James Thomson

     
     James Thomson was born on 21 May 1834 Castleton, ROX, SCT.¹
     James Thomson married Mary Dalgliesh, daughter of Walter Dalgliesh and Mary Carruthers, on 22 Feb 1861 at Bigholms, Par. of Langholm, DFS, SCT, cert. #2 shows James as a 28 yr old farm servant resid. Westwater, Langholm s/o William Thomson, farm lab and Cecilia m.s. Sinton, and Mary as a dom servant 22, resid Bigholms, Langholm, d/o Walter Dalgliesh farmer and Mary m.s. Carruthers, both decsd; Wit John Dalgliesh (could be Mary's uncle or brother) and William Anderson, reg. 25th Feb.^2,3
     James Thomson remarried on 24 Feb 1874 at Gretna, DFS, SCT, to Betsy Daglish, daughter of Walter Dalgliesh and Mary UnknownSurname, the "cert." reads: James Thomson from the Parish of Castleton in the County of Rxoburgh and Betsy Dalglish from the Parish of Castleton in the County of Roxburgh being both here Present and declared themselves husband and wife before me and these witnesses this twenty fourth day of February 1874 years By William Lang, both signed (Elizabeth as Bettsey Dalglish), witnesses were Alex Miller and Mary Elizabeth Wannop.
NB the day on the birth cert of dtr Jessie was 22nd, likewise on son John's, whose cert agreed the same day/mth & place as on Jessie's, but gives the year as 1870. Although within both Scottish & English Civil Registration, there is no marriage obvious on the IGI or Sct People or FreeBMD, only on a list of Gretna marriages.^{4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
     James Thomson died on 9 Oct 1899 at Mosspeeble Cottage, Par. of Ewes, DFS, SCT, at age 65; cert. #4 shows James as a 65 yr old ploughman, widower of Elizabeth Dalgleish, died 4am of dilatal ? heart & mitral incompetance 2 yrs & 6 mths; s/o William Thomson ploughman and Cecilia m.s. Sinton, both dec; inf. son William of Goldielands, Hawick.^11,12
     
     Well, my first Gretna Green marriage in all my years of researching. And it wasn't one of my locals from Cumberland, sneaking north across the border into Scotland to take advantage of the laxer Scottish laws at all. Wonder if it was because he may have been marrying his late wife's sister?).¹⁰
     James Thomson appeared on the census of 1841 in the Village, Newcastleton, Par. of Castleton, ROX, SCT, in the household of William Thomson and Celia Thomson and is assumed to be a son.^13,14 It is possible that James Thomson was at Flatt, Castleton, ROX, SCT, in 1851 a 19 yr old farm servant b Ewes DFS in hsehold of Robert & Mary THOMSON.¹⁵ By Feb 1861 he was a farm servant at Westwater, Par. of Langholm, DFS, SCT, where he still was for the 1861 census 2 mths later, wife Mary still at home with her uncle, at least on census night.² He appeared on the census of 7 Apr 1861 at Westwater, Par. of Langholm, DFS, SCT, in the household of James Elliot as a servant.¹⁶ In Sep 1865 James Thomson was described as a farm steward at Bigholms, Par. of Langholm, DFS, SCT, on the dth cert of infant son Walter.¹⁷
     James outlived his first wife Mary Dalgliesh who died in 1869.^3,18,19
     The census of 7 Apr 1871 showed James, with his dtrs Mary and Cecilia, his son William, his sister-in-law Betsey Elliot, at Biggholms, Par. of Langholm, DFS, SCT, enumerated as THOMPSON: James 38 head widwr shepherd b New Castleton, ROX; Children: Mary 9, William 8 (transcr on ancestry as son 38 scholar, image shows 8 with squiggle in front), Cecilia 5, all scholars b Langholm; Sister-in-law Betsey Elliot 25 unm housekeeper b Canonbie DFS. Neighbours are John Dalgleish, Biggholms, one way and James Elliot, Westwater another, both with connections to the family. (Betsey's age is a bit far out to stretch her to being the 2nd Mrs Thomson even if I do believe the latter, an Elizabeth Dalgleish, often shown as Betty/Betsy, may be a relation of his 1st wife's. The surname of the hsekeeper Betsey is clearly shown as Elliot on the actual census form, so I guess I need to find out how she is James' sister-in-law.).^20,21
     James Thomson was the informant for the death of his mother Cecilia Thomson on 30 Jul 1877 at Dykecrofts, Par. of Castleton, ROX, SCT.^22,23
     The census of 1881 showed James with his wife Betty, their sons Thomas and John, their dtr Jessie at Dykecrofts, Par. of Castleton, ROX, SCT, household enumerated as THOMSON: James, 49, head, mar, ag lab b Castleton; wife Betty, 30, b Canonbie, DFS; Children (all b Castleton): Thomas E, scholar, 6; John W, 5; Jessie, 3.²⁴
     The census of 1891 showed James with his wife Elizabeth, their sons Thomas and John, their dtr Jessie at Mosspeeble, Dist of Ewes, DFS, SCT, household enumerated as THOMSON: James 56 ploughman b Castleton; wife Elizabeth 37 b Canonbie DFS; Children: Thomas Elbirt (sic, as trasncribed for ancestry, I think it's meant to be Elliot) 16 shepherd, John Walter 14, Jessie Bell 12 both scholars, all b Castleton, ROX.¹¹
     James Thomson also outlived his 2nd wife Elizabeth Thomson who died on 10 Mar 1898 being the informant for her death.^25,11,12
     James Thomson and Betsey Elliot are related as sister/brother-in-law, although I have yet to figure out how.²⁰