Family History - Maggie "Weir" Gray

Family History is a journey in finding who you are and where you came from.  There is quite a lot we can't know about our ancestors, but thanks to records we can find out the facts, which helps us paint a picture of where and how they lived, and the era they lived in.


Recently I followed my Grandmothers Mothers (My Great-Grandmother) family line.  I'm very interested in the women in my family as we all seam to be hard working and stubborn.  I was able to locate my GG-Grandmothers Birth certificate, Marriage Certificate and census records from the Scotlandspeople.co.uk website. 

The facts about my GG-Grandmother Maggie "Weir" Gray

Maggie Weir or Margaret on her birth certificate, was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1881 to James Weir and Annie "Golding" Weir. 

Her father James was a hard working Scottish Coal Miner who married Annie in 1870 in Dunfermline, where they lived at Pittencrieff street with Annie's mother Elisabeth "Short" Golden, as recorded in the 1871 census. 

Maggie was the third child in the family, out of the four known or recorded.  The eldest being Andrew (born 1871), Jane (1877), then Maggie and the youngest James (1884).   

In the 1891 census it shows that the Weir family moved to New Monkland, Lanarkshire where Maggies father James was born and grew up.  I think some time within these 10 years after Maggies birth her Grandmother Elisabeth passed away, and may have been the reason for the move.  James continued in the same profession as a Coal Miner.  The record also shows that they lived in a house with only one room with a window.

Ten years later in the 1901 census Maggie was 19 and still living with her parents, James and Annie in New Monkland, Lanarkshire.  By this time she had found herself a job as an Out door Brick washer.  The record also shows that her oldest brother Andrew was now married and had a daughter and was living a few doors down from her at 17 Motherwell street.  Maggies family residence of 11 Motherwell street was an upgrade from her previous family home because they now had two rooms with windows. 

The next record is in 1902 when Maggie marries James Gray in New Monkland.  The next thirty years are unclear  but I do know they had many children, one of them being my Great Grandmother Jeanie Gray.

Maggies life ends in 1934 when she suffered from Oesophagus cancer and passed away.  By This time her Husband had already died, the details of his death are unknown at this time.

My thoughts

After researching Maggies life I feel as if I know her.  I have a vision of this tough young Out door Brick washer, in the streets, most likely smoking, knowing everyone and being outgoing and sociable.  No doubt this is how she met her husband, James Gray. 

Whether this vision of her is accurate or not I'm uncertain, but looking at the women in my family it would definitely be in character.

On a personal note I was able to answer a question that had long been in our family, What did Maggie die from? And how old was she?  There was speculation from my Great Grandmother Jeanie that Maggie died when Jeanie was 14, which she was left to raise her younger siblings.  More to the truth Jeanie (My G-Grandmother) was in her twenties.

My Grandmother was pleased to hear about her Grannie Maggie as she never had a chance to know her and always wondered.  This has provided an opportunity to know who we are and where we came from.  I can see that the women in our family are hard working and not afraid to take on the roles they need to.

While researching Maggies life I was able to follow her mothers, Annie "Golden" Weir's, life.  Which lead me to find out some very interesting facts about our family, but that's another story completely!