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On the birth cert of Janet, daughter of Agnes they ask for the Maiden name, Age and Birthplace of the mother which she gives as:_
Agnes Stewart, 34 years, St Cuthberts Parish, Edinburgh.
She signs as Agnes Stewart and Janet is named as Janet Stewart.
Janet was born on 29th July, 1855, Drem, Athelstaneford
the birth was not registered until 4th Feb, 1856 at Haddington.

only strange thing on birth cert I dont understand is under
PARENTS -
Father -
When and where married:
Issue, living and deceased
is the line
1 boy living
she obviously had two boys living then and both reached adulthood.
Agnes is the informant on the Certificate.

Yes, tht is stange but it is also stange that it was months before Janet's birth was registered?

From the info on the birth cert of Janet is appears Agnes sees herself as coming from Edinburgh and that is what she would be likely to put on a census form but if someone else was filling in the form they may see her as from Athelstaneford.

Long-shot ... This is a married man .... occupation Stone Mason. Living in East Lothian.

Piece: SCT1851/689 Place: Inveresk -Midlothian Enumeration District: 4
Civil Parish: Musselburgh ED 1-5 Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: Inveresk
Folio: 755 Page: 4 Schedule: 16
Address: 21 Westpans

Surname First name(s) Rel Status Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
WHITSON William Head M M 42 Stone Mason East Lothian - Prestonpans
WHITSON Elizabeth Wife M F 42 Midlothian - Westpans
WHITSON William Son U M 17 Agricultural Labourer Midlothian - Levenhall
WHITSON John Son U M 15 Agricultural Labourer Midlothian - Levenhall
WHITSON Abraham Son - M 12 Scholar Midlothian - Levenhall
WHITSON Isabella Dau - F 9 Scholar Midlothian - Levenhall
WHITSON Mary Dau - F 6 Scholar Midlothian - Levenhall

Bit late to ask him if has been up to something with my ggGran Helen but agree anything is possible. Had thought Agnes may have been in England or outside chance Ireland when she conceived the children but that makes life even more difficult. That was one explanation for her not appearing in the 51 census, others were a nickname or living under another surname but as she surnamed two children Stewart think the surname switch unlikely.

Last thought before lunch is that the name John should not have been top of the list when it came to choosing the name of her first child if it was she who chose it, It should have been James. Even going back another generation its James and Charles that are predominant not John, would guess the father chose it but the name John not exactly making things easier.

Did James Stewart, Agnes' father, have a brother Charles?

If so, then this could be her?

1841
Name: Agnes Stewart
Age: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1823
Gender: Female
Where born: Midlothian, Scotland

Civil parish: Edinburgh St Cuthberts
County: Midlothian
Address: Dalkeith Road Roschall
Parish Number: 685/2
Household Members:
Name Age
Charles Stewart 50 born: Midlothian, Scotland
Margt Stewart 24
Agnes Stewart 18
Agnes Stewart 18

...............two Agnes Stewarts noted and both have the same age. Either this is an error, or one is the daughter and the other is a visitor.


same family in 1851:-
Name: Agnes Stewart
Age: 23
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1828
Relationship: Daughter
Father's Name: Charles Stewart
Gender: Female
Where born: Edinr, Midlothian
Parish Number: 693
Civil parish: Liberton
County: Midlothian
Address: Cameron Lodge
ED: 4
Page: 14 (click to see others on page)
Household schedule number: 60
Line: 2
Roll: CSSCT1851_190
Household Members:
Name Age
Charles Stewart 60
Agnes Stewart 23

Yes Catherine but unfortunately he was born and died in Leadhills.
Nice try, though.
I have been really stuck on this for years so if someone can crack it I would be ecstatic.

Thought it was worth a try as it would give a link to Edinburgh.
:-|

The children of John Muir Stewart/Whitton were born in Banefield Terrace and when that was demolished Murdoch Terrace both in St Cuthberts (Fountainbridge near library), dont know if there was anything to encourage them to live there or if it was just chance.

James Stewart the schoolmaster at Drem, East Lothian father of Agnes was brought up in Leadhills and I presume became a pupil teacher in the local school, he must have shown promise as the Duke of Buccleuch who owned the mines then must have paid to complete his education in Edinburgh before moving him to the Dukes Drem school (for his estates there) via a short stay in Dirleton just down the road from Drem,

Or other possibility is that James served a form of apprenticeship in an Edinburgh school.

? 1841

Piece: SCT1841/313 Place: Murroes -Angus Enumeration District: 3
Civil Parish: Murroes Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 3 Page: 1
Address: Westhall Bothie

Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
WHITTON James M 45 Ag Lab Angus
WHITTON Isabel F 40 Outside Census County (1841)
WHITTON William M 15 Apprentice Mason Angus
WHITTON John M 11 Angus
WHITTON Thomas M 9 Angus
WHITTON David M 9 Angus

OH! That looks interesting Helen, nice find.
It may be worth following him through the census records. I don't have time at the moment but will take a look later.
:-)

WILLIAM WHITTON
Male

Event(s):
Birth: 28 NOV 1824 Murroes, Angus, Scotland

Parents:
Father: JAMES WHITTON
Mother: ISOBEL KINNES

First William Whitton (Mason) I have seen, interesting but late and its been a long day.
Did go and have a look at the parish minutes for Athelstaneford and was surprised there was no mention of Agnes, though one of her sisters got a mention of an illegitimate with the father named, dont understand how Agnes escaped comment with three in a short period of time.
Thank you ladies.

There's someone on Genes who has a William Whitton born in Murroes, Angus in their tree. He has no birth year noted (1824) .. but may well be the same William.

You could try making a connection with the tree holder .. who might be able to add extra information regarding census information etc which might help tie-in or eliminate this particular William Whitton from your search.

I am now (at long last) coming to the conclusion that the Whitson name could be correct, also that Agnes was with the Reid family in 1841 as her youngest sister Alice was given the middle name Reid which is not a name in the family line and must have been given for a good reason. I will have to one day try to have a look at the original of John Muir Stewarts birth certificate and see if the name Whitton/Whitson could have been misread. Agnes would have been very literate as her father was the schoolmaster so it could have been someone misreading it.
Thanks to All who have tried so hard.

Alan, there wouldn't be a birth certificate for John. All you can hope for is a record of his christening. Statutory registration didn't begin in Scotland until 1855.

I have at long last satisfied myself that I have found the father of the first of Agnes Stewart's children (John Muir) and very possibly also the father of the other two as well. My thanks to all who showed an interest and helped. This will off course never be a 100% certainty unless a Whitson out there would do a DNA test.

The father of the children of Agnes Stewart.

My GGgrandmother Agnes Stewart had three illegitimate children. This is the information I have that points to the father of at least John being William Whitson (b. c1809 in Prestonpans) a stone mason.
The children: John (b.1849), James (b.1852) and Janet (b.1855) all born in Drem, East Lothian, Scotland where the father of Agnes (James Stewart) was the schoolmaster. Where they were conceived is unknown and can only be guessed at.
The children were brought up in Drem and then Ormiston by their grandparents under the Stewart name. Agnes died in 1859 (Ormiston) when John would be only 10 years old, his grandfather James Stewart died in 1860 leaving the children with his widow Annie who died in 1873. The first mention of a fathers name was on the wedding certificate of John Muir Whitton (previously Stewart) to Margaret Hendry in Edinburgh 1872. Margaret was also illegitimate and John seems to have made a great effort to avoid both of them being declared illegitimate on the wedding certificate by registering under the Whitton name and listing his mother as Agnes Whitton (she certainly never married) and father William Whitton (Stone Mason). I believe Whitton to be a mistake probably never been written down and relying on the memory of those still alive. The first son James was born (1873, Edinburgh) under the Whitton name but never used anything other than Stewart. John Muir went to Edinburgh sheriff court to apply for a change of surname on Oct 19th, 1874 and on 27th Aug, 1875 the Whitton name was dropped. The family never spoke of it so no handed down information.

Now the facts.
Agnes Stewart in 1841 census was staying with the Reid family at Sommerfield, Haddington, East Lothian. Next door in a sparsely populated area was James Whitson and his family, the brother of James was William Whitson a stone mason living in Levenhall, Midlothian. Very probable that James Whitson (a married man) would call on his brother (also a married man) to work on the farm and garden in his capacity as a Stone Mason and William would therefore have been in contact with Agnes Stewart.
In 1851 census Agnes Stewart was living with John Turnbull (a Baker) and his family at 9 William Street, Edinburgh, James Whitson is still at Somerfield and William Whitson is now in Westpans which is literally just across a field from Levenhall. Back to the 1841 census with William Whitson living in Levenhall (maybe around five houses) and who should be living there also but John Turnbull (Baker) the very same person as Agnes is living with in 1851. This I believe to be conclusive evidence that William Whitton (a mason) on John Muir’s wedding certificate was in fact a Whitson and William Whitson (b.Prestonpans) is that man. I think William Whitson arranged the job with John Turnbull but to acknowledge John Muir Stewart/Whitson as his son at John’s wedding was a step he was not willing to take and that led to the name change by John Muir Stewart.
I can believe in a little coincidence but certainly not the amount of facts just listed. In the next few years I will attempt to trace a church record for Agnes Stewart and the father of her child/children being lambasted from the pulpit of her local church which was a common and well recorded occurrence in those days but can not be sure exactly where she was staying when the conception occurred as she could have been living somewhere else between the two census recordings. She went ‘home’ to Drem to have the children. Eventually thinking of a DNA test but that could only occur if someone from the Whitson line was willing. If I am lucky with the church records that would not be necessary. Any thoughts from readers of this article are welcome.
Alan Stewart (Dumfries, Scotland). [[email protected]]
It is also possible that John Muir Stewart/Whitton/Whitson did not know where his father lived or any of the history of the liason with his mother so he eventually just wanted to be a Stewart in memory of his Grandparents who brought him up and his mother. If he was looking for a Whitton he would also never have found him or any of the family of William. Unlikely he looked very far as time was money in these days and money was always short. Many possibilities as to the reason for the name change, will never know.