Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry
The Coopers
George Cooper was one of my great, great, great grandfathers. He was born in 1799 in Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; the fourth known child of George Cooper & Elizabeth Stiven (or Stephen). For more information on George junior and his family please click on the following link:
The parish records also show that George senior had another son, James Cooper, from an adulterous liaison with Jean Thomson in 1800. His wife must have forgiven him, as she bore him 6 more children after that ! The family lived at Auchnavaird, Old Deer. I have yet to find out what happened to George senior after the birth of their last child in 1809.
I have traced the fates of at least some of George senior's children. Most of them seem to have had fairly poor lives. At least two of the daughters (Christian & Anne) had illegitimate children. Another daughter, Elizabeth Cooper, was described as single on her death certificate in 1866, but the informant was William Sharp, described as son-on-law, so presumably she too had a child out of wedlock.
The youngest son, Alexander Cooper, married twice and had quite a large family with his second wife Barbara Irvine. I've not found any children yet for his first wife Isabella Lamb. It seems Alexander Cooper outlived both his wives, as by 1881 he was living at Drymuir, New Deer; as widower with his 9 year old grand-daughter Ann Cooper. At his death in 1890, Alexander was living in the Poorhouse in New Deer and was described as a pauper, formerly a farmer.
The family tree below summarises what I know about the Cooper & Jaffray families. It is hopefully reasonably accurate, but if you spot any errors, or any relatives, please feel free to E-mail me
Please click on one of the red links on the tree to move to a different page.
Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry