Nigg is a parish (an ecclesiastical and later a civil division of governance) in the county of Kincardine, adjacent to the southeast of Aberdeen along the coast of the North Sea. Nigg contains the villages of Burnbanks, Torry, and Cove, where John and Janet Cook were living when they had Barbara.
Barbara Cook's parents, John Cook and Janet Lumsden, were married October 1839 in the Aberdeen Presbytery, Nigg Parish, Kincardine. It's unclear why, but of the eight couples listed on the marriage record for that parish, only the entry for Cook and Lumsden did not have a day listed for the marriage, just the month. Also, each of the other married couples had the same wording used in their entries, which was "...were lawfully married..." while the entry for Cook and Lumsden was the only one that said "...now were lawfully married..." (note the addition of the word 'now'). Could the inclusion of the word 'now' been random with no underlying meaning, or is it possible that John Cook and Janet Lumsden previously had an "irregular" or "clandestine" marriage (not performed by the Church of Scotland) that was subsequently made official in a recognized Church wedding performed by a minister with the "due publication of Banns"? Finally, similar to Barbara's baptism record, John Cook's name is listed in the marriage record as "John Cook or Cockie," again with no explanation for the ambiguity about his surname.
Ten years later in the 1861 census, Barbara Cook is again recorded as living in another household separate from the rest of her family. She is listed as 18 years old and working on a farm as a dairymaid for a woman named Mary Anderson (in Kincardineshire).
While Barbara was living and working in Kincardineshire as a dairymaid in 1861, her siblings and mother Janet (Lumsden) Cook were living at 50 Park Street in Aberdeen per the 1861 census for the St. Nicholas parish. But curiously absent was the father John Cook - more on that later. For the Park Street address in Aberdeen, Janet, 42, was married and a "salmonfisher's wife" (but she was not listed as head of the household); son John, 21, a granite mason; daughter Jemima, 16, a flax factory worker; son Alexander, 9, a scholar; daughter Mary Anne, 5, scholar; and daughter Christina 5 months old. Also living in the household was David Lyall, age 20 from Keith in Banffshire, a granite mason like son John. The children John, Mary Anne, and Christina are listed as being born in the St. Nicholas parish of Aberdeen, while Jemima and Alexander were born in Nigg, Kincardineshire. The mother Janet is listed as being born in Belhelvie, Aberdeenhire. Absent from the 1861 census (but was present in the 1851 census) is daughter Anne, who was one year old in 1851. No record could be found of a young girl named Anne Cook dying in either Kincardineshire or Aberdeenshire between 1851 and 1861, so it's possible like her sister Barbara before her that she went to live with another family member (or, she died and the record is lost).
As previously mentioned, the father John Cook was not listed in the 1861 census along with the rest of his family at 50 Park Street in Aberdeen. Instead, John Cook, salmonfisher and husband of Janet Cook, can be found in the 1861 census for Nigg, Kincardine as a lodger at a "Salmon Bothy." Bothies were a basic form of accommodation for groups of workers such as fishermen, gardeners, and other types of workers, sometimes associated with an estate. A bothy was a simple building that provided protection from the elements and a place to sleep. Most bothies had a fireplace, were near a natural source of potable water, and provided a spade for burying excrement. In this 1861 census for the Salmon Bothy in Nigg, John Cook was listed as married, 44 years old, and born 1817 in Old Machar, Aberdeenshire.
Barbara Cook married Alexander Miller in 1868 in Deptford, London, England. There is, however, some discrepancy about the date of the wedding. The U.K. marriage record (FreeReg.org.uk, image not available but can be found at their website) cites the date as 3 February 1868, as does the birth record for their youngest son John Cook, but the birth record for their son Alexander (father of Alec) lists the wedding date as 11 January 1869. Because two of three sources support the 1868 date, including the marriage record itself, the date of 3 February 1868 for the marriage of Alexander Miller to Barbara Cook (paternal grandparents of Alec) seems the most likely. But what remains unclear is why Alexander and Barbara got married in London. And an even greater mystery may be how a dairymaid from Nigg ended up marrying a tinsmith from St. Andrews. The research continues...
Barbara Cook's parents, John Cook and Janet Lumsden, were married October 1839 in the Aberdeen Presbytery, Nigg Parish, Kincardine. It's unclear why, but of the eight couples listed on the marriage record for that parish, only the entry for Cook and Lumsden did not have a day listed for the marriage, just the month. Also, each of the other married couples had the same wording used in their entries, which was "...were lawfully married..." while the entry for Cook and Lumsden was the only one that said "...now were lawfully married..." (note the addition of the word 'now'). Could the inclusion of the word 'now' been random with no underlying meaning, or is it possible that John Cook and Janet Lumsden previously had an "irregular" or "clandestine" marriage (not performed by the Church of Scotland) that was subsequently made official in a recognized Church wedding performed by a minister with the "due publication of Banns"? Finally, similar to Barbara's baptism record, John Cook's name is listed in the marriage record as "John Cook or Cockie," again with no explanation for the ambiguity about his surname.
In the 1851 census, Barbara Cook was 8 years old (her birthday occurring after the March census) and listed as a "visitor" living with a woman named Elspet Lumsden (in Kincardinehsire), presumably the sister of her mother Janet Lumsden. It is unclear why Barbara would be living with a relative other than her parents, but it could have been a matter of economics. Meanwhile in the 1851 census, Barbara's parents John and Janet Cook are listed as living in Cove Farm along with their three other children and a "lodger" and agricultural labourer named James Mitchel. While the official record obtained through the National Records of Scotland is difficult to read, clarification is provided through the transcription available at familysearch.org which states the following: John Cook, the father and head of household, is 34 years old, a Salmonfisher, and was born in Aberdeen in 1817 (estimated); Janet Cook, the wife, is 32, and was born in Aberdeenshire in 1819 (estimated); John, the son, is 11 and was born in Aberdeen; daughter Jemima is 6 and was born in Kincardineshire, and daughter Anne is 1 and was born in Kincardineshire. The lodger James Mitchel is listed as being 30 years old and was born in Kincardineshire.
Ten years later in the 1861 census, Barbara Cook is again recorded as living in another household separate from the rest of her family. She is listed as 18 years old and working on a farm as a dairymaid for a woman named Mary Anderson (in Kincardineshire).
While Barbara was living and working in Kincardineshire as a dairymaid in 1861, her siblings and mother Janet (Lumsden) Cook were living at 50 Park Street in Aberdeen per the 1861 census for the St. Nicholas parish. But curiously absent was the father John Cook - more on that later. For the Park Street address in Aberdeen, Janet, 42, was married and a "salmonfisher's wife" (but she was not listed as head of the household); son John, 21, a granite mason; daughter Jemima, 16, a flax factory worker; son Alexander, 9, a scholar; daughter Mary Anne, 5, scholar; and daughter Christina 5 months old. Also living in the household was David Lyall, age 20 from Keith in Banffshire, a granite mason like son John. The children John, Mary Anne, and Christina are listed as being born in the St. Nicholas parish of Aberdeen, while Jemima and Alexander were born in Nigg, Kincardineshire. The mother Janet is listed as being born in Belhelvie, Aberdeenhire. Absent from the 1861 census (but was present in the 1851 census) is daughter Anne, who was one year old in 1851. No record could be found of a young girl named Anne Cook dying in either Kincardineshire or Aberdeenshire between 1851 and 1861, so it's possible like her sister Barbara before her that she went to live with another family member (or, she died and the record is lost).
As previously mentioned, the father John Cook was not listed in the 1861 census along with the rest of his family at 50 Park Street in Aberdeen. Instead, John Cook, salmonfisher and husband of Janet Cook, can be found in the 1861 census for Nigg, Kincardine as a lodger at a "Salmon Bothy." Bothies were a basic form of accommodation for groups of workers such as fishermen, gardeners, and other types of workers, sometimes associated with an estate. A bothy was a simple building that provided protection from the elements and a place to sleep. Most bothies had a fireplace, were near a natural source of potable water, and provided a spade for burying excrement. In this 1861 census for the Salmon Bothy in Nigg, John Cook was listed as married, 44 years old, and born 1817 in Old Machar, Aberdeenshire.
Barbara Cook married Alexander Miller in 1868 in Deptford, London, England. There is, however, some discrepancy about the date of the wedding. The U.K. marriage record (FreeReg.org.uk, image not available but can be found at their website) cites the date as 3 February 1868, as does the birth record for their youngest son John Cook, but the birth record for their son Alexander (father of Alec) lists the wedding date as 11 January 1869. Because two of three sources support the 1868 date, including the marriage record itself, the date of 3 February 1868 for the marriage of Alexander Miller to Barbara Cook (paternal grandparents of Alec) seems the most likely. But what remains unclear is why Alexander and Barbara got married in London. And an even greater mystery may be how a dairymaid from Nigg ended up marrying a tinsmith from St. Andrews. The research continues...
In the 1881 census for Aberdeen, Barbara Miller is listed as head of the Miller household living at 14 Chronicle Lane in the Greyfriars section of St. Nicholas Parish in Aberdeen (information on how areas of Scotland have historically been divided into districts and parishes can be found at this link: Districts and Parishes). Present in the household are her three sons William (11), Alexander (10), and John (8), but there is no mention of Alexander Miller, the father. And Barbara is still listed as married - not divorced, not unmarried, and not widowed (the other descriptions of marital "condition" typically seen), which would suggest that her husband Alexander is somehow still in the picture but just not living with the rest of the family, which indeed is the case as the following paragraphs will reveal. The census shows Barbara as being 38 years old (difficult to read on the original copy, but the age is confirmed at familysearch.org), with a profession of "Provision Dealer" (according to an online posting, "A provision dealer was a shopkeeper who sold food"). Considering the times she lived in, the fact that Barbara had a profession while also raising three children would strongly suggest there was no wage-earning husband present. So where was the father Alexander?
No comments:
Post a Comment