James Fairbairn (m. Margaret TAIT)1

(bet. 1761 - 1766 - bet. 1842 - 1851)
Father-AssmdJohn Fairbairn (m. Elsepth ANDERSON) (say 1735 - ); from naming pattern, and Girnick/Gunnock connection, aided by 1841 census showing James as not born Roxburghshire. No baptism found, only that of his brothers John and George2
Mother-AssmdElspeth Anderson2 (say 1730 - )

BDMs

     James Fairbairn was born bet. 1761 - 1766 BEW?, SCT, not born ROX according to the 1841 census.1
     James Fairbairn married Margaret Tait, daughter of Alexander Tait and Mary Fairbairn, on 12 Mar 1801 Smailholm, ROX, SCT, entry simply reads: James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT (several entries earlier was 1795 Robert FAIRBAIRN & Agnes NIVISON, and at the top of the page John WATSON to Mary FAIRBAIRN (1791.)1,3,4,5
     James Fairbairn died bet. 1842 - 1851 ?Smailholm, ROX, SCT.3,6,1 He was buried with Margaret Tait Earlston, BEW, SCT, #581 transcribed as: "Sacred to the memory of James Fairbairn late tenant Gri___ who died 1789(?) and Margaret TAIT his wife who died 6.1870 aged 89 years also Rachel(?) Fairbairn his daughter who died 18.3.1852 aged 7 years also ____ Fairbairn his daughter who died 20.2.1840 aged 17 years (this matches a dth/burial in Smailholm for Agnes d/o James tenant of Girnick) also Euphemia Faribairn his daughter who died 9.8.18? aged ? years also ____ William Fairbairn their son who died 23.1.1895(?) aged 83 years - remainder of inscription under soil"
(this stone is next to an illegible table stone FAIRBAIRN - oh for a bit of magic to make that visible! - which is next to #579, that of John Fairbairn tenant in Grizzelfield d. Fens St Boswells 1879 (marr. to Janet Scott), and #578 that of John Fairbairn/Agnes Gibson.)
The dates in this transcription are suspect: in the 1841 census James is considerably older than his wife Margaret, but can hardly have died in 1789, Euphemia is assumed to be Elspeth bap. 1808, still living 1881, William died as stated in 1895. Margaret likewise in 1870. Their dtr Rachel however is more likely to have died 1832 if age at death is accurate.7
With the Earlston headstones all in a row, it does seem highly likely that there is a connection between the two father/son John/James pairs.
I'm comfortable that naming patterns and place evidence indicates that the Mellerstain Mill/Morriston pair belong to John and Agnes (GIBSON), and that this Girnick Smailholm James belongs to John and Elspeh (ANDERSON), and as they are each contemporaries, any relationship has to be at least two generations further back.
Two contemporary James with fathers John, can, at closest, be 2nd cousins, sharing a great grandfather, assumed to be the father of John (marr. Magdalen BO).

An advertisement re farms to let in 1784 8 places a John Fairbairn as tenant at Moriston, Legertwood in 1784, where his assumed eldest son John is later living.
Although "of Legerwood" when that James married Isobel TAIT, it is also possible, given the miller connections amongst his descendants, that James is the 1765 baptism to John, miller at Mellerstain Mill in 1765. And given the naming pattern of James' children indicates his parents may be a John and Agnes, they may also be the John and Agnes (GIBSON) buried at Earlston - which is how they are shown on these pages.

DNA results from a descendant of this James, married to Margaret TAIT, show the closest Lineage 1 relationship is indeed with the descendant of James married to Isobel TAIT, among other equally close relationships whose pedigrees have no known links to this tree, circumstantial or otherwise.

A jigsaw puzzle still to be solved.9,10,11

Disambiguation: There are at least two separate James & Margaret (TAIT) FAIRBAIRN families; One a James, farmer of Smailholm, the other a candlemaker/tobacconist in Haddington. Some trees have combined these families.
The Haddington tree has children including a Rachel (b. May 1827) who rather clashes with the Smailholm George (b. Jan 1828.)12,13,14

Census

     James Fairbairn appeared on the census of 7 Jun 1841 Easter Girnick, Smailholm, ROX, SCT, with Margaret Fairbairn, enumerated as FAIRBAIRN: James, farmer 75, Margaret (assumed to be wife given the Earlston h/stone), 55, both b SCT, not in county. John 35; Elspeth 30; William 30; Isabella 20; George 13; James 13 ag lab, all b ROX.1

DNA Info

     James belongs to a tested line in the FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA Project. Follow this link for supplementary DNA information.

Family

Margaret Tait (circa 1782 - Jun 1870)
Children
  • John Fairbairn1,15,16 (circa Dec 1802 - May 1859)
  • Mary Fairbairn17 (circa Sep 1804 - )
  • Alexander Fairbairn18 (circa Aug 1806 - Mar 1857)
  • Elspeth Fairbairn19 (circa Sep 1808 - aft. 1881)
  • William Fairbairn1,20 (circa Jul 1810 - Jan 1895)
  • Margaret Fairbairn21,6 (Aug 1812 - )
  • James Fairbairn22 (Jul 1815 - )
  • Helen Fairbairn3 (Aug 1817 - May 1903)
  • Isabella Fairbairn23 (Sep 1819 - Nov 1898)
  • Agnes Fairbairn24 (circa 1823 - Feb 1840)
  • Rachel Fairbairn7 (circa 1825 - Mar 1832)
  • James Fairbairn1 (circa 1826 - )
  • George Fairbairn1 (Jan 1828 - bet. 1895 - 1901)
ChartsLineage 1a3: John & Elspeth (ANDERSON) FAIRBAIRN
Last Edited19 Mar 2014

Citations

  1. [S1406] 1841 Census, Borders, SCT, LDS Film, Smailholm, ROX, Enum Dist 2 p3, hsehold of James & Margaret FAIRBAIRN, extracted pre 2000.
  2. [S1] Lorna Henderson, "FAIRBAIRN Conclusions", Sep to Dec 2010.
  3. [S56] Scottish BMDB entries (from 1855), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Marr. 1858 Aaron WHILLANS and Helen FAIRBAIRN, reg. Earlston, BEW Dies 736 Pg 4 #7, copy d/loaded Jan 2008.
  4. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Marr. 12 Mar 1801 James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, batch M118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Feb 2009.
  5. [S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Marr. 12 Mar 1801 James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Par. of Smailholm, 805/0010 0174, copy d/loaded Feb 2009.
  6. [S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Marr. 11 Jul 1842 Margaret d/o James FAIRBAIRN (farmer, Smailholm) & William NICOL (gardener, St Stephens, Edin), in the Par. Ch, St Stephens, Edin. 685/010 0670 0120, copy d/loaded Jan 2011.
  7. [S699] Borders FHS, MIs: BEW: Earlston - book, H/stone #581: James FAIRBAIRN/Margaret TAIT & family, extracted Sep 2010.
  8. [S5] Ancestry.com online at http://search.ancestry.com, 1784 Farms in Berwickshire to let: Morriston & Addiston, possessed by John FAIRBAIRN, from The Edinburgh Advertiser, 26th, 30th Nov 1784, extracted Sep 2010.
  9. [S699] Borders FHS, MIs: BEW: Earlston - book, Stones #578-581 FAIRBAIRN/GIBSON/SCOTT/TAIT, extracted Mar 2009.
  10. [S14] FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA Project online at http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/fairbairn/results.html, Stewart (F-38), Bob (F-34), (F-42), exact 67/67/ match, extracted from FT DNA GAP, Jun 2011.
  11. [S1] Lorna Henderson, "FAIRBAIRN Conclusions", Sep to Dec 2010, updated Jun 2012.
  12. [S1597] FamilySearch Labs Record Search (LDS) online at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/, Birth 29 May Bap. 20 Jun 1827 Rachel d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, ELN batch C11709-9, Film 1067849, ref. 2.15R7342, from Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, extracted Jan 2011.
  13. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Birth 31 Jan 1828 George s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118054, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  14. [S1] Lorna Henderson, "FAIRBAIRN Conclusions", Jan 2011.
  15. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Bap. 5 Jan 1803 John s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  16. [S56] Scottish BMDB entries (from 1855), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Dth 23 May 1859 John s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, reg. Earlston, BEW Dist 736/00 Pg 2 #6, copy d/loaded Aug 2009.
  17. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Bap. 1 Oct 1804 Mary d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  18. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Bap. 26 Aug 1806 Alexander s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  19. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Bap. 1808 Elspeth to James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  20. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Bap. 2 Aug 1810 William s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  21. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Birth 15 Aug1812 Margaret d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  22. [S1596] Online search: assorted surnames, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Birth 1 Jul 1815 James s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Margaret TAIT, Batch C118052, Smailholm, ROX, extracted Jan 2008.
  23. [S56] Scottish BMDB entries (from 1855), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Dth 16 Nov 1898 Isabella YELLOWLEES nee FAIRBAIRN, reg. Selkirk, SEL Dist 778 Pg 28 #84, copy d/loaded Feb 2009.
  24. [S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Dth 20th Bur. 23rd Feb 1840 Agnes d/o James FAIRBAIRN, of Girnick, Smailholm, ROX 805/00 0020 0124, copy d/loaded Jan 2011.
 
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