Hi all - just had a piece of very good luck in my search for ggggrandmother's family.

I received recently a copy from ScotslandPeople of the marriage register details of my ggggrandparents and it gave me Stewarton, Ayrshire as Jane or Jean Wylie's birthplace in 1821. I already knew she was the youngest daughter of a Thomas Wyl(l)ie a farmer. I've now located birth and christening records for her on the LDS web site.

Questions:

1. Is anybody researching the Wyl(l)ie family. According to the LDS records she was born on 16 Sept 1821 in Stewarton, the daughter of Jean Morton (bn abt 1791 in Dunlop Ayr) and Thomas Wyl(l)ie (bn abt 1787 also in Dunlop). She had the following siblings:

Margaret, bn 12 Feb 1813, Dunlop;
John, bn18 APR 1815, Dunlop;
Thomas bn 14 May 1817, Dunlop;
David bn 22 June 1819; and
Jean or Jane - there is some uncertainty about her first name, even after she came to Australia in 1852, the ship and then birth/death records in the family sometimes use Jean and sometimes Jane. Quite frustrating as was the Wyl(l)ie. Some LDS records have double l for the family name, some don't and they both appear to be about the same people. The family in Austrlalia had it as Wylie. Makes trying to find relatives an interesting and soemtimes frustrating search.

2. I'd love to know the background of Dunlop and Stewarton in the late 1700s, early 1800s. Were they villages, what size were they, what kind of historical background existed in the area? What sources exist for getting information about the two and their local area especially on line as this is the easiest to access, but also what resources should I look for to try and find out more information about the area?

3. One final question, what records can I now look to to try and chase the Wyl(l)ie and Morton family further back? What parish/es would have covered Dunlop? I don't know what religion the family was. I had always understood they were Catholic but Jane/Jean's son born in Australia joined the police here and his personnel file says he was Presbyterian. I also know Jean Morton's father's name was George and that he had a house in Newmilns.

Thanks all for any help.

Anne Whiteford

Interested in Whiteford (Campbeltown), Wyl(l)ie (Now Dunlop and Stewarton), Morton (Newmilns), Smith (Ardnamurchan), McDonald (Ardnamurchan).

Hi Ann, we may be distant cousins.
Margaret WYLLIE, born 12 Feb 1813, Dunlop (I had a different date), married Robert KERR 25 May 1837. They appear to have had seven children. Of them, Janet KERR married Archibald GRAY on 23 December 1875.
The family home of Robert KERR and Margaret WYLLIE and children was Giffordland Mill, Dalry, Ayrshire. Sometime between 1861 and 1871 they moved to High Linn (farm), Dalry. Both are still occupied (as of September 2001).

Janet KERR and Archibald GRAY are my ggrandparents.

I've done no research on them for a couple of years and I could have errors in this.

Regards
John Bogie

That would be good.

I got the details of Thomas & Jean and their children from the LDS website so I'm not sure how accurate it is. I am planning this weekend to buy some credit on ScotlandsPeople and do some better checking but I need sufficient time to use the credits and view records.

Do you have a record of Margaret Wyllie's parent's details? Were they Thomas and Jean (Morton)? If yes, then I do think we have a match.

Look forward to hearing back from you on this.

Anne Whiteford

Yes. Thomas WYLIE and Jean MORTON. That's all I know about them.

John Bogie