Oops, not doing so well on the New Year’s
resolution to remember birthdays.... While I did help a
friend celebrate her birthday on Wednesday night and I’ve bought a couple of
cards, I haven’t sent them yet and on Thursday I failed to recognise the birth
date of Jessie Cameron, my third
great grand aunt.
Born 11 January 1839 in Garmouth, Moray, Scotland, were she with us today Jessie’d be in the Guiness
Book of Records and the Fire Department would be on stand by to put out the 173
candles on her cake!
Sadly, Jessie died 'in infancy' [1] but she
holds a very soft spot in my heart because she was one of the first of our Robert’s relatives that I identified in the very early days of taking over the
family archives.
As I mentioned, Didi had been tracing the
tree for quite some time before I got involved.
She had a pretty complete picture of the family born from Robert in
Australia, after he married Betsy. However we didn’t know anything of his
beginnings or family beyond the name of the town he came from, being
“Garmouth”. (Even that was a mystery for a while because Didi had thought a
reference to Garmouth in a Bible passed through the family was someone’s name!)
So, armed with his name and a town name I
tried to find more.
Thanks to the wonders of the world wide web
and digitization of old documents, with a few (paid) searches on Scotland’s People, I narrowed down two Robert Camerons born in the same area and within a few days
of each other. I was able to determine which one was ours by locating our
Robert’s marriage certificate to Betsy. Marriage certificates can be a wealth
of information and Robert’s was no different, naming his parents as Alexander and Janet Cameron.
A couple of clicks later, I was looking at
the beautifully handwritten entry in the old church records for the parish of
Speymouth recording his lawful birth on 11 April 1827 to Alexander Cameron and
Janet Cramond. And who should be
recorded on the same page but an older sister Jane (born 15 October 1823) and
the much younger sister Jessy!
At some point In delving into the past I
became aware of the interesting fact that Jessie is actually a nickname for someone
called Janet, which in turn is a derivative of Jane [2]. Even more confusing is
that all three names could be, and were, used interchangeably! A fact that
became very apparent for me when I have the name “Jessy” as the official first
name in the Old Parish Records but two years later a census collector noting
down a 2 year old “Janet” in the Cameron household [3].
With all three names being used by three
different people in the immediate Cameron family, I can only imagine the
scenario, perhaps around the dinner table or in anger someone yelling “Jessie
Cameron” and at least two heads looking up thinking they were in trouble!
Another interesting point to note about
names is that it also wasn’t uncommon for first names to be passed on from generation
to generation in Scotland [4] recognizing or commemorating the one before it.
So, the first boy would be named after the father’s father and the first girl
after the mother’s mother and the second son after the mother’s father. It
seems our Cameron family followed this tradition quite well as our Robert is
named for his mother’s father, Robert Cramond, and his older brother Alexander
for his father’s father. Alexander and
Janet ran into trouble with their third son who is traditionally named for the
father! As Alexander was already taken, Robert’s next brother was named John
(born 18 September 1831) and the youngest boy James (born 24 October 1833).
So now you know a little more about the family from where we came. Let the journey continue!
[1] As recorded on the family
gravestone in Urquhart Old Churchyard,
Station Road, Urquhart [photo above] which also has the spelling “Jessie”. The
gravestone reads:
ERECTED BY
JANNET CRAMOND
To the memory of her
Beloved husband
ALEXANDER CAMERON
Ship Carpenter Garmouth
who died 19th April 1840
aged 47 years
Also
their daughter JESSIE who died in Infancy.
Also their Sons
JOHN CAMERON Carpenter
who died the 10th Sept 1852
aged 21 years.
And JAMES CAMERON Seaman
who died 23rd Feb 1858
aged 24 years.
Also the above JANNET CRAMOND
who died the 4th April 1883
aged 83 years.
[2] http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?561 and http://www.whatsinaname.net/female-names/Janet.html
[3] 1841 Scotland Census – this was
conducted on the night of 6 June 1841 and while only basically factual detail
was recorded it has helped shed light on Cam’s Fam like that our Robert’s brother
Alexander was a Shipwright. It also tells me Jessie survived to at least 2 years of age
and that their father Alexander was not
counted in the census and therefore may have died before 1841, consequently confirmed when I found the gravestone. What confuses me is the reference to a 12 year
old Elizabeth. I haven’t been able to find any other record of her as one of
Alexander and Janet’s offspring.
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