As the son of parents born in Canada I was nevertheless aware at an early age that an important part of my family heritage lay in Scotland. My father’s parents were both Scots emigrants to Canada , my grandfather John Turner Watt (1886-1965) from Glasgow where he worked for S.C.W.S. Ltd. Drapery. My grandmother, Isobel Brown Cuthill (1885-1981) was born in Glasgow, the daughter of a brassfinisher, James Cuthill and his wife Isabella Brown.
At
Christmas when the extended family would gather for the evening meal,
my grandfather would sit at the piano playing his favourite Scottish
folk tunes. Heading the list was “
In the late 1960’s, shortly after I had graduated from
university as a historian, I decided to write a history of my
father’s family, with the emphasis on those descended from his
schoolmaster grandfather. The
scope of the project changed when I discovered, to my delight, that
there existed a family bible which was started in 1814 by my paternal
three greats grandfather, John Watt (1777-1832), a
baker in
Although I did a bit of research in 1969-70, I didn’t
undertake systematic searching until 2000, when my children were well
on their way to adulthood and my career was in a settled pattern.
Inevitably, I missed
opportunities to speak or at least correspond with some of the older
members of the family but I have been fortunate to meet others in my
generation and a few in my parents’ as well as younger members
of the family. As well, I
have been able to visit Muiravonside and Linlithgow and travel twice
to
As readers well know, the advent of the internet and web-based
genealogical sites has transformed genealogical research.
For me, the official site of the General Register Office for
But for me, the beginning of my search was the family bible,
which was in
The earliest entries reach back to the last quarter of the 18th century and the latest to the 1960s. Altogether they are an excellent foundation for extended research in the official records, notably the Old Parish records, the Statutory registers from 1855 and the censuses from 1841.
It was not surprising to me to discover that these Watts and the families in Dunfermline with whom they intermarried were from the “working” or “labouring” classes but it has been a very enjoyable exercise to use the bible entries to not only confirm basic facts but to begin to paint a picture of their lives.
John Watt, purchaser of the bible, was born
As we shall see more fully shortly, John Watt’s father
George was a farmer in Crossford, a small village several miles west
of
We can also only speculate on how John Watt met Isabel Cant, a
resident of
The bible did provide two things in particular. First of all, it became possible to move back further into the 18th century and locate John’s and Isabel’s parents. Secondly, it gives the death dates for many of their children, and these dates occur before statutory registration and in most cases must stand in the absence of parish death and/or burial records.
John’s father, George Watt, appears in official records in a number of places and his life can be described in some detail. He was probably born in the Parish of Carnock 9 September, 1750, the son of a wright, John Watt and his wife Agnes Blackader although the record found in the Dunfermline register record reads, “John Watt, wright in Carnock and Agnes Blackader his Spouse had a Son born Sepr 9th and baptized Octr 11th named George Witness Andrew Dickie merchant in Dunfermline and Andrew Burt Shoemaker there.”[6]
John may have come to
When George was 26 he married Helen Morgan, of the Parish of
Saline, on
Fortunately for our family, the Parish ministers in
There is no record of exactly where George was living, whether
in the Parish of Carnock or in the Parish of Dunfermline as he grew
to maturity. If he was
his father’s eldest son, it is noteworthy that he did not
continue John Watt’s occupation as a wright, an important trade
that was regulated by guilds, at least in the burghs.
But George must have felt that farming offered good prospects.
For whatever reason he acquired lands, in
the estate of Pitferane, owned by one of the largest landowners in
the parish, Sir John Halkett.
The saisine register for the period contains the following
record “1796. Feb. 12. George Watt. Day labourer, Crossford, and
Helen Morgan his spouse, seised in fee and life rent respectively 19
Dec. 1795 in 2 Roods and 38 falls of the lands of Pitferrane, parish
of Dunfermline, on Feu Contract, between him and Sir John Halkett of
Pitferrane, 6 June, 1787.
[15]
His date of death 20 May 1814 at age 64, is recorded in the
inventory of his estate taken in Dunfermline 4 February 1822 which
was administered by the firm of Bisset and Morris, manufacturers in
Dunfermline, as entered in the records of the Comissary Court at St.
Andrews, 6 February 1822.[16]
As many readers know, the majority of Scots in the
19th century did not leave a will so this record, which
shows his estate valued at £115.11.1 is not only valuable for
confirming exactly when George Watt died but for providing a detailed
glimpse of the way a farmer with a small holding lived.
The inventory is worth quoting in full:
“Inventory
and Appraisement of the Household furniture and effects within the
dwelling house and cattle within the Byre which belonged to the late
George Watt Labourer on Crossford and are now possessed by Helen
Morgan his widow which furniture and effects and cattle were shewn to
the valuators after mentioned by the said Helen Morgan as having
belonged to the said George Watt at the time of his death:
Dwelling
House
Room
£
s
d
An eight day clock 4
A
chest of mahogany Drawers
3
10
-
A
cupboard containing some croakery [sic]
-
2
6
One
chest
-
2
6
An
old round table
-
1
-
Three
chairs
-
3
-
Check
bed curtains and a harrow cover
-
2
6
An old Saw and an old churn
-
1
6
Kitchen
Check Bed Curtains
-
5
-
Three pair sheets - 6 -
Bed cover - 2 6
Two pair Blankets - 6 8
Two chalf Bolsters and four pillows - 6
A chalf[17] Bed - 2 -
Shelf and Croakery [sic] - 1 6
Wheel and Reel - 1 -
Four chairs and stool - 5 -
Chimney Sway and Tongs - 6 -
Two kettles and two Potts - 7 6
A bread Toaster a heater and Bauch [sic]o boards
with some Croakery - 4 -
A Tub - 2 -
A Press - 10 -
Byre
A Brown and white horned cow 10
A Black and white humbled cow 10
In another
part of the document, it is stated that Helen Morgan between her
husband’s death and the date of the valuation nearly eight years
later, sold a cow valued at £10 and “disposed of” four
pairs of blankets valued at 13 shillings 4 pence.
What can be concluded from this?
First of all in terms of monetary values, the wages at the
time of the publishing of the old Statistical Account for Dunfermline
Parish in 1793-9 of course varied. Maclean and Fernie
report “The miners in the horsepits, without bearers, make about
from 1s.
6d. to 2s.6d. a
day; with bearers, from 2s.6d. to 3s.6d. and the people above ground from 1s.4d. to
1s.6d. a day.
The ages of men servants employed in husbandry, are from
£6 to £9 and women from £3 to £4
As the price of labour is double what it was 30 years ago, so
the price of provisions is also double. Beef, veal, mutton, lamb and
pork are from 3d. to 5d. the
lb., a pig is 6d.; a duck 1s.; a hen from 1s. to
1s.6d.; a chicken from
3d. to 5d.; eggs from 4d. to
6d. the dozen; butter 11d., and cheese 3d. to
5d. the lb. [18]
Therefore, George and Helen Watt seem to have been comfortably
settled but were living modestly. There is at least one
surprise from this document. The
possession of an eight day clock presumably a long case clock, which
was valued at £4 (equivalent to as much as half the annual cost
of Feuing land southwest of
George Watt’s small farm, measured 2 Roods and 38 falls
(Scots measure, approximately 3/4 of an imperial acre. It must be presumed that this
is where his children grew up; John, James, George, Robert and
Margaret. As we will see later, the
family lived simply, probably in a one storey two room stone cottage
with the byre separate but it is interesting to speculate how they
carried out farming. The writers of the First
Statistical Account for the Parish of Dunfermline (Reverend Mr. Allan
MacLean and Rev. Mr. John Fernie), make it clear that George
Watt’s superior or heritor, Sir John Halkett was a progressive
landlord. MacLean and
Fernie noted (p. 463)[19]
“Much
about the above mentioned period [1760] ,
or soon after it, the late Sir John Halket of Pitferran began his
judicious improvements. Unlike
many thoughtless landholders, who repair to populous cities to spend
their time, health and fortunes in fashionable amusements,
extravagance and folly, this Honourable Baronet resided on his
estate, inspected his operations, and influenced his neighbours to
cultivate the ground. Accordingly, it soon assumed a new appearance.
Agriculture became an object of importance.
Every landholder began to study what kind of culture might
ultimately become most beneficial. A great deal of waste land
was drained, leveled and enclosed.
In some places, the fences consist of stone and lime, and in
other places, of single or double ditches, hedges and
plantations.[20]
The saisine agreements of this period often include phrases like “… but with liberty and privilege to the said George Watt and his said spouse and his foresaids of quarrying stones for building houses and dikes on the said piece of ground alenarly in any of the open quarries of Pitferrane …. So under the influence of the major landowners, the heritors, the appearance of the fields west of Dunfermline and elsewhere in Fife changed; with holdings more enclosed and boundaries more clearly evident. George Watt may perhaps have met Sir John or his successor his son Sir Charles or their baillies to discuss land use and techniques.
How
was farming carried out and what crops were grown?
Again, MacLean and Fernie give some impressions.
They state that:
“The
climate and soil in the southern parts of the parish, being extremely
different from the northern, the mode of cultivating and cropping is
also different. The arable land on the s. is
ploughed with Small’s chain plough, drawn by two horses.
In some places on the N. the Scotch plough, drawn by four
horses is used, and the ancient distinction between croft and
outfield is preserved …
On the S. of the town [Burgh of Dunfermline] the land
is highly cultivated, and produces as luxuriant crops as any in the
Kingdom Farms are usually divided into different portions, and the
crops are in the following order: After summer fallow, wheat is sown,
the next year, barley, the following year, grass, and last of all,
oats: some, after summer fallow or potatoes, sow wheat, pease and
beans, barley, grass, and oats, in their order.
Wheat is generally sown in September and October; pease, beans
and oats, from the middle of February to the end of May.
Potatoes are planed after the plough about the beginning or
middle of April. Hay is made from the middle
of June to the end of July. The
other crops are usually reaped from the middle of August to the
middle of October; sometimes the harvest is earlier, and sometimes it
is later. Flour, oats,
oatmeal, and barley, are important; wheat is
explored”[21]
What happened to George Watt’s small feu in Crossford?
Although he died in May 1814 as noted earlier, his wife Helen
Morgan was invested with a liferent in the property,
that is a life occupation, at the same time as George made the
feu contract recorded in 1796. This meant she stayed on the
farm as is evident from the inventory taken of the estate by her
husband’s creditors in 1822, and by the subsequent record of the
confirmation of her grandson John (1806 - ?) in 1833/4.
As she was 58 or 59 when George died, how did she support
herself in the days before any widespread social safety net?
First, between 1814 and 1822 she sold some assets; a cow worth
£10 and some pairs of blankets.
She may well have woven, at home; the 1822 inventory lists a
“wheel and Reel”.[22] In addition, she received a
small annual rent from William Davie a weaver in
To clarify what happened to the land, it is necessary to
recall briefly the unfolding family story. There are records to prove
that George Watt and Helen Morgan had at least five sons: John, James
(died young), James, George Robert and a daughter Margaret. Their eldest son John, born
As was required by law, John had to have his status as legal
heir formally recognized by his feudal superior, in this case, Sir
Charles Pitfiranne, Bart. By a precept called Clare constat. Sire Charles gave this
recognition on 3 December 1833 when the 2 roods and 38 falls of the
ground in the Barony of Pitfiranne, recorded to his grandfather in
1796 were infefted to John on provision of the continued payment of
annual feurent of £2 4 shillings
3 pence.[25] At Dunfermline on 24
October 1832, just weeks after his father’s death, John Watt
then living at Woodhead and Grieve Streets assigned a liferent
interest in the Crossford property and a second property on the east
side of Woodhead Street measuring 7 falls 61/2 ells to his
mother Isabella Cant.[26] The Woodhead Street property
seems likely to have been inherited by John from his father which was
part of a large feu of 40 falls, 20 ells granted by William Hunt to
Robert Hutton Senior on 3 January 1809.
Since the disposition of 24 October 1832 makes it clear that
John is infefting his mother in the lands his father must have had a
feu right to it but no document has yet surfaced to prove when his
father acquired this. So
while Isabella Cant remained in the Burgh the Crossford lands were
unoccupied or perhaps John leased the property to someone for a few
years. In any case, he must have
persuaded his mother to release her liferent interest in the small
farm because on
Reading between the lines, it may have become apparent to
Isabella that her son John was not returning from
To complete this discussion of property, it is important to
consider the fate of George Watt and Helen Morgan’s moveable
estate as inventoried in 1822. Since John, their grandson
could not inherit it, where may it have gone?
The Testament Dative, that is a record established in the
absence of a will, makes it clear that much of the estate was
encumbered[30]
to Thomas Bissett and his partner Mr. Morris, Manufacturers,
creditors who assumed the executorship of the estate in the absence
of a will, who were owed at least £51 13shillings
10pence which appears to have been loaned at some point
to George and Helen’s son, Robert.
Bissett and Morris filed a claim against him before the
Sherriff Substitute of Renfrewshire 16 November 1821 when he was
living in the
None of George’s children stayed with farming.
As noted earlier, John, the eldest, became a baker.
The next three sons became weavers in or near the burgh of
That the three sons should be attracted to the weaving trade
is not surprising because the industry was
already becoming more and more important to
The old parish registers also provide information on several
of the families these Watt sons were marrying into.
George’s wife Agnes was the daughter of John Bruch,
Brewer Servant and Catherine Struth. Agnes was born 22 September
and baptized
Research to date, shows that of George and Helen’s
children, there are records for descendants of the marriages of John,
James, George and Robert. However
for the rest of this introduction, I will deal with those descended
from John Watt (1777-1832), the eldest son, and his wife Isabella
Cant (1780 – 1866), dealing with their children in turn up to
the time of their marriage and the birth of any known descendants, in
other words to build up a picture using the family bible record which
begins with John and Isabel.
As noted earlier, for an occupation John decided neither on
farming, which he may not have enjoyed nor
weaving, but baking, perhaps with the idea that whatever else
happened, people always needed bread and this trade would provide a
foundation for a decent life. Unfortunately
the records of the Bakers Incorporation for
Let us assume that John and Isabel had a happy marriage.
It was certainly fertile; their first child and first son,
George, was born on his mother’s birthday,
Where did the family live? It seems very unlikely that
they would have stayed with George and Helen at Crossford both
because of limited space and from a desire to set up their own home.
We do not know where their home was for certain until the
birth of Richard in 1814 when John is listed as a “baker in
Pittencrief”[43].
Pittencrieff was an estate held by one of the Parish’s major
landholders. It was also a street in the
northwest section of the Burgh running west of
Two
years later, in 1816, when his son Robert is born, the family had
moved to Chalmer [sic] Street.[45] Sometime between 1816
and 1831 they moved to Woodhead Street probably to the property which
John’s son, John gave a liferent interest to in his disposition
of 24 October, 1832 referred to earlier, which were part of the lands
of Pittencrieff feued from William Hunt Esquire to Robert Hutton
Senior 4 January 1809.[46] In the earliest surviving
directory of
Before trying to assess the family’s overall
circumstances, it is instructive to compare the family bible entries
with what is recorded in the Old Parish Registers. In this case there is an
exact match for dates of birth but the bonus is father’s
occupation, several addresses and names of witnesses, many times
turning out to be family members.
Bible
Old Parish Register
1.
“George Watt there [sic] Son was born “John
Watt, Baker in 2.
“Mary Watt there Daughter was born “John
Watt Baker in 3.
“John Watt there Son was born “John
Watt Baker in Dunfr and Isabel Cant his Wife had
a Son born 7th April baptized and named John;
Witnesses James Donald and Michael Hunter there. 4.
“James Watt there Son was born