Elizabeth (Clark) Ferguson (1763 - abt. 1859)

Born 28 Mar 1763 in Auchterhouse, Forfarshire, Scotland

Wife of William Ferguson — married 27 Dec 1793 in Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland

Descendants

Died about Oct 1859 at about age 96 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

Biography

Elizabeth was born on 28 March and baptised on 22 April 1763 in Kirkton of Auchterhouse, Forfarshire, Scotland, the daughter of James Clark and Euphan Marshall.^[1][2] The church (Scots: kirk) of Auchterhouse had originally been built about a mile east of the village of Auchterhouse, and the settlement which grew up around it - Kirkton (literally: church town) of Auchterhouse - became the larger of the two. The affix -ton (or toun in Scots) did not denote a town, however, but a township, which could be anything from one farm to a village.^[3] The population of Kirkton of Auchterhouse numbered 109 in 1795, which may have been made up of a few dozen households, generally living in quite rudimentary cottages with open hearths and earthen floors.^[4]

A predominantly agricultural area, the parish of Auchterhouse was seven miles north of the busy port town of Dundee, to which it was directly connected by a turnpike road.^[5] According to the local minister, the population of the entire parish was 600 in 1795, and people were mainly engaged in rural occupations and associated services: "There are here 12 farmers by profession; 40 weavers; 7 wrights; 2 smiths; 2 tailors; 8 dikers; 6 quarriers; 2 shoemakers; 3 merchants, having small retail shops; 3 retailers of ale and spirits; 1 clergyman; 1 schoolmaster. We have neither lawyer, writer, doctor, surgeon, nor apothecary; no butcher, baker, brewer, distiller, nor exciseman."^[6] The soil was naturally fairly good, but at the time Elizabeth was growing up there were changes under way in agriculture such as the enclosing of land and it's improvement through the use of minerals, such as lime from limestone. The quarriers would likely have been breaking stone for the 'dikers' to build dry-stone walls in addition to limestone to apply to farmland. The main crops were oats, turnips and different kinds of potatoes for human consumption as well as for animal feed; barley for brewing, with locals presumably brewing their own beer, since there was no brewer in the parish; peas to eat and fix nitrogen in the soil, with the main parts of the plant providing animal feed; small amounts of wheat, as it was not suited to the climate and bread was an expensive food not eaten by most people, as shown by the absence of a baker in the parish; flax for it's fibre, which would have kept the weavers busy; and clover and rye grass for grazing beef and milk cattle. Local people consumed only a small proportion of the crops and much went to be sold in Dundee.^[7]

Although inoculation against smallpox was already known at this time, 'the prejudice of the local people against inoculation was inveterate', and - over a six-week period in 1775 - twenty residents of the parish of Auchterhouse died in a smallpox epidemic. ^[8] The resistance to vaccination came both from an unease about intervening in the natural functions of the human body and scepticism about the abilities of doctors.^[9]

Elizabeth probably experienced this epidemic at close quarter and may have been a survivor herself. Smallpox vaccination did not become obligatory until almost a century later, many objecting to it on the grounds that it constituted interference in what nature (or God) intended.^[10]

What Elizabeth Might Have Seen in Dundee

The commercially-minded Daniel Defoe, writing an account of a visit to Dundee around the late 1710s, had appreciated the town's industriousness: "... well deserves the title of Bonny Dundee [...] it is one of the best trading towns in Scotland, and that as well in foreign business as in manufacture and home trade. [...] It is exceedingly populous, full of stately houses, and large handsome streets; particularly it has four very good streets, with a large market place in the middle [...] The inhabitants here appear like gentlemen, as well as men of business, and yet are real merchants too. [...] They ... ship of a great deal of linen ... also a great quantity of corn ... to England as to Holland. They have likewise a good share of the Norway trade; and ... they ... have some east country trade, viz. to Danzick, Koningsberg, Riga and the neighbouring parts. They send ships also to Sweden, and import iron, copper, tar, pitch, deals, &c. ..."^[11] The linen shipped from Dundee may have been produced there or further up-river in Perth. The corn (meaning grain) would have come from the surrounding farming areas, such as where Elizabeth was born. And the importing of raw materials used in metal-working, construction and ship-building was testament to Dundee being a manufacturing centre as well as a transportation hub. Dundee was one of the biggest ports in Scotland, focused on trade across the North Sea and the Baltic, with traditional links to the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, and places such as Gdańsk (or Danzig), now in Poland, Kaliningrad (or Königsberg), now in Russia, and Riga in Latvia.

When Samuel Johnson and James Boswell toured Scotland in 1773, they had little to say about Dundee. Johnson regarded it simply as a place to spend a night: "We stopped a while at Dundee, where I remember nothing remarkable ...", although he did complain at length about the cost of the 2-mile crossing of the river Tay to get there from Fife.^[12] Boswell was more concise, but somewhat complimentary: "Good busy town."^[13] No doubt their minds were on more intellectual pursuits, devoting more words to transubstantiation than to Dundee, and they showed much greater interest in the university towns of St Andrews to the south and Aberdeen to the north, travelling the connecting coastal routes.^[14] Although Dundee did not have a university, it had very well regarded educational institutions in the form of a Grammar School (founded 1239), an English School by 1789 and an Academy from 1785.^[15] By 1832 these had amalgamated into the Public Seminaries.^[16]

Defoe's account of Dundee's busy-ness and prosperity would have been somewhat out of date by the time that Elizabeth first experienced it. Transatlantic shipping had started in the 1560s, and although Scotland was slow to become involved until steam ships took over from sailing ships in the 1840s, the increasing shift of trade to the west coast of Scotland and the gradual impact of the political union with England in 1707 had taken it's toll on the Scottish economy.^[17] In addition, although the impact of the 1783 eruption of the Lakagígar fissure in Iceland was not well documented in Scotland, it caused air pollution that killed thousands in parts of Europe into 1784, and led to extreme weather events and localised famines for up to a decade.^[18] The Old Statistical Accounts note that the worst crop failure for 50 years occurred in 1792, and indicate that famine was averted by the kirk session buying food at the high prices inflated by the shortage and selling it to parishioners at the price they could afford, since wages had not kept pace with food prices.^[19] These factors may have played a part in Elizabeth's slightly later than average marriage, since women usually worked to build up some savings before marriage and a difficult economic situation would have made it harder to save any money.

Married Life

Elizabeth married William Ferguson in Dundee on 27 December 1793.^[20][21] They had seven known children:

1. Sarah,
2. James,
3. William,
4. Janet,
5. John,
6. Elizabeth and
7. Isabel.

The Brewing Business

William Ferguson died in Dundee on 14 March 1821 at the age of 62 when their youngest daughter was aged 15. The confirmation granted on his estate gave his occupation as 'brewer in Dundee'.^[22] It seems likely that Elizabeth would have been involved in the brewery business, since brewing was a trade with a short apprenticeship for men, but also practiced by many women who could brew alongside their responsibilities at home.^[23] As Elizabeth was only a little younger than her husband, it is probable that her oldest son James took on the day-to-day running over time. In the 1829 to 1830 Post Office Directory a James Ferguson was listed as a brewer at number 91 on the north side of the Seagate in Dundee.^[24] This was probably also the family's residential address since it was usual for people to live close to where they worked, with the whole family involved in the business. Dundee had a thriving brewing industry because of a plentiful supply of good water, with public and private wells all around the town.^[25] The busy port and large population engaged in industrial activity would have made for many thirsty mouths. Drinking unboiled water was not necessarily safe, but heating water required fuel and a fireplace or stove. It was often simpler to buy 'small beer', made safe by the brewing process and containing only around 1% alcohol. This was drunk by people of all ages throughout the day. Even if poorer workers could not afford to buy beer, slightly better-off tradesmen would buy large quantities in order to part-pay their journeymen in small beer. A typical allowance would be a gallon (or eight pints) a day, enough to stay hydrated and ensure the brewers were kept busy.^[23]

An Independent Life

Elizabeth's son William seems to have become a ship's captain and died on a sea voyage to Riga in 1831, presumably while engaged in the type of trade described by Defoe.

In the 1841 census Elizabeth (aged 75) was recorded as living on the Seagate in Dundee. In the same household were her oldest daughter Sarah (aged 40), her oldest son James (aged 40), and a Heneratta (sic) Ferguson (aged 80), who may have been a relative of her husband. Both Elizabeth and Heneratta were of independent means, so not financially dependent on the children or in need of charity. James's occupation was given as 'brewer'. No occupation was given for Sarah, but she probably ran the household, looked after the two older women and possibly even had a hand in James's brewing business.^[26][27]

Elizabeth's son James died in 1842 and it is not clear what happened to the brewing business. In 1821 the population of the Dundee had been 30,575 and this increased by between 10,000 and 15,000 per decade up to 1871, despite various epidemics.^[28] A cholera epidemic in 1832 was reported to have killed over 500 people in Dundee.^[29] A typhus epidemic in 1847 and a further outbreak of cholera in 1849 were no doubt exacerbated by the poor sanitation caused by a growing population dependent on a limited water supply.^[30] With few streams around Dundee and no piped water supply until the 1870s, well water had long been insufficient to supply the needs of the developing textile industry. During dry periods, water was carted in from the surrounding area.^[31] It is debatable to what degree brewers - with no refrigeration to delay the fermentation process - would have been able to stock up on beer supplies when there was enough water in order to compensate for lack of drinking water in dry periods. And it is debatable whether poorly paid textile factory workers could have afforded to drink safe beer instead of polluted water.

A Ripe Old Age

Legislation in the early 1830s had allowed Dundee to begin to expand, and economically it had become Scotland's second city (after Glasgow) by 1851.^[32] At the time of the 1851 census Elizabeth, aged 87 and widowed, lived at Ferguson's Land on the Seagate in Dundee. The name of 'Ferguson's Land' indicates that the family had been on this piece of land for long enough for their surname to become definitive. In this census Elizabeth's birth place was confirmed as having been Auchterhouse. Living with Elizabeth were her daughter Sarah, aged 56, her widowed daughter Elizabeth, aged 48, and Elizabeth's three teenage children Eliza, Ann and Alexander. Elizabeth and her daughters Sarah and Elizabeth were all described as 'annuitants', meaning they had unearned income. 19-year-old granddaughter Eliza's occupation was described as being 'at home', meaning she did not work, a sign of the family's prosperity. The two younger grandchildren were still 'scholars' at age 16 and 14, at a time when most young people would have started working before the age of 14. The children may have attended the Public Seminaries (it is not clear from what date these schools admitted girls), or other less prestigious educational institutions, but it was a sign of the family's prosperity that they could afford to have children staying in education for longer and not needing to bring in an income.^[33][34]

Elizabeth's death at age 96 was registered in 1859 in Dundee First District.^[35] Confirmation was granted on Elizabeth's estate on 28 June 1859 at Dundee Sheriff Court. Her residence was given as the Seagate in Dundee, and her deceased husband was named as 'William Ferguson, brewer'.^[36]

None of Elizabeth's children lived to as impressive an age as she did. Her son John soon followed her in November 1859, and her daughters Isabel in 1862 and Elizabeth in 1864. Her oldest daughter Sarah outlived her younger siblings and died aged 70 in 1865.

Research Notes

Viewing the original marriage and death entries as well as testaments could provide more detailed information on dates, locations, family members/relationships, whether Elizabeth had been married previously and the fate of the brewing business following first William's and then James's deaths.

Elizabeth in the 1841 census

Elizabeth was recorded under her last name at birth, Clark, with her age rounded down from 77 to 75. It was quite usual for widows to be recorded without their married names at this time, and census enumerators had been instructed to round ages down to the nearest five years. (The ages in brackets for other members of the family mentioned in the biography are also rounded ages.)

Elizabeth in the 1855 valuation roll

At the time her testament was confirmed, Elizabeth's residence was given as the Seagate, but there do not appear to be any valuation rolls linking her to an address there.
There were eleven valuation roll listings for 'Mrs Ferguson' with no first name given. These entries alone are unlikely to contain any personal information allowing identification of the tenant, proprietor or owner. The properties listed would need to be cross-referenced with details in wills to establish whether any of them might have been owned or occupied by members of the family.
There were two valuation roll entries for an Elizabeth Clark, although the Clark surname was also very common in the area and these women may have been entirely different people: The first entry was for a residence in Guthries Close in Dundee.^[37] The second entry was for a residence in Millers Pend in Dundee.^[38] (A third entry in Dundee was not Elizabeth under her married name as an alternative surname of 'Hood' was given.^[39]) The first two valuation roll entries require further research and cross-referencing with addresses in wills to try and establish any connection to the family.

Sources

1. ↑ "Church of Scotland: Old Parish Registers - Births and Baptisms" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), CLARK, ELIZABETH, JAMES CLARK/EUPHAN MARSHALL, F, 22/04/1763, citing reference number 20/130, Auchterhouse.
2. ↑ "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XBCZ-2TL : 16 September 2021) (accessed 31 May 2023), Elizabeth Clark, 1763.
3. ↑ ‘Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: Kirk N1 V1’. Accessed 22 June 2023. https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/kirk_n1_v1. See 'kirk' under I.1. and 'kirkton' under III.48.
4. ↑ ‘Statistical Accounts of Scotland’, p. 528. Accessed 25 July 2023. https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol14-Parish_record_for_Auchterhouse_in_the_county_of_Forfar_in_volume_14_of_account_1/osa-vol14-p516-parish-forfar-auchterhouse?search=Auchterhouse.
5. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Auchterhouse," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auchterhouse&oldid=1134936579 (accessed June 21, 2023).
6. ↑ ‘Statistical Accounts of Scotland’, p. 520. Accessed 25 July 2023. https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol14-Parish_record_for_Auchterhouse_in_the_county_of_Forfar_in_volume_14_of_account_1/osa-vol14-p516-parish-forfar-auchterhouse?search=Auchterhouse.
7. ↑ ‘Statistical Accounts of Scotland’, pp. 517-519. Accessed 25 July 2023. https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol14-Parish_record_for_Auchterhouse_in_the_county_of_Forfar_in_volume_14_of_account_1/osa-vol14-p516-parish-forfar-auchterhouse?search=Auchterhouse.
8. ↑ ‘Statistical Accounts of Scotland’, p. 521. Accessed 25 July 2023. https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol14-Parish_record_for_Auchterhouse_in_the_county_of_Forfar_in_volume_14_of_account_1/osa-vol14-p516-parish-forfar-auchterhouse?search=Auchterhouse.
9. ↑ University of Dundee. ‘Research Uncovers Historical Anti-Vaccination across Scotland’. Accessed 30 July 2023. https://www.dundee.ac.uk/stories/research-uncovers-historical-anti-vaccination-across-scotland.
10. ↑ ‘University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Social & Political Sciences - Research - Research in Economic & Social History - Research Projects - Scottish Way of Birth and Death - Vaccination’. Accessed 26 July 2023. https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/economicsocialhistory/projects/scottishwayofbirthanddeath/vaccination/.
11. ↑ Defoe, Daniel., Rodgers, Pat. A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Limited, 2005, p. 651.
12. ↑ Johnson, Samuel, and James Boswell. To the Hebrides: Samuel Johnson’s Journey to the Western Islands and James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour. Birlinn, 2011, p. 7.
13. ↑ Johnson, Samuel, and James Boswell. To the Hebrides: Samuel Johnson’s Journey to the Western Islands and James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour. Birlinn, 2011, p. 50.
14. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Transubstantiation," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Transubstantiation&oldid=1155315788 (accessed June 22, 2023).
15. ↑ High School of Dundee. ‘High School of Dundee’. Accessed 3 July 2023. https://www.highschoolofdundee.org.uk/about-the-school/history/our-history.
16. ↑ ‘1832 Public Seminaries Charter’. Accessed 4 July 2023. http://www.fdca.org.uk/1832_Public_Seminaries_Charter.html.
17. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Steamship," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steamship&oldid=1160820001 (accessed June 22, 2023).
18. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Laki," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laki&oldid=1159070579 (accessed June 22, 2023).
19. ↑ ‘Statistical Accounts of Scotland’, p. 519. Accessed 25 July 2023. https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol14-Parish_record_for_Auchterhouse_in_the_county_of_Forfar_in_volume_14_of_account_1/osa-vol14-p516-parish-forfar-auchterhouse?search=Auchterhouse.
20. ↑ "Church of Scotland: Old Parish Registers - Banns and Marriages" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), FERGUSON, WILM, ELISTH. CLARK/, 27/12/1793, citing reference number 130/273, Dundee.
21. ↑ "Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTV6-YM3 : 11 February 2020) (accessed 31 May 2023), Elisth. Clark in entry for Wilm. Ferguson, 1793.
22. ↑ "Wills and Testaments" National Records of Scotland, ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), Ferguson, William, 18/5/1821, brewer in Dundee, inventory and trust disposition and settlement, citing reference number CC3/5/6, Brechin Commissary Court.
23. ↑ ^{23.0 23.1} ‘Nine Incorporated Trades Of Dundee » MALTMEN’, accessed 5 June 2023, https://archive.ninetradesofdundee.co.uk/maltmen/.
24. ↑ ‘(38) - Towns > Dundee > 1829-1830 - Dundee Directory and Register > 1829-1830 - Scottish Directories - National Library of Scotland’. Accessed 3 June 2023. https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/archive/86663015?mode=transcription.
25. ↑ Wood, John. Descriptive Account of the Principal Towns in Scotland: To Accompany Wood’s Town Atlas. Edinburgh, 1828, p.87. http://archive.org/details/descriptiveacc1828scot. Accessed 18 June 2023.
26. ↑ "Scottish General Register Office: 1841 Census Returns database, FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a140a61f4040b9d6eefe256 : viewed 2 Jun 2023), Elizabeth CLARK in household of James FERGUSON, Seagate, Angus (Forfarshire), Scotland; from 1841 "England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images; citing The National Archives HO 107/282, Folio 9, Page 5, Schedule , The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

    James Ferguson M 40 Brewer Angus (Forfarshire)

    Sarah Ferguson F 40 Angus (Forfarshire)

    Heneratta Ferguson F 80 Independent Angus (Forfarshire)

    Elizabeth Clark F 75 Independent Angus (Forfarshire)

27. ↑ "Scotland Census, 1841" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), CLARK, ELIZABETH,1841, F, 75, citing reference number 282/9/5, Dundee, Angus.
28. ↑ Lenman, Bruce, Charlotte Lythe and Enid Gauldie. Dundee and its Textile Industry 1850-1914. Abertay Historical Society Publication, no. 14, 1969, p. 10. https://abertay.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/dundee_textile_industry.pdf, accessed 23 June 2023.
29. ↑ ‘Cholera in the 19th Century’. Accessed 26 June 2023. https://sites.scran.ac.uk/lamb/cholera.htm.
30. ↑ Lenman, Bruce, Charlotte Lythe and Enid Gauldie. Dundee and its Textile Industry 1850-1914. Abertay Historical Society Publication, no. 14, 1969, p. 77. https://abertay.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/dundee_textile_industry.pdf, accessed 23 June 2023.
31. ↑ Lenman, Bruce, Charlotte Lythe and Enid Gauldie. Dundee and its Textile Industry 1850-1914. Abertay Historical Society Publication, no. 14, 1969, p. 9. https://abertay.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/dundee_textile_industry.pdf, accessed 23 June 2023.
32. ↑ Lenman, Bruce, Charlotte Lythe and Enid Gauldie. Dundee and its Textile Industry 1850-1914. Abertay Historical Society Publication, no. 14, 1969, p. 7. https://abertay.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/dundee_textile_industry.pdf, accessed 23 June 2023.
33. ↑ "Scotland Census, 1851" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), FERGUSON, ELIZABETH, 1851, F, 87, citing reference number 282/7/17, Dundee, Angus.
34. ↑ "Scottish General Register Office: 1851 Census Returns database, FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5b1a8e16f4040b2ba34a4079 : viewed 1 Jun 2023), Elizabeth FERGUSON, 188, Seagate, Ferguson's Land, Angus (Forfarshire), Scotland; from 1851 "England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images; citing The National Archives /282, Folio 0, Page 17, Schedule 73, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

    Elizabeth Ferguson Head Widowed F 87 Annuitant Auchterhouse, Angus (Forfarshire)

    Sarah Ferguson Daughter Unmarried F 56 Annuitant Dundee, Angus (Forfarshire)

    Elizabeth Lawson Daughter Widowed F 48 Annuitant Dundee, Angus (Forfarshire)

    Eliza Lawson Granddaughter Unmarried F 19 At Home Dundee, Angus (Forfarshire)

    Ann Lawson Granddaughter Unmarried F 16 Scholar Dundee, Angus (Forfarshire)

    Alexander Lawson Grandson Unmarried M 14 Scholar Dundee, Angus (Forfarshire)

35. ↑ "Statutory Register of Deaths" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), FERGUSON or CLARK, ELIZABETH, 96, MARSHALL, F, 1859, citing reference number 282/1/249, Dundee First District.
36. ↑ "Wills and Testaments" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), Ferguson, Elizabeth, Mrs, 28/6/1859, alias Clark, residing in Seagate of Dundee, relict of William Ferguson, Brewer, citing reference number SC45/31/15, Dundee Sheriff Court.
37. ↑ "Valuation Rolls" National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR009800001- ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), CLARK, ELIZABETH; Status: Tenant/Occupier; Place: DWELLING HOUSE GUTHRIES CLOSE; Parish: DUNDEE; Year: 1855.
38. ↑ "Valuation Rolls" National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR009800001- ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), CLARK, ELIZABETH, MRS; Status: Tenant/Occupier; Place: DWELLING HOUSE MILLERS PEND; Parish: DUNDEE; Year: 1855.
39. ↑ "Valuation Rolls" National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR009800001- ScotlandsPeople (accessed 31 May 2023), FERGUSON OR HOOD, ELIZABETH; Status: Tenant; Place: SHOP AND DWELLING HOUSE TEARNAN SHORE; Parish: DUNDEE; Year: 1855.