James Findlay farmer¹

Parents:

• Birth*: James Findlay farmer was born circa 1823 at Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, .¹
• He was the son of John Findlay and Elizabeth Watt.¹
• Marriage*: James Findlay farmer married Mary Ann Roberts circa 1843 at Laurencekirk, Kincardinshire, Scotland, .¹
• Marriage*: James Findlay farmer married Ann Grant domestic servant on Friday, 27 November 1857 at Ferryden, Craig by Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1857 marriages in the parish of Craig in the county of Forfar, ref 15; On the Twentyseventh day of November 1857 at Ferryden Parish of Craig marriage after banns was ... between us according to the forms of the Established Church of Scotland; signed James Findlay aged 30 residing at Barns of Craig, agricultural labourer widower, parents John Findlay ag labourer and Elizabeth Findlay ms Watt; and Ann Grant aged 23, residing Ferryden Farm, domestic servant spinster, parents father not stated and Margaret Innes domestic servant; signed
  Robert Mitchell minister of Craig signed James Davidson, Alexr Gardyne witnesses; registered by me at Craig on the 28th day of November 1857 signed William Spense registrar.^2,3,4
• Marriage*: James Findlay farmer married Mary Ann Clark on Tuesday, 13 April 1875 at Woodhill, Barry, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1875 marriages in the parish of Barry in the county of Forfar, ref 5; 1875 on the Thirtieth day of April at Woodhill in the parish of Barry after banns according to the form sof the Church of Scotland; signed James Maden Findlay ploughman widower aged 48 residing at Woodhill Barry; parentas John Findlay ploughman deceased and Elisabeth Findlay ms Watt deceased; and signed Mary Ann Clark farm servant spinster aged 36 residing Woodhill Barry; parents Francis David Clark shipmaster and Ann Peter; signed C F Stevenson minister of Barry, signed Colin Burns, Andrew Smith witnesses; registered 1875 May 3rd at Barry signed James Proctor registrar.^5,6

• (Informant) Death: James Findlay farmer registered the death of Mary Ann Roberts on 17 June 1857 at Barns, Parish of Craig, Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1857 deaths in the district of Montrose in the county of Forfar; ref 157; Findlay Mary Ann wife of James Findlay farm labourer Barns Parish of Craig; 1957 June Seventeenth 7.35 pm at Infirmary Bridge Street Montrose, female aged 35, parents John Robert formerly cattle dealer [no mother stated], cause fever three months as certified by David Johnston MD who saw deceased June 17th buried Burying Ground Rossie Island Parish of Craig as certified by John Stewart wright, signed James Findlay husband Barns Parish of Craig, registered 1857 June 20th at Montrose signed James Kay registrar.⁷
• (Informant) Death: James Findlay farmer registered the death of Ann Grant domestic servant on 1 October 1873 at 15 Wallace Street, Arbroath, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1873 deaths in the district of Arbroath in the county of Forfar, ref 309; Ann Findlay wife of James Findlay labourer illegitimate; 1873 October First 8h 45m am 15 Wallace Street Arbroath Parish, female aged 37 years, parents - Grant millitary Officer deceased reputed father and Margaret Innes afterwards Davidson deceased; cause phthisis [outmanaliz] some months sertified by W G Wannan physician, signed James Findlay husband, signed Oct 2nd at Arbroath Alex Webster registrar.⁸
• (Informant) Death: James Findlay farmer registered the death of Mary Ann Clark on 12 December 1889 at Lochside, Barry, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1889 deaths in the parish of Barry in the county of Forfar, ref 44; Mary Ann Findlay married to James Findlay general labourer, 1889 December Twelfth 1h 45m pm Lochside Barry; female aged 49 years, parents Francis Clark seaman merchant service and Annie Peter deceased married to Robert Peter general merchant decesed; typhus sarcoma of lung 6 months anasarca 14 days as certified by G Neil Dickson MD, signed James Findlay widower present; registered 1889 Decemder 14th at Carnoustie signed Hugh Hanton registrar.⁹
• (Witness) Anecdote: James Findlay farmer was a witness From Margaret Findlay
  Our family history as I remember from what our mother and father told me.
  Copied by Mark Findlay 29^th June 2011. Covers the history of our part of the Findlays until about 1900. I have added a few notes in italics and some informational links at the end.
  Our maternal grandmother, Maria Long, came from Longparish in Hampshire and born I believe about 1830. At the age of 14 she went to Tasmania as nursemaid to the children of the Bishop of Tasmania (This must have been a hard experience for Maria, not only entirely separated from her family, but also a journey of great hardship, long, under very difficult conditions and particularly hazardous to a young, inexperienced girl. So I assume she must have been chaperoned by the Bishop’s lady). Later she must have gone to the West Indies where she met William Young in the W. Indian army, a colour sergeant I believe. They married sometime in the 1850s. Mother – Mary Alice – was born in Barbados on October 13^th 1864. She was their 4^th child – only Frances born 1858 was still living. I understand that Grandmother said she couldn’t face losing another child in the tropical conditions of Barbados so when Mother was a few months old they came home. At some time they were in Sheerness and at another in Dover, as Mother went to school in Dover Castle for a short time. I think Grandfather died in Sheerness so that would have come second. He had developed TB in the colder climate here – that must have been in 1972 when Mother was 8 – by that time another child Louisa had been born – now 5 years hold. Our Grandfather came from a family of soldiers. His father, Thomas Young, had served in the Peninsular War, and had medals having fought in battles in Nive and Nivelle (note from Mark: these occur at the very end of the war in 1813 when Napoleon was more or less defeated) . These were given to our brother Bill, and should be in the possession of one of his two sons.
  There were no service or state pensions to help a widow, so Grandmother was left in her 40s with 2 children still of school age. The eldest, Frances, was working in a post office. There was an uncle Edward, brother I think to Grandmother, who with his wife kept a shop in Fulham. I always understood that the wife did not care for children! Grandmother took a job as a housekeeper and so the uncle and aunt must have helped with the children. Grandmother worked very hard and died at 51 of a stroke I believe. Mother was 17 and auntie 14 (can this be right as Frances was born first). Mother had already been sent into service and Auntie was apprenticed to a dressmaker somewhere near St Paul’s Cathedral. Auntie Fanny doesn’t seem to have had much to do with her younger sisters at this time. Mother was in the house of a Mrs Cook in Muswell Hill when at 22 she met James Findlay one wet evening in April 1887. She was going back to the house after spending her free afternoon either with the aunt and uncle or with one of her sisters, the younger I should guess. She was sheltering from the heavy rain our father offered to share his umbrella with her. They must have walked along together and then continued to meet for on June 23^rd the same year they were married in St James’s church Muswell Hill. They were together for 54 years until Dad’s death in 1941 (I think that’s right – the year that Stalingrad had fallen note by Mark: the battle of Stalingrad took place from 23 August 1942 to 2^nd February 1943)
  James Findlay was born on June 22^nd 1858 at 11.30 am (or so I was told) son of an agricultural worker (also James Findlay – who I believe had a red beard later in life – as remembered by one of our Scottish cousins) – and his wife Ann Grant. He was born in a cottage in Ferryden Farm across the river (South Esk) from Montrose. In 1958 Edwin and I went to Montrose to find the place of his birth and were directed across the river estuary to find the Ferryden Registrar. He was the local cobbler and we waited till his lunchtime when he showed us the entry in the parish register. Ferryden seemed to be no more than a farm with a few cottages. Grandfather worked in the farm. The children walked to school – 3 miles I was told, carrying their lunch packets. Dad said he was only 3 when he started. He had at least one elder sister Annie who became blind, his brother Joe, and a younger sister Isabella. There was also a brother David but whether of the first family or the second I don’t know. Ann died young – when our father must have been in his teens. The father married again and the children did not get on with the new wife. This must have been about the time the schoolmaster wanted to send our father to St Andrew’s University – but his father and the new wife would not agree so Dad and Uncle Joe and Isabella ran away. The 2 boys went to sea, and the little girl aged about 8 worked in fields to earn her keep (I had this detail from her daughter Bella Christie in Arbroath). The official entry of Dad’s service gave the date of his entry as Oct 10^th 1874.
  Unfortunately he suffered badly from sea sickness and after several years came out of the service. He had been a signaller with a very good record. In the next years he was in the London Salvage Corps and went to South Africa with Lord Methuen’s Horse. I don’t know in which order (?) while in South Africa he was injured when a horse trod on his foot so he had to come home and went into the Metropolitan Police. At least part of the time he was in the mounted division, and was on duty at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. He was offered promotion if he would go to Bow, but mother by that time had a young family and saw the difficulty of bringing up a healthy family in a area like Bow. So they went to Epsom where the children grew up in the country - though at all well off. Later they moved to Wimbledon where the two of us were born (Margaret and Paul).
  Links     
  Longparish, Hampshire http://www.longparish.org.uk/
  Peninsular War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_War
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nivelle
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nive
  St James Muswell Hill http://www.st-james.org.uk/history.php
  Ferryden http://www.ferrydenonline.co.uk/ , http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/features/ferryden.htm
  http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ferryden&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x488690915811a91d:0xe86191675bb22e6d,Ferryden,+Montrose,+Angus&gl=uk&ei=FgoLTpHfEo6whQfe65XWDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ8gEwAA
  Lord Methuen (Horse) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Methuen,_3rd_Baron_Methuen
  London Salvage Corps
  Stalingrad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalingrad_%28battle%29.¹⁰

Census & Directory Entries

Head of Household	30 March 1851	He was listed as head of household along with spouse Mary Ann Roberts in the 1851 census at Craighill Cotter House, St Cyrus, Kincardinshire, Scotland, . James Findlay, head, married, male aged 26 (1825), ag lab, b Montrose; Mary Ann, wife, married, female aged 28 (1823) b Laurencekirk; also in the household were John Findlay ag lab and Ann Findlay.1
Head of Household	7 April 1861	He was listed as head of household, along with spouse Ann Grant domestic servant in the 1861 census at Balmulie Mill Cotton, Inverkeilor, Forfarshire, Scotland, . James Findlay, head, married, male aged 35 (1826), ploughman, b Montrose; Ann, wife, married, female aged 26 (1835) b Inverness; also in the household were John Findlay ag lab, Ann Findlay, Jessie Faddie Findlay, James Findlay police constable and Joseph Findlay.2
Head of Household	2 April 1871	He was listed as head of household along with spouse Ann Grant domestic servant in the 1871 census at North Links, Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, . James Findlay, head, married, male aged 45 (1826), farm labourer, b Montrose; Ann, wife, married, female aged 35 (1836) b Inverness; also in the household were James Findlay police constable, Joseph Findlay, Agnes Keith Findlay, Jane Crabb Findlay, Isabella Stormont Findlay domestic servant and Maryann Duncan Findlay.11
Head of Household	3 April 1881	He was listed as head of household along with spouse Mary Ann Clark in the 1881 census at Boysack Cottage, Inverkeilor, Forfarshire, Scotland, . James Findlay, head, married, male aged 55 (1826), farm servant, b Montrose; Mary, wife, married, female aged 41 (1840) b Arbroath; Mary A Smith grandaughter, female aged 3 (1878), b St Vigeans; also in the household were Isabella Stormont Findlay domestic servant, Maryann Duncan Findlay and David Findlay.12
Head of Household	5 April 1891	He was listed as head of household along with spouse Mary Ann Clark in the 1891 census at Middle Hill, Cortachy, Forfarshire, Scotland, . James Findlay, head, married, male aged 60 (1831), farmer, b Forfarshire; Mary, wife, married, female aged 36 (1855) b Forfarshire; Angelica Clark, step daughter, female aged 15 (1876) scholar, Tannadice; Nellie McKEnzie, servant unmarried female aged 20 (1871) general servant b Forfarshire; also in the household were James Findlay.13
Member of Household	31 March 1901	They was listed as a member of the household of Joseph Findlay and Elizabeth Somebody in the 1901 census at 176 Ferry Road, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, . James Findlay, father, widower, male aged 74(1827) ploughman retired, Montrose; Joseph Findlay, head, married, male aged 41 (1860), stevedore, b Forfarshire; Elizabeth, wife, married, female aged 39 (1862) b Arbroath.14