My brick wall

Solomon Sievwright is my great, great, great, grandfather born about 1776 in Angus, probably in Brechin. You'd think with such a distinctive name he would be easy to track!

The first record I can find for him is his marriage in 1816 to Martha Burnett in Brechin.

In 1841 Solomon 65 is a linen handloom weaver in Cadger Hillock in Brechin. Nothing out of the ordinary, so far.

Their son, my ancestor Colin, was born in 1819. He was a weaver but strangely also a published poet so must have had some education.

One of his sons went to New Zealand and a cousin there sent me a copy of a letter dated 1886 which outlines his family line for his grandchildren. His father Solomon was an officer in Nelson's navy on a man o' war. His father was John a lawyer and his grandfather was Rev Norman Sievwright an Episcopalian minister in Brechin. This ties in with what my granny told me. The Scottish Episcopalian Church is part of the Church of England.

The problem is Colin doesn't mention Solomon's mother. He is too old to be the son of John's marriage to Helen Lowe, so either John was married before or Solomon was illegitimate. I think it must be the latter since if he was the oldest son and heir he would have been mentioned in the will of Helen Lowe who survived husband John the lawyer and died in 1838. She was very wealthy while Solomon was working as a weaver just  along the road.

Buying him a commission in the navy would have got him out of the way but I can find no record online for him as an officer in the navy. His return to marry in 1816 fits in with the end of the Napoleonic war.

I found another letter tying him in to the line of Rev Norman Sievwright. His great grandson had his ordination papers. I wonder if Solomon was brought up in his grandfather's household. There he would have got an education. Rev Norman was an esteemed scholar, but was not in the least wealthy. I found some correspondence from 1767 which said he had £40 a year and the Archbishop of Canterbury sent him £10 to help out.

The family wealth came from John the lawyer and his wife Helen Lowe.

I would love to find some earlier reference to Solomon, a birth, a mother, naval record, a burial. He died in 1843 according to Colin's letter to New Zealand. This is before statutory records began in Scotland, so no help there.

Solomon on my tree

Any suggestions as to next steps appreciated!

Update April 2016
Findmypast has released Royal Navy pension and service records and I found Solomon mentioned in 10 records. Most of them are paybook entries.

He served for 15 years and 1 month in the 1st DRM division of Royal Marines and was pensioned out in 14 Sep 1815 when he was 39 years old. The last record has a date of 25th June 1844 and I reckon this was his date of death after which the pension would cease. Son Colin had said in the 1886 letter that he died in 1843 so this seems right.

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/british-royal-navy-and-royal-marines-service-and-pension-records-1704-1919?_ga=1.58663018.1364849508.1435153211

Update 2018
A cousin found this blog and had a note of Solomon's birthdate on his old family records. The value of sharing information online!

Solomon, John and Norman Sievwright (updated)

I have been sent a copy of a letter from cousin Lyndsay written in 1886 by Colin Sievwright to his grandson in New Zealand which details his family history. Gold dust - a primary source!
His father was Solomon born about 1776 which we knew. Solomon apparently was an officer in Nelson's navy and didn't return to Scotland until after Napoleon's exile in 1815. This fits with his marriage to Martha Burnett in November 1816.
I can't find any reference to Solomon to support this but no reason to think it is not the case. According to the letter, Solomon was the oldest son of John, the only son of the Rev Norman Sievwright. Since John was married to Helen Low in 1788, either John was married before or Solomon was illegitimate. There is no baptism for Solomon which is strange for the grandson of a clergyman. Mind you only 2 of Norman's 7 children have baptism records.
His grandfather Norman Sievwright was educated at Aberdeen University and was first a schoolmaster in Monymusk and then presbyter in the Scottish Episcopal church in Brechin from 1749 until his death 1790. My granny maintained she had an ancestor who was a Bishop! He was a learned scholar of Hebrew.
His son, Solomon's putative father, John was a writer in Brechin and appears to have been quite wealthy. I have seen (the transcript of ) his widow Helen's will dated 1828. They clearly had property, land and stock in the London Docks Company. Solomon does not get a mention in the will although he was still alive and living nearby until 1843.
Of John and Helen's children only 3 are mentioned in the will. Presumably the others were already deceased. Joseph Alexander who is living on a frustratingly illegible island*, Catherine who is married to a Frenchman Louis Apollinaire Pellerin and living in Paris and Marjory who remains unmarried until her death in 1874. I can't find any more about the Pellerins. But I have found Joseph Alexander in Canada - for another post.
John and Helen also had a son Colin b 1792 after whom Solomon may have named his son Colin, the poet. There is a reference to a Colin Sievwright, a fellow of the royal college of surgeons. I need to go through to Angus Archives for a look at that! Perhaps he too was in the navy and perished!
Now at least we can see that Colin, the poet, had brains in his genes!

My tree

* Since writing this I have purchased the original will and can see that it is the Island of Demerary. The mystery deepens and no such island exists in the present day. I think it is part of Guyana in central America.