Isabella Hall

     
     Isabella Hall was born say 1758 prob. in ?Hownam, ROX, SCT, (this date assumes I've found the right marriage for James and Isabella, and that she was at least 20 then).¹
     Isabella Hall married James Wight on 13 Mar 1779 in the Par. of Ednam, ROX, SCT, entry dated 14 Feb 1779 reads: James Wight in the Parish of Bowdean (sic) and Isabel Hall in this parish gave up their names in order to proclaimation for marriage consigned one shilling to the poor John Weir Schoolmaster in Ednam their cautioner and married the 13th March 1779. I have assumed this is the correct James Wight, purely because he was of Bowden, which is where dtr Jane was supposedly born, although there are 2 other candidate couples of the same names and time frames.^3,4,5,1,2
     Isabella Hall died in Jul 1816 prob. at ?Hounam, ROX, SCT; (day and age unclear to transcribers).²
     If I've taken the correct James Wight and Isabella Hall marriage down this line, the assumed ages working back up the chain to Jane are looking a bit tight, not impossible, just tight, especially when you get back to someone in the chain with some dates to work with - assuming of course that her age on the h/stone is accurate, and I note that hubby William was 7 years older, so there's a bit of leeway here.⁶
     Isabella Hall was considered as a potential duplicate of Isabella Hall, but this has been discounted; as, of the at least 3 couples named James Wight and Isabella Hall who married in Roxburghshire, two definitely have Bowden connections, which is where dtr Jane was supposedly born in c 1783. The Bedrule couple didn't marry until 1797, so I have rejected them, even though Bedrule does fit better with the birth places of the 2 later children, so it may be that the Bedrule couple are the parents of siblings Isabella and James, but not of Jane.⁷
     Isabella Hall was considered as a potential duplicate of Isabella Hall, but this has been discounted; although both were married to a James Wight of Bowden, I have at last conclusively eliminated the James Wight and Isabella Hall couple of Midlem in Bowden as being the same couple, parents of Jane Wight. According to Isabella's h/stone her husband James was a joiner in Morebattle. In May 2005 I found the dth of a James Wight, son of James Wight and Isabella Hall, that had his father as a joiner. In Jan 2006 I found that he had left a will. The will conveniently showed his inventory as including an amount due him from the estate of his late sister Isabella Wight, housekeeper of Melville Castle, Lasswade who had died in 1869. Fascinatingly, there were two Isabella Wight deaths in 1869, one in St Boswells, dtr of James Wight and Isabella Hall, the other in Lasswade, also the dtr of James Wight and Isabella Hall. However the St Boswells dtr said her father was a portioner in Midlem and the Lasswade one had her father as a joiner, so the two couples of the same name, and with a Bowden connection, are definitely distinct and unlikely to have two surviving adult dtrs named Isabella.^5,8,9
     Isabella Hall is buried with William Hall and Jane Stevenson at Hounam, ROX, SCT; #50 reads: IMO William Hall, who died at Morebattle 17.3.1817 aged 82 yrs, also Jane Stevenson his spouse who died 4.1.1825 aged 82 yrs. also Isabella Hall their daughter spouse to James Wight joiner Morebattle who died ?. 7.1816 aged ? yrs. James Hall their son who died 8.11.1821 aged 16 yrs (assumed to be son of James Wight and Isabella Hall given his age, with Hall being a forename. Possibly the transcription is a tad wrong and James is Isabella's brother, eg his age might be 46? I have concluded, for now that his name is James Hall Wight but this gives me another problem in that I already have them with a son James born c 1805, but dying in 1878. More work needed.).^2,10,11