Hi Gillian- Yes of course I remember our correspondence- you were the distant relative who so kindly supplied me with the census data I had! I just had a look at James' marriage certificate in 1880, and he says his father is James DAVIDSON, Agricultural Laborer, deceased, and mother Margaret DAVIDSON m/s WILLIAMSON but no mention of her being deceased or remarried- so it's still a mystery! James married Annie Chalmers in Polmont, Stirlingshire, but his usual residence is listed as Springburn Glasgow. (he was age 30 by this time so I can not necessarily tie it to a family move.) Perhaps I should at least look at Scotland's People for deaths of a Margaret DAVIDSON and see if I can cross-reference it to a Margaret WILLIAMSON. It's obvious he was raised by his grandparents- and the families of DAVIDSON and WILLIAMSON were most likely known to each other. Tpp bad James and Margaret married pre-civil reg. I have found OPR's to be not too helpful. James and Annie had a son Alexander, however I can not connect it necessarily to James because Annie's father was also Alexander. Nice to hear from you. I just joined this list in hopes of knocking down this brick wall. Sally Taylor Boxborough MA USA For what are we but reflections of our masters- those that came before us and whose blood flows in our veins- the ancestors who don't wish to be forgotten surname interests: ADAMS, BOOKER, DAVIDSON, DONALDSON, DUCKETT, FREELAND, GRAY, MacARTHUR, MacGREGOR, PRIDE, SKINNER, WESTCOTT England and Scotland http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=n0055504 -----Original Message----- From: GillyWhite@aol.com [mailto:GillyWhite@aol.com] Sent: Sunday, January 02, 2005 5:50 PM To: MIDLOTHIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [MLN] Re: DAVIDSON and WILLIAMSON of Carriden Hi Sally Gillian here, we have corresponded before - about Margaret Williamson. I have, as yet, been unable to turn up anything more about her, but I do have James in the 1861 census still with his grandparents, so presumably he lived with them permenantly, suggesting that the parents were either dead or had emigrated (I have a couple of cases of the parents leaving a child and moving to Austalia and the US starting a new family). Neither Margaret or James are in the Carriden census for 1851 or 1861 and are not in fact in West Lothian anywhere in 1851 - I have a copy of the whole of WL and no luck. They are not in the Carriden death records (I have a copy) or in any West Lothina Monumantal Inscriptions, nor can I find any death certificates for either parent, so they either died prior to 1855 (both very young) leaving one child or they moved and left him behind. I have found Carriden's records to be very good so far and it would seem strange to have no death or burial record for them. The only small clue I have presently is Margaret's Grandfather - Robert Wood - left a will and one of the executors is an Alexander Davidson - gardener and overseer at Carriden, now as Margaret's brother was also an estate worker at Carriden House it would seem a possibility that this is a relation of James Davidson senior - a long shot I know. I plan to look more at the kirk session records sometime next year and hopefully there will be more clues there as I have quite a few Williamsons to get info about and maybe something will be in there. The other possibility is to look at the Hope family papers (they owned Carriden House at the time) to see if there is anything regarding the Davidson family who I think worked for them in a reasonably prominent capacity. The Hope papers are in the NAS and again when time permits I hope to look at them. Roberts Wood's will is on my web site if you want to look. I also have the confirmation and inventory of Janet's estate (Margaret's mother) but nothing about the family in it other than the eldest son who executed and managed the estate. I have also added a lot to Margarets family now going back a number of generations. In case you need the address it is at : _http://www.breagh.com/white_ (http://www.breagh.com/white) Nice to hear from you agin (albeit indirectly) I decided to reply to the list in case anyone else has an interest in this family Gillian White