Summary of Possible Family Relationships for Maybole Families:

  Feb 2008; revised June 2008; revised July 2008

“=>” means an assumed connection based mostly on age at birth of first child and geographic proximity

 

Maybole is a town and a parish in southern Ayrshire Scotland.   It borders on the sea and extends inland several miles.   It lies in the heart of “McMurtrie country” – the area in Ayrshire where most of the McMurtries of Scotland had their origins and where most of the McMurtries lived during the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s.   This area is bounded by Ayr on the north, extends down the coast including the parishes of Maybole, Kirkowald, Girvan and Barr and extends eastward including the parishes of Dailly, Kirkmichael, Straiton and Dalmellington.

 

McMurtries appears in Maybole wills as early as 1630,  though the parish registers with McMurtries that exist date only from 1712.

 

Some of the McMurtries of Maybole in the mid to late 1700s can be traced back to early in the 1700s but other families appeared to migrate here from nearby parishes of Dailly, Kirkmichael and Straiton.

 

Migrants

 

            Linking the Kirkmichael McMurtries with the Maybole McMurtries

 

We recently discovered that the family of John McM and Agnes Telfer (CF 28) (who had children born in Straiton and Kirkmichael 1762-1775) had sons who settled in Maybole and died there, namely William McM 1766-1849 and James 1768-1837.     This led to the discovery that this family is likely one branch of the family of John McM of Balwhirn, Kirkmichael Parish, not far from the Straiton and that this John is likely the husband of Agnes Shaw.  But the exciting discovery was a letter written by William McMurtrie of Maybole in 1840 stating that he was son of John and Agnes Telfer McMurtrie and grandson of John McM and Agnes Shaw.  This matched the William who appeared in the 1841 census in Inches Close, Maybole who had married Margaret McCrindle about 1794 and then Jane McClurg about 1803 and died there in 1849.   This William had a son William b 1821 (CF 51) who moved to Edinburgh and married Helen McKay.

 

Also, the letter showed that the James McMurtrie who died in 1837 in Maybole was William’s brother.  This matched James McMurtrie CF 9, a weaver in Redbrae, Maybole who married Margaret McClure and had a large family including Thomas who was an engine keeper and James who was a grocer in Maybole.

 

            Linking the Dailly McMurtries with the Maybole McMurtries

 

There is a James McMurtrie (CF 39) a tailor who married Jane Johnstone in 1800 in Maybole and died there in 1853.   His parentage has always been a mystery, but there is some evidence that he may have been the son of James McMurtrie (CF 4), a tailor in Dailly, who had a son James b 1779.    This had not been considered a possibility in the past because his death record and a newspaper account claimed he was born 1768 or 1769 and the 1851 census placed his birth at 1771.   However, the 1841 census placed his birth at 1780 though these records are notoriously inaccurate.   Since we have no James McM born in Maybole in exactly those years, this has been puzzle.  

 

The evidence that causes us to suggest that James of Maybole was the James McM b 1779 son of James McM, tailor in Dailly and Mary McHutceon of Dalmellington:

  1. Both the James tailor of Dailly md 1768 and the James tailor in Maybole md 1800 had sons named Adam – the elder James having a son Adam born 1781 and the younger James having a son Adam born 1817. 
  2. There is an Adam McM (CF 52) b 1807 living in 1841 in Largs in northern Ayrshrie and in 1851 in Dunoon and Kilmun in Arygll who claimed in the census to have been born in Maybole.  We suspect he may have been son of Adam b 1781.  This also suggests a migration from Dailly to Maybole.
  3. Lilias b 1786 daughter of James the tailor of Dailly married in Dumbartonshrie (way up near Glasgow) in 1806 to William Ewing.  Their son William Ewing moved to Port Glagow and was the informant on the death certificate for Lilias’ brother John McM in Dalrymple in 1864..
  4. John b 1783 the son of James tailor of Dailly died in 1864 in Dalrymple, to the north of Maybole and Kirkmichael.
  5. Sarah b 1788 died 1855 in Dalrymple.

 

Taking the geography as a whole suggests that all members of this family migrated elsewhere – John and Sarah going to Dalrymple; Lilias going north to Dumbarton; Adam possibly going north where a possible son Adam grew up in Largs and then Argyle.   So it is not a stretch to consider that James migrated also and that he went to Maybole.

 

If our assumptions are right, then we have linked CF 39 (James md Jane Johnstone 1800 Maybole) and CF 52 (Adam b 1807 Maybole)  to CF 4 (James md 1768 in Dailly to Mary McHutcheon).  DNA comparisons between CF 52 and CF 39 might enable us to support this assumed connection.

 

James the father who married in 1768 seems to have been a migrant also.  He appears to be the James b 1743, son of John McM b 1718 of Barr Parish.  See “McMurtries of Barr” and “McMurtries of Dailly” for more detail.

 

            Linking the Dalmellington McMurtries with the Maybole McMurtries

 

One McMurtrie family passed through Maybole briefly around 1805.  This family was William McMurtrie (CF 40) born Dalmellington 1766 who married 1805 while living in Barr Parish to Mary Hoat who was living in Maybole but born in Dalmellington about 1782/1784.  This couple had an unnamed child in 1806 in Maybole and a son William born 1817 in Barr Village.  William b 1817 md Sophia Smith in 1839 recording the marriage in both Edinburgh and Maybole.   They had children in Inverkeithing across the river from Maybole.     Also living in Edinburgh in the Kings Stables area were Thomas b 1801-11 (CF 45) and James b 1824 (CF 46).  Thomas’ grandson Thomas married William’s daughter Mary in  Australia. James lived in the Kings Stable area around the time of his marriage in 1848 to Janet Beattie before leaving for New Zealand in 1850.  The geographic and intermarriage relationships suggest these three were brothers.  

 

A Thomas descendant had DNA of the Dalmellington McMurtries and is assumed to be son of William b 1766 (assumed to be the son of William and Mary Templeton md 1759) and the grandson of William b 1722, son of William.  This links these Edinburgh McM to the families of Dalmellington McMurtries who went to America and to Australia as well as scattering around Scotland.

 

 

            Native Maybolers

 

Below we have a conjectural synthesis of the McMurtries who may be traceable back in time in Maybole based on assuming that time from birth to first child was generally 20 to 30 years or sometimes up to 35 years and considering geography.  We can not be sure of these conjectural connections, but they are reasonable theories.

 

What is surprising about this synthesis is that we are able postulate possible lineages that show that the three main families of Maybole (CF 41: Thomas md Agnes McKlemun abt 1753, CF 7:  Thomas md Margaret Gemmel about 1779, and CF 16:  Thomas b 1802 md 1828 Elizabeth Campbell) that we’ve been studying for many decades can be traced back to the early 1700s without a common ancestor.    CF 41 appears to go back to Bryce McM, a weaver in Maybole born 1686-1696; CF 7 appears to go back to James McM a smith in Maybole born about 1688-1698 and CF 16 appears to go back to Hugh a shoemaker born 1709-1719.

 

Bryce McM, weaver in Maybole

        John b 1726

        Thomas b 1729 => Thomas McM (CF 41) (age 25: first child) md Agnes McKlemon

                Margaret 1754

                William 1757

                John b1761 shoemaker md 1796 to Agnes Forsyth

                        Agnes b 1797

                        John b 1798 d 1864 single shoemaker Maybole

                        Margaret 1801

                        Thomas 1807

                Jean 1762

                Helen 1763

                Agnes 1765

                Helen 1767 md John Dick shoemaker (Helen died in Kirkoswald)

        James b 1731 => James McM (tailor in Maybole) md Elizabeth Gibson (aged 28: first child)

                David 1759 (fate unknown)

                other girls

  

James McM smith in Maybole (md Janet McIlmun)

        Thomas b 1718 => Thomas McM (age 26: first child) md Mary Maxwell (merchant in Maybole)

                John b 1744 =>John McM (aged 21: first child) md Helen Gray (sergeant in Maybole)

                        Catherine 1765

                        Thomas 1769=Thomas *(weaver) md Susan Limond (31 at first child)

                                    John 1800

                                    Janet 1802

                                    James 1805 d 1861 Maybole (single)

                                    Thomas 1808

                                    Susan (on brother’s death record, not in parish reg) 1815-1879

                James 1746 (dy)

                Thomas b 1747 =>Thomas (CF 7?) (age 33 at first child)   md Margaret Gemmell

                        (weaver in Genoch, Kirkland of Maybole, Ladycross)

                        Jannett 1780/1781        

                        John 1785

                        William 1786 md 1815 Maybole d 1858

                                    John (on death record)

                        Thomas 1795 weaver in Ayr by 1827

                        Agnes 1796

                        David 1801

                        Helen 1804

                        Jane 1805?

                        Allan 1805?

(Could the following James have been the James who married in 1784 in Ayr CF 50???; the geography of James living in Doonside does not completely fit with our Maybole town family, but is listed here as a possibility.)

                 James b 1755 (CF 42?) (age 26 at first child) =>James md Margaret McLatchie of

                        Doonside and Blairston (just opposite Ayr)

                        Elizabeth 1781

                        Helen 1783

                        John 1785 (In St Quivox by 1809) md Margaret Black d 1866 Ayr (children b Doonside)

                        Agnes 1787

                        William 1791

                        Margaret 1794

                        James 1796 md Jane Black 1830 Dundonald

 

Hugh McM, shoemaker in Maybole

            Thomas b 1739=>Thomas (clothier) md Mary Girvain (age 29 at first child)(only child)

                        Thomas b 1768=>Thomas* (wright in Lady Vennel) md Janet Murdock

                                                (age 29 at first child)

                                    Thomas 1793 Paisley

                                    Mary Ann 1795 Paisley md 1823 Maybole William Godd

                                    Margaret 1797 Maybole

                                    Jennett 1799 md 1822 David Niven Kilmarnock

                                    Thomas 1802=>Thomas (CF 16) engine keeper, d 1893 md 1828 Kilmarnock

                                                Elizabeth Campbell

                                    Hugh 1805 md 1824 Mary Harper in Kilmarnock (sons to Philadelphia by 1849):

                                    Elizabeth 1806           

 

            Glengowland McMurtries

 

Glengowland lies several miles south of Maybole close to the Maybole, Kirkoswald, Dailly border.  Though we even have records of a McMurtrie in Glengowland in 1665 and we have a large family that dates from the early 1700s, we have no descendants that can be traced down to more recent times except for John who died single in 1855.

 

Gilbert md 1720 Dailly to Jean Crawford (resided Glengowland: south of Maybole, west of Crosshill))

            Katherine 1722

            John 1723=>?of Glengowland md 1751 (age 28) in Dailly to Margaret Crawford/Jean Crawford of

                                     Dailly

                        Katherine 1754

                        Quintin 1756 (mother Jean Crawford)

                        Jean 1759 (Mother Jean Crawford)

                        Primrose 1766 Jul 2

                        James 1766 Jun 1

                        Gilbert 1768

                        Jannet 1771

                        John 1774-1855 Maybole Horsebreaker, single         

            Jean 1725

            David 1729

            William 1729

            Gilbert 1731

            Agnes 1734

 

More detailed Trees of Non-Maybole Born McM

 

 

1.  James md Margaret McClure (CF 9) weaver of Redbrae. This is the James who died in 1837 aged 66 (hence born 1769) which corresponds to the information we have about James b 1768 son of son of John and Agnes Telfer CF 28 of Straiton and Kirkmichael.  First child at 26.

                                               

                                    Margaret 1794

                                    John 1796 d 1868 Killearn md Agnes Brown 1840 Maybole

                                                John b ca 1840 Forfar, Dumbarton md Janet McGarva 1868 Girvan

                                                            d 1908 Girvan

                                                Helen Johnston b 1845 b ca 1845 d 1874 Gillearn

                                                James b ca 1848 Dumbarton  md Jean Fullerton 1883 d

                                                            1938 Cadder East

                                                Dau 1850

                                    James 1799  md 1826 Mary McJannet (Maybole and Gorbals)

                                                Elizabeth 1827 Maybole

                                                James 1829 Gorbals  Md Elizabeth Wallace 1842 Cathcart

                                                            Jemima 1842

                                                            James 1843 md 1817 Blytheswood Eliz McKellar

                                                            William 1844

                                                            Margaret 1850

                                                            Jane 1850 Gorbals

                                                            Agnes ca 1851 md 1875 Glasgow md James Nicol                                                                                                   Walker

                                                            Mary ca 1850 d 1891 Kinning Park md James                                                                                                           Williamson

                                                            Janet 1850 (twins)

                                    William 1802

                                    Thomas 1803 d 1874 md 1828 Maybole Janet Dunn

                                                Margaret 1831

                                                Helen 1833

                                                Janet 1836

                                                Agnes 1838

                                                Agnes 1839

                                                Thomas 1841 d 1847 Maybole

 

3.     CF 51:  William hosier in Maybole md Margaret McCrindle abt 1795 md Jane McClurg about 1804 d 1849 aged 88 Hence born about 1761; census indicates born 1766.   This corresponds to the William died after 1840 mentioned in a letter to the family of John and Agnes Telfar McM and hence likely their son William b 1766  CF 28

 

Explanatory Notes:

 

CF 42:  I originally placed James md Margaret McClatchie as son of Thomas and Mary Maxwell based on James being 26 at first child (Elizabeth 1781), assuming Maybole birth.  We eliminated from consideration the next oldest James born 1766, since he would only be age 15 at first child .  However, I’m now doubting this because of geography.

 

B

1731

Jun 27

James

Bryce

Mure,Agnes

B

1746

Mar 23

James

Thomas

Maxwell, Mary

B

1755

Jun 21

James

Thomas

Maxwell, Mary

B

1766

Jun 1 /2

James

John

Crawford,Margt

B

1796

Nov 5

James

James

McLatchie,Margt

 

Given the georgraphy of James who married Margaret McLatchie living in Doonside, about 5 miles north of Maybole, I considered if he might be part of an Ayr or Dalrymple family.  However the only James born in the area was James son of Thomas and Jean Corwan/Cowan but he was born in 1777 – too young.  The only other James’ outside Maybole born in the 1750s were:

 

James b 1756 in Girvan

James b 1759 in Kirkmichael

James b 1760 in Fardencala, Kirkoswald

James b 1761 in Glasgow

 

James b 1759 Kirkmichael seems a possibility, but he and the others are unaccounted for.  So there are simply too many unaccounted for James’ to be sure of placement. 

 

*Thomas McM md Janet Murdock and Thomas McM md Susan Limond

Note that it is not possible to tell if Thomas who married Janet Murdock (first child 1797) or Thomas who married Susan Limond (first child 1800) is the Thomas b 1768 (son of Thomas and Mary Girvain) or the Thomas b 1769 (son of John McM and Helen Gray).  One could try to argue that Thomas the wright belonged in the family of a smith, a merchant, a sergeant and that Thomas the weaver belonged in the family of the shoemaker, and the clothier.  But this is a weak argument and so these two possibilities can be considered interchangeable. 

 

·         I have placed Thomas clothier, who married Mary Girvain (and had child Thomas in 1768) as being Thomas b 1739 son of Hugh simply because the age of 29 between generations is a good fit. 

·         I have placed Thomas, merchant, who married Mary Maxwell as son of James and Janet McIlmun because age of 26 is a good fit. 

·         I have placed Thomas who married Agnes McKlemon (and had dau Mgt 1754) as being Thomas b 1729, son of Bryce the weaver, because the age of 25 between generations is a good fit (not the son of James McM and Janet McIlmun as traditionally reported by later family historians). 

·         I have placed Thomas who married Margaret Gemmell (and had dau Janet in 1780/81) as being Thomas b 1747, son of Thomas and Mary Maxwell because this is the closest fit (age 33).    One could argue that Thomas the clothier who married Mary Girvain and son Thomas b 1768 could just as easily have been the son of Thomas and Mary Maxwell because the age of 21 is a good fit also.  However, this would not leave a place for Thomas who married Margaret Gemmell because he would have been 41 if he was Thomas b 1739, son of Hugh the shoemaker.

 

So as you can see my synthesis is just the most likely possibility based on age between generations being close to 20-30 and all being Maybole born.  And the confidence level in this particular synthesis is not high.

 

Take a look at this website for locating the farms and villages where the Scottish McM lived.

http://www.nls.uk/maps/early/547.html

 

 

Looking at the Maybole parish registers for James McM, I note there are only 8 James McM who fathered children between 1718 and 1809 and only 6 James McM born between 1714 and 1796.  It looks to me like some of the James' moved into Maybole from elsewhere.  Looking closely at the records, I conclude:

 

1.  James McM who married Elizabeth Gibson was probably born 1726-1736 based on being 20-30 yrs old when oldest child David was born 1756.   Since there is only one James McM born between 1715 and 1754who survived infancy and was recorded in the Maybole register, then IF James who married Eliz Gibson was born in Maybole and recorded in the register, than he is the son of Bryce McM, weaver in Maybole.  I would say we could record this as a "good possibility".   We have however wondered if the marriage of John McMurtrie and Elizbeth Gibson in Dalmellington and Kirkoswald could be a misreading and a late registration of James and Elizbeth Gibson marriage, though the births in Maybole of their children between 1759 and 1777 in Maybole suggest this is just a coincidence.

 

2.  James McM (of Doonside, Blairston, (which is several miles north of Maybole on the Dalrymple border and almost on the border with Ayr parish)  who married Margaret McLatchie was born 1751-1761 based on being 20-30 years old when first child Elizabeth was born in 1781.  There is only one James born in Maybole in this period 1732-1765, namely, James b 1755, son of Thomas and Mary Maxwell, (Merchant of Maybole).    Though James could have moved north to Doonside from Maybole, the lack of geographic nexus suggests that we record this as a "possibility".  There is a James McM of Culzetone (1 mile west of Maybole) who md Agnes Murray and whose first child was born 1771 at which time James son of Thomas & Mary Maxwell McM was only 16; so this James of Culzetone does not seem likely to have been the son of Thomas & Mary Maxwell McM, but we find no other James b 1741-1751 that can account for James of Culzetone. 

 

I wonder if the James (CF 50) who married Susanna Drennan in Ayr in 1784 could have been the James b 1755 son of Thomas and Mary Maxwell)

 

3.  The James McM who married 1804 to Mary McFadzean was the son of Hugh of Ladyburn and despite the children being baptized in Maybole, the home of Mary, James continued to be identified as being of Barleywan which lies in Kirkmichael.

 

In going back to the John McM born in the 1720s in order to place John McM who md Margaret Crawford of Glengowland and had Katherine b 1754, there are two possibilities:

 

Gilbert McM of Glengowland had son John b 1723 (age 31 at first child if John of Glengowland)

Bryce McM , weaver of Maybole had son John b 1726 (age 28 at first child).  Either would work OK.  The Glengowland residence of Gilbert favors John of Glengowland being his son; the age tends to favor Bryce being the father.  Also, we note that none of Gilbert’s other sons seem to have stayed in the parish, i.e. David b 1727 William b 1729 and Gilbert b 1731.  Yet John who md Mgt Crawford had a son Gilbert though his oldest son was John and he had no sons named Bryce. 

 

See wills of Glengowland, Maybole