Caroline Reid in 1871

[KittyKat]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and hope I can get some help in locating a census record that I can't seem to find anywhere. I am living in Massachusetts, USA, by the way, so if anyone has Scottish family in MA I am more than willing to help with research on my end!

I'm looking for my great-great-grandmother Caroline Reid b 1848 in Dalmellington, Ayr./ father John Reid/ mother Caroline Ferguson/ raised by stepmother Hannah Geddes. Her family moved to Paisley area by 1861 where she is found working in the mills and boarding in Johnstone. I do have a record of her giving birth to her first son William in June 1870 and to her second son John in January of 1872. She was unwed for both. I also have records of her and her children in Paisley Abbey poorhouse in 1871/72. But I do not know where she was living and her circumstances at the time of the census in April of 1871. I am trying to determine the identity of John's (my gr-grandfather) biological father using dna analysis, and it would be helpful to know exactly where she lived in April of 1871, as that is about the time that John would have been conceived. I cannot find any trace of her or her son William Reid who would have been 10 mos old. Her last known location prior to that census was Broadlea Banks, Neilston, which is the address on William's birth record in June 1870. Caroline died in Neilston in Feb 1881. If anyone can find her whereabouts in April of 1871 you will win the genealogy sleuth of the year award, granted by ME!

KittyKat

[nelmit]

Hi KittyKat and welcome to Talking Scot.

Well I picked up the gauntlet but I'm afraid I failed miserably!

Do you know if wee William lived till adulthood as I see there is a death registered at Paisley in 1870 of a child who would be the right age although the name is fairly common.

It looks as though John and Hannah moved about a lot and a likely death for Hannah at Bathgate in 1870 but I am not finding any of the family in 1871.

I even had a look at all the families living at Broadlea Banks in 1871 but came up blank.

You can be rest assured there will be others trying their best to find her so fingers crossed.

Regards,
Annette

[KittyKat]

Thank-you so much for your efforts, Annette! It's people such as you who make genealogy work so rewarding and special. Yes, William lived to adulthood, married an Elizabeth Alexander, served in WWI and had several children! Yes, her father had died in 1865 of miner's lung and her stepmother Hannah did pass away in 1870. She had been boarding away from home since the age of 13 and appears not to have been involved with her half siblings, as I cannot find any record of her amongst any of their records, although theirs are incomplete as well. It seems the census takers of 1871 didn't like this family! I doubt she left the area, as she was dirt poor and all of her other records are in the Paisley/Neilston area. All I can guess is that she was in some facility that somehow got skipped in the census, since neither she nor her son can be found. Thanks again for your interest and your time!

KittyKat

[WilmaM]

I too have drawn a blank on the census aspect.
You say you have poorhouse details for 1871/2, do you have the date of when she entered there in 1871? Was it after census night?
Might she have been simply misindexed on the poorhouse census?

I did wonder if she she was living with somebody and has been registered on the census under their surname,
Unfortunately freecen doesn't have Neilston covered for that year, and looking through every William under the age of one would be high impossible on SP ( not to mention bankrupting!)

In relation to your question on another thread:
A pauper dying on Neilston would more than likely be buried in the graveyard at Neilston parish kirk, but without a gravestone.

[KittyKat]

Hi Wilma - Thanks so much for giving it a go! Caroline was admitted to Abbey poorhouse on 26 Oct 1871, pregnant and with little William in tow. She gave birth there in January to John (my gr-grandfather) and was discharged in May of 1872, then re-admitted in June. I have searched the census for any Caroline in her age group (as well as Carrie and Catherine) and have come up empty. Caroline wasn't that common a name, so there weren't many of those to go through. Same with William. I thought perhaps he could be staying with a relative/grandparent or something, but cannot find any William of his age whose parents are not accounted for.

Thanks for the tip on the pauper burial in Neilston, I shall have to look up the parish kirk there!

Kat

[carolineasb]

Hi Kat,

Sorry I can't add anything here but, as in your other post on another Board, it's extremely odd to see my own name on a post from the 19th Century as I was born over 100 years later from your Caroline Reid!

Good luck with your search!

Carolineasb