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.