Chynoweths from Cornwall to Ayrshire

Elizabeth Hunn Lander (born 1804 in Calstock) married Joseph Chynoweth,  a brewer or maltster in 1822 in Calstock.
They had several children but Joseph died in 1838 leaving six children, one of whom, Eliza 1838, was born after his death.
Elizabeth then married her brother-in-law William Chynoweth in 1840. They had another four children.

In the 1860s the children went their separate ways.

Elizabeth Hunn Chynoweth 1828 and her husband went to Australia about 1866.

Father William son Joseph and dau Eliza went to Illinois, USA around 1867-8.
They are in 1880 census in Braidwood I think mother Elizabeth Hunn Lander went too, as I can't find a death in England for her.

James 1823, Henry 1834 and Jane 1850 all turned up in the parish of Loudoun, in Ayrshire, Scotland.

John 1831 and wife went to Canada, I think shortly after the birth of their son Joseph in Loudoun in 1867.

William Thorburn and Janet Stewart

William Thorburn was born in Stranraer in 1814. His parents were Robert Thorburn a sailor and Mary Millwrick. He had  brothers, John, Theobald and Robert the latter of which was born in Ayr in 1824. Sadly there is no further information on Theobald or John.

In 1833 in Ayr he married Mary Begbie (also recorded as Mary Jane Bigger (and various other combinations). This is not unusual at this time when ordinary people were illiterate and officials wrote down their name as they heard it. They had 3 children quick succession. Jane, Mary and James. The girls both succumbed within a few weeks of their births but James survived. Sadly wife Mary died of a fever in 1837. (more about Mary on previous post here  )

We pick William up again in 1841 census in Kilwinning when he is living with Janet age 15 (= in the range 15-19) and James age 5 and baby Margaret 3 months. This is second wife Janet Stewart whom he married in 1839 in Kilwinning). He is a coal cutter born in Scotland but not Ayrshire.  Two more children are born in Kilwinning in the 1840s - William and Daniel.

In 1851 census they have moved to Galston at Holmes colliery.  This gives William’s birthplace as Stranraer and Janet’s as Patna, born about 1824.

In 1861 William and son Daniel are at Loudoun Kirk near Galston living with his brother Robert and family. Wife Janet doesn’t appear in the 1861 census but I couldn’t find a death between 1855 (when statutory recording began) and 1861 so presumed she died between 1851 and 1854. This turns out not to be the case as we will see later.

His other sons James and William were both married and living in Galston. Daughter Margaret was married to James King and also living in Galston.

In 1870 William fell into the river Irvine near his home while inebriated and in the company of an unnamed woman. His body was found weeks later. This is reported in newspapers. His death certificate gives no relatives. The coroner was the informant.

His wife Janet Stewart (calling herself Janet Trainer) turned up in Dalmellington in the 1891 census in the company of daughter Margaret Thorburn (wife of James King). In the 1881 census she is at the same address alone. She died in Dalmellington in 1898 and the informant was her grandson Daniel Thorburn of Galston. I cannot find her in the 1861 or 1871 censuses under any of those names. She is "Trainer" on her death certificate. Margaret Thorburn or King also appears to have left her family. James King was living with another woman Marion Scott in 1881. Margaret is unaccounted for in 1881 and 1901*. She died in Kyle Union poorhouse in Ayr in 1910 of a stroke. Her usual address was Dalrymple.  Informant was her son William King of Skares.

So the questions still to be answered are:

Why was Janet calling herself Trainer? I have looked for a marriage in vain.

* Where was the daughter Margaret Thorburn King in 1881 and 1901. Update: she was living with James Masterton in 1881 in Wakefield. In 1901 she was living with a cousin at Carcluie Farm in Ayr.

Janet on the family tree here

Thorburn ancestors

I've got a bit further in tracing the ancestry of James Thorburn who married Margaret Ramage.

From a previous post you will see that some family trees have his parents William and Mary emigrating to the USA about 1869.

They were married in 1855 in Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland. This is very fortunate. 1855 was the first year of statutory registration in Scotland and the records that year give more info than in subsequent years.

James Thorburn signed with his mark showing that he couldn’t read or write.

He was a 20 year old coal miner living in Church Lane Galston. Additional information is his date and place of birth.  He states he was born and registered on 6 Sep 1835 in the parish of Ayr.  I take this with a slight pinch of salt since I can find no record of him.

His parents are recorded as William Thorburn and Mary Thorburn maiden name Mary Bingham. I was a bit surprised at this as elsewhere  his mother was Begbie  or Bigby (a name which continues down through the generations) and Biggar.  Given that James was illiterate, you have to imagine him saying the name and the official, who was recording the information, interpreting what he heard.

I have found 2 sisters Mary and Jane/Jean recorded in Ayr to William Thorburn and Mary Jane Biggar so have another "wildcard" search on scotlandspeople for births tho*b* with parents William and Mary and there is one on 6 Sep 1835 the same date  as on the marriage certificate, but for William Thorburn to  William Thorburn and Mary Jane Biggar. I got the cert just to see with my own eyes. It definitely says William not James. Did the clerk get muddled up (wouldn’t be the first time) or did they name him William after his father, but called him James? I wondered if he was a twin but I think they would both have been recorded in the one record.  Anyway, it is the right record as the date matches. And proves that his mother was Mary (Jane) Biggar.

There is a marriage in January 1833 of a William Thorburn to Jean Bigger in Ayr.  I had previously discounted that, but Jane=Jean in Scotland and she is also recorded as Mary Jane.  I think this is their marriage.

I found a parish burial record for Mary Biggar wife of William Thorburn labourer was buried in Ayr in May 1837.  She was 23 years old and died of "fever".

I found a possible birth for Mary Biggar in 1814 in Ayr to John Biggar, 27th Regiment and his wife Jane Bell. 

On James's death certificate of 1907 he is recorded as James Bigby Thorburn son of William Thorburn and Margaret (!) Bigby.  This information was provided by his son Robert.

It is clear that the family believed Bibgy/Begbie to be the name of his mother. The name appears as a middle name in at least 7 descendants.

In her short lifetime however her name is recorded as Mary Biggar or Mary Jane Biggar or Jean Biggar and Mary Bingham.

Widowed William went on to marry Janet Stewart in Kilwinning in 1837. She must have died between 1851 and 1855* and William  moved his family to Loudoun (Galston) and stayed for a while with his brother Robert.  William drowned in the river Irvine at Loudoun in January 1870.

His son James Thorburn and wife Margaret Ramage followed their son Robert to Douglas in Lanarkshire after 1901.

* She didn't die. She must have left him as she turns up later in Dalmellington in 1881 and 1891 and died there in 1898.
Tree here

Cornish miners in Loudoun parish, Ayrshire

Ladyton Loch near Loudoun Kirk

I'm related to these people by marriage but I got interested in them because of the similarities with my miners from the Black Country and because Loudoun parish is my home patch.

One of my Price descendants married a Burley in 1900. William Burley, a miner, was born in Loudoun, lived in Glengyron Row, Cumnock, where both my ancestors and David's lived. Further research, back a generation, finds his parents Thomas Burley and Amelia Clary marrying in October 1872 in Loudoun parish. They lived in Loudoun Rows just outside Galston. His father Arthur Burley was a copper miner. Witnesses on the certificate were James Phillips and Ellen Burley.

It seems that tin and copper miner families including Burley, Phillips, Chynoweth, Harris, Luke, Bunney, Mudge and Toy all emanated from Cornwall and moved to Loudoun from around 1867. I think they were brought in because of a strike* but they went on strike too.

On 26 July 1872,  3 related couples got married in Loudoun Parish. There must have been some party that night!

Arthur Burley married Ellen Jane Phillips
Elizabeth Ann Burley married James Chynoweth
Elizabeth Ann Chynoweth married Edwin Harris

Initially it seems they stuck together with their Cornish countrymen. I try to imagine how hard it would be for the locals to understand them and vice versa.

I found a much later link though. McMeekin descendant John Murdoch McMeekin married a Luke/Bunney grand-daughter Elizabeth Ann Bunney McHoull in 1914.

Burleys here
Chynoweths here
Phillips here

* 3rd Statistical account of Scotland: Ayrshire by John Strawhorn and William Boyd 1951 page 523

"In the 1860s there arrived in Galston a group of Cornish tin-miners as strikebreakers including Chynoweths, Burleys and Lukes, who still figure among the local families, Some of these were Methodists and held meetings which attracted some following. The original Methodist groups has not survived but a group which hived off from them formed themselves in 1871 into a company of Open Brethren whose present day successors number about 60."

Update August 2022

I haven't found any other evidence of strike breaking. But I did find an article in the Glasgow Herald 12th November 1866 that  Baird of Gartsherrie  was recruiting miners from Cornwall to come to work in mines in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. There was a local shortage of miners and many had gone to be shale miners, whereas in Cornwall there were many out of work (tin and copper) miners. They were offered an engagement of 12  months and accommodation. But for every married couple, there had to be two single men as accommodation was in short supply. The wages were favourable compared to Cornwall and some 6-700 men had arrived in the last fortnight.  Hurlford Colliery was the only Ayrshire place mentioned in the article. It does mention that were were Wesleyans and most had brought a large family bible with them.