John Baillie (c. 1802 - 1863)

Birth

Marriage

Death

On ___, c. 1801 or September 25, 1802 or 1803, in the parish of Westruther in Berwickshire

To Isabella/Isobella Tait, on July 4, 1824, at St. Cuthbert’s

To Helen Izatt, on ___, at ___

March 23, 1863, at 4 Lauriston Street, Tollcross, Edinburgh

Parents

Siblings

Children

Zerub Baillie, Agnes Baillie née Taylor

James Baillie, William Baillie, Robert Baillie, Thomas Baillie, Zerub Baillie, Agnes Baillie, Janet Baillie, Nichol Baillie

Zerub Baillie (c. 1833 – c. 1890)

John Baillie was born in either 1801 (death record) or 1803 (1851 census) and died in 1863.  He was a joiner and spent his whole life in Edinburgh.  The link to Zerub Baillie (c. 1833 – c. 1890) and John Baillie (1855-1930) is somewhat tenuous.  The data sources are (1) the 1851 census; (2) a death certificate; (3) marriage banns and (4) the birth record.

(1) The 1851 census has the following:

1851 Census index of the New Town of Edinburgh, household no. 2986
2 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh, MLN [ref: ?-8-8, no. 30]

This record suggests that John Baillie (Bailey) was living in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh, beside the Water of Leith.  As mentioned in the page on Zerub Baillie (c. 1833 – c. 1890), there is some doubt about the link-up, because: (i) Zerub’s name is listed as “Zeneb” not “Zerub”; (ii) the surname is listed as “Bailey” not “Baillie” (not a strong objection because spellings were arbitrary before 1850); (iii) there is no record of the birth of Zerub or his sister Euphemia, and no later trace of the latter could be found; (iv) the death record for John Baillie has his birth date at about 1803, not 1801.  Nevertheless the link is plausible because (a) the name Zerub is unusual, (b) the coincidence of the age of Zerub is strong evidence, (c) professions were often hereditary – John was a joiner and Zerub his son a cabinet maker, (d) this would provide the link to the two missionaries to the Calabar Coast who died of “fever” of which there is an independent record in the form of Kathleen Mary Baillie’s biography of her father John Baillie of Swaziland.

(2) Assuming that the above link is correct, John Baillie’s death certificate may be the following:

(3) Marriage banns: The OPR index for Midlothian lists the marriage (banns) of John and his first wife, Isabella:

John Baillie & Isobella Tait, 4.7.1824 St Cuthbert's.

(4) Birth record.  The OPR & OPR index record of births to Zerub Baillie and Agnes Baillie née Taylor includes a John born on September 25, 1802, the parish of record being Westruther.  Here his father is listed first as being a “herd in Bruntaburn”, and then, corresponding to the birth of his last son Nichol, as a “shepherd, Hartside”.  So John was born in the parish of Westruther, not Lauder as given in the 1851 census.   Bruntaburn is at NT597508, 4½ miles NE of the royal burgh of Lauder;   Hartside in Channelkirk is at NT469537, 1½ miles west of Oxton.

Sources:

(1) The transcript of the 1851 Census: kindly provided on October 7, 2002, by Dr. J.A. Robertson, a genealogical researcher in Edinburgh.

(2) The death certificate of John Baillie (d. 1863, Tollcross): kindly provided on October 7, 2002, by Dr. J.A. Robertson, Edinburgh.

(3) Date and place of marriage to Isobella Tait: marriage banns, from OPR index for Midlothian.  Transcript kindly provided on October 7, 2002, by Dr. J.A. Robertson, Edinburgh.

(4) Birth record: OPR and OPR index. Transcript kindly furnished on October 7, 2002, by Dr. J.A. Robertson, Edinburgh.