Wednesday 15 February 2012

Hyslop gravestone in Penpont

I took this photo as I thought it related to the Hyslops in my tree. It doesn't, as it turns out,  but I had a look-see to find out more about the family. A lot of the people mentioned don't appear in records so this gravestone is a wonderful source of information.



John Hyslop was born in Sanquhar about 1823.

His first wife is Henrietta Laurie born 24 April 1822 (from stone) in Penpont from (censuses).

I can find no record of her birth but she could be the daughter of Alexander Laurie and Jean Mcmillan who had children in Penpont in 1824, 1836 and 1828  in Penpont. Wrong! See UPDATE below!

I pick up John and Henrietta in 1851 census on ancestry (a site to which I am subscribed) in Penpont Village, John is a carter. Henrietta is a year older than him. Their children are 
Ann 6
James 5
Ebenezer 2 
John 5 months. 

In the 1861 census they are at Pringleton, Penpont. John is still a carter, and they have one additional child Helen age 1. The four in 1851 are still alive. 

In the 1871 census they are in Penpont village. John is still a carter. Children with them are 
John 20 
Helen 11 
Jessie 5

Children who died in infancy are
an earlier Ebenezer  born 10 Mar 1846
Margaret born 20 Jun 1860
an earlier Jessie born 1 Jul 1861 died 23 Jan 1864
William 11 Jul 1864 died in infancy

Henrietta died in 1872. We are now into the era of statutory registration (1855 onwards in Scotland) so I could download the death certificate from scotlandspeople for £1.20 (after buying a minimum of £7 of credits) to find her parents. Parents are recorded if the informant knows the names. Since her husband is still alive he is most likely the informant, so the chances are that they will be correctly recorded. When it is a child, a grandchild or a neighbour who is registering the death, it is less likely to be accurate.  See UPDATE below

Their son John was born 3 Oct 1850 and died 20 Mar 1874 according to the gravestone.

Summary of 10 known children of John Hyslop and Henrietta Laurie, born Penpont
James 1845 (married Marion Kirk) grocer in Thornhill
Ebenezer 1846-1846
Ann 1846
Ebenezer 1848
John 1850-1874
Helen 7 May 1859
Margaret 20 Jun 1860 -1860
Jessie 1861-1864
William 9 Jul 1864-1864
Jessie 15 Aug 1865

In 1881 John is a coachman at Drumlanrig Mains Cottage with a new wife and family. He died there 22 Jan 1888 (from gravestone) so I am sure it is the same John Hyslop,

His new wife is the much younger Elizabeth from Rannoch in Perthshire. There is a marriage in 1874 of a John Hyslop to Elizabeth Ferguson so that could be them. I could get the certificate. * See UPDATE below.  Both mother and father's names are recorded on Scottish marriage certificates from 1855 on. They tend to be accurate, assuming the bride and groom know the names of their parents, not always the case with mother's maiden name if the parents are already deceased.

1881 census
Drumlanrig Mains Cottage
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John Hyslop  60 coachman
Elizabeth Hyslop  36 wife born Rannoch, Perthshire
John A Hyslop 5
William McC Hyslop 3
Robert Hyslop  2
Christina E S Hyslop  1 Month

William is William McCheyne Hyslop (gravestone died 10 May 1888 age 10 years and 6 months)
and son Robert is the Private in the 8th Rifles who died in Palestine in 1917. Ancestry has a record of his death in "Egypt". If a service record exists, you can get lots of information including measurements, colour of hair and eyes and next of kin.

In 1891 census,widow Elizabeth has moved her family to Glasgow.
7 Willowbank Cresent, Kelvin

Elizabeth Hyslop    43 born Rannoch
John Alern Hyslop  16 clerk born Durrisdeer
Robert Hyslop    13
David Hyslop   8
Henry Hyslop   6
James Steel     40 a boarder, commercial traveller
John Aikman   20 a lodger, ironmonger’s assistant
Thomas Hetherington  21 a lodger, ironmonger’s assistant
James Gordon  20 a lodge, grocer’s assistant

1901 census
16 Stanley Street, Kelvin
Elizabeth Hyslop  54 keeps lodgers
John A Hyslop 25 law clerk
Robert Hyslop  22 vanman fruit merchant’s
David Hyslop 17 distiller’s clerk
Harry Hyslop  15 electrical
John P Macdonald    42 visitor law clerk
Thomas King   42 lodger draper’s clerk
Jessie L Geddes  34 lodger, music teacher

Summary of 6 known children of John Hyslop and Elizabeth, born Durisdeer
John A Hyslop 1875
William McCheyne  1877-1888
Robert 1878 - 1917
Christina E S 1881-1889
David 1883
Henry (Harry) 1885

As to his parents, there is no record for a John Hyslop born around 1822 in Sanquhar but there is a child William born there in 1824 to Ebenezer Hyslop and Jean Wilson.  *see UPDATE below

An alternative to shelling out for each certificate, for me, is to go to the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock. There you can pay £15 for unlimited searching and certificates. You can't save the records to your account but you can print them. I like to go with a list of look-ups.  It is excellent when looking for eg a death of someone with a common name who is not in the place you expect them to be. You can (if you are as determined as me) go through dozens of results till you find the right one. Next time I am in, I'll get these certificates and see if I am right about the parents of John and Henrietta. Watch this space!

UPDATE 10 Mar 2012
I got Henrietta's death certificate today. She died at Pringleton on 21 Nov 1872.
She is the child of Jams Lowrie joiner and Helen Hyslop

My guess about John's parents was wrong. John Hyslop died at Drumlanrig Mains on 22 Jan 1888. His parents were James Hyslop carter and Agnes (sic) Hunter.  I also got his marriage to Elizabeth Ferguson which gave his parents as James Hyslop carrier and Ann Hunter, though hard to read. Elizabeth is daughter of John Ferguson and Christina McGregor.



Further information from Rhonda in Dumfries 
re:Ebenezer Hyslop: his father John Hyslop and Henrietta Laurie, I can tell you that his grandparents were James Hyslop and Ann Hunter, his GGrandparents were John Hyslop and Margaret Crichton, latter buried Kirkconnel.

Henrietta Laurie's sister married William McCheyne. Assume that's who William McCheyne Hyslop was named after.