CF 14 April 2009 Richard McMurtry

(Incomplete draft)

CF 14 is an interesting family because it illustrates the migrations of the McMurtries that occurred in Ayrshire in the mid 1700s.

We believe the family consisted of William McMurtrie b 1701 in Dailly Parish, Ayrshire, Scotland and a Robert McMurtrie of Dailly, possibly a brother.

By 1736, William had migrated a few miles west from Dailly to Woodhead of Girvan Parish which lay not far from the borders of Girvan, Kirkoswald, Maybole and Dailly parish. By 1748, we suspect he migrated to Bogside, just west of Maybole town in Maybole Parish where he died in 1766. His daughter Janet had children in Maybole between 1756 and 1779; his son Hugh migrated southward to Colmonell by 1769; his son William migrated northward to Irvine by 1774 and then to Kilmarnock between 1776 and 1784; his son Andrew migrated to North Carolina and died there in 1782.

Robert married in Dailly Parish in 1728 to Bessie McMurtrie of Girvan Parish and seems to be the Robert who had children between 1730 and 1735 in Trees, just west of Maybole, then migrated to Blair of Kirkoswald where he had children between 1737 (Ann) and 1740 (Margaret who married James Davidson in 1761), and then migrated back to Dailly where he had children between 1744 (Isobel) and 1748 (William). The linkage of Robert to William is that “William McMurtrie of Woodhead, Girvan” witnessed the baptism of Robert’s daughter Ann in 1737 in Blair of Kirkoswald. We also note that when William migrated to Maybole, he settled in Bogside, just a few hundred feet from Trees where Robert had lived a decade previous.

Sources

Below is the data upon which this conjectural family structure has been based.

The family of CF 14 was first brought to light in a letter sent about 1910 from Alexander Hay Hill McMurtry in Ireland to family historian Adnah McMurtrie in New Jersey. The letter was passed onto to Alexander David McMurtrie in Ontario Canada in 1939 or so and hence formed the basis for our understanding of this family. The source of the information in the letter was a communication sent to A.H.H. McMurtry by Jean or Janet Boyd b 1836 of Wigtonshire, Scotland reporting on the contents of the family Bible that was in her possession. Recent research showed that she was the great-granddaughter of Hugh McMurtrie born 1743 in Woodhead of Girvan in Ayrshire, who came to Colmonell by 1769 with descendants settling in Wigtonshire.

The letter stated the following excerpts:

William McMurtrie born 21 April 1701
John McMurtrie born 17 Jan 1727
Janet McMurtrie born Sept 1736
Andrew McMurtrie born 3 July 1741
Hugh McMurtrie born 13 Feb 1743
Anna McMurtrie born 7 Dec 1745
William McMurtrie (grandson of No 1) 30 May 1751
John McMurtrie (son of No 2) born at Roughforth Co Antrim

William (no 7) and his wife Martha Breckenridge were both born in the town of Kilmarnock and baptized by Mr. McMurtrie of that place. (Or maybe it was Rev. Mr McMurtrie, I’ll have to recheck this someday.)

The letter also contained the birthdates for the family of Hugh McMurtrie, great-grandfather of Mrs. Boyd.

Later research revealed the birth of Hugh’s son Andrew in 1769 in Colmonell (Mrs. Boyd’s grandfather) and Andrew’s family being born in Inch of Wigtonshire and the marriage of William in Irvine and the birth of his children in Monkton/Prestwick and then Kilmarnock.

Also, the will of Andrew in 1782 in North Carolina revealed that William, shoemaker of Kilmarnock and Hugh, shoemaker of Colmonell and Janet spouse of John Dick were all siblings to Andrew.

Andrew McMurtie, late of Pasquatank, North Carolina 1st May 1782

Testament refers to Hugh McMurtrie, shoemaker in Colmonell, William McMurtrie, shoemaker in Kilmarnock and Janet McMurtrie spouse to John Dick, brothers and sister to Andrew.

The children of Janet McMurtrie and John Dick were discovered to have been born in Maybole between 1756 and 1779.

No	Date	Surname	Forename	Parent Names/Frame No.	Sex	Parish
8	23/11/1756	DICK	JOHN	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTRIE FR188	U	Maybole
9	02/07/1758	DICK	MARIAN	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR190	U	Maybole
4	30/03/1760	DICK	ANNE	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR199	U	Maybole
10	08/08/1762	DICK	MARY	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR209	U	Maybole
7	20/05/1764	DICK	JEAN	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR217	U	Maybole
1	04/08/1765	DICK	-----	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR224	U	Maybole
11	24/04/1768	DICK	SARAH	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR238	U	Maybole
6	22/07/1770	DICK	JANET	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR247	F	Maybole
3	17/01/1773	DICK	AGNESS	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR259	U	Maybole
5	29/01/1779	DICK	JAMES	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR293	M	Maybole

A court record in the Glasgow Commissariot revealed that a William McMurtrie of Bogside, Maybole had died in 1766 and had a son Hugh. This was not a will perse but rather the disposition of a debt (owed by or for William) and for that reason mentioned only Hugh who was in possession of some aspect of the transaction, rather than all the children.

The baptismal date of 24 Feb 1701 for William, son of Andrew McM, of Dailly parish was only 3 days after the birth date in the bible for William McM of CF 14.

So putting all this together and trying to resolve some of the contradictions in the data, we see William McMurtrie born in 1701 in Dailly Parish, son of Andrew McM, probably of the Andrew of Drummullin, Dailly who had twins in 1705. William moved a few miles west to Woodhead of Girvan parish, very close to the border with Kirkoswald, Maybole and Dailly. Here his children were born between 1736 and 1745, with Andrew’s birth being recorded in the bible but not the parish records. We also believe that William McM, the brother of Andrew, was the William born 1751 of Kilmarnock mentioned in Mrs. Boyd’s account as a grandson (rather than a son) of William b 1701.

We suspect that the family moved to Maybole by 1748 and that William Jr. was born there in 1751. Then, after the death of William Sr. in 1766, Janet remained in Maybole with her husband John Dick, but Hugh went south to Colmonell where he had a son in 1769 and William went north where he married in Irvine in 1774 and Andrew eventually went to North Carolina where he died in 1782.

We also note that “William McMurtrie of Woodhead, Girvan ” was a witness to the birth of Ann McMurtrie, daughter of Robert McM of Blair, Kirkoswald. Woodhead was just a few miles from Blair. This Robert appears to be the Robert McM who married in Dailly in 1728 to Bessie McMurtrie of Girvan, moved to Trees of Maybole where three children were born (unknown 1730, Jean 1732, Andrew 1735), then moved to Blair of Kirkoswald where two children were born (Ann 1737 and Margaret 1740) and may have moved back to Dailly where a Robert had a daughter Isobel in 1744 (Milncavish of New Dailly) and William b 1748 Brigend of Dailly. We know that daughter Margaret married in 1761 in Dailly and died there in 1838. So the move back to Dailly seems plausible.

The movements of these families of Robert and William seems very geographically parallel and the connection through the baptism in 1737 suggests they were close kin. Unfortunatley neighter of these families had male McM surviving into modern times so DNA can not be used to show their conneciton to each other or to other McM families of that area.

Notes:

In the parish registers of Woodhead of Girvan we have:

William, father of:

Janet b 15 Sept 1736 Woodhead of Girvan

Andrew b 2 July 1742 Barr by Girvan

Hugh b 20 Feb 1743 Woodhead of Girvan

Anne b 7 Dec 1745 Woodhead of Girvan

From the family bible,

Janet McMurtrie born Sept 1736

Andrew McMurtrie born 3 July 1741

Hugh McMurtrie born 13 Feb 1743

Anna McMurtrie born 7 Dec 1745

We also have the will of Andrew who had migrated to North Carolina by 1782:

Andrew McMurtie, late of Pasquatank, North Carolina 1st May 1782

Testament refers to Hugh McMurtrie, shoemaker in Colmonell, William McMurtrie, shoemaker in Kilmarnock and Janet McMurtrie spouse to John Dick, brothers and sister to Andrew.

I also noticed:

Glasgow Commisariot

William McMurtrie, Bogside, late indweller in Maybole 1766. Son Hugh. This record seems to have dealt with some sort of loan made in 1748. So this William was presumably in Maybole by that time.

Since the only record we have of a Hugh with father William is CF 14, the question arose as to whether William d 1766 Maybole might be the William of Woodhead Girvan with son Hugh b 1743. However, in searching for Janet McMurtrie and John Dick, we find them in Maybole by 1756. And we note that Hugh did inherit the family bible, suggesting a special role for Hugh in the family that would explain his being named on the 1766 court record. Also the court record is not a will perse, but rather a debt (owed to or by William) and Hugh was recorded as possessing some aspect of the transaction, not recorded as the sole survivor.

No	Date	Surname	Forename	Parent Names/Frame No.	Sex	Parish
8	23/11/1756	DICK	JOHN	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTRIE FR188	U	Maybole
9	02/07/1758	DICK	MARIAN	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR190	U	Maybole
4	30/03/1760	DICK	ANNE	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR199	U	Maybole
10	08/08/1762	DICK	MARY	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR209	U	Maybole
7	20/05/1764	DICK	JEAN	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR217	U	Maybole
1	04/08/1765	DICK	-----	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR224	U	Maybole
11	24/04/1768	DICK	SARAH	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR238	U	Maybole
6	22/07/1770	DICK	JANET	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR247	F	Maybole
3	17/01/1773	DICK	AGNESS	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR259	U	Maybole
5	29/01/1779	DICK	JAMES	JOHN DICK/JANET MCMURTREE FR293	M	Maybole

So, I conclude that the family may have moved to Maybole by 1756, when Janet was 20, Hugh was 13, Andrew 15 and William probaby 5. Janet married John Dick about this time based on the birth of their daughter in 1756. Then, William died in 1766 based on the Commisarriot record. Then Hugh may have moved south to Colmonell where his children were born beginning in 1769 when Hugh was 26. William moved to Irvine/Monkton where he married in 1774 aged 23. We don’t know when Andrew migrated to the US, but he died in 1782, right at the end of the American Revolution, at the age of 39.

This differs from the record on the website where William is listed as a nephew rather than a brother to Andrew, because of Alexander Hay Hill McM’s letter. However, I think there may have been ambiquity in the letter that Janet Boyd sent to Alexander Hay Hill McMurtry which A.H.H. McM sent to Adnah McM in 1910 and which Adnah copied and sent to A.D. McM in 1940s OR there may have been ambiquity in the bible record that Mrs. Boyd misinterpreted.

Hi Sam,

I took my microfilms down to the library since I had to go there anyway. I looked at the letter from Alexander Hay Hill to Adnah.

The letter was based on material sent to Alexander Hay Hill McMurtry by Janet Boyd of Stoneykirk, Wigtonshire sometime before 1910. The letter was sent by A.H.H. McMurtry to Adnah McMurtrie in New Jersey about 1910 and then sent to A.D. McMurtrie in 1939 or so.

It indicated that the material was based on a family bible (which presumably had been passed down to Mrs. Boyd through her great-grandfather Hugh b 1743, to her father Andrew b 1769, to her Jean b 1803 md Alexander Boyd 1836. What it said was:

William McMurtrie born 21 April 1701
John McMurtrie born 17 Jan 1727
Janet McMurtrie born Sept 1736
Andrew McMurtrie born 3 July 1741
Hugh McMurtrie born 13 Feb 1743
Anna McMurtrie born 7 Dec 1745
William McMurtrie (grandson of No 1) 30 May 1751
John McMurtrie (son of No 2) born at Roughforth Co Antrim

Though John b 1727 is identified as having a son John born in Roughforth (I can’t find Roughtforth so I keep wondering if this might have been Loughforth in the original bible) Co Antrim, William b 1751 is not identified as the son of any of the bible entries but rather is identified as a grandson of William b 21 Feb 1701.

Even though A.D. interpreted this to mean that William was also a son of John, the way the text is worded suggests that William b 1751 is not the son of John, but rather the son of an unidentified son of William b 1701.

This doesn’t make much sense though because why would they record the birth of a grandson and not a son. Furthermore, Andrew’s will of 1782 below identifies William, shoemaker of Kilmarnock as his brother. Further, from the parish registers, we know that William was married in 1774, making the William born 1751 the right age to have been the brother and there was no other William in Kilmarnock who was a shoemaker..

I would say that the most likely interpretation of this contradictory material is that William b 1751 was the son of William b 1701, despite what led Mrs. Boyd to record William as a grandson. It is also curious because according to A.H.H. McM, Mrs. Boyd also stated that William and his wife Margaret Breckenridge were both born in Kilmarnock and baptized by a Rev. Mr. (or was it just Mr.?) McMurtrie of that place.

I think it more likely that William was a son of William b 1701 and that is why he appears in the bible and that the baptism is one of those unrecorded records that torments our attempts to have a complete picture of the family.

I looked at the original record (attached) of the baptism of William in Dailly. The Feb 24, 1701 baptism would correspond to the Feb 21, 1701 birthdate reported in the bible and hence seems too muchof a coincidence for William b 1701 Dailly not to be the William of the Bible.

Futhermore, I looked for the Janet Dick, spouse to John Dick, mentioned in the will and found the birth of her children in Maybole 1756 and onward.

Then, I noticed the 1766 court record for William McMurtrie in Bogside, Maybole with the son Hugh and note that it indicates that William was in Maybole by 1748. Given the lack of Hugh’s in Ayrshire in this period and the fact that the only Hugh with a William father is the one born in Girvan of CF 14, I conclude that the Wiliam

Of the court record is William of CF 14. Also, the prominence given to Hugh in the record might explain why he inherited the family bible and it passed down to Jean Boyd.

So, we would have a movement from Dailly 1701 to Woodhead of Girvan by 1736, then to Maybole by 1748, when perhaps William b 1751 was born but unrecorded. I note there are no births or other parish register entries in Maybole in 1751, unlike most other years on either side of 1751.

Note also that Robert of Dailly who married 1728 to Bessie McMurtrie of Girvan, moved to Blair of Kirkoswald by 1737 and had William McMurtrie of Woodhead as a witness on the birth of his daughter Ann in 1737 and had Margaret b 1740 (who married James Davidson, lived in Dailly). Given the gap between the marriage and the birth of Ann, I suspect that he is the Robert who with wife Bethia had 3 children in Trees of Maybole; 1730 ?, 1732 Jean, 1735 Andrew. So here we have a Dailly 1728 to Maybole 1730-1735, to Blair of Kirkoswald 1737 and 1740, and possibly back to the New Dailly area (Milncavish) 1744 Isobel and 1748 William (Brigend of Dailly). Trees where Robert lived in 1730-35 is only a few hundred feet from Bogside where William lived in 1766.

I suspect Robert might be one of the twins of Andrew born in 1705 and hence the brother of William born 1701.

Richard

01/06/1836 BOYD MARGARET

9/01/1837 BOYD JANET MCWILLIAM

29/01/1837 BOYD JEAN AITKEN

27/12/1839 BOYD MARY