4 x Great Grandmother
8th Generation
Born - 10th December 1837- Carriden, Linlithgow
Died - 5th November 1910 - Carriden, LinlithgowJanet was Richard Hamilton and Janet Fergusson’s second born child. Alison Ferguson Hamilton was the eldest born in 1835 then Grace followed in 1840 after Janet, Robert in 1842, Thomas in 1845, Christian in 1848, Archibald in 1850 and finally Mary was born in 1853.
There is a lot of Hamilton’s in Carriden, when you look at the church records you can see that 3 Hamilton birth’s in Carriden on one page of church records!
“I am very much looking forward to following this branch of history as there is a lot of records out there”
In the 1851 census Janet is living with her parents, elder sister Alison and siblings Grace, Robert, Thomas, Christina and Archibald. They were living in Bridgeness Village which is part of Carriden. Her father was a coalminer.
In 1861 Janet is 23 years old and her and her sister Grace are outdoor workers. This census record had a Granddaughter in the house, with some research I found the birth certificate (also below) which names Janet as her mother.
Helen was born the illegitimate daughter of Janet Hamilton and Peter Sanderson.
As the years went on Helen was known as Ellen (Sanderson) but was still living with her mother Janet. In the 1871 census Janet was married to William Burnett, by this point and they had a further 4 children together, Ellen is also registered as their child. Thomas Hamilton, Janet’s brother is living with them too.
Janet’s sister Alison married Alexander Pettigrew in 1855, they had 9 children together and lived their whole life in Carriden – Alison lived to 1929, she was 93 years old when she passed.
Alison was named after her mother’s sister Alison Ferguson. She and William Robertson had “enrolled their names…in order to marriage” on Aug. 16th, 1834. However, the marriage never took place due to “ the Bride having been killed in a coal pit on the 23.
Grace was Janet’s younger sister, she never married. She was a dressmaker and lived with her family all her life. In the 1901 census she was living with her sister Mary and niece Annie both of whom were dressmakers. It was also her nephew who signed her death certificate in 1913, she was 72.
Her brother Robert married Barbara Lapsley in 1864 at 22 years old. They had 33 years together as he died at 55
Janet’s brother Thomas was the man of the house at 25, after is father died. His mother was 60 years old and Grace, Christine, Archibald and Mary were all still at home. His 5 year old nephew, Richard (Janet’s son) was also living with them. I do not know why.
He went on to marry Jane Easton and lived until 1919 when he was 73 years old. They had 7 children , including Richard who put the stone up in Carriden churchyard.
Christina married Thomas Hamilton (Because there isn’t already enough Hamilton’s in this story) They had 7 children, stayed in Carriden, she lived into her 80th year!
Archibald was the youngest brother, he died of Cardiac Disease. However the death certificate also states apoplexy on the brain for 20 years which could mean he had a stroke at 22. Archibald married Marion Gray when he was 38, they already had 2 children together. in the 1891, after he married Marion, he was still living with his now 70 year old mother, 2 sisters and his niece Ann along with Marion. Marion gave birth the same year to a son, Richard. He was killed in action in the Great War. He is named on the Thiepval Memorial at the Somme in France (I have been there without knowing he was). They had a daughter in 1893 and just two weeks after she was born Archibald died. The daughter Elizabeth Sneddon only lived for 4 years.
Janet’s other sister Mary was also a dressmaker, In every census record she is living with at least one other member of her family, she died in the poor house in Linlithgow on 8 May 1908. Causes of death were acute laryngitis, cardiac failure.
Janet became a widow in 1887. In 1901 she had 6 of her children still at home, she was 53 years old. By 1901 she was living with William Edward, a boarder, and her daughter Marion was still at home. Janet died in 1910 aged 72.
This story focuses on the huge family that Janet was born into, what we need to remember is that when she married William they also had 8 children (as well as her illegitimate daughter), all of which grew into adulthood. Mary, William, Richard, Thomas, Janet (she moved after her mother died) and Marion all made their lives nearby. Robert, Archibald and Alison emigrated however we have records that they all kept in touch and visited home. Janet was part of a huge, much loved family.
Ann Hamilton This child, family member, is a mystery. Her birth certificate have her parents as Christine and Thomas Hamilton, detailed above however there is no record of her ever living with her parents and in the 1891 and 1901 census she is living with Grace and Mary (neither of them married), both of whom were dress makers. Ann herself trained as a dress maker until her wedding.
Husband – William Burnett
Daughter – Janet Ferguson Birnett
Marie's Genealogy 