Thursday, 3 January 2013
The Story So Far
So far in my family history project I have catalogued factual information on 160 members of my family going back eight generations. I had hoped to investigate particular individuals further, perhaps learning more about their lives, their surroundings,their work. However my experience investigating John Barclay and his son James has taught me it's relatively easy to find the key events in a person's life: birth, marriage, children, death; however it's more difficult to fill in the detail. Clearly I now need to decide on my next steps in this project: should I gather more event dates for more people further widening the family records; should I try to get more event dates for the people I've already identified, for there are certainly gaps; should I focus on some key tools and resources to help me with my research or should I investigate occupations, locations, relevant world events that my ancestors would have encountered during the course of their lives?
James Barclay's Story
My research has uncovered most of the key events in James Barclay's life. His birth in 1823; his marriage in 1852 to Helen Sanderson; the birth of their two children Mary and Agnes; the untimely death of Helen in 1872; his second marriage to Ellen McGuire in 1873; the birth of their four children Ellen, Jane, James & John (my Great Grandfather); his death in 1883.
And yet I know there is much more to James's story than these facts convey. The challenge is getting beyond the events of his life to the story of his life. I know that he was a Joiner. I know that at age 50 he married a woman thirty years his junior. I know that when he died he left a son who was under two years old. I know that his second wife went on to marry again and have another son and that the children of all three families (James & Helen, James & Ellen, Ellen & William McLauchlan) were all brought up together. I know that Ellen (like James's first wife Helen) didn't reach age 50 and as a result my Great Grandfather was left to register his own Mum's death when he was just 18.
These are the makings of a story but they're not quite enough to be a story, so I guess I'll need to keep looking.
And yet I know there is much more to James's story than these facts convey. The challenge is getting beyond the events of his life to the story of his life. I know that he was a Joiner. I know that at age 50 he married a woman thirty years his junior. I know that when he died he left a son who was under two years old. I know that his second wife went on to marry again and have another son and that the children of all three families (James & Helen, James & Ellen, Ellen & William McLauchlan) were all brought up together. I know that Ellen (like James's first wife Helen) didn't reach age 50 and as a result my Great Grandfather was left to register his own Mum's death when he was just 18.
These are the makings of a story but they're not quite enough to be a story, so I guess I'll need to keep looking.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Ladyland
In the Parish of Kilbirnie in the 16th century there were three baronies: Kilbirnie, Glengarnock and Ladyland. It is Ladyland that is relevant to my ancestry and although the first Lairds were Barclays there is nothing in my research so far that suggests a connection. What I do know is that John Barclay, my great, great, great grandfather was a servant at Ladyland House.
There are two Wikipedia articles worth consulting. The first is simply a definition of barony; the second gives a comprehensive history of Ladyland.
In the events outlined in the article,the timeframe relevant to my ancestry starts in 1803 when William Cochrane inherited the estate on the death of his father. On 5th September 1815 William married Catherine Hamilton, a distant relative of the Hamiltons of Ladyland, and it's likely that William and Catherine would have been John Barclay's employers.
I know that John married Menie Montgomrie on 29th December 1823 and I also know that they first had a son James born on 26th May 1823 at the family's home in Newton Street. For now there's not much more to the story. John and Menie went on to have at least another three children and by the time of John's death in 1861 he no longer worked as a Servant because the occupation quoted on his death certificate was Slater. I'm intrigued to know more of John and Menie's story but for now I will move on to their first son James.
There are two Wikipedia articles worth consulting. The first is simply a definition of barony; the second gives a comprehensive history of Ladyland.
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| Ladyland House |
In the events outlined in the article,the timeframe relevant to my ancestry starts in 1803 when William Cochrane inherited the estate on the death of his father. On 5th September 1815 William married Catherine Hamilton, a distant relative of the Hamiltons of Ladyland, and it's likely that William and Catherine would have been John Barclay's employers.
I know that John married Menie Montgomrie on 29th December 1823 and I also know that they first had a son James born on 26th May 1823 at the family's home in Newton Street. For now there's not much more to the story. John and Menie went on to have at least another three children and by the time of John's death in 1861 he no longer worked as a Servant because the occupation quoted on his death certificate was Slater. I'm intrigued to know more of John and Menie's story but for now I will move on to their first son James.
Sunday, 30 December 2012
John
The first character I'd like to explore is John. There are many Johns in the Barclay family history, in fact it's the most popular name, but this one is the father of James and he was born on Christmas Eve 1794. My research suggests he was the fifth of six children born to John and Margaret, and he interests me for several reasons:
He married Menie on 29th December 1823, some seven months after the birth of their first child. Although this is not uncommon today, it would have been significant and controversial at the time.
He was a servant at Ladyland, an important estate in Ayrshire and I've discovered that Barclays were the original Barons of this estate...
His death certificate describes him as a slater so it seems sometime after James was born he learned a trade
He married Menie on 29th December 1823, some seven months after the birth of their first child. Although this is not uncommon today, it would have been significant and controversial at the time.
He was a servant at Ladyland, an important estate in Ayrshire and I've discovered that Barclays were the original Barons of this estate...
His death certificate describes him as a slater so it seems sometime after James was born he learned a trade
What's next?
Having dabbled in family history several times over the years, this time I'm determined to create some output. It's so easy to get caught up in the process of conducting research that documenting and organising the findings gets overlooked. However I've managed to assimilate a reasonable amount of information on the Barclays, going as far back as my great, great, great, great grandfather. I'd now like to add more detail to some of the key characters in the story. For example I'd like to find out more about James who having been widowed in 1872, married a woman 30 years his junior only a year later. I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong in this, but I suspect there's some drama behind it and that's what I'd like to explore.
John and Sarah
John married Sarah Swanston in 1940 and they lived in Renfrew throughout their lives. John was a draughtsman to trade, but they later set up their own business: Barclays Newsagent. They had two children John, born in 1941 and Ilene, born in 1945.
John & Sarah (known to many as Cissy) were my own grandparents and I have very fond memories of the time we spent with them - particularly the summer holidays when my brother and I would spend time with our cousins playing tennis in the garden or listening to music in the living room.
John & Sarah (known to many as Cissy) were my own grandparents and I have very fond memories of the time we spent with them - particularly the summer holidays when my brother and I would spend time with our cousins playing tennis in the garden or listening to music in the living room.
John and Agnes
John married Agnes McGarrie on 7th September 1900 and they spent their early years together in Incle Street in Paisley. John may have been the first of the family to leave Kilbirnie - he was certainly born there, but by age 19 when he married Agnes he was living in Paisley and training to be an Iron Turner. Within a year Agnes had given birth to Helen the first of six children. Jean, John (my grandfather), Agnes, William and James followed later. John became active in Renfrew Town Council and Barclay Square is said to be named after him. He died on the 21st of June 1953 at Loanhead Avenue.
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