ISABELLA

“Born May 29, 1804, Isabella D[aughter] Lawful to Andrew Turnbul, mason in Langholm and Janet Little his Spouse. Baptized June 18.” (Old Parochial Registers, Langholm Parish, Roxburgh, Scotland)

Extract of Isabella's original birth record

Isabella Turnbull isn’t a direct ancestor of ours. She is the sister of my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Turnbull Riddell.  Andrew Turnbull and his wife, Janet Little, had six children: four girls and two boys. Isabella was the youngest.

‘Isabella’ was just a name on a family group sheet until the day I found the 1841 census for her brother, Andrew, who worked in the woolen mills in Hawick. Following the names of his wife and children, the last person listed in Andrew’s household is “Isabela Turnbull, female, age  35, pauper”. Pauper?  According to the rules for taking the census, a person with no means of support was a pauper. Everyone else in the family had an occupation listed on the census. There was no occupation listed for Isabella.

I was interested to see what the 1851 census would say. Evidently she was unmarried. Would she  still be living with her brother?  When I found the census, there were more interesting notations: “Isabella Turnbull; Sister; unmarried; age 46; Pauper and Lunatic”. Lunatic !?! Oh, my! The definition of Lunatic, used for census taking,  was “a mentally ill person with periods of lucidity”. That would be why she had no ‘occupation’.

I didn’t waste any time before looking up the 1861 census: Isabella was still living with her brother Andrew and his wife, Helen:  “Isabella Turnbull, Sister, Unmarried, Female age 56, Pauper”. Not “lunatic” this time; but still no occupation. All sorts of questions come up: How was she treated? Did she help with the children and the housework? How often did she break down mentally? Andrew’s wife would have had the most to do with her. Did she get impatient? Was it a constant struggle? Was she nice or was she harsh and short-tempered? Andrew  was twelve years older than his sister, but he named one of his daughters Isabella. Does that mean he loved her and was sweet and kind to her? He did provide her with a home for all those years.

Andrew’s wife, Helen, died in February 1869. Andrew died a year and a half later in September 1870. I’ve searched census records and death records and poor house records, but I don’t know what happened to Isabella — she just disappeared.

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On the pedigree chart, go back from George Walter Scott through Thomas R, to his mother Janet Riddell, and then to her mother, Mary Turnbull (#11). Isabella was the sister of great great grandmother Mary Turnbull Riddell.