Alexander Smith
1839 - c1878
| Relationship to me: | Great Grandfather | Gen -3 |
|
| Born: | 17 May 1839, Old Machar, Aberdeen, Scotland | ||
| Died: | c. 1878 | ||
| Age | approx 39 | ||
| Father: | James Smith | ???? - ???? | |
| Mother: | Mary née Nicol | ???? - ???? | |
| Brothers: | Possibly a James Smith (see below) | ||
| Sisters: | Unknown | ||
| Married: | Margaret Young m. Cloy, Rosemarkie, 18th Sep 1867 | ||
| Children: | James | b. c1864 | |
| Simon | b. c1867 | ||
| Alex | b. c1869 | ||
| John | b. c1871 | ||
| Daniel | 1878 - 1934 |
Alexander Smith: Not very much is know about Alex Smith, but he appears to have come from rather humble origins. He is identified on his youngest son Daniel's birth record, and his parents are identified on his marriage record when he was married to Margaret Young in Rosemarkie in 1867. The marriage record shows their ages as 28 and 23 respectively. On it, Alexander is described as a ship's carpenter and salmon fisherman who was then resident in Aberdeen, and his parents are given as James Smith (also a salmon fisherman) and Mary née Nicol. Margaret is described as a Farmer's daughter, hailing from Cloy in the parish of Rosemarkie, and her parents were Simon Young, farmer and Mary née Bisset. The marriage was witnessed by James Smith (father or brother to Alex?) and Donald Young (presumably Margaret's brother).
Going back further, Alexander Smith's baptismal record shows that he was born on 17th May 1839 and baptized in Old Machar, Aberdeen, by Rev. Mr. Smith. His parents are recorded as James Smith, farmer at South Murcar, and Mary Nicol. One of the witnesses was Alexander Smith - an uncle or grandfather, perhaps. And perhaps the Rev. Mr. Smith might also have been a relation.
Murcar is now the site of a golf course, industrial estates and new housing estates some 7 km north of Aberdeen city centre and about 3 km north of the mouth of the River Don. There appears to be very little farmland remaining to its south.
Old Machar is about half way between Murcar and Aberdeen city, just to the south of the River Don - the area where the university's ancient Kings College is located, with Crombie Hall (where I spent my first two years at the university) just across the road. To the north is the imposing and rather forbidding edifice of St Machar's cathedral which seems an unlikely venue for the baptism of a local farmer's son, so most likely Alexander would have been baptized in a local church.
The only record of death of an Alexander Smith that I have so far been able to find through http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search/death/index.aspx is that of a man aged about 40 who died in Drymen, Stirling, on 18th April 1879 from "congestion of the lungs". This could not have been Dan's father if he was deceased at the time of Dan's birth in 1878. Furthermore, I can find no record of Dan or Margaret Smith living in Ross and Cromarty in the 1891 census, so presumably they must have moved on by then. With a name like Smith, they may not so easy to trace!
Last updated: 24 Jan 2011
Page created: 1 Oct 2007