Catharine (Sommervaile) Bell (1811 - bef. 1875)

Born 17 Jul 1811 in Dunfermline, Scotland

Ancestors

Wife of Alexander Bell — married [date unknown] in Dunfermline

Descendants

Died before 1875 before age 63 in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Stephen Somerville [send private message]

Biography

May have married Alexander Bell, a coachman in Dunfermline in 1834.

There's a marriage record for Alexander Bell, a coachman, and Catharine Somerville in Dunfermline in 1834.

According to Ancestry's census transcriptions, there was a 37 year old coachman named Alexander Bell living in Crieff, Perth in 1851 along with his wife, Catharine, also age 37 and children Janet (age 11), John (age 8), Alexander (age 6), and William (age 1).

Ancestry also has an 1871 census listing for 61 year-old Alexander Bell, coachman, and his son, 25 year-old Alexander Bell (also a coachman) living in Crieff, but nobody else is shown in the household.

I think that there is a good chance that this is the right Catherine and Alexander, and that they probably had a child or two before Janet based on Scottish naming conventions that appear to be followed with John (named after the maternal grandfather) and Alexander (named after the father).

I will see if I can't find some sort of better records to confirm this!

Sources

• "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYG3-BJD : accessed 4 April 2016), Catharine Sommervaile, 21 Jul 1811; citing , DUNFERMLINE, FIFE, SCOTLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,040,104.
• 1851 Scotland Census (transcription via Ancestry.com)
• 1871 Scotland Census (transcription via Ancestry.com)