FOLLOWING THE CLUES
Genealogy detective work gets so complicated! All the little clues lead off in different directions which eventually come back together, but to explain how you follow those clues – well it’s difficult. But that’s what makes genealogy so intriguing to me. And that’s what brings the people – my ancestors – alive: the little things that made up their lives.
I’ve read the Langholm Parish record of Andrew Turnbull and Janet Little’s marriage dozens of times searching for a clue to parents, birthplace, anything! This time, I wasn’t looking for anything. I was just reading:
1788; Novr 2: Marriage declared and adhered to before the Session betwixt Andrew Turnbull, Mason, from Hawick and Janet Little Daughter to the Deceased John Little Flesher in Langholm – alledged to have taken place Clandestinly the 1st of July last.
I used to get hung up on that “Marriage . . . alledged to have taken place Clandestinly”. Clandestine marriages were perfectly legal – they just didn’t take place in the “Church”, weren’t performed by an authorized clergyman, and didn’t follow the rules of either posting banns or getting a license. Once the marriage was declared before the kirk, the couple was often made to pay a fine and then their marriage was blessed by the church.
This time, as I read, I realized that Andrew Turnbull was from Hawick – a detail which I hadn’t followed to its logical conclusion before! So, okay, he was a stranger, an outsider, in Langholm – what was he doing there?
Evidently, there are two or three old quarries on Whita Hill near Langholm that produce a beautiful, white sandstone which was used to build houses and other buildings in Langholm. In 1778, there was a building boom in Langholm: they started building “New Langholm” – using the stone from the Whita Hill quarry. Eventually, around 140 houses were built in New Langholm. Andrew would have been just a kid in 1778, possibly just beginning his apprenticeship to become a mason; but 140 buildings wouldn’t have sprung up overnight. As I research the rules applying to the apprentices of stone masons, it seems very logical to me that Andrew was in Langholm working as a stone mason – and possibly had been for several years before his marriage to Janet Little.
The next order of business, of course, is to find some parents for Andrew in Hawick. I THINK I have found them, but I have only circumstantial evidence, and I really would like to find something that supports my deductions. Maybe I should lay out what I know and take a vote . . . .
Here are two links to websites with some interesting notes on stone masonry:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-england/medieval-masons/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonemasonry
I’ve read the Langholm Parish record of Andrew Turnbull and Janet Little’s marriage dozens of times searching for a clue to parents, birthplace, anything! This time, I wasn’t looking for anything. I was just reading:
I used to get hung up on that “Marriage . . . alledged to have taken place Clandestinly”. Clandestine marriages were perfectly legal – they just didn’t take place in the “Church”, weren’t performed by an authorized clergyman, and didn’t follow the rules of either posting banns or getting a license. Once the marriage was declared before the kirk, the couple was often made to pay a fine and then their marriage was blessed by the church.
This time, as I read, I realized that Andrew Turnbull was from Hawick – a detail which I hadn’t followed to its logical conclusion before! So, okay, he was a stranger, an outsider, in Langholm – what was he doing there?
Evidently, there are two or three old quarries on Whita Hill near Langholm that produce a beautiful, white sandstone which was used to build houses and other buildings in Langholm. In 1778, there was a building boom in Langholm: they started building “New Langholm” – using the stone from the Whita Hill quarry. Eventually, around 140 houses were built in New Langholm. Andrew would have been just a kid in 1778, possibly just beginning his apprenticeship to become a mason; but 140 buildings wouldn’t have sprung up overnight. As I research the rules applying to the apprentices of stone masons, it seems very logical to me that Andrew was in Langholm working as a stone mason – and possibly had been for several years before his marriage to Janet Little.
The next order of business, of course, is to find some parents for Andrew in Hawick. I THINK I have found them, but I have only circumstantial evidence, and I really would like to find something that supports my deductions. Maybe I should lay out what I know and take a vote . . . .
Here are two links to websites with some interesting notes on stone masonry:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-england/medieval-masons/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonemasonry
posted by Martha | 1:35 PM
1 Comments:
Did you and the crew go to cemeteries to take pictures when you were in Scotland? I would love to go and my purpose would be to take pictures of every cemetery and every grave in every cemetery to that when the dots all connect I would have pictures to go with the people!!
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