Under my nose

Solved one of my long standing mysteries today.
Joan who shares an interest in my FAIRBAIRN family of Walter and Grace (ARMSTRONG) FAIRBAIRN of Tinnishall, Canonbie, popped out of the woodwork again to share an 1891 letter from Grace to her nephew, John LITTLE.
She had mentioned it a year or so ago, and back then my efforts at solving the mystery of what happened to Walter and Grace's son William had continued as a brick wall.

The letter explicitly mentioned where Grace's family were on 6th March 1891, including William, whom I had not found beyond the 1851 census when he was at home with Walter and Grace as William FAIRBAIRN, 5, son, born Canonbie.
So he had survived.

How hard can it be to find a William FAIRBAIRN, florist in Hampshire in the 1891 census of 4 April when his mother had mentioned him on the 6th of March? But no, still no sightings 1861 to 1911, Scotland or England.

The answer was right under my nose all along of course.

As his birth had preceded Walter and Grace's marriage by a couple of years, I went looking for births of William's in Canonbie to mother Grace ARMSTRONG.
Two presented themselves in the right timeframes.
One was with Andrew DAVIDSON, but that family included children back to when Grace would have been only 12.
The other was a William born 1845 to William WHITE and Grace ARMSTRONG, no other children obvious.

Off to ScotlandsPeople to see what the baptism actually said.
Only to find that they showed that I'd already viewed the record!
Perhaps I'd gotten sidetracked back whenever, and simply forgotten I'd checked that, or possibly checked and discarded but not noted anything in my records?
Nope.
All was explained when the page was re-examined.
The page was headed 1855.
Three baptisms with Grace as the mother were all on the same page, the first WHITE, William born Jun 1845, baptized Mar 1845, to William WHITE and Grace, the next two, both FAIRBAIRN, Agnes and Margaret to Walter FAIRBAIRN and Grace.
I'd only ever looked at the FAIRBAIRN entries I was initially interested in and not looked up the page!

Yes, now easily viewed in 1871 (gardener at Capenoch, Dumfries), 1881 (gardener at Mortlake, Surrey with wife Helen), and 1891 there he was in Havant, Hants as a florist, all as William WHITE.

Still missing in action in 1861.

1st: Puddling along

Displacement activity time again. Meeting minutes are nowhere near as exciting as finding connections in genealogy.
This weekend's find was the St Mary's Museum in Ontario with a gallery of photos that included some of my FAIRBAIRN relations and their connections. Most were donated by a David WHITE, whom I did not have in my database.
I realised that I hadn't yet traced the children of Archibald James FAIRBAIRN and Mary McLEOD beyond the 1881 census.,
The marriage of their daughter Jannet FAIRBAIRN to James Brine WHITE, was quickly found, as were the births of several children, including a David Cathcart WHITE, and an Archibald Fairbairn WHITE.
General web searches also found references to a David C WHITE as Mayor of St Mary's in 1944.
An email to the Manager of the St Marys Museum and Archive was responded too very quickly, confirming my suspicion that the two David WHITEs were one and the same person, and added as an aside, that the Brine in David's father's name was from his connection to a Tolpuddle martyr.
I really wasn't going to get sidetracked, as I thought these martyrs were further back in history, but no, James BRINE only died in 1902, and David was his grandson.
The Museum is currently housed in a building built by George TRACY, father of the Jane TRACY who married the above Archibald James FAIRBAIRN's father.

The Clesleepeel connection

Wont have much time to further evaluate the newly indicated SINTON connection for a fortnight or so, but a few quick checks on what I already have and what can be quickly added too, shows that there was a "son born to Jas SINTON of Clesleepeel" in the Southdean & Abbotrule, OPR on 4 Jun 1806. This is of an age to be the John marr. to Alison HALL who claims in the 1851 census that he was born at Southdean, and of Southdean when he married Alison in 1829. Other candidates are accounted for elsewhere, or at least most I know of are.
This father James is likely to be the James who married Barbary OLIVER in 1804, given that Barbara was of Clesleepeel when whe was buried in 1809, and this James' father is likely to be the James married to Janet OLIVER, given that he also was of Clesleepeel when he was buried 1802. (This is the family of one of my favourite death certs, Betsy WHITE nee SINTON, died "aged 96 of old age, 10 weeks duration" - Betsy was of Clesleepeel when she married John WHITE in 1801.)
Unfortunately, it is unlikely I'll ever prove any of this conclusively as they all died prior to civil registration and Abbotrule headstones aren't exactly plentiful if the photo on geograph is a typical view.
And as to how Peter and James relate?
There are two contemporary, or near contemporary James SINTONs in Southdean and Abbotrule who may or may not be one and the same person, remarrying, both are carriers: one having children 1755 thru 1760 (at least): Thomas, Margaret and James, wife as yet unknown; and the other marrying Janet OLIVER (?of Hobkirk) in 1762 and having children at Burnkinford 1763 and Strangeburnfoot 1765 thru 1769 and Burnkinfoothead 1772, dying Clesleepeel and buried 1802.
My Peter was a cattle dealer of Bairnkin when he was buried 1811. Assuming he was at least 20 when he and Janet DONALDSON married, he has to have been born around 1755 or earlier, so pre-dates the James and Janet (OLIVER) SINTON couple, but would fit in with the earlier James and ?? couple, most likely as the eldest son, given the first we know of is a 1755 Thomas.
Naming pattern of Peter and Janet's known children certainly indicates that his father is a James, mother possibly an Isabella.

In reviewing data, I have also combined two other Peters, both baker journeymen: one the reputed father of the Isabella SINTON (born c 1826, d. 1882) who married David HOPE, the other who married Marion KER in 1832.

Mar 4, 2008: Hokitika to NSW & HULLs of Exeter

Figured out where the newfound Australian branch of the FAIRBAIRN/BROOMFIELD/ADDISON family fits.
Michelle is the granddtr of Agnes May (aka Maisie) BARLOW nee WHITE, who obviously skipped the ditch and married in NSW.
I used the opportunity to track down a likely descendant of Agnes ADDISON nee BROOMFIELD's in Hokitika and update the tree. My last flurry of activity on this line was back in 1996 and ended up with a lot of "s/he married, and has x children", so there are still quite a few gaps to plug on that line. A quick search of the Electoral rolls did rather lead me to think, oh dear, I've left this a bit late, as the names I did have were of the older generation, and none were still around, but a punt on a likely surname in Hokitika got me started again.
The FAIRBAIRN descendant chart has been updated - yet again.

Also turned my attention back to DAVEY descendants. Marion would like to ensure that old ROWE/DAWE letters she has from her mother are kept in the family, so we are back looking for descendants of Thomas Storror and Ada Trimble (DAVEY) HULL.

Last known address Polsloe Rd, Exeter, 1922, two children, probably born around 1901-1905.
I've pieced together a plausible story that these are Kathleen Alice T HULL born 1901 and Ada Norah HULL born 1904, both the only HULL births registered in the District of St Thomas, Devon where Thomas and Ada married in 1900, but this is as yet unchecked by certificates or other means. Kathleen appears to have died aged 11 in 1913, but it looks like Ada married as I can spot the death of an Ada Norah REY, registered Exeter in 1991, with a birth date that would match this Ada Norah, and a Leonard REY of about the right age also dying in Exeter, so am currently trying to find anyone researching this possible family, or any descendants. There's also a Colin REY of Exeter on the electoral rolls, but only up to 2006, and he is of Polsloe RD, so that looks promising, other than he isn't in the current electoral roll, or the phone book online.
Does this ring any bells with anyone? Love to hear from you.

Dec 5, 2007: Luck(ock)s in

Yes, as suspected, Joseph LUCOCK married sisters Annie and Agnes Gair HENDERSON, dtrs of Archibald. The latter was a witness to her sister's marriage, as was what looks like a maternal uncle, Thomas WHITE, and Joseph's brother Reay LUCOCK Junr.
Another DNA kit has reached the lab, one of the RUNCIMAN Surname DNA Project ones.