Morrice, Alexander (b.1807)

Alexander Morrice, Alex Miller's great-grandfather, was baptised on 30 May 1807 in Nigg, Kincardineshire (the county of Kincardineshire is bordered on its north by Aberdeenshire).  Alexander's parents were Robert Morrice and Agnes Robertson.

According to the Old Parish Register of Marriages, Alexander Morrice, a whitefisher, married Elspet Webster in the St. Clements Parish of Nigg, Kincardineshire on 15 May 1830.

On 23 February 1839, Alexander Morice and his wife Elspet Webster had a daughter, Elspet.  The Aberdeen birth record says that "Alexander Morice, Pilot, and his spouse, Elspet Webster, had a daughter born, and baptized by the Reverand Alexander Spence by the name of Elspet in presence of William Webster, and Andrew Allan, Pilots."

Note the spelling of the surname in the birth record as "Morice" with one 'r'.  In other official documents her name and her family members' names are sometimes spelled as "Morrice" with two 'r's.  This sort of spelling variation (as well as age discrepancies) was common in the 1800s.  According to the Scotlandspeople.gov website, the way names were written in different records varied and, when searching for a person in our indexes, the spelling might differ from what you expect. This can be due to one or more of the following factors: transcription error during indexing; misspelling, phonetic spelling or other misinterpretation by registrars and clerks; deliberate or accidental misrepresentation by informants, especially in regard to ages but also with names; name variants.  For the purposes of consistency and continuity with the preponderance of available documents, the spelling of "Morrice" will be used.

In the 1841 Census for the St. Clements Parish of Aberdeen, Alexander is listed as 38, a whitefisher, and living at South Square (street address not listed) in Footdee with his wife Elspet (30), and their children James (9), Ann (5), Elspet (2), and William (2 months).

According to the 1851 Census for the St. Clements Parish of Aberdeen, Alexander is 45, a pilot and no longer a whitefisher (presumably pilot was a better job), and living at 23 South Square.  Listed along with Andrew in the Census were his wife Elspet (40), no profession listed; and their children James (19), a whitefisher; Ann (15), no profession listed; Elspet (12), a scholar; Jane (9), a scholar; Archibald (6), a scholar; John (3), a scholar, although 3 seems young to be in school; and Margaret (3 months).  The Census lists both parents as born in Nigg, Kincardineshire, and all the children as born in Aberdeen.  No longer listed, however, is son William, who was 2 months old in the 1841 Census.  Because William would have been only 10 years old in 1851 and thus legally too young to leave his parents to work elsewhere, it is assumed he died in the intervening years.  

It should also be noted that in the 1851 Census, Alexander is listed as only being 45 years old, versus the 48 he should be based on the 1841 Census which reported him as being 38.  But age variation was a common occurrence between censuses and official records in general, and not much stock should be placed in variations such as this.  According to Laurence Harris, Head of Genealogy UK at MyHeritage, "Documents may contain date errors for a variety of reasons. There can be errors if the respondent (who provided the information) never knew the accurate event date or their memory of the actual date has faded. In such a situation, the respondent may have guessed or approximated the date, especially if they were not present at the event. This happens frequently on death certificates when the deceased’s date of birth is required and the informant may know only the approximate age.  Also, when providing information, there could be reasons why the date might be deliberately falsified. Perhaps a person wanted to marry against the wishes of their parents but had not yet reached the required age, then they might have falsified their age or date of birth.  Errors also frequently occurred due to mis-hearing or mis-understanding by either the respondent or the person recording the information." 

In the 1861 Census for the St. Nicholas Parish of Aberdeen, Alexander is 54 (he got another year younger since the last census), head of the household, a pilot and living at 16 South Square with his wife Elspet (50), no profession listed, and their children: James (30), a pilot; Elspet Morrice (23), working as a "rag cutter" (one who cut up rags into small pieces to be used for making paper, etc); Jane (18), no profession listed; Archibald (16), a scholar; John (14), a scholar; and Margaret (11), a scholar. 

Six years later,on 1 October 1867, Alexander Morrice died at the age of 60 in Aberdeen.  He was later buried in the town of his birth, Nigg, Kincardineshire, and his gravestone can be found in the Kirkyard of St. Fittick's, Stone #197.