William Murray was born in 1777 circa~ supposedly at Channelkirk in Berwickshire. William was a Shepherd of Thornilees by Innerleithen in Peebles Shire/Selkirkshire and Williamlees Estate in Melrose. Both of these very large estate farming communities were 1,500- 3,000 acres by 1841 circa.
Approximately 15-20 years ago I was contacted by William Bill Murray of South Australia regarding a possible connection between our families. At the time I could not see one, however I researched Bill's family in any case re the possibility of a connection. I found most of William & Elizabeth's children once I had obtained census records in 1841-1851 and worked backwards as I don't think that any of their children had been registered in the parish records as they were seemingly members of the breakaway free kirks of George Lawson ~ Associated Sessions possibly, and in a similar vein to our own Murrays had not registered any children in the Established Presbyterian Kirk parish records prior to 1855.
After many many years, to my great surprise I found William Murray living at the same house as my own family of Murrays and Moffats at Thornilees Estate at Innerleithen. William Moffat our 5X grandfather was also a Shepherd at Thornilees and previously Williamlees~ Williamlaw @ Melrose (owned by Murray family of Melrose). Both William Murray and William Moffat were at the same household in Thornilees and together at Thornilees for the both census in 1841 and 1851. William Moffat had in fact been at Williamlees when his daughter Helen Moffat was born in 1816.
By 1851 Helen Moffat had married our John Murray born in 1822 @ Selkirk. Their son James Murray who married Christian Stewart was born just prior to the time of the census and was listed as a baby to Helen Moffat wife of John Murray in 1851; William Murray was listed as a Widower as his wife Elizabeth Mitchell was deceased by then.
Cameron Murray of Canada contacted me over the past 12 months and we exchanged information on this family. Finally after losing contact with Bill Murray for 15 years we finally re-established contact in January 2009 with Bill thankfully, and can now move forward with our research.
A large number of researchers are now connected to Cameron Murray of Canada and William Murray of Australia , via email, in order to research this family.
Please leave all comments regarding this family hereunder via the comments link so that we can keep all relatives together with the information that they provide.
Children of William Murray of Thorniles Innerleithen and Elizabeth Mitchell of Stow are as follows:
William Murray born 1803 married Elizabeth Coldcleugh of Melrose.
Elizabeth Murray b.1807 married Robert Lowrie of Williamlees Melrose
Robert Murray b.1810 married Janet Anderson
George Murray 1813 married Agnes Younger of Tillicoultry.
James Murray 1818 married Margaret Dickson of Craiglatch Stow
Janet Jessie Murray 1822 married Mark Gray of Selkirk
Don't forget: Please leave all comments regarding this family hereunder via the comments link so that we can keep all relatives together with the information that they provide.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
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WILLIAM MURRAY & ELISABETH COLDCLEUGH
ReplyDeleteWilliam Murray, according to the 1851 Census for Langshaw, Roxburghshire, was born about 1803 at 'Roxburgh, Ladhope Sacra Quoad Parish'. Langshaw is a few kilometers east of Buckholm and north east of Galashiels, Scotland and is situated on the Allan Water (or Elwand Water).
On 5 June 1829 he married Elisabeth Coldcleugh at Melrose, Roxburgh, Scotland. Elisabeth's parents were William Coldcleugh, linen hand loom weaver, and Ann Forrest. Her parents, according to the 1841 Census also lived at Langshaw. They were married 12 March 1791 at Melrose Parish, Roxburghshire. Through recording and transcription errors, the Coldcleugh family was afforded many variations in spelling of their surname: Coldcleugh, Colcleugh (the name which they would assume in Canada), Colclough, Colucleugh and more.
William Murray is listed in the 1841 Census as a 'Stone/Dyker' and in the 1851 Census as a 'Mason (Journeyman)'. In the book 'Rulewater and its People' by George Tancreed of Weens, there is a description of the marriage of William's eldest daughter, Ann, to Thomas Usher. Her father is described as being employed by Sir James Russell of Ashiesteel.
That we know, William and Elisabeth had 8 children and they are listed in either the 1841 or 1851 Census for Langshaw as follows:
Ann Murray: (b abt 1830 at Torwoodlee), married Thomas Usher of Scotland.
William Murray: (b 24 Apr 1832 at Torwoodlee), married Agnes ---? of Scotland.
Robert Murray: (b 12 Feb 1835 at Torwoodlee), married Sarah Emily Prentice and Annie Mary Graham, both of Ontario, Canada.
Elizabeth Murray: (b abt 1837 at Torwoodlee), does not appear on the 1851 Census.
Margaret Murray: (b abt 1839 at Melrose Parish, Roxburghshire).
George Murray: (b abt 1841 at Melrose Parish, Roxburghshire).
Colcleugh Murray: (b abt 1843 at Melrose Parish, Roxburghshire).
James Murray: (b 22 June 1845 at Melrose Parish, Roxburghshire), married Janet King of Ontario, Canada.
William Murray died before 1855 so there are no records of his death, 1855 being the first year of required Civic registrations. In addition, Elizabeth, his daughter died before 1851 and Margaret, George and Colcleugh, it would appear, died before 1855 as well. What may have caused their death and their father's death in a short period of time is unknown although there was an outbreak of Cholera at this time.
We do know that the widowed mother, Elisabeth, William, Robert and James emigrated to Canada in 1855 (William) and 1856 where they appear on the Census roles. Ann remained in Scotland after marrying Thomas Usher in 1854. She dies there in 1910.
It is likely that this Murray family were members of a dissenting church and as a result there very few parish records for their life events. Because there is so little documentation about William's life in terms of vital records, it has been impossible to absolutely confirm his parentage, however the researchers on this project have concluded with a very high degree of confidence, that he is the eldest child of William Murray and Elizabeth Mitchell. Supporting this is the fact that 3 of William's sons: William, Robert and James all chose Dyker as an occupation, a rather rare profession at the time. This is more significant in that Dyking was usually a group or gang effort with many men working on the same dyke. Also, William (b 1803) was born one year after his father and Elizabeth Mitchell were married (20 May 1802). The naming of William's (b 1803) children also follows, very closely, the traditions of the time whereby his male children were named for his father and brothers: William, Robert, George, [Colcleugh] and James. Finally, timing, elimination of other 'William Murray' possibilities and the proximity of the known locations all support this connection.
As a result of a contact which I made via a bulletin board at Ancestory.com, I was able to solve the mystery of what happened to many of William Murray’s family members after 1855 (see previous post). The contact was with a cousin of my father’s who lives in British Columbia. Before I get to that, in the 1851 Scottish Census I discovered that daughter Elizabeth Murray (b abt 1837) was living with and working as a servant for the Leadbetter family in Edinburgh; ultimately, she did emigrate with the rest of the family in 1856. Also, in the 1861 Census for Upper Canada I found daughter Margaret Murray (b 16 Mar 1838) living very close to her family in Chesterfield, Ontario where she was living with (and working for) Alexander Scott, merchant and his family. Late in the year 1861 Margaret married John Thomas Fairgrieve, another native of Galashiels.
ReplyDeleteFrom the 1901 Census for Victoria B.C. we know that son William emigrated from Scotland in 1855. The rest of this family immigrated to Canada in 1856. As per the earlier post we also know that mother Elizabeth, and sons Robert and James arrived safely in Upper Canada. According to my father’s cousin, the rest of the family died during the Atlantic crossing and all but father William were buried at sea. According to the family story, William was buried on an island off the east coast of Canada; the story is also specific with names: William, Elizabeth (Betty), Margaret (we know Margaret survives), George and Colcleugh. To confirm this I began a search of burial records for immigrants and found the records for the deaths and burials of immigrants at Grosse Isle – an island in the St Lawrence River which acted as a quarantine station for incoming immigrants mostly from Great Britain (mainly Irish). In these transcribed records I found the records for the Anglican Church at the quarantine station and found the death and burial on July 19 1856 of “Coblench” Murray, immigrant, 14 years of age, protestant, son of William and Elizabeth Murray. I have a copy of the original and a more accurate transcription would be “Colcleuch”; the original also indicates that the ship they were on was called the America. So, it was Colcleugh who was buried at Grosse Isle and father William, sister Elizabeth and brother George died and were buried at sea. The family story goes on to say that the cause of these deaths was “Ship Fever” - this is a general term used for any serious disease on-board ship which results in fever. In infants and preteens the disease could be measles. In most cases of adult 'Ship Fever' it refers to either Asiatic Cholera or, more commonly, Typhus; most literature references for 'Ship Fever' refer to Typhus. The fact that Typhus has a shorter incubation period might indicate that Typhus is what infected the Murrays on-board the America (their crossing in a side paddle steamer would have been only 12 - 14 days).
I found the arrival information for the America at Quebec City on 15 July 1856: Point of embarkation: Liverpool; Ship’s Master: Foote; Passengers: 292 (those that survived).
I also found the technical details for the RMS (Royal Mail Service) America:
Accommodation: 140 First Class passengers
Crew: 90
Cargo capacity: 450 tons
The reader will note that the America was designed for a crew of 90 and 140 First Class passengers, yet she docked at Quebec City with 292 surviving passengers – little wonder there was disease resulting from over-crowding!