MySource:Srblac/Wilson Research Report, Recipient: Scott Black

  Featured Page: Week of July 13, 2008

Research Summary

The information provided was that Agnes Cunningham was born in 1872 in Glasgow. Her father was Charles Cunningham, a Grain Weigher’s Clerk, and her mother was Mary Milroy. Her parents were not married at the time.

The brief was to find the marriage of Charles and Mary (if there was one), to find Charles and Mary’s births and deaths, and to see if they had any other children.

I have found all the details requested, except for an accurate date of birth for Charles.

Research Detail

Since Charles Cunningham and Mary Milroy were not married at the time of their daughter Agnes’ birth in 1872, I looked for their marriage after this date. I checked up to 1881, but could find no match. I then looked for Charles in the 1881 census. Given his occupation, there was just one match. This Charles was aged 50 and working as a Grain Weighing Clerk. He was lodging at The Model Lodging House at 28 McAlpine Street, Glasgow. He was unmarried and born in Stranraer. (Ref 644/7, Book 1, Page 11).

Charles Cunningham & Mary Milroy 1891 Census

With the information on Charles’ age and birthplace, I then tried to track him down in the 1891 census. This time, I found him with Mary, Agnes and others as follows:-

1891

The implication here was that Charles and Mary were married. They also seem to have had a son, Charles, born in about 1875, and it appeared that Mary had another son, Peter Sinclair. I checked again for a marriage for Charles and Mary, but could not initially find one.

Mary Milroy 1881 Census

I then looked for Mary in the 1881 census and found her as follows:-

1881

This told me that Mary had been married before and her previous husband was named Sinclair. She had at least three children from her previous marriage – Catherine, Mary and Peter. It also lists Mary’s father, James, who we know was also born in Wigtonshire, in Stoneykirk.

Charles Cunningham Mary Milroy Marriage

I then checked again for Mary’s marriage to Charles, but using the Sinclair surname and found the following:-

This tells us that Charles’ parents were Michael Cunningham, a Tailor, and Agnes McRobert. Mary’s parents were James Milroy, a Harbour Night Watchman, and Mary McMurray.

Charles Cunningham (sons) Birth

Next, I looked for other children born to Charles and Mary. The brief mentioned a son, Charles, born in 1870. I found that Charles and Mary did have a son, Charles, born on 8th September 1870 (Ref 644/5, Entry 780). However, he died of measles at just under 3 years of age on 18th August 1873 (Ref 644/6, Entry 434). They also had another son named Charles, who was listed in the census. He was born in 1875:-

Although there are some discrepancies in this information, it must be the right Charles. For some reason his mother’s surname is given as Munro. There does seem to have been a Munro family connection as the two witnesses for Charles and Mary’s marriage had this surname. However, I do not know, as yet, how this fits.

Charles Cunningham (father) Birth and Death

Next, I looked for the births and deaths of Charles and Mary.

We know, from his age, that Charles was born in about 1829 in Stranraer. This pre-dates statutory registration in Scotland. We have to rely on the Church registers for this, the main ones being the Old Parochial Registers (OPRs). I checked the OPR index, but there was no sign of Charles’ birth. I did find, however, that his parents, Michael Cunningham and Agnes McRobert, married in Stranraer on 20th December 1814 (Ref 899/1, Frame 311).

Charles died in 1915:-

Note that Charles’ age on his death certificate was not accurate; he was closer to 86 when he died.

Mary Milroy Birth and Death

Next, I looked for the birth of Mary Milroy and found this was registered. The details are:-

OPR for Glasgow, Ref 644.1/34, Frame 4768 November 1834. James Milroy, Porter & Mary McMurray a Lau. Dau. Mary bo. 23d Nov. Wit Robert Milroy & William Black.

Mary died in 1895:-

Further Research

It should be possible to trace both the Cunningham and Milroy lines back a further generation, by looking for the deaths of Charles and Mary’s fathers. I can also follow up on Charles Cunningham, Agnes’ brother, and, perhaps, her Sinclair half-siblings.

Research Summary

In my previous research into the Cunningham family, I found that Charles Cunningham’s parents were Michael Cunningham and Agnes McRobert. The first part of the brief for this research was to look for Michael and Agnes’ deaths and to try to find the family in an appropriate census.

Charles Cunningham married Mary Milroy and the second part of the brief was to try to find the deaths of Mary's parents, James Milroy and Mary McMurray. It was also to look for this family in the census.

The third and last part of the research was to look for the deaths of John Hagerty and Agnes Paterson and to try to find them in a census. They were the parents of Margaret (or Mary) Hagerty who married Matthew Black.

I did not find the death of Agnes McRobert but did find the all the other information on the Cunningham family and I also found all the information on the Milroys. Other than Margaret’s death, I have not found any more information on the Hagertys.

Research Detail

Michael Cunningham Death

The first thing I did was to look for the death of Michael Cunningham. I found that he died in 1871 and the details are:-

This tells us that Michael was 86 when he died, so was born in about 1785. His parents were David Cunningham and Margaret McClymont.

Agnes McRobert Death

I next looked for the death of Michael’s wife, Agnes McRobert. We know she was deceased by 1871 as Michael was a widower when he died. I checked from 1871 back to 1855, when statutory registration began, but could find no trace of Agnes’ death. I assumed, therefore, that she died before 1855.

Michael Cunningham 1851 Census

I next looked for the family in the census. The 1851 census for all of Wigtonshire has been indexed, so I looked for the family in that. I found them as follows:-

1851

This tells us that Michael was born in Inch and Agnes in New Luce. As well as their son Charles, they also had a daughter, Mary and a son, James. Given the age gaps and the ages of Michael and Agnes, it is quite possible there were other children who had left home by this time. Note also that Charles was a teacher at the time of the 1851 census. Given that Agnes was alive in 1851, she must have died some time between 1851 and 1854.

James Milroy Death

Next, I looked at the Milroy family. I found that James Milroy died in 1888:-

This gives James age as 66 when he died, but this seems unlikely as he gave his age as 76 at the time of the 1881 census. His parents were Alexander Milroy, a Farmer, and Margaret Henderson.

Mary McMurray Death

James’ wife, Mary McMurray, died in 1869:-

Mary was 63 when she died and her parents were Andrew McMurray, a Farmer, and Margaret Martin.

James Milroy 1841 Census

The Milroy family lived in Glasgow and there are indexes for Glasgow for all the census years. I found the family in the 1841 and 1861 census index, but not the 1851 index. The details from the full 1841 census are:-

1841

This tells us that James and Mary had at least three children – Andrew, Mary and Robert. Note that the 1841 census does not give the place of birth it just states whether or not the person was born in the same county as the census entry. In this case it states that James was born in the census county (Lanarkshire) but this is incorrect as we know he was born in Wigtonshire.

James Milroy 1861 Census

The full 1861 census entry is as follows:-

1861

Hagerty Family

Next, I looked for information on the Hagerty family. Margaret Hagerty married Matthew Black in 1864 in Glasgow. Later censuses show that she was born in Ireland. I checked the 1861 census index for Glasgow for any sign of Margaret, but I could find none, so I believe she came to Scotland some time between 1861 and 1864. Her father, John, was deceased by 1864 but I could find no trace of his death between 1861 and 1864 in Scotland. I also checked for her mother, Agnes’ death in Scotland but could find no record. (I tried spelling variants of the surname in all these searches.)

Margaret Hagerty Death

Margaret died in 1929:-

Since Margaret’s death certificate had her mother’s first name as Nancy, I went back and checked again for her mother’s death, but there was no sign of this in Scotland.

Charles Cunningham previously married?

One final question was whether Charles Cunningham was married prior to his marriage to Mary Milroy. He was described as a bachelor on his marriage certificate and also in the 1881 census. I also found him in the 1871 census, boarding with the Thomson family in Glasgow and, again, he was described as a bachelor, so I do not believe he was married twice.