William Laidlaw (1816 - 1882)

Born 26 Oct 1816 in Broadmeadows, Selkirkshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Janet (Mabon) Laidlaw — married 17 Oct 1873 in Carterhaugh, Selkirkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Died 1882 at about age 65 in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bruce Laidlaw [send private message]

Biography

William was born 26 October 1816 in Broadmeadows, near Selkirk. Baptised 28 November 1816^[1]. He is the son of Adam Laidlaw and Elisabeth Scott.

• On the night of the 1841 Census (June 6) living at Newark Mill, Selkirkshire

LAIDLAW Adam M 55 Agricultural Labourer SEL

LAIDLAW William M 20 Agricultural Labourer SEL

LAIDLAW Mary F 20 SEL

LAIDLAW Elizabeth F 14 SEL^[2]

• On the night of the 1851 Census in Newark

LAIDLAW Adam Head W M 65 Policy Labourer SEL Selkirk

LAIDLAW William Son U M 34 Agricultural Labourer SEL Selkirk

LAIDLAW Mary Dau U F 32 Laundry Maid SEL Selkirk^[3].

• On the night of the 1861 Census (April 7) he was living in Newark Cottages, Selkirk Landward, Selkirkshire.

LAIDLAW Adam Head W M 75 Gardner Selkirkshire - Selkirk 2 rooms with 1 or more windows.

LAIDLAW William Son U M 44 Road Labourer Selkirkshire - Selkirk

LAIDLAW Mary Dau U F 42 Housekeeper Selkirkshire - Selkirk^[4]

The 1871 Census, living in Newark.

LAIDLAW William Head U M 54 Labourer SEL Selkirk 2 rooms with 1 or more windows.

LAIDLAW Mary Sister U F 52 Housekeeper SEL Selkirk^[5]

Married in Selkirkshire in 1873 (aged 56) to Janet Mabon (24) (at the urging of the Duke of Buccleugh^[6].

In the 1881 Census, living in Netherbarns, Galashiels, Selkirk

William LAIDLAW Head M 65 M General Labourer Selkirk, Selkirk, Scotland

Janet LAIDLAW Wife M 31 F Agricultural Labourer Wilton, Roxburgh, Scotland

Robert MABON (LAIDLAW) Son 13 M Scholar Kirton, Roxburgh, Scotland

Betsy MABON (LAIDLAW) Daughter 9 F Scholar Lilliesleaf, Roxburgh, Scotland^[7].

William's death (age 66) was registered in 1882 in the Galashiels district. His mother's name was Scott.^[8]

Research

Email received:

Not sure if this fits here or not. I am not sure if you are aware of the story about the Robert Mabon and Elizabeth Mabon (sometimes spelt Mabon, Mabion, Mabin etc.) in your tree? These two were both born as illegitimate children to Janet Mabon prior to her marriage to William Laidlaw. William Laidlaw was at the time, a 59 year old gardener, employed by the Duke of Buccleuch and Janet Mabon was about 24 when they married. Janet Mabon was a servant to the Duke. It is said that this was an arranged marriage, so to disguise the real entity of the father of both Robert and Elizabeth; and that the Duke was actually the father of both these children.

Apparently, or so the story goes, the Duke paid William Laidlaw to marry Janet Mabon and to adopt the 2 children and give them the Laidlaw name. It has also been said, that the Duke paid for Elizabeth to emigrate to the USA (Hush money if you will?).

Here is the Duke I refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Montagu_Douglas_Scott,_6th_Duke_of_Buccleuch

Robert Mabon (now Robert Mabon Laidlaw) married a Janet Telfer and had 5 sons and 4 daughters.

The first son was Roland Montague Laidlaw (note the name Montague being included here and hinting of the same family name of the Duke). Roland is the grandfather of my relative in Scotland and whilst he had some sons, his male line did not continue to the present day. However, Robert Mabon Laidlaw's other sons may have continued the male line as the attached screenshot shows.

Norman Stanley Laidlaw emigrated to Canada I believe at 18 years of age and no trace of him or his family yet that I can find.

[[Laidlaw-1433Arthur Charles Laidlaw]] emigrated to Australia at 62 years of age in 1959, suggesting that he and his wife had children that emigrated prior and that the parents went to Australia to join them.

Alfred Laidlaw was apparently a bachelor.

Frederick Robert Laidlaw died in Scotland in 1973. All of these sons with the exception of Alfred possibly, may have had sons?

My quest is to track down any of the male line. This is the only way to prove by Y-DNA that they were indeed descended from the Duke of Buccleuch. If you type "Duke of Buccleuch DNA" into Google, you will see that the current Duke has been Y-DNA tested and that is an interesting story in itself. <Brett Wilson<brett2554 at gmail.com>.

Extract:

17 Apr 2012: ScotlandsDNA announced that "The DNA of the Duke of Buccleuch was found to be an exact match of a descendant of Charles Stewart of Ardshiel, who fought at Culloden, both men descended from Alan, the Seneschal of Dol, a Breton aristocrat. His family came to Britain in 1066 with William the Conqueror and then made its way to Scotland to found the Stewart line." The Duke of Buccleuch had been SNP tested and found to be positive for L744 (=S388) and L745 (=S463).

Sources

1. ↑ Selkirk Parish Baptisms
2. ↑ 1841 Census
3. ↑ .1851 Census
4. ↑ 1861 Census
5. ↑ 1871 Census
6. ↑ Carterhaugh Marriage Records
7. ↑ 1881 Census
8. ↑ Death Registration: "Statutory Register of Deaths"
   National Records of Scotland, Ref: 775/44
   https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ (accessed 18 May 2023)
   Surname: LAIDLAW; Forename: WILLIAM; Age at death: 66; Mother's Maiden Name: SCOTT; Gender: M; Year: 1882; RD Name: Galashiels.