 6. Andrews
Mass. It is held on the 11th day of December. It is at this season that tenants of houses give up their leases, or enter on
new ones for the following year.
But it wasn't all sweetness and light. In 1832, a major
cholera epidemic hit the city:
Cholera .- In 1832, the Asiatic cholera visited Perth, as it did many other towns in Britain. As in the
visitation of the plague, the most effectual means that could be devised were adopted by the continued authorities to avert
or mitigate the malady. A meeting of the the influential classes of the community was called. The meeting divided the town
and suburbs into sections. To each of these a certain number of persosn was appointed, with authority to remove nuisances,
and cause the house which required it to be thoroughly cleansed and purified. A temporary hospital was fitted up to receive
patients; and competent medical officers were appointed to attend and take charge of them. A soup-kitchen was established,
from which the poor of the place were supplied daily with broth and bread. The consequence of these precautionary measures
was most beneficial. To them may be justly ascribed, under Heaven, the comparatively small number of cases that occurred.
The deaths were 147. It is proper to mention, that, through the liberality of certain noblemen and gentlemen in the county,
and of the inhabitants of the parish, no legal assessment was resorted to. The sum collected and expended was L.2091, 4s.
5d. (p.37).
William's family may have escaped the cholera, but the
next few years were to be tainted with grief, with the cottage and its primitive conditions laying host to a hotbed of disease
for at least three years. On September 8th 1835, his wife, Christian, was the first to be affected, dying of tuberculosis
(or "decline" as it is written in the burial register at the A.K,Bell Library). Three days later, on the 11th, she was laid
to rest in the Greyfriars Cemetery in Perth, the city's communal burying ground. Soon after, William's two
sons John and David erected a stone in her memory, which confirms that they were still living
in Carscroft at the time (see below).
But the situation was to deteriorate even
further. On January 10th 1836, William's three year old granddaughter Joan (known as 'Ann'), who was living
with him in Carscroft, died of whooping cough. Then on October 28th, a freak snow storm hit Perth, accompanied by a severe
frost and wind, which decimated the county's potato and oats crops, which would undoubtedly have also hit William, who in
addition to working as a weaver, would also have relied on the produce that he had to grow from his own croft. The winter
of 1836 and early 1837 must have been a period of some hunger and sparcity for the family.
The traumatic experience of watching his wife and granddaughter die may be the reason why William
is listed for the first time in the Kirk Session minutes of November 1st 1835 as a communicant in the Perth East Church -
the loss of Christian may have led him to become more church going (GROS: CH2/584/1). In the following year, William had switched
to the Middle Church parish, where he was listed as weaver living in Carscroft in the Kirk Session minutes for November 23rd
1836 (SRO: CH2/584/1).
There was however, one happy event in this period. On December 7th 1836 William remarried to Elizabeth
Balmain, better known more colloquially as Betty, in Perth. The OPR recorded the event as follows:
Perth the Nineteenth day of November One thousand Eight hundred
and thirty six years _________ contracted William Paton Weaver in the West Church Parish of Perth and Elizabeth Balmain in
the East Church Parish of Perth Daughter to Daniel Balmain Labourer there _________ Elder David Wilson. The Persons before
married were regularly Proclaimed and Married the Seventh day of December said year by the Reverend John Findlay Minister
of St. Paul's Church Parish of Perth.
On November 6th 1838, tuberculosis was to claim its next Paton victim
in the family, with the further death of William's son William (Joan's husband). And tragedy of a different
sort ensued when a year and a half later, in April 1840, another of William's sons, John, died in an industrial
accident whilst working in Linlithgow (see below).
Within only five short years, the Paton family of Carscroft had been decimated, and despite
his remarriage, William was undoubtedly a broken man, no doubt beginning to fear for his own mortality.
But life carried on, as did the remainder of his family. William continued to work as a hand
loom weaver, and by 1837, the Second Statistical Account tells us of the situation in Perth:
Manufactures.- The manufactures
of Perth consist principally of cotton-coloured goods, of which umbrella cloth is the staple. A great quantity of handkerchiefs,
checked and striped ginghams, imitation Indian shawls, scarfs, trimmings, &c. are also woven.
The number of weavers is about 1600, some of whom are
employed by manufacturers in Glasgow and Paisley. But a considerable number are employed by manufacturers in Perth, Scone,
Methven, and Milnathort.
Most of the umbrella cloths are sent to London, Manchester,
and other towns in England and in Scotland. But the other goods are generally exported to North and South America, the East
and West Indies. Many of the shawl pieces are for the Turkey market.
But the same account also describes the downhill route in which the industry was heading
after its initial boom period at the beginning of the 19th Century:
About fifty years ago, several enterprising individuals
directed their attention to the manufacturing of cotton goods, - there being a demand for them in the market to a very encouraging
extent. This gave employment to weavers. The number of these rapidly increased, as high wages were held out to the people
who would engage in the trade, and as proficiency was very soon and very easily acquired. Besides capitalists in Perth, there
were others in Glasgow who had agents here, employing weavers. But, owing to adverse circumstances and events, some capitalists
failed, and others were necessitated to restrict their operations. The numbers of operatives thereupon diminished. Wages fell
very low, and no small distress ensued. There can be no doubt of the fact, that the temporary prosperity of this branch of
trade was chiefly owing to the too adventurous spirit of speculating individuals. Though it cannot be said to have yet revived,
there are gentlemen among us, who, by sound and spirited application of skill and capital, are employing a considerable body
of operatives.
In the 1841 census, William is recorded as a
63 year old hand loom weaver, still living at Carr's Croft (recorded as Kerr's Croft), Perth, Perthshire, along with
his wife, 45 year old Betty, and daughter, 24 year old Mary. Amongst William's neighbours
in the other ten cottages of Carr's Croft are found his brother, John, aged 63, still a hand loom weaver;
Jean, his wife, aged 60; and their son, John, aged 36, another hand loom weaver. But
within the next few years, all the Patons were to disappear from Carr's Croft altogether, the reason, as yet, unknown...
On
February 28th 1849, William Paton is found to have died at his home in Scott Street. Why or when he moved to Scott Street
is not yet known, but he was buried a few days later on March
3rd in Greyfriars Cemetery, perhaps alongside his wife Christian, although the archives of the A. K. Bell Library do not list
a lair number. To his final days, William remained a weaver, his occupation listed in the burial record (A. K. Bell
Library/Perth and Kinross Council).
It is not yet known what became of William's second wife Betty, though it is not believed that the
couple had any children of their own.
CHILDREN of WILLIAM PATON and CHRISTIAN HAY:
(1) Ann Paton
b: 14/2/1799 c: 24/2/1799
Perth, Thursday fourteenth February one thousand seven
hundred and ninety nine was born Ann Paton, lawful daughter to William Paton weaver now soldier in the second battalion of
Breadalbane's Fencibles and Christian Hay his spouse and baptised the twenty fourth of February said year by Mr Duncan MacFionlach
Minister of the Gaelic Chapel in Perth.
In November 2001, Ann's great great granddaughter,
Cheri Reisman, contacted me and informed me of the following information:
Ann married Alexander Mackay,
a Perth shoemaker, on 25/6/1825. The following is the OPR record of the event:
Perth, the thirteenth day of May, Eighteen Hundred
and Twenty Five____contracted____Alexander McKay Shoemaker in the Middle Church parish of Perth, and Ann Paton in the East
Church parish of Perth, daughter of William Paton, Weaver in Perth____Elder Dr Henderson____The persons before named were
regularly proclaimed and married in the third day of June said year by the Reverend John Findlay, Minister of St. Paul's church
parish of Perth.
Of special note in the OPR record is the name
of the elder, Dr. Henderson, who recorded the marriage contract. He was in fact Dr. William Henderson, Calum's and Jamie's great great great great great great uncle.
It is not known when either Ann or her husband
Alexander died, although it is currently believed that they both passed away before the advent of civil registration in 1855,
as death certification for both of them cannot be found. It is also believed that the couple had only one child.
CHILD of ANN PATON and ALEXANDER MACKAY:
(1) Robert Mackay
b: 14/2/1829 d: 8/7/1875
Robert was born in Redgorton, Perthshire, and grew
up to become a mason, perhaps inspired by his uncles, John and David Paton.
In the 1851 census for Perth, Robert was listed as
a mason, lodging at 38 Pomarium with the head of the house, 57 year old Jean Robertson, a cotton winder (GROS:.
In 1852, Robert married Louisa Bennet
in the Gorbals, Glasgow, and the couple had eight children, the first four in Glasgow, the second four in Stirlingshire.
In 1860, Robert is living at 43 Garscube Road, Glasgow (son Robert's birth certificate),
and in the 1871 census, Robert is listed as living at 40 Grove Street, in the St George parish of Glasgow.
Robert died at 10pm on July 8th 1875, aged
46. He was living at 453 New City Road in Glasgow, and the cause of his death was muco enteritis, as suffered for six days,
and as certified by Dr D.Sutton. Robert's son John Logan MacKay informed the registrar in Glasgow on the
following day (GROS:1875/644/9/539).
Robert's widow Louise eventually passed away herself in her home at 633
Dumbarton Road, Partick, at 5.30pm on September 19th 1903. The cause of her death was senile decay, as certified by Dr. Farquhar
Gracie. The informant to the Partick registrar was once more John Logan MacKay (GROS:1903/646/03/687).
CHILDREN of ROBERT MACKAY
and LOUISA BENNET:
(1) Sarah
Jane Mackay
b: 5/2/1854
Born in the Gorbals, Sarah tragically
died in her Glasgow home at 4.00pm on March 19th 1857, at the age of three. The cause was capillary bronchitis,
from which she had suffered for 7 days, as certified by Dr Robert Renfrew. She was buried in Glasgow's Southern Necropolis,
and her father informed the registrar on the 30th (GROS:1857/644/7/211).
(2) Hugh
Mackay
b: 3/6/1855
Hugh was born in Milton, Glasgow, but like
his sister Sarah, was to die tragically young, at the age of 22 months. He passed away on April 3rd 1857 in Rosehall buildings,
Burnside Street, Glasgow, the cause being broncho pneumonia, from which he had suffered for 17 days. Like his sister, he too
was buried in the Southern Necropolis in Glasgow, and his father informed the Glasgow registry office on the day of Hugh's death
(GROS:1857/644/7/256).
(3) John
Logan McKay
b: 13/2/1858 d: 28/8/1916
John was born at 10.00am on February 13th
1858 in Milton, Glasgow (GROS: 1858/644/7/187). He grew up to become a stone mason, and on November 29th 1892 he married
Mary McCallum Cassidy in the Blackfriars district of Glasgow. The statutory records recorded the method of the marriage
(GROS: 1892/644/5/313):
On 29th November at 169 George Street Glasgow
by Declaration in presence of Robert Brown Insurance Agent John Street Glasgow and William Petrie Insurance Agent 34
James Orr Street Glasgow.
Married by warrant of Sheriff Substitute of
Lanarkshire dated 29th November 1892.
His wife Mary was the a domestic servant,
the daughter of a boilermaker, William Cassidy, and his wife, Mary McCallum, both of whom
were deceased at the time of their daughter's wedding. John's address at the time of the wedding was 22 Carrickarden Street
in Glasgow, whilst Mary lived at 125 Onslow Drive. The wedding was registered in Glasgow.
In the 1901 census we learn that John and Mary were by now living at
633 Dumbarton Road in Partick, and that John was still a stone mason. They had a son, John, living with them in their tenement,
as well as John's mother Louise, now widowed. In this census, John's age was listed as 36 - he was in fact 43. This was not
the first time his age was mistranscribed - in his wedding enrty in the atautory records, his age was listed as 29, when
it should in fact have been 33. His wife's age at the time of marriage was listed as 22 - was he trying to cover up the
age difference?!
The age lie was maintained until his death in 1916, when he was recorded
as being 53, when he was in fact 58. John died on August 28th, in the Paisley Poorhouse, although he had a usual address
listed in the death entry, it being 3 Smith Street. The cause was chronic bronchitis and cardiac disease, as certified
by Dr. M. Robertson. The informant to the registrar on the following day was J. Craig, the governor's clerk (GROS: 1916/573/1/1087).
John's widow, Mary, went on to marry on two subsequent occasions. Her
first marriage was to Robert Marshall, an engineer's storeman, whom she married in Paisley in 1919. After his death on
Christmas Day 1928, Mary married John Rennie, a tanyard labourer. Mary died at 1.30am on July 22nd 1934 at the Paisley
Infirmary. The cause was diverticulosis and diverticultitis, and an operation which she failed to survive, as registered by
Dr. Harry B. Gibbs. Mary's husband John informed the registrar on the following day (GROS: 1934/573/1/722).
CHILDREN of JOHN LOGAN MACKAY and MARY CASSIDY:
John Logan Mackay
b: 24/6/1893 d: 15/2/1950
John was born at 201 Gairbraid Street, Glasgow, Scotland on June 24th 1893.
He eventually died on February 15th 1950 at 11 Knox Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
(4) Robert Mackay
b: 31/1/1860 d: 1904
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| Robert Mackay, born 1860, photographed in the United States after his emigration there |
Robert was born at 7.30pm on January 31st 1860, at
43 Garscube Road, Milton, Glasgow. His father informed the registrar, James Smith, on February 6th (GROS:1860/644/17/125).
Robert became a mason like his father and grandfather,
and on December 1st 1880 he married a domestic servant called Catherine Jackson at 65 Yorkhill Street
in Glasgow. Catherine was born in Tarbert, Argyll, but raised in Motherwell, and was the daughter of Malcolm Jackson,
a tailor, and Catherine Black. At the time of the wedding, Robert lived at 385 Garscube Road in the city,
with Catherine living at the Yorkhill Street address. The minister to the couple was the Presbyterian Reverend John Manse
Campbell, whilst the witnesses were James Neill and Isabella Jackson, Catherine's sister
(Catherine's other siblings included Alexander, Hugh, Euphemia, Archibald,
Elizabeth and Malmmina Jackson). The wedding was registered on the following day in Glasgow
(GROS:644/10/273).
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