THE COACHMAN'S DAUGHTER-MORRIN GENEALOGY EXPLORATION


I have wondered since I started genealogy searches on my spouse's family about MAURICE and MARION MORRIN naming their first child Sarah Wallis Smith.

Initially, being new to genealogy, I wondered if it would be because of the traditional naming conventions in Scotland but, based on what I know of the previous generations on both Maurice's and Marion's side, that would appear to possibly not be the case.  There were no Sarahs, Wallises or Smiths in the previous generations that I have found.

This got me then searching for someone named Sarah Wallis Smith.  Lo and behold, I found a Sarah Wallis who married William Smith in 1829 (Glasgow).  This Sarah Wallis was apparently born in County Cork, Ireland in 1797.  She was the 2nd wife of William Smith and had 6 children. Sarah seems to come from a family of money and, looking back at her ancestry, appears to have English and Scottish ancestry, although she was born in Ireland.  4 of the children of William and Sarah were born in Govan, Glasgow, while the last 2 were born at an estate called Carbeth Guthrie in Stirlingshire.  Sarah Wallis Smith died in 1877 and is buried in Strathblane, Stirlingshire.  

William Smith appears to have been fairly wealthy.  He is listed in several places that I googled as a West Indies Merchant and plantation owner.  His business partner was a Robert Brown.  William Smith inherited an estate called Carbeth from his cousin (a man with the last name of Guthrie) in 1834 and renamed the estate Carbeth Guthrie.  William was also Dean of Guild (a prominent position in Glasgow) in the 1810s and in 1822/1823 he was Lord Provost (equivalent of Mayor) of the City of Glasgow. The estate of Carbeth Guthrie is in Stirlingshire.

Sarah Wallis was the daughter of Henry Wallis of Marysborough and the grand-daughter of Henry Wallis of Drishane, County Cork, Ireland.

Interesting points which have lead me to think that Maurice and Marion named their first child after Sarah Wallis Smith:

1.  Their daughter, born in 1854, was born in Strathblane (which you may have noticed above is where the other Sarah is buried);

2.  William Smith's business partner, a Robert Brown, is listed as coming from Fairlie, Scotland.  Fairlie was apparently known as "the best village of the wealthy in Scotland".

3.  Marion Gilchrist's parish when the banns were read in 1853 when she married Maurice was Largs.  The village of Fairlie is in the Parish of Largs and is minutes away.  

4.  I don't have Maurice in the 1851 Scotland Census but I have a possible for Marion in 1851, working as a housemaid in the home of a Physician living in Greenock, Scotland.  Greenock appears to be the port where people coming from island such as Islay would come to.  General area of Glasgow, Largs, Fairlie.  [This fact may or may not have significance; she has moved several miles away from Greenock to Largs by 1853.)

5.  Maurice's occupation at the birth of his son, Peter, in 1856 as well as the 1861 census is listed as coachman (in the census it also lists "domestic serv[ant]".  By 1865, upon Marion's death, he lists his occupation as omnibus driver.

6.  Carbeth Guthrie is in Strathblane, Stirlingshire.

Although naming conventions in Scotland would have seen families name their first daughter after the mother's mother (in this case, she should have been named Mary), ScotlandsPeople says: "Sometimes there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the naming: a child might be named after the minister, the midwife, the doctor, an employer, an influential personage in the community or a close friend, who might appear as a witness to the birth. Witnesses are not always given in OPR entries, but where they are, sometimes (as in Dundee) you will find their relationship to child, if any, noted, e.g. “Charles Jobson, grandfather”, “Mrs Janet Speid, father’s mother”.  

Source:  http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?561

I am speculating that perhaps Maurice was the coachman for William Smith and his wife, Sarah Walllis Smith at the time of Maurice's and Marion's daughter's birth in 1854, when she was born in Strathblane, Stirlingshire.  Perhaps they named their first child after the wife of their employer (as suggested by ScotlandsPeople above).  As well, perhaps Maurice met Marion in Largs when he was driving William Smith from Carbeth Guthrie to the home of his business partner, Robert Brown.

Here is a recent photo of the estate of Carbeth Guthrie (source:https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1747734/)

I have been researching the family tree for the MORRIN family of Scotland for about 1.5 years.  I have researched as far back as MAURICE Morrin, born in Ireland between 1824 and 1829, whose father was PATRICK Morrin and mother was Alison GRIBBON.

I have no further information on which county in Ireland Maurice came from.  As well, I am unable (so far) to find Maurice in the 1851 Scotland census which leads me to speculate on what brought Maurice from Ireland to Scotland.  The devastating potato famine which struck Ireland (The Great Hunger or The Great Famine, 1845 to 1852) may have been a contributing factor to Maurice leaving Ireland given the time frame of when he shows up in Scotland.  It's unknown if Maurice's parents, Patrick and Alison, also came to Scotland.

If anyone has information on Maurice, who married a MARION GILCHRIST from Islay in 1853, that would be appreciated.

Marion Gilchrist was the daughter of ARCHIBALD Gilchrist and Mary MCGREGOR (or McCuaig) of Islay.  She was born October 21, 1824 in Kilchoman, Islay, and was 3rd of 9 children. Her father, Archibald, was a parochial school teacher as well as deputy postmaster of Kilchoman, Islay. (One of Marion's brothers, Duncan, emigrated to Canada circa 1865.)

1853 -

All my research on Maurice Morrin dates from when he married Marion, and then their descendants, etc.  The banns for their marriage were read in two (2) parishes on October 21, 1853:  Largs, Ayrshire (Marion) and Bonhill, Dunbartonshire (Maurice).  As neither Maurice nor Marion were underage (under 21) when they married, it is possibly just a coincidence that the banns were read on Marion's birthday.

Extract from:  University of Glasgow, Scottish Way of Birth and Death

"Scotland was famous for its distinctive marriage arrangements, which owed much to pre-Reformation canon law, and were based on principles of mutual consent rather than religious ceremony. Both 'regular' and 'irregular' marriages were recognised by the law. A 'regular' church marriage, requiring marriage banns to be read in the church some weeks in advance, was the usual practice, and from 1834 'priests and ministers not of the established church' were also allowed to conduct legal marriage ceremonies. In Scotland, regular marriages did not have to take place within a church building; indeed, they were more likely to take place in private homes."

Therefore, we can easily conclude that Maurice and Marion's marriage was a Regular marriage.

Maurice's occupations varied from coachman/domestic servant in 1861 (Cathcart, Renfrewshire), omnibus driver in 1865 (Glasgow), coal pithead labourer in 1881 (Blackburn, West Calder), and lodginghouse keeper in 1891 through to his death in 1894 (Fauldhouse, Whitburn, West Lothian).


Horse-drawn Omnibus, London, 1902 (source: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsebus)

In the 1861 census, Maurice and Marion were living at 8 Langside Village House, Cathcart, Renfrewshire.  

"In 1568 the area was the site of the Battle of Langside, the last battle fought by the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, prior to her exile and death in England.

"The original village of Langside was based around what is now Algie Street, named after Glasgow Merchant Matthew Algie, near the Battlefield Monument. There were two mills nearby on the White Cart, a meal mill and a paper mill which dated back to the 17th century. In the early 19th century most of the inhabitants of the village were weavers although they also cultivated fruits and flowers. The area South of the village, on what is now Mansionhouse Road, was a popular location for villas in the mid 19th century and included houses designed by Alexander "Greek" Thomson and Rawcliffe, a villa which was built in Scottish Baronial style, it was later used as a convent and has recently been converted to flats. The area to the West of the village at this time consisted of the Camphill Estate and Langside Estate during which time a number of the roads in the area such as Tantallon Road and Camphill Avenue were laid out. The Camphill Estate was bought by the Glasgow Corporation in 1893 and now forms the basis of Queen's Park.

"In the late 19th century as Glasgow expanded South during the rapid growth of the industrialisation in the city the area was built up with tenements, the area became part of the City of Glasgow in 1891 with the last of the original weaver's cottages being demolished in 1905."

Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langside

Maurice's and Marion's next door neighbours, at 7 Langside Village House, in 1861 was Robert Watson and family.  Robert is listed as a cotton hand loom weaver as is the neighbour at 6 Langside Village House, Mat(t)hew Algie.  Note the name - he must be a descendant or relation of the Matthew Algie after whom Algie Street was named.

I have been unable to trace Maurice in the 1871 census, after his wife, Marion, had died in 1865.  He resurfaces in 1881 with a second wife, Mary McKellar (b. circa 1833 in Kilmichael, Argylshire), although I have been unable to find a marriage registration.  Maurice and Mary (2nd wife) do not appear to  have had any children.

Future posts will have more information on Maurice and Marion's children and their descendants:

Sarah Wallis Smith Morrin (born 1854 in Strathblane,Stirlingshire)
Peter Gilchrist Morrin (born 1856 in Cardross, Dunbartonshire)
Duncan Gilchrist Morrin (born 1858, Cardross, Dunbartshire)
and
Andrew Morrin (born 1862, Cathcart, Renfrewshire)

Maurice died on October 15, 1894 in Whitburn, Linlithgow.

I have been following a possible reason as to why the first child, Sarah, had the middle names of Wallis Smith, since I have been unable to find any Wallises or Smiths in either family tree.  Although I haven't successfully traced Maurice in Ireland, the names Wallis and Smith seem quite un-Irish.  A future blog post will propose a reason as to why Sarah had these middle names.