The Abercrombie Family Of St Ninian's, Stirling
and later of Glasgow

James ABERCROMBIE (1752-?)

My grandmother, Eliza Goldsworthy married William Froggatt in Sydney in 1910. Her mother was Eliza Agnes HUTCHISON, daughter of David HUTCHISON and Elizabeth ABERCROMBIE. This page gives information about the Abercrombie family. Follow the links in the tree for information about the Hutchison family.

I start this tree with James ABERCROMBIE and Janet GERSHOM as this is the earliest ancestor that I am reasonably confident of. I have not followed all of James' children, only Archibald. Archibald is not a common name and the only birth of appropriate date is in 1802 to James ABERCROMBIE and Janet GERSHOM in Bandeath, near St Ninians, Stirling. It is possible to construct a tree from James back to 1693 but there are gaps in the records and no death/burial records for St Ninians are available, making such a tree of dubious accuracy.

                              |                |
                            James           Katharin
                         ABERCROMBIE===v===ABERCROMBIE 
                           1693-?    m:1714 
                                       |
                                     John            Christian
                                  ABERCROMBIE====v====MORISON
                                    1715-?     m:1742
                                     **uncertain before this**
    |                 |                          |              | 
  David             Esther                     James          Janet
HUTCHISON====v======MORTON                  ABERCROMBIE==v===GERSHOM       
1771-1856  m:1794   1780-                      1752-?  m:1787  
             |                |                          |                  |
           Ralph           Isabella                  Archibald            Agnes
         HUTCHISON====v=====MILNE                   ABERCROMBIE====v====ROBERTSON     
         1806-1881  m:1828 1811-1894                   1802-?    m:1823 1801-1866
                      |                                            |   
                    David                                      Elizabeth
                    HUTCHISON================v=================ABERCROMBIE 
                    1831-1897              m:1850               1826-1898
                                             | 
          George                         Eliza Agnes 
        GOLDSWORTHY===========v===========HUTCHISON 
         1861-1929          m:1883        1860-1940
                              |
          William        Eliza Agnes
         FROGGATT====v====GOLDSWORTHY 
         1869-1946 m:1910
                     |

James ABERCROMBIE - Janet GERSHOM

James ABERCROMBIE married Janet GERSHOME at St Ninians on 14 January 1787. The GERSHOM surname (mostly without the last "e") is troublesome as it does not appear in earlier records. It could also be Gresham or Grassom. Note that the GERSHOM spelling was used subsequently for the baptisms of all of James and Janet's children. They had seven children, all born at Bandeth and baptised at St Ninians. Bandeth was a location near Throsk and about 5 miles east of St Ninians on the right bank of the River Forth.


1787 Jan 14: James ABERCROMBIE & Janet GERSHOME both St N..

Birth of their first child - Isabel - St Ninians parish record for births, 1782.

Birth of their last child - Archibald - St Ninians parish record for births, 1802.

The seven children of James and Janet were:

Isabel 8 January 1781
Christian 8 Nov 1789
John 18 Dec 1791
James 8 Jan 1795
Elizabeth 25 Dec 1796
Robert 2 Jan 1799
Archibald 28 Mar 1802


Archibald ABERCROMBIE (1802-?)

Archibald ABERCROMBIE was born on 28 March 1802 at Bandeth, near Throsk, Stirling to James ABERCROMBIE and Janet GERSHOM. Archibald became a "taylor" (many people in this area went into the cloth trade at this time). He moved into Glasgow, presumably to find work, where he married Agnes ROBERTSON at Eastwood, Glasgow on 22 Feb 1823. Unfortunately the record does not name their parents.


Parish record for Eastwood for 1823, showing marriage of Archibald Abercrombie and Agnes Robertson.

Agnes Robertson

Agnes was born 5th Dec 1803 at Eastwood, Glasgow to James Robertson and Agnes Reoch. James was a "sawer" (?sewer), and Agnes was listed as a vest maker in 1841 and a seamstress in later census records.


Parish record for Eastwood for 1803, showing birth of Agnes Robertson.

Archibald and Agnes had 7 children.

NameBirthDeath
Agnes 1825 27 Jan 1909
Elizabeth (Eliza) 1826 11 Jan 1898
James 1832 2 Nov 1866
Archibald 7 Apr 1833 23 April 1907, Spokane, Washington
John 3 May 1835 4 July 1899, Glasgow
David 21 May 1837 ? before 1841
Margaret 2 Jan 1839 ? before 1841


                           |              | 
                         James          Janet
                       ABERCROMBIE==v===GERSHOM       
                          1752-?  m:1787  
        |-----------|--------|------|----------|----------|------------|
      Isabel    Christian   John  James    Elizabeth    Robert     Archibald           
      1788-        1789-    1791- 1795-       1796-      1799-        1802-  
                                                                     m:1823
                                                                       |
                                                                     Agnes
                                                                   ROBERTSON     
                                                                   1803-1866 
                  |---------------------|-----------|------------------|--------------------------|-------|-------| 
                 Agnes                 Eliza      James            Archibald                    John   David  Margaret
              1825-1909             1826-1898   1832-1866          1833-1907                  1835-1899  1837-   1839- 
                m:1850                m:1850      m:1861             m:1855                     m:1857
                  |                     |           |                  |                          |    
                William               David       Mary               Janet                      Janet
                EADIE               HUTCHISON  CUTHBERTSON          SMILLIE                   JOHNSTONE
              1824-1900             1831-1897   1837-1861          1833-1912                  1835-1918
                  |                     |           |----------|       |--------|--------|        | 
                  V                     V       Christina  Archibald  Joan  Archibald  Robert     V
                                                1864-1910  1865-1865  1857-   1859-    1864-  
                                                  m:1885       |       |        |      m:1900
                                                    |                                     | 
                                                  William                                Agnes         
                                                 OVERSTONE                               LAWRIE 
                                                1865-1909                                1862-
                                           |--------|-------|             |-------|-------|     
                                          Mary  Christina  John         Janet  William  Robert
                                          1886-   1888-    1891-        1895- 1897-1904  1901-
                                           |        |       |            |        |       |  
                       

Census Records: In 1841 Agnes and five of the children were living at Gallowgate, Glasgow. Archibald is absent; it would appear that he had died by this date but I cannot find a death record for him. The two youngest children - David and Margaret - are also absent from the 1841 census. It appears that they may also have died, but there are no death records for them either.


1841: Agnes and children were living at Gallowgate Glasgow. Archibald cannot be located in this or any other census - perhaps he had died.

1851:  Agnes and sons James, Archibald and John were at 76 Gt Hamilton St Glasgow.

1861:  Agnes and son James were at 247 Thistle St Glasgow Govan.

Death of Agnes: Agnes died at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow on 7 Nov 1866, she was almost 63 although the death record shows her as aged 68 (unless she was aged 6 at baptism). The informant was her son-in-law David Hutchison, married to Eliza Agnes ABERCROMBIE.


Death record for Agnes, 1866. (Click on it for a larger version)


The Children of Archibald ABERCROMBIE and Janet ROBERTSON

Agnes ABERCROMBIE

Agnes ABERCROMBIE was born around 1825 in Glasgow to Archibald ABERCROMBIE and Agnes ROBERTSON. Agnes married William EADIE in Glasgow on 31 December 1850. William and Agnes had six children.

There is more about William and Agnes and their family here.

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Elizabeth (Eliza) ABERCROMBIE

Elizabeth was born in 1826 in Gorbals, Glasgow. Her birth is not obvious in the Scotland records. In 1841 she was living with her mother at Gallowgate, Glasgow, employed as a "muslin classer". Elizabeth (now known as Eliza) married David HUTCHISON on 23 June 1850 at the Independent Church in Bridgeton.


Marriage of Eliza ABERCROMBIE to David HUTCHISON in 1850

David and Eliza had six children in Glasgow. Then in 1880 they emigrated to Melbourne, Australia for a new life.

There is more about David and Eliza's life in Australia here.

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James ABERCROMBIE

James was born in 1832 in Gorbals, Glasgow. His birth is not obvious in the Scotland records. In 1841, 1851 and 1861 he was living with his mother in Glasgow. He became a tailor. James married Mary CUTHBERTSON, a cotton warper, at Hogbank (or Hogg) Cottage, Johnstone on 31 December 1861. James was aged 29 and Mary was 24. Johnstone is a large town west of Paisley and 12 miles west of Glasgow. The couple were resident in Glasgow, Mary and her two brothers moving there between 1851 and 1861. In the 1861 census Mary's parents lived in Johnstone where her father William had been born.


Marriage of James ABERCROMBIE to Mary CUTHBERTSON in 1861

It appears that James and Mary had one child, Archibald ABERCROMBIE born 28 June 1865 at 24 Main St, Glasgow. But Archibald died 5 weeks later on 3 August 1865.


Birth of Archibald ABERCROMBIE in 1865.

Death of Archibald ABERCROMBIE in 1865.

James ABERCROMBIE died on 2 November 1866 at 24 Main St in Glasgow.


Death of James ABERCROMBIE in 1866.

After losing her son and husband, Mary set up shop as a dressmaker further along Main St, Gorbals. In 1871 she was living at 153 Main St along with her sister Christina and her daughter Christina. This is likely to be the correct Mary, being aged 33, a widow, born Johnston, and with a sister CUTHBERTSON. The daughter poses a problem. Her age of 8 in the 1871 census and 18 in the 1881 cesnus indicates she was born in 1864 or 1865.


1871 census for Mary ABERCROMBIE.

1881 census for Mary ABERCROMBIE.

Christina ABERCROMBIE married William Gilchrist OVERSTONE at 94 South Portland St, Glasgow on 16 January 1885. He was aged 20 and she was 21. William was a shipping clerk and the son of John Keir OVERSTONE and master mariner. The marriage is unusual: it was by declaration in the presence of a ship's purser and by a warrant issued by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire.


Marriage of Christina ABERCROMBIE in 1885.

Mary continued to live with her daughter Christina. In 1891 they were at 15 Portland Place, Govan Rd. In 1901 they were living at 89 Oxford St, Govan.



1891 census for Mary ABERCROMBIE.

1901 census for Mary ABERCROMBIE.

William Gilchrist OVERSTON died in 1909. His wife Christina ABERCROMBIE was subsequently admitted to the Dykebar Asylum in Paisley wher she died of heart failure on 27 February 1910. (Dykebar Asylum was opened in 1909. It was designed by T.G. ABERCROMBIE.)


Death of Christina OVERTON/ABERCROMBIE in 1910.

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Archibald ABERCROMBIE

Archibald was born on 7 April 1833 in Gorbals, Glasgow and baptised there on 28 April 1833. He became a plumber. Archibald married Janet SMILLIE on 2 Dec 1855 at 2 Sandyford Place, Gorbals, Glasgow. Note that in most of the subsequent records Archbald and his family had changed the spelling of their surname to ABERCROMBY. But after 1864 Archibald and the two older children disappear from the records in Scotland. A family of identical names and ages appears in New York in the 1875 census. There is no conclusive evidence that this was the correct Archibald, but if it is, why did Archibald go to America with the children? Did they plan a new life but his wife Janet chose not go? Did she plan to join him once young Robert was old enough to travel, but changed her mind? We do not have a shipping record to know the date of travel.

There is more about Archibald and his family here

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John Robertson ABERCROMBIE

John Robertson was born 3 May 1835 in Gorbals, Glasgow. He also became a tailor. He married Janet JOHNSTONE on 2 October 1857 at 67 Great Hamilton St, Glasgow. Janet was aged 22, the daughter of William JOHNSTONE and Janet Chapman DEMPSTER. John and Janet had ten children. They lived all of their lives in Glasgow.

There is more about John and Janet's life here.

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29 March 2021