James Craig (abt. 1826)

Born about 1826 in Ireland

Husband of Margaret Mury — married 8 Jan 1849 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Descendants

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Biography

According to census returns, James Craig was born in Ireland.^[1][2][3][4]

Marriage

It is known from a number of records, including their children's birth certificates, that the maiden name of James Craig's wife was Margaret Murray.^[5][6][7] There are a number of marriages of John Craigs to Margaret Murrays during the appropriate time period. The 1901 census gives a clue as to the possible location by recording the birthplaces of both of them as Perth, Scotland. Although this is clearly an error in James Craig's case, since every other record records his birthplace as Ireland, it could indicate that he was previously in Perth.

There is a database entry for a marriage of a James Craig to a Margaret Murray on 8 Jan 1849 in Perth, Perth, Scotland.^[8] It cites FHL microfilm 1040164, but was difficult to locate within that film because it appeared under the date the marriage was contracted (2 Dec 1848) rather than the date of the marriage.^[9] The record reads:

James Craig Railway Labourer in the Middle Church Parish of Perth and Margaret Murray in the said Parish, Daughter of Terence Murray_ _William Muckensie Elder The Persons before named were regularly Proclaimed & Married the Eighth day of January Eighteen hundred & forty nine by the Reverend Mr McCorry Minister of the Roman Catholic Chapel Perth_

Perth the Second day of December One thousand Eight hundred and Forty Eight Years_Contracted

The fact that they were married in the Roman Catholic chapel lends support to the idea that this may be the correct couple. Their son John Stephen Craig was buried in a Catholic cemetery when he died.

The entry in the Catholic church records at St. John the Baptist is less descriptive of the parties, including only their names, not their occupations or parentage. However, it does include the signatures of the two official witnesses: Terence Murray and James O'Neil.^[10]

A few months later, a record for the baptism of their first son, James, appears in the records of St. John the Baptist. His name was James, and the record indicates that he was born on 4 July 1849 and baptized on 29 July 1849. The sponsors for this baptism were James Murray and Julia Duffy.^[11] This baptism lines up well with their oldest son recorded in the 1861 census.^[1] The fact that no other baptisms for children of this couple subsequently appear in the St. John the Baptist records also supports the hypothesis that the James Craig and Margaret Murray who married in Perth are the same ones who later appeared in the Whitehaven area of Cumberland county, England.

1850s

James Craig and his family were apparently not yet living in the Whitehaven area of Cumberland county, England when the UK census was taken on 30 Mar 1851. James Craig is a common name, and most of his children were not yet born, so it has thus far not been possible to identify him in a census record previous to 1861.

However, his son John Stephen Craig was born in Whitehaven on 7 May 1851. The address is given as "Birkett's Court Irish Street Whitehaven."^[5] Therefore, the family must have relocated to Whitehaven in the year 1851, sometime between March and May.

The 20 June 1853 birth certificate for his son Matthew gives a new address: "Creighton Court Charles Street Whitehaven."^[6] When his daughter Mary was born on 10 Dec 1854, the birth certificate gave the address "31 Charles Street, Whitehaven." ^[7]

1861 census

The first census in which James Craig is found with certainty is the 1861 census at Egremont, Cumberland.^[1] (James Craig is a common name, and, as he did not reside in the Whitehaven area during 1851, and his children were not yet born, it has thus far been impossible to identify him previous to 1861.) At this time he is recorded as being 35 years old and an iron miner. He is residing with his wife and six children.

1871 census

In 1871, the family was again living in Egremont.^[2] There were now eight children, although it appears that some of the children from 1861 had either died or moved elsewhere. James was again recorded as an iron miner, as were two of his sons. His age was given as 43 years.

1881 census

The family had relocated to Cleator Moor.^[3] James was still recorded as an iron ore miner, although his age was now given as 60. Seven children and a grandson now lived with him.

1891 census

In 1891 the family was living in Cleator Moor.^[4] In the ten years since the 1881 census, James succeeded in aging only one year; his age was now given as 61. He was still an iron miner. His wife and three of his sons were still in the household.

1901 census

In 1901 and James Craig and his wife Margaret, who may be this James Craig and his wife, appeared in the Whitehaven Union Workhouse.^[12] In this census, a pen line runs through the column recording James' age, making it difficult to read. Ancestry has transcribed it as 57, but it could also be 67. His occupation was given as retired iron miner, and this was the only census to record his birth place as Perth, Scotland. However, these discrepancies could easily be explained by the likelihood that someone else is reporting the facts to the census taker, and that they may be making certain assumptions. James' age has been very inconsistent throughout the census years, and it may be that he didn't really know his age. Although his birth place has been previously consistently reported as Ireland, his wife's was also consistently reported as Scotland. Whoever is reporting to the census taker may be assuming that husband and wife are from the same location.

1902 Death

An entry appears in the Apr-May-June quarter of the 1902 death index for Whitehaven for a James Craig, age 70.^[13] A death notice in the Maryport Advertiser specifies, "CRAIG.--On the 7th inst., at the Union Workhouse, Whitehaven, James Craig, ironore miner, of Cleator, aged 72 years."^[14] This identifies the James Craig who died as the one at the Whitehaven Union Workhouse, and adds the information that he was from Cleator, which adds support to the supposition that he is the James Craig of this profile. Although the index indicated that he was 70 years old, the death certificate agrees with the newspaper notice and reports that he was 72.^[15] The ages remain inconsistent, but are in the right neighborhood.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} 1861 census of England, Cumberland, Whitehaven registration district, Egremont ecclesiastical district, Egremont parish, folio 73, page 30-31, Household of James Craig; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2015); citing PRO RG 9/3952.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} 1871 census of England, Cumberland, Egremont civil parish, folio 66, page 8-9, Household of Janes Crag; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2015); citing PRO RG 10/5262.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 1881 census of England, Cumberland, Cleator Moor, civil parish of Cleator, folio 117, page 48, Household of James Craig; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2015); citing PRO RG 11/5191.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} 1891 census of England, Cumberland, Cleator Moor, civil parish of Cleator, Egremont parliamentary division, ecclesiastical parish of St. Johns, folio 91, page 19, Household of James Craig; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2015); citing PRO RG 12/4317.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} England and Wales, birth certificate for John Craig, born 7 May 1851; citing 25/193/273, Apr-May-Jun quarter 1851, Whitehaven registration district, Whitehaven sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} England and Wales, birth certificate for Matthew Craig, born 20 June 1853; citing 10b/427/395, Jul-Aug-Sep quarter 1853, Whitehaven registration district, Whitehaven sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} England and Wales, birth certificate for Mary Craig, born 10 Dec 1854; citing 10b/438/86, Oct-Nov-Dec quarter 1854, Whitehaven registration district, Whitehaven sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
8. ↑ "Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Feb 2023), entry for James Craig and Margaret Murray's 8 Jan 1849 marriage; citing FHL microfilm 1040164.
9. ↑ (Perth, Perthshire, Scotland), Old parochial registers for Perth, 1561-1854, "Marriages, 1822-1854; Neglected entries (baptisms), 1809-1854. (Preferred film for viewing. Use this before ordering the other filming.)," entry for James Craig and Margaret Murray's 1849 marriage, p. 96 (image 598 of 760); digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 Feb 2023).
10. ↑ Scottish Catholic Archives, "Catholic Registers - Banns and Marriages," database with images, National Records of Scotland, Scotland's People (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk : accessed 5 Feb 2023), 1849 CRAIG, JAMES - MURRAY, MARGARET (Catholic Registers Banns and Marriages MP 41 1 1 1 227, Perth, St John the Baptist).
11. ↑ Scottish Catholic Archives, "Catholic Registers - Births and Baptisms," database with images, National Records of Scotland, Scotland's People (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk : accessed 5 Feb 2023), 1849 CRAIG, JAMES (Catholic Registers Births and Baptisms MP 41 1 1 101, Perth, St John the Baptist).
12. ↑ 1901 census of England, Cumberland, Whitehaven Union Workhouse, Low Road, Whitehaven district, Mount Pleasant ecclesiastical parish, municipal borough of Whitehaven, ward of municipal borough of Newtown, parliamentary borough of Whitehaven, town of Whitehaven, folio 175, page 9, James Craig, line 21; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Jan 2020); citing PRO RG 13/4893.
13. ↑ Graham Hart, Ben Laurie, Camilla von Massenbach and David Mayall, "England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Jan 2020), entry for James Craig, volume 10b, page 432, Apr-May-Jun quarter 1902, Whitehaven district; citing the General Register Office's England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes.
14. ↑ "Births, Marriages, and Deaths," Maryport Advertiser, 17 May 1902, p. 8, col. 7; digital images, British Newspaper Archive (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk : accessed 10 Jan 2020), Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
15. ↑ England and Wales, death certificate for James Craig, died 7 May 1902; citing 10b/432/410, Apr-May-Jun quarter 1902, Whitehaven registration district, Whitehaven sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.