I am searching for the name of the wife of Robert Anderson, b. 1805, Roxburgh, Scotland. He immigrated to the Dumfries area in 1836, and his sons were born in Ayr: James Andrew (1840), John Alexander Ritchie (1842) and Robert (1845). In the 1851/2 census, Robert was a widower. Neither his nor his sons' death certificates list the name of the wife/mother.

I do have a few clues that indicate that she might have been the sister of Jane Elliott, b. Dumfriesshire, Scotland, who married Robert Marshall (Minto, Wellington County). The granddaughters of Robert and Jane called each other "cousin". John AR gave his son the middle name "Elliott" and his daughter did the same with her son. Therefore, Elliott is probably a family name. Of course, it's possible that Mrs. Anderson and Jane Elliott were themselves cousins, not sisters (making my search even more complicated).

Jane's sisters were Helen (1812), Margaret (1813), Isabella (1815), Nancy (1818) and Jessie (1820). Helen and Margaret seem the most likely candidates, given that Robert was born in 1805. There is a Margaret Anderson buried in Ayr, Cemetery, but there were 2 Robert Andersons in Ayr in 1850!