Why Register a Birth?

[nelmit]

It's confusing right enough. Did I look up the Poorhouse Application for you - Susan Kinnon is ringing a faint bell?

Lesley here is the family in 1861 - no James but there is one at The Industrial Ragged School who may be him.

William Simson 24
Agnes Simson 23
John Simson 5
Mary Simson 3
Sarah Simson 2
Susan Simson 48
Sarah Simson 22
Mary Simson 14
Ogilvie 36

Malki,

Have you ever found a death for a Susan Kinnon/Simpson because I can't see one indexed at SP?

There is a story at Ancestry giving the details of Susan's poorhouse application - is this yours? I can't make out if you have seen that application or not.

Regards,
Annette

[malki]

Hi Anette

No, the story of Susan's Poor House Application is news to me - even though I have started to add her to my tree on Ancestry despite not being totally convinced of her association. ( Why is it that we tend to think the worst of links until they are proved 100%? ) No flag has neen raised on my tree to note a possible connection - how do I access this information. As I said earlier I have found a death of Susan Simpson in the City Poorhouse in 1887 which only gives her parents as " Kennedy " - no other detail. The death is registered by R Smith, daughter, which, I know to be Rosana.

I have discounted the William & Agnes Simson angle - I was looking for Sarah Simpson's birth ( along with the other Simpsons ) and found "a" Sarah, the daughter of William & Agnes ( maiden name Mills ) Simpson,, so "kicked her into touch" immediately.

malki

[nelmit]

Since this is a public story I'm sure it will be ok to post it - unfortunately it doesn't mention Mary.
Her interest was daughter Sarah.

susan kennedy simpson
This is a tragic story by all proportions. After weeks and weeks of trying to find the family after the 1851 census, a lady got in touch with me to say she had information on Susan Kennedy Simpson. I had known she had succumbed to the Barony Poorhouse in 1881 but was shocked that in the 23 years before, she had applied for poor relief twice in glasgow, 1 in Falkirk and also in Ireland where she was born.

I had been slightly fustrated to find the whole family had disappeared into thin air after 1851, with the exception of Sarah who was my mum in law's great grandmother. My thoughts were that the whole family had emigrated or had died of disease as the lived a very poor life. As it was, William died in 1858. He had been working as a labourer and earned £1 per week. When he died, his eldest 3 children were out of the house but Susan had another 4 children to look after. When she applied for poor relief, she had nothing in her possesion and was probably pretty destitute. The children would have gone with her into the workhouse with her.

Somehow, she comes out of the workhouse and within a few years she has reapplied for poor relief. On the application it tells us where she has stayed in the time since her last say at the work house. It seems when she was released, she went to falkirk for a year. Why this was we will probably never know but after that she returns to Glasgow where in 1864, poor relief is again applied for only this time she seems to have suffered some kind of paralysis, probably due to a stroke.

It states that there are no children with her this time and they are unwilling to help her. The application says that they all spend what monies they have on "dress" and "will not do anything for her".

Could it be the case that the kids just got sick of looking after a mother who could not look after herself never mind them when they needed her most or was it simply because they could not afford to keep her. The girls are in service and the boys are not in the best employment. Due to her disability, they may have just not been able to look after her.

When she died in 1887 an R Smith signed her death cert. Underneath it said this person was her daughter. This had to be Rosanna but I could not find her anywhere in birth, death or any census. I then thought about trying to find her through marriage and an Annie Simpson cropped up. Her mother was Susanna Kennedy and her father William Simpson. It had to be the same person or Susan had had another child who had not featured on the 1851 census. Even though this woman's age had her born in 1843, 2 years after Rosanna I believe it the same person as it was common to get the birth dates wrong.

Susan's son James emigrated to America with his family after his mother died and the family finally settled in Massachusetts. William we know was already married and had at least 3 children. Sarah went on to marry Henry Marshall and stayed in Gasgow.

The contact details can be found at the bottom of the link. http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/409287 ... src=search

What was Mary's address when she married?

Regards,
Annette

[malki]

Hi Annette

Thank you so much for the link - I would have replied earlier but I was singing along, with the volume turned up, to the tribute to Gerry Rafferty on BBC4!!! I haven't taken in everything in the story due to an over-indulgence in a wee dram or two - but it doesn't appear to have affected my typing - in actual fact I'm making fewer mistakes!!!!

As for Mary Simpson - she married William Biggart on 13th July 1866 at 22 Monteith Row in Calton District in a Free Church of Scotland ceremony. Both she and William gave 10 Saracen's Lane as their address. Witnesses were, it would seem, of no relation to either of them. William was a Canal Boatman, Mary a Bleach Field Worker . Now that was the same occupation of Rosanna Simpson when she married William Smith at 48 Bell Street, Calton on 31st August in the same year although this was an Independant Church service. Again, no family member witnessed and they both gave the same address - 10 Barrack Street.

I'll return to the quest in the cold light of day - once again, many thanks to you and all the other members who have shown an interest.

Kind Regards to you all

malki