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Greetings to all on this quiet thread, especially to my distant cousins Sue and Emma!
I would like to chip in with a bit more background information, and offer a theory.
I’m another descendant of Quintin McBlain (1818-1896), and while building my tree on Ancestry.ca, encountered the “Lady Annie Gordon” story in notes compiled by another family member, Bruce McBlain. Bruce organized a McBlain reunion in Canada in 1989, and his notes were distributed to interested family members.
From these notes it appears that the Annie Gordon stories came to Bruce from two sources: Laura Keatley, a great-granddaughter of Quintin (1818-1896) through his son Quintin (1853-1942), and from Gordon Greig, a great-grandson through Quintin’s son James.
Another interesting detail in the notes is that Laura’s mother, Quintin’s youngest child Mary (1870-1948), lived with her “Aunt Anderson’s family” for a time to attend school.
In compiling my own family tree I encountered the same conundrum as others here, in that the whole “Lady Annie Gordon” story can’t be substantiated by the historical records.
What the records from Scotland’s People show:
Baptisms of 3 children born to Quintin McBlain and Anne Gordon, in the parish of Maybole, Ayrshire:
20/07/1802 McBlain, John
18/07/1804 McBlain, Katharine
09/09/1806 McBlane, Elizabeth
Baptisms of 10 children born to James McBlain and Janet McClelland, in the parishes of Maybole (firstborn Thomas) and Kirkoswald (the other 9)
02/10/1809 McBlane, Thomas
08/01/1811 McBlain, Jean McJannet
29/06/1812 McBlain, Agnes
15/05/1814 McBlain, James
24/03/1816 McBlain, Helen
09/10/1818 Blain, Quinten
20/06/1820 McBlain, Anthony
30/06/1822 McBlair, Charles Ferguss
11/06/1824 Blain, Martha
26/10/1828 McBlain, Hugh
I tried to find death records for the four parents, but could find one only for James, who died in 1868. Janet probably died between 1841 and 1851, based on the censuses.
As for marriages, no record of Quintin McBlain and Anne Gordon, but James McBlain and Janet McClelland married 31 Oct 1808.
Catherine McBlain married a Thomas Latta on 15 Nov 1833. Although both had been born in Ayrshire, they were married in Stirlingshire. According to census records and his death registration, Thomas was a coachman. (!)
Quintin McBlain and Mary Strathdee married 11 Dec 1840.
Elizabeth McBlain may have married William Anderson around the same year and emigrated to Canada shortly after.
Records in Canada:
Elizabeth and William Anderson and their family first appear in the census of 1861, and can be traced thereafter in birth, marriage, and death records. According to Elizabeth’s obituary she arrived in 1840, and other records show that their eldest child, a daughter named Anne, was born in Canada in January of 1842.
Quintin McBlain and his wife Mary Strathdee arrived in Canada with their two youngest children in 1874.
A quarter of a century later their youngest daughter Mary (1870-1948) visited her brother James (1851- 1933) and his family in Manitoba, and there met, and in 1900 married, a James Keatley. The censuses of 1906, 1911, 1916 and 1921 show that Mary and James Keatley were living on a farm in Saskatchewan, and that their neighbours included Mary’s brothers James and Robert, and several of brother James’s children.
What the DNA evidence shows:
I have DNA links to more than 20 descendants of Quintin McBlain (1818-1896), and also to 2 descendants of Catherine and 1 of Elizabeth.
So, for what it’s worth, here is my theory:
Although they were 12 years apart in age and not biological siblings, Quintin and Elizabeth had some degree of shared experience in their childhood/youth, such that they considered each other as siblings. They may have been first or second cousins. Perhaps John, Catherine, and Elizabeth were orphaned young and raised by Quintin’s parents, or fostered by them for some other reason.
The bond was so strong that Quintin and Elizabeth reconnected in Canada after an absence of more than 30 years, Quintin settling near Elizabeth and her family in Huron County, Ontario.
While boarding with Elizabeth’s family, Quintin’s youngest daughter Mary (1870-1948) heard stories told by Elizabeth (“Aunt Anderson”, who would have been in her early 70s) that included such details as the names of Elizabeth’s parents, and the marriage (elopement?) of Elizabeth’s sister Catherine McBlain with a coachman. Mary later passed these stories to her daughter Laura Keatley (1902-1995), and to descendants of her brother James. Over the years the stories were enhanced and garbled: Anne Gordon’s elevation to the nobility, and the elopement-with-a-coachman story transferred from Elizabeth’s sister Catherine to their mother Anne Gordon. Because Quintin and Elizabeth had represented themselves as siblings, it was assumed by later generations that Elizabeth’s parents were also Quintin’s. The names of Quintin’s parents were forgotten.
Regarding Annie Gordon, I have to agree with ArgyllGran: “It’s more likely that she was an Ayrshire farmer's daughter.”
;-)
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Welcome to the boards.
As you are aware, this is an old thread and it is not likely to be spotted by the earlier posters.
If you click on their names and the name appears in the contact box then they are still members and you can send them a message. If they have kept their email address Genes will notify them.
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EJ is no longer a member of GR, but you may get lucky if you try to contact Sue
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