Documenting the family of David McCREATH – the sixth child of Thomas McCREATH and Janet RAESIDE proved to be another challenge.

David’s birth is clearly recorded  in 1815 in the OPR for Kirkmichael:

“McCREATH. David son to Thomas McCreath Mason at Arensow and Janet Raeside, his wife, born 13th and baptised 20th August by the Reverend Mr David Kennedy Minister here.”

The marriage of David and Agnes is recorded in 1835 in the OPR for Kilmarnock:

“David McCreath in Titchfield St and Agnes Haig in David’s Lane. After proclamation the extract called for and they were married on 30 October by the Rev Mr Brown”

The core of the conundrum lay in the the death certificate (Lasswade 1860/691:26) :

“On 22 March 1860 at Lasswade David McCreath (44);

Parents Robert McCreath (Mason) and Agnes McCreath (ms Haig)

The name of the informant is illegible, though his designation “son-in-law” is clear. Although the dates fit, the problem lies in the fact that Robert McCreath, a stonemason, was David’s elder brother (not his father) though  Agnes McCreath (ms Haig) was indeed his wife.

Confirming the above inconsistency as a reporting error demanded another informational route.

In November 1997, I received a letter from Jean Campbell Warnes (ms McCreath) from Perth – a response to a general mail-shot sent to all identifiable McCreaths in Australia. My letter had been sent originally to Mrs Pam McCreath (nee Hickey) and  passed on  to her sister-in-law, Jean. Jean provided a fund of information about her ancestors.

Her grandparents, David McCREATH and Jane McCREATH (ms GIBSON) had emigrated to Ballarat, Victoria around 1865.

Her father, Andrew McCREATH, was one of the thirteen children of David and Jane.  He married Eunice HAYWOOD. The couple settled in Subiaco, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.  Andrew was a butcher and had his own shop.  There were two children of the marriage – Jean (Jean Campbell McCreath, born 1909), my correspondent, and Colin Andrew McCreath (born 1911).

Jean’s father (Andrew McCreath) died of heart disease in 1912, only seven years into the marriage. Her mother (Eunice Haywood) died in 1919, a victim of the flu epidemic which invaded Australia following World War I.  Jean and her brother were raised by Eunice’s sister, Susan. Jean recalled having been taken as a child across Australia to meet her grandparents, David and Jane.

Included in Jean’s package was a typewritten chart which had been assembled by her brother Colin and sister-in-law, Pam. One child was listed as unknown. This omission was later completed by Marie Hodges (ms McCreath), Jean’s cousin. Marie provided details of the missing sibling – her own father, William John McCreath.

As well as listing David and Jane’s offspring, this chart recorded that David’s mother, Agnes,  had accompanied the newly-married couple to Australia. Agnes McCreath (ms Haig) died in Ballarat in 1908.  No mention is made of her husband, whose first name had been lost to the collective family memory.  Agnes, already widowed on embarkation for Australia in the mid-1860s, is consistent with her being the spouse of the David, who died in 1860 at Lasswade.

The 1851 Census (691: 003 page 030)  shows David and Agnes resident at Lasswade:

Born:

David McCreath 35       Head Carpet Weaver Ayrshire (*)

Agnes McCreath 35      Wife Roxburgh, Kelso

Janet McCreath 15        Daughter, Ayr, Kilmarnock

Catherine McCreath 11 Daughter, Midlothian (*)

Margaret McCreath 9    Daughter, Lasswade

Agnes McCreath 7        Daughter, Lasswade

Jane McCreath 5          Daughter,  Lasswade (**)

David McCreath 3         Son, Midlothian (*)

Elizabeth McCreath 1    Daughter, Midlothian(*)

(*) Detailed locations not legible.

(**) The naming of two children ‘Jane’ suggests the demise of the earlier child.

As the pieces began to fall into place, the reason for David McCreath’s move from Ayrshire to Midlothian was revealed. During the early part of the 19th century, industries began to establish themselves by the River North Esk at Lasswade – including a sizeable carpet making factory on the north bank of the river.  By 1841, as recorded in that year’s census, David and Agnes and their young family had already moved to Lasswade.

A question remained. Could it be confirmed that Agnes McCreath (ms Haig), as seems probable, was accompanied to Australia by her other surviving  children? 

I wondered if the Public Records of Victoria might have had an on-line facility similar to ‘Scotland’s People’. It did; and by this means I was able, not only to iron out the birth order of most of the children of David McCreath and Jane Gibson, but to determine that David McCreath and his new bride, along with his mother  and sister Agnes,  sailed together for Australia on the clipper, White Star. White Star sailed from Liverpool on 25th May 1867 and reached Melbourne on the 19th August – a journey of some 92 days!

The Australian death certificate for David’s sister Agnes records that she died on the board the ‘White Star’.

The tale of Agnes  Haig and Jane Gibson, of course, is far from  complete.  A number of the off-spring of both Agnes  and Jane  have yet to be found.  Thus, another set of doors remains to be opened.  Such is the never-ending joy of genealogy!

Footnotes:

  1. Sadly, Jean Campbell Warnes (ms McCreath) passed away in March 2005, aged 95.  We continued to correspond in the intervening years, latterly via her daughter, Jan.  It is a matter of regret that it was not possible to share the above discoveries with her.  However, I was able to telephone Jan  what i’d found.
  2. Sadly also Marie Hodges is no longer with us though I was able to send her a copy of the updated family chart for her as part of a 95th birthday package in 2008.