Elizabeth Baxter was baptised 17 April 1812 in the St. Nicholas parish of Aberdeen. Her parents were Alexander Baxter and Christian Forbes.
Twenty-two years later, on 15 November 1834, Elizabeth Baxter married Andrew Main. According to the official marriage document, "After due proclamation of banns, Andrew Main, seaman in Aberdeen was, on the Fifteenth day of November, One Thousand Eight Hundred & Thirty four, married at Aberdeen to Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Baxter, Pilot in Footdee, by the Reverend John Thomson M.D. Minister of St. Clements parish Aberdeen, in presence of these witnesses - Alexander Fowler, and Alexander Baxter, both Pilots in Footdee, Aberdeen."
In 1841, Elizabeth was listed in the Census as 32 years old and lived at South Square (no house number given) in Footdee, Aberdeen with her husband Andrew Main (34) and their children Christian (7, a female), John (5), Elizabeth (4), and Andrew (1). It should be noted that the spelling of their daughter's name as "Christian" - although unusual for a girl - is the same name and spelling as Elizabeth's mother, Christian Baxter (nee Forbes). In later documents, such as the 1881 Census, the daughter Christian would be referred to as "Christina."
By 1851, the Main family had grown by three more children and were living at 11 South Square in Footdee, Aberdeen. According to the census information, Elizabeth was 37 and a whitefisher; her husband Andrew was 39, head of the household, and also a whitefisher; and living with Elizabeth and Andrew were their seven children: Christian (17), a House Servant; John (15), a scholar; Elizabeth (13), a Factory Servant; Andrew (11), a scholar; Ann (9), a scholar; Margaret (4); and Jane (2).
Two things stand out from the 1851 Census. First, both Andrew and his wife Elizabeth are each listed as being 5 years younger than they should be based on the information contained in the preceding 1841 Census. As discussed earlier, age discrepancies between records were not uncommon. The second point of interest is that Elizabeth's profession is "whitefisher." While it would have been highly unusual for a woman to be out on the fishing boats with the men, it is possible. What is more likely, however, is that Elizabeth worked on the docks and piers with other women processing the whitefish and herring that were caught.
On 25 September 1857, Elizabeth's husband Andrew in their home at 11 South Square in Footdee from "morbus cordis" (heart disease).
In the 1861 Census - which was the first census conducted after Andrew Main's death - Elizabeth Main was listed as head of the household, 49 years old, born in 1812, and working as a "Fish Dealer." She lived at South Square (street number not specified) in the St. Nicholas parish of Aberdeenshire with her children John (25), a Pilot; Andrew (21), a whitefisher: Ann (19), no profession listed, but presumably she took care of the house and her younger siblings while her mother Elizabeth worked; Margaret (14), a scholar; Robert (9), a scholar; Jane (12), a scholar; Isabella (7), a scholar; and Jemima (4).
According to the 1871 Census, Elizabeth, now widowed for 14 years, was using her maiden name of Baxter, not Main. Widows sometimes chose to do this, and no legal action was required to do so. Elizabeth was living at 38 St. Clement Street in the St. Nicholas parish of Aberdeen, living alone, and a "Fisherman's Widow." What's unclear is where any of her children were. Although, even her youngest, Jemima, would have been 14 years old by this time (if still alive) and thus of legal working age, possibly living in another home working as a domestic servant. Elizabeth's next door neighbor was Isabella Forbes, a 54 year old unmarried woman, and this is worth noting because Elizabeth's mother's maiden name was also Forbes. Could this Isabella Forbes have been a cousin of Elizabeth's?
According to the 1881 Census, Elizabeth, still going by Baxter and not Main, was 70 years old and living at 11 Pilots Square in Footdee with her daughter Christina's family. The head of the household was Alexander Allan (50), a pilot, and Elizabeth's daughter Christina Allan was 47. Christina and her husband Alexander had four children: Andrew (19), a fisherman; Jane (14), a domestic servant; Alexander (11), a scholar; and James (8), a scholar. Elizabeth's relation to the head of the household was listed as "Mother-In-Law."
While no official record has yet been found for Elizabeth Baxter Main's death, a registered user on the website Ancestry.com listed her as dying on 25 July 1890.
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