I’ve been feeling really guilty lately. I have been so involved in my Love success, that I feel like I’ve left Agnes Hamilton in the lurch. So today I’m going to spend a little quality time with her.
Trying to find Agnes’ birth record might get a little tricky. I have her records all the way from her marriage through her death, but nothing before. So the birth record and her parents names would be a huge stepping stone for me.
Unfortunately I have many birth date calculations for Agnes. They range from 1803 through 1811. Obviously, that’s a big gap. So I’ll do a search on Scotlands People to see if the options there will narrow it down.
The things I know are absolutely true are that her name is Agnes Hamilton and she was born in Kilmarnock parish.
With my general results above, there are 3 possibilities there.
- Agnes Hamilton, born May 1802, daughter of Thomas Hamilton and Agnes Cuthbertson.
- Agnes Hamilton, born Feb 1805, daughter of Andrew Hamilton and Janet Bachop.
- Agnes Hamilton, born Oct 1810, daughter of James Hamilton and Mary Wallace.
Just looking at the names helps me none. My Agnes had two sons with the first names of Thomas and Andrew. She also had a son with the middle name of Wallace. Agnes also had a daughter named Agnes, which could be for herself or her mother. So looking at the names does nothing for me.
One thing that pays in the favor of the second Agnes is that her birthdate is much closer to the birthdate of Andrew Love, my Agnes’ future husband. In every single record I have for the couple, their ages are always recorded as the same. Sometimes, you’ll get that because only one person is giving the information, however, I’ve never gotten that on every single record unless it is true. I’ve decided to have a look at the record for Agnes #2 first.
This shows that the second Agnes is the children of “Reverend Andrew Hamilton, minister of the chapel in this place”.
The possibility rises of this Agnes being the one for one simple, weird reason. Andrew and Agnes have two marriage records. One in Beith parish, where Andrew was born, and another in Kilmarnock, where Agnes was born. Usually when I see two marriage records, the second record is just an announcement that the marriage happened in the first place. That’s not the case with these. The marriage records are dated one day apart.
Could this be a sign that there were two marriages? One for Andrew’s family and another for Agnes’ father, the Reverend?
I guess I’ll have to spend some more time with my Agnes before I can figure out which Agnes she actually is.
Additional support for Agnes “number two” is her age as recorded on the death certificate and tombstone – 82 years, 2 months. These same sources list the date of death as April 14, 1886, which would mean she was born in 1884, but the month of February fits. Maybe somebody made a miscalculation on the age!
Further to my last email re. Agnes Hamilton.
This excerpt re. Agnes from a document (c.1839) in my possession it is titled:
“Family Register
of the Revd Aw Hamilton
of the High Church Kilmarnock
transcribed by the Revd Robt. Weir.”
The entry for Agnes:
“Agnes Hamilton was born on the 5th day of Feby.1805, and died on the 5th Feby.1806, at twelve O’clock Mid-day, the hour at which she was born.”
Hope this helps.
David Hamilton.