Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry

The Johnstones
Page 1

William Johnstone was one of my 2xgreat grandfathers. He was born in 1844 in Muirkirk, Ayrshire, Scotland; the fourth son of Thomas Johnstone & Helen McKersie. For more information on Thomas & Helen and their family, please click on the following link:

William Johnstone married Jane Saddler on 31st December (Hogmanay!) 1869 in Crawfordjohn, a small village about 12 miles away from his birthplace of Muirkirk. William was described as a shepherd, with his usual residence as Netherwood in Muirkirk. The wedding was witnessed by William's brother Samuel Johnstone and Jane's uncle William Colthart.

William & Jane must have settled in Netherwood for a while at least. Their first daughter (or at least the first one I can find a birth certificate for) was born there in 1870 and they were still there in 1871 at the time of the census. The table below gives the details from the 1871 census.

Sadly their first child Jane Johnstone died aged only 4 years old in 1874, but by that time they had at least one more child - Helen McKersie Johnstone. The 1881 census showed that Helen was born in England. Until recently I had presumed she had been born in the North of England probably not far from the border, but a recent search has shown her birth to be in Devon! Her birth certificate shows her to have been born in Brendon, near Barnstaple in 1872, at which time her father William was working as a shepherd in Devon. Interestingly, William Johnstone's cousin, William Davidson, seems to have been living in nearby Lynton with his family at the same time and also working as a shepherd. If anyone can throw any light on why two Scottish men and their families should end up working so far south for a while, I would love to hear about it.

My great grandmother was Grace Johnstone, born in 1877 at Whitecleugh, in Crawfordjohn. In the 1881 census, William & Jane and their 4 young daughters (including my great grandmother Grace) are shown living at The Kilnhouse, Crawfordjohn. The Jane Johnstone shown aged 5 was actually their second child to be called Jane, the first having died of the croup in 1874. The table below gives the details from the 1881 census (GRO Ref Volume 636 EnumDist 1 Page 2)

Sadly William Johnstone died in 1884, leaving Jane to bring up 4 daughters alone. His gravestone is still there in Crawfordjohn, marking also the deaths of two of his children - Mary and Jane. I have not been able to find a birth or death for Mary so maybe she was also born in Devon?

In the 1891 census, Jane was living at the Gateside Dairy in Douglas, where she was employed as a Dairywoman. With her, were her two youngest daughters, Grace & Agnes. Grace was described as "Assisting as a general servant", Agnes was still at school. By 1901 the family had moved to Glasgow and were living at 87 Caledonia Road. Grace was working as a Boot Saleswoman and Agnes as a Drapery Saleswoman. It was presumably in Glasgow that Grace met her husband to be John Fraser. They married in Glasgow in 1906. The table below gives the details from the 1901 census.

Grace's mother, Jane Johnstone lived to the ripe old age of 80, before succumbing to "softening of the brain" and dying in Edinburgh in 1925. Grace Johnstone married John Fraser and had four children. At some point between 1910 and 1917 they moved to Stockport, Cheshire, where their youngest son Roderick Douglas Fraser was born. Grace Johnstone died in Stockport in 1941. The two photos below are both of Grace. The photo on the left shows her as a young girl and was taken by Davidson & Sons, photographers of Lanark & Carluke. The photo on the right shows Grace as a young woman.

Two of Grace Johnstone's sisters also married and had children. Helen McKersie Johnstone married Archibald Gall in Douglas in 1895 and so far I've found 4 children for them, shown on the tree below. Jane Johnstone married James Veitch and they had at least 3 children. The photo below shows Jane Veitch as an older woman.

Like the Frasers, the Johnstones seem to have been keen on Memorial cards to commemorate their loved ones. I have these two lovely examples, for Agnes Colthart Johnstone and James Veitch (husband of the younger Jane Johnstone).

The family tree below summarises what I know about this part of the Johnstone family. 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.

If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com

Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry