Monday, February 2, 2015

52 Ancestors in 2015 - #2 Isabella King

Isabella King
Week 2 -- King

Isabella is my 4th great grandmother on my father's maternal side. She was born in Cranshaws, Berwickshire, Scotland in 1810 to Alexander King and Isabella Elliot (?).  She married Thomas Robertson on July 20, 1829.  Thomas was the son of John Robertson and Margaret Betty Wilkie.

I don't have a lot of information about Isabella, but I have been able to locate some information from the Scotland Census between 1841 and 1881.   It appears that Isabella and Thomas had at least eight children.

In 1841, Isabella and Thomas were living in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, Scotland.  They were living at Cowridge.  Thomas was working as a agriculture laborer.  They were both 32 years old with four children:

  • John  -  aged 10, born in 1831
  • Isabel - aged 8, born in 1833
  • Alexander - aged 4, born in 1837
  • James - aged 2, born in 1839

In 1851, Isabella and Thomas, now 42 years old, were still living in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, Scotland. Their address was listed at Howlawrigg.  Thomas' occupation is listed as a hedger agriculture laborer.  They now have seven children, but only six are listed as living at home.

  • John - aged 20 is working as an agriculture laborer
  • Isabel - is not listed in the census record
  • Alexander - aged 14 is attending school
  • James - aged 12 is attending school
  • George - aged 9 is attending school
  • Margaret - aged 7 is attending school
  • Mary Ann - aged 4 is staying at home

Greenlaw, Berwickshire, Scotland

In 1861, Isabella and Thomas are now living in Linton, Roxburghshire, Scotland in the Greenlees Cottages.  The census states that the home has three rooms with windows.  They are 52 years old.  Thomas is still working as an agriculture laborer.  They have had another child, and have four living at home.

  • James - aged 22 is working as a ploughman
  • Margaret - aged 17 is working as an agriculture laborer
  • Mary Ann - aged 14 is working as an agriculture laborer
  • Thomas - aged 9 is in school
It appears that they are living on the farm land owned by John Borthwick.  He is a 32 year old farmer of 760 acres, employing 20 laborers.  He is living with his mother Christian, a widow of John Borthwick.  They have four servants living at the Greenlees Farmhouse, which include a cook, housemaid, shepherd and groomer.  There are three other families that are living at Greenlees.  The Ballantye family; they have five young children aged 9 and under.  The Smail family; they have four of their grandchildren living with them.  Their ages are from 7-12 years old and are attending school. The Wilson family is also living in the cottages.  They have two children one aged 23 that is working as a farm laborer and one that is 12 attending school.  This would have meant that there would have been lots of children for Thomas to play with during the day.


In 1871, I'm not 100%  positive that I have found her but I believe that she is widowed and has moved to Carham, Northumberland, England with her son Thomas.  I found a census record stating that her and Thomas are living in the Shepherd's House.  Thomas is working as a shepherd and she is listed as the shepherd's mother. Interestingly, Isabella's father was a shepherd.  One of the reasons that I believe that this is her is because there is a George Robertson living a few houses down from her and Thomas.  He is married, working as a coachman/coachmaker (hard to read), with a young family and is the right age (29).   His wife's name is Isabella.  They have the following children:

  • Isabella King - daughter, aged 9 born in Scotland
  • Margaret Houston - daughter, aged 8 born in Scotland
  • Mary Ann - daughter, aged 7 born in Scotland
  • Robert - son, aged 2 born in Carham, England


In 1881, I have two possible records but I believe the more accurate one is that she is living in Kelso, Roxburgshire, Scotland with her daughter, Mary Ann and son-in-law Alexander Porteous. They are living in the Tweed Bank Cottage with their five children.

  • Isabella King - daughter, aged 12
  • William - son, aged 10
  • Thomas Robertson - son, aged 5
  • Alexander King - song, aged 3
  • John - son, aged 1
Isabella died on October 21, 1888 in Kelos, Scotland.  She died while living with her daughter Mary Ann and son-in-law Alexander Porteous.  He signed as the informant on her death certificate.  I'm still trying to locate her burial information.

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