Life and Death in Dirleton Parish - Local History Book

While in Dirleton, we met up with a local historian who lives at Lilac Cottages as shown on the map.  He very kindly shared his understanding of the era when our ancestors lived in the parish, and I purchased a copy of the book below which was written by the members of the history society to which he belongs.

 

Text from this book to follow.

Photos from 'Life and Death in Dirleton Parish'

When I visited Dirleton (pronounced like 'girl'), I did not see the farm behind the castle ruins because we were on the road on the other side of the castle and probably looking at a more scenic view toward the coast.  It was a splendid day and the view from the ruins was terrific.  East Lothian is apparently the sunny part of Scotland and we were lucky to have several good days.  We stayed in North Berwick, on the coast, and took a local bus to Dirleton.  North Berwick is 30 minutes from Edinburgh by train.

Perhaps, some of our relatives.  Date unknown.

     50 years after the Forsyths left, but probably typical of farming methods when they were therer.

                                        Typical farm cottages given to hired agricultural labourers. 

Music from the BORDERS

The above map was taken from an album called O'er the Border by the Scots piper, Gordon Mooney which can be purchased on-line. 

Highlighted in greeen are the towns of interest in the Forsyth family history.  In the notes from this album the following is included under the title of a tune called The Highway to Linton:

     'The Highway to Linton is the old drove road that crosses the Pentlands from West Linton to the 
     Catslackburn and was formerly the main route for cattle droving down from the Highlands
     through the Borders to English markets.  The introduction of the improved 'Linton' breed of
     sheep from the Border uplands into the Highlands of Scotalnd brought to an end the droving
     trades, and also led to the Highland Clearances and their dire social consequences.'

It is thought that Helen Scott was from Catslackburn nearYarrow.  Perhaps she met James Forsyth who was from the West Linton area because this was a well-travelled route between the two areas.

Several other tunes on this album mention Yarrow - The Flower O'Yarrow written about a Mary Scott
and published in 1687 - Willie's Drowned in Yarrow from 1733

Militia Records

'PENICUIK VOLUNTEERS (From Annals of Penicuik - online)

'Since the beginning of the present century, the inhabitants of Penicuik, owing to the proximity of Glencorse garrison, have been very familiar with the sight and sound of arms. Even before that time, however, many parishioners had loyally responded to the call for enrollment in the Midlothian contingent of the Scottish Volunteer Militia, their hearts being stirred up to give willing service in the defence of their native land against threatened French invasion. After the renewal of hostilities between the two countries in 1803 this corps was embodied, and continued so till the 3d of April 1815.

'The next great volunteer military movement which sprang up in the country, and in which Penicuik shared, was in the year 1859. Its occasion was the return of time French Emperor from his victorious Italian campaign, and the general alarm which prevailed lest his next efforts should be directed against Great Britain. These fears were probably groundless, but they l)roitglit forth evidence of the loyalty and bravery of the British people. Within it few weeks 200,000 men were under drill, of whom 40,000 were reported able to take their place in line of battle.

'Two Companies were formed in Penicuik, with a third small sub-division in Roslin, all under the command of Captain Sir James Clerk, Bart. No. 1 Company was in charge of the Commandent with Lieut. E. S. M'Dougal and Ensign Tait as subalterns. No. 2 had for senior officer Captain Cowan of Beeslack, Lieut. Charles J. Wallah, and Ensign George Cowan, while the Roslin Company had two commissioned officers in the persons of Hezekiah J. Merricks and William Merricks. No. 1 Company vas largely composed of farmers, village merchants, and tradesmen, many of whom were constitutionally unfit for hard service, but who yet, on 7th August 1860, went through the fatigues of that famous Queen's Review day in Edinburgh with a spirit and determination not surpassed by any of their younger and more agile brothers in arms.'

[Must check the dates in this article and correct the typos.  However, there was a Midlothian Militia, and although it doesn't seem that James spent any time away from home (birth dates of children), he might appear on a militia list if one has survived.

James Forsyth 1811 - 1869

The baptism of James Forsyth, third son of James and Helen, is recorded in the Penicuik, Midlothian registers as the 20 /29th of March, 1811. He had been born on March 15th in Lasswade, Midlothian, the information provided in the baptismal register.

James Forsyth's marriage to Jane Fraser, daughter of William, was declared at St. Cuthbert's in Edinburgh on August 29th, 1835 and January 11, 1836. Their first child, Sarah, was born in Linlithgow, West Lothian on April 2nd, 1837 and their second daughter, Helen, was born Septemer 8, 1839 in St. Cuthbert's. In the 1841 census they are in Edinburgh with just their daughter Helen, and James' occupation is Maltster Journeyman.

Census of Scotland - 1841
Place: St. Cuthbert's- Midlothian, District 14
Address: 1 Bedford Street
Forsyth, James, 30, Malster Journeyman, b. Midlothian
Forsyth, Jane, 30, b. Outside Census District
Forsyth, Helen, 1, b. Midlotian
Ross, John 25, Blacksmith Journeyman, b. Outside Census District
Ross, Andrew, 20, Blacksmith Journeyman, b. Outside Census County
Munro, Wiliam, 20, Agricultural Labourer, b. Outside Census District

Census of Scotland - 1851
Place: Canongate, Midlothian, District 18
Address: 129 Canongate, 1 Panmure Close
Forsyth, James, Head, 44, Grinder of Cutlery, b. Midlothian, Lasswade
Forsyth, Jane, 45, b. Midlothian, St. Cuthbert's
Forsyth, Helen, 11, scholar, b. Midlothian, St. Cuthbert's

Census of Scotland - 1861
South Leith, 26 Leith Walk (Close to Edinburgh)
James Forsyth, Head, iron grinder - journeyman, b. ML, Lasswade
Jane Forsyth, 53, b. Perthshire, Janterwick (sp?)
James Forsyth, adopted, 8, scholar, b. ML, South Leith

Death Certificate: James Forsyth, ______grinder, of 26 Leith Walk, St. Andrew's Parish, Edinburgh, 58 years of age, married to Jane Fraser, son of James Forsyth, shepherd of Dirleton (dec.) and Helen Scott (dec.) Bronchitis 14 days

Census of Scotland - 1871
Edinburgh, St. Cuthbert's Parish
Jane Forsyth, mother-in-law, 72 (?), born Perthshire
James Forsyth, boarder, engine fitter, born South Leith, Edinburgh
Steven Tait, 29, gilder, born Edinburgh
Helen Tait, 31, b. Edinburgh
Mary Tait, 8, born Edinburgh
James Tait, 5, born Edinburgh

Census Records for Family of James and Helen Forsyth

Click on image to enlarge

Thomas Forsyth, son of James and Helen 1820-1872

The birth of Thomas Forsyth, the fourth and youngest son of James and Helen, has been submitted to the IGI as May 22, 1818, but census records make 1820 or 1821 a more likely year of birth. His baptism does not appear in the Dirleton Parish Registers. Oral family history provides only the information that he was a railway guard on the line between Berwick (on Tweed, Northumberland, England) and Edinburgh.

In 1841, Thomas apears in the census for Ardersier, Inverness in the North of Scotland. He is a twenty year old 'private' in the 92nd Regiment at Fort George. The highest ranking officer seems to be Captain George Edward Therold. (Click on the title of this article for a website on
Ardersier and Fort George.)

Click to enlarge: Location of Thomas Forsyth in 1841 Census - Fort George, Inverness

Thomas' marriage record of November 29th, 1845, states that he was still a Private in the 92nd Regiment of Foot but this time at Edinburgh Castle. He married 'Ann Cameron, of Beaties's Lodgings, Ruis Close, Canongate, Edinburgh, the daughter of the late John Cameron, labourer of Castlehill, Edinburgh.'

Click to enlarge: Marriage of Thomas Forsyth and Ann Cameron, 1845, Edinburgh, Scotland

Thomas and Ann remained in Edinburgh for a few years where their first son, James, was born in 1847. Sometime before 1851, they moved to Kelso, Roxburghshire. Perhaps it was at this time that he left the army and began working for the railway, as in the 1851 census, Thomas' occupation is shown as 'railway guard.' Kelso is about twenty -five miles from Berwick.

1851 Census - Scotland - Kelso, Roxboroughshire
Address: Oven Wynd
Forsyth, Thomas, Head, 31, railway guard, b. EL, Dirleton
Forsyth, Ann, wife, 26, b. Midlothian, Edinburgh
Forsyth, James, son, 4, scholar, b. Midlothian Edinburgh
White, Janet, servant, 16, b. Peebleshire, Peebles

A second son, named Thomas, was born in Kelso in about 1852. However, Ann Cameron died before the 1861 census. We find her two sons with her sixty-seven year old mother, Ann Cameron, in Edinburgh when the census was taken.

1861 Census - Scotland - St. Cuthbert's Parish, Edinburgh
Address: Canning House, Canning Place
Ann Cameron, 67, b. 1794, Glencoe, Argyllshire, Fundholder
Clementine Rutherford, 47, daughter, coachman's wife
Catherine Cameron, 29, daughter, housekeeper
Robert Cameron, son, cashier, stationer
James Forsyth, 14, b. abt 1847, Edinburgh, grandson
Thomas Forsyth, 9, b. about 1852, Kelso Roxborough, grandson

Thomas Forsyth, the father, remarried and in 1861, we find his new family in Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland, England. He is still a railway guard according to this census.

Click to enlarge: Map of south-east Scotland and north-east England (East Lothian, Northumberland and Durham)

1861 Census England - Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland

Address: St. Mary's, Tweed Street

Thomas Forsyth, head, 42, railway guard, born Scotland

Margaret Forsyth, 28, born Scotland

Robert Forsyth, 2, born abt 1859, Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland

John Forsyth, 4 months, born Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland

Sadly, on October 28th, 1866, James Forsyth, the eldest son of Thomas Forsyth and his deceased wife, Ann, died at 19 years of age at Lord Russell Place, in the district of Newington, Edinburgh. He was single and died of 'pulmonary consumption' from which he had suffered for twelve months. His father was present at his death.

Death record for James Forsyth, son of Thomas, 1866 Edinburgh

The second son of Thomas Forsyth and Ann Cameron died on March 19, 1870 at 19 years of age at 5 Keir Street, St. George District, Edinburgh. He was single and the sub-editor of a farmers' newspaper. He died of scarlatina in just five days. His death was reported by a Rutherford cousin of Tweeddale (?) Terrace.

Death Record of Thomas Forsyth, son of Thomas, 1870 Edinburgh

1871 Census - England, Northumberland, Berwick on Tweed
Address: Castlegate, "Free Trade Hotel"

(You can find photos of this pubic house on the internet)

Thomas Forsyth, b. 1821 Scotland

Margaret Forsyth, b. 1833, Scotland

Robert Forsyth, 12, b. 1859, Berwick, England

John Forsyth, 10., b. 1861, Berwick, England

Geoge Forsyth, 8, b. 1863, Berwick, England

Thomas Forsyth died in 1872 in Berwick. It is presumed that his wife either died before the 1881 census or remarried. The three sons appear in the 1881 census as follows:

1881 Census - EnglandGateshead, Durham County, 54 Cobden Terrace, St. Edmonds
Robert Forsyth, 25, b. Northumberland, Berwick on Tweed, night watchman
Susan Forsyth, 23, b. Northumberland, Scremerston Mary Forsyth, 1, b. Durham County, Gateshead Kate Forsyth, 3 months,

Cockburn - Morton Monument, Dirleton, EL

May 22, 2011 - My 62nd birthday, standing beside my great x 3 grandparents' monument in the Dirleton Churchyard in Dirleton, East Lothian. We visited the Dirleton Castle on the same day. It is quite close to the church and is in ruins but has a fabulous perennial border.

This monument was erected by Hugh Goodlet, a wright of West Fenton and his wife , Ann, the sister of Charlotte Cockburn.

ERECTED
IN MEMORY OF
CHARLES COCKBURN
WHO DIED IN THE YEAR 1839
AGED 84 YEARS
ALSO
ALISON MORTON, HIS SPOUSE
WHO DIED IN THE YEAR 1837
AGED 84 YEARS

IN MEMORY OF HUGH GOODLET, WRIGHT
(OF) WEST FENTON WHO DIED 21st MAY 1867
AGED 69 YEARS. ALSO ANN COCKBURN, HIS WIFE
WHO DIED 11th MAY 1878
AGED 80 YEARS

If a man die, shall he live again. Job XIV - 14
Them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him. Thess IV-14

Dirleton Kirk, in Dirleton, East Lothian

Death of Helen Scott

I have viewed the death certificate for Helen Scott at the Registrar's office in Edinburgh.
This is the information contained in the record:

Death in the Parish of GLADSMUIR, County of Haddington

Forsyth, Helen, widow of shepherd
Died: 1859, December, 31 at 7:30 a.m. in Hensmuir
Female, age 84 years
Daughter of Robert Scott, farmer
No medical attendant.
Burial: Haddington Church yard as certified by David Baine
Reported by John Forsyth, son, of Crawhill
Registered January 2nd, 1860
James Turnbull, Registar

Burial at St. Mary's, Haddington, E.L.

The burial register of St. Mary's Haddington has the following entry

JAMES FORSYTH was buried on 1st September 1842.
No age or occupation is given. He died of old age and was resident in Nungate.

[reference 3.17 (i.e. vol 3 page 17) entry 45 (ID 328)].
Searched by E. Collins, April, 2011

Re: Helen Scott Forsyth's death in 1860
Note from Mr. Collins: "The Burial Register for Haddington parish from 1858 (part) to around 1878 was lost in a fire, so is no longer available to look at. It is probable that she would have had an entry around 1860 in that Haddington burial register. Her Death Certificate would give her date of death. For a few years after 1855 they also gave where the person was buried, but I think that this stopped around 1861."

Burials at St. Mary's, Haddington, E.L.

T 99 [Information from E. Collins] [# 1834]

(Very tall upright grey obelisk gravestone with a small pointed top. Also on this top piece on the front is a dove bird. The gravestone has an obelisk, and two square bases, which rest on stone. The gravestone is near to a path.)
(obelisk – front)
[garland wreath]

Sacred
To the Memory of
JOHN COCHRANE
Dyer Haddington
Who died 20th August 1860
Aged 73.
His daughter
MARION
Who died 1st March 1835
Aged 4.
His son
THOMAS
Who died 15th Sep. 1868
Aged 27.
Also his wife
MARION FORSYTH
Died 27th February 1877
Aged 73 years.

# MARION COCHRANE (COCHREN), aged 6 years, was buried 5th March 1834, (gravestone gives 1835 and is probably not correct as the register is in correct date order with 1834 given). She died of Measles (Messels) and her residence was Haddington (Haddn). Reference 2.134 (i.e. vol 2 page 134) entry 32 (ID 4953). [She was thus a Child].

John Forsyth and Isabella Sinclair

I do not know how or if these Forsyths were related to our Forsyths of Penicuik, Mid-Lothian. It is possible that this man's father, John Sr., was a brother to our James Forsyth. The John Forsyth of the West Calder census is not proven to be the father of John of Penicuik.

1841 Census for West Calder, Mid-Lothian, Briechmill

FORSYTH, Alexr, 25, Farmer, b. Outside Census County
FORSYTH, Christian, 25, b. Outside Census County
FORSYTH, John, 60, b. Outside Census County
FORSYTH, Jean, 50, Outside Census County
FORSYTH, Alexr (Jnr), 9, Outside Census County
MATTHEWS, Elisabeth, 35, Female Servant, b. Midlothian

John Forsyth and Isabella Sinclair, daughter of James Sinclair and Martha Hartley of Penicuik, were married September 17 1818 in Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh (IGI). The 1841 census states that John was not born in Mid-lothian, but Isabella was.

Their first two known children were Martha (1821) and John 1823) baptised in Penicuik.

John Forsyth, Labourer in Penicuik and Isobel Sinclair his spouse had a child born 18 April 1821, baptised 29th named Martha - Witnesses John Forsyth, Sr. and Thomas Sinclair

John Forsyth, Labourer in Penicuik and Isobel Sinclair his spouse had a child born 15 Septmeber 1823, baptised 28th named John - Witnesses: Thomas Sinclair Thomas Muir

The above records are extracts from Penicuik Parish Registers

The 40 year old John Forsyth in the 1841 census who is married to Isabella Sinclair is probably the son of a John Forsyth, substantiated by the 1821 baptism of a child named Martha of John and his wife, Isabel Sinclair when one of the witnesses is a John Forsyth, Senior. Note that there is a 15 year old John Forsyth, an apprentice, living with Laings in 1841. He is probably a son of John and Isabella who was baptised in 1823 (above).

1841 Census - Penicuik -Midlothian Address: -
FORSYTH, John, M, 40, Ag. Lab, b. Outside County
FORSYTH, Isabella (Sinclair), F, 40, b.Midlothian
FORSYTH, Isabella, F, 15, Paper Mill, b. Midlothian
FORSYTH, Jane, F, 10, Paper Mill, b. Midlothian

1841 Census Place: Penicuik -Midlothian Address: Silver Burn Smithy
LAING, Andrew, M, 55, Wright J&M, b. Outside County
LAING, Jean, F, 55, b. Outside County (1841)
LAING, John, M, 23, Wright Journeyman, b. Midlothian
LAING, Elizabeth, F, 19, b. Midlothian
LAING, George, M, 12, b. Midlothian
STODDART, Robert, M, 20, Wright Journeyman, b. Outside County
THOMSON, James, M, 15, Wright Journeyman, b. Outside County
WHITE, Adam, M, 20,Wright Apprentice, b. Midlothian
FORSYTH, John, M, 15, Wright Apprentice, b. Midlothian
BAILEY, George, M, 15, Agr. Labourer, b. Midlothian
HISLOP, Margaret, F, 15, Servant, b. Midlothian *

1851 Census St Cuthbert's -Midlothian Civil Parish: St Cuthberts
Address: 2 St James's Place

FORSYTH, John, Head, 27, Journeyman Joiner, Born-Penicuik
FORSYTH, Robetina, Wife, 22, born- Edinburgh
FORSYTH, Elisabeth, Dau, 2, born- Edinburgh
FORSYTH, Isabella, Dau, 3w, born- Edinburgh
SHEARER, James, Lodger, 40, Trunk Umbrella Maker, b.Edinburgh
PEARSON, Hugh,Lodger, 23, Grocer's Assistant Shetland - Delting

Marriages of Children of John & Isabella Forsyth:
Isabella Forsyth = James Whyte, 14 Dec 1851 Penicuik
Jane Forsyth = Walter Easton 20 Feb 1857 Penicuik