Fairbairn Surname One Name Study

James Fairbairn^1,2,3

(circa Jan 1765 - bet. 1810 - 1841)

Father

John Fairbairn (m. Agnes GIBSON)^3,4,5 (circa Jan 1717 - Dec 1793)

Mother

Agnes Gibson⁴ (say 1720 - say 1805)

Intro

James is one of two contemporary James Fairbairns in the Legerwood OPRs.
The other was at "Carrolside milln" for the baptisms of his chidren from 1788 to Apr 1794, and given that this James married in Aug 1794, and a grandson was a miller, it wasn't beyond the bounds of possibility that they were one and the same person - until a baptism was found that explicilty named the mother, that for a William in 1802 to James and Agnes (BRACK) of Carrolside Mill.⁴

BDMs

James Fairbairn was born circa Jan 1765 Mill, Mellerstain, Par. of Earlston, BEW, SCT

.³ He was baptized on 9 Jan 1765 in the Par. of Earlston, BEW, SCT

; entry for 9th Jan reads: "Margt D to James Fairbairn Tenant in Mellerstain bapt.
James S. to John Fairbairn Millar in Mellerstain Mill bapt." (other entries on the same day specify EOD between them, which leads me to believe these are closely related FAIRBAIRNs, and no coincidence that these are on the same day.)³
James Fairbairn married Isabel Tait in Aug 1794 Legerwood, BEW, SCT

, not immediately obvious SctP (BEW) index, but entry found at bottom of page for Agness Fairbairn & Robert Laidlaw, follows one for 14th Feb, but has no day.^6,2,7,8,1
James Fairbairn was assumed to have died bet. 1810 - 1841 ?Dalkeith, MLN, SCT, as not immediately obvious in 1841 census
There's an 1816 indweller, Dalkeith dth recorded in the OPR.^2,1,9,4

Disambiguation: some trees have the James son of John and Agnes (GIBSON) as the one died Smailholm 1841 after that census, but he was married to a Margaret TAIT, and is more likely to be the son of the John FAIRBAIRN at Girnick, Smailholm in 1797, given the naming pattern of John and Margaret's children.
James and Margaret (TAIT) are buried at Earlston near John and Agnes (GIBSON), so there is highly likely to be a connection, particularly as Margaret's mother was a Mary FAIRBAIRN.

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 the 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 ⁵ places a John Fairbairn as tenant at Moriston, Legertwood in 1784, where his assumed eldest son John is later living.
Although "of Legerwood" when James married, 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.

Results from the FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project support the conclusions that there are indeed close relationships between these families but unfortunately do not tell us exactly how they connect.^10,11,12

DNA Info

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

Researcher(s)

James Fairbairn is the ancestor of researcher Stewart Fairbairn (F-38). (m. Isobel (TAIT), lived Westmoriston) Email: Stewart.¹³

Family

Isabel Tait (say 1770 - bet. 1810 - 1841)

Children

Violet Fairbairn⁸ (Nov 1794 - )
Agness Fairbairn¹⁴ (Jul 1796 - )
Margaret Fairbairn⁷ (Jul 1798 - )
Isobel Fairbairn¹⁵ (May 1800 - bet. 1802 - 1806)
Janet Fairbairn¹⁶ (circa Jun 1802 - )
John Fairbairn^2,17 (circa 1804 - Jul 1876)
Isabel Fairbairn¹⁸ (circa Jul 1806 - )
James Fairbairn¹ (circa Jul 1808 - Aug 1861)
Ralph Fairbairn⁹ (Dec 1810 - )

Charts

Lineage 1a2: John & Magdalen (BO) FAIRBAIRN

Last Edited

9 Jun 2012

Citations

[S333] GRO, SCT, BDM searches at GRO SCT: Death 27 Aug 1861 James s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isabel TAIT, Mid Mill, Gordon, BEW. trans. Robert McC, rcvd Dec 2001.
[S56] Scottish BMDB entries (from 1855), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Dth 1876 John FAIRBAIRN, reg. Sth Leith, Cty of Edin, MLN Dist 692/2 Pg 178 #532, copy d/loaded Jul 2007.
[S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Bap. 9 Jan 1765 Margaret d/o James FAIRBAIRN, tenant, Mellerstain ; and James s/o John FAIRBAIRN, Miller, Mellerstain Mill, same day, recorded Earlston BEW 736/00 0010 0137, copy d/loaded Oct 2010.
[S2] Lorna Henderson, "FAIRBAIRN Analysis", Sep - Dec 2010.
[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.
[S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Marr. Aug 1794 James FAIRBAIRN & Isobel TAIT, Legerwood, BEW 749/00 0010 0143, copy d/loaded (for Agness FAIRBAIRN/Robert LAIDLAW) Sep 2010.
[S3110] Scotlands People Index, "OPR Berwick, Scotland, FAIRBAIRN Births 1538-1854", Birth ?Bap.? 5 Jul 1798 Margaret d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isabel TAIT, Legerwood, BEW, 749/ 0010 0153, extracted from index Sep 2010.
[S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Birth 24 Nov Bap.16 Dec 1794 Violet d/o James FAIRBAIRN (tenant at West Moriston, Legerwood, BEW), 749/ 0010 0146, copy d/loaded Sep 2010.
[S3155] GRO Scotland, "OPR Midlothian Scotlands People (FAIRBAIRN & variants) Births 1538-1854", Bap? 24 Dec 1810 Ralph s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isabella TAIT, Dalkeith, MLN, 683/00 0050 02895, extracted from index Sep 2010.
[S699] Borders FHS, MIs: BEW: Earlston - book, Stones #578-581 FAIRBAIRN/GIBSON/SCOTT/TAIT, extracted Mar 2009.
[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.
[S2] Lorna Henderson, "FAIRBAIRN Analysis", Sep - Dec 2010, updated Jun 2012.
[S2950] Stewart F, "EM FAIRBAIRN/TAIT/MARTIN e Stewart F," e-mail to Lorna Henderson, Birth 1905 Cyril s/o John Collins FAIRBAIRN & Hannah Stewart GRAHAM, rcvd Sep 2010.
[S55] Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php, Birth 21 Jul Bap.4 Aug 1796 Agness d/o James FAIRBAIRN (tenant at West Moriston, Legerwood, BEW), 749/ 0010 0148, copy d/loaded Sep 2010.
[S3110] Scotlands People Index, "OPR Berwick, Scotland, FAIRBAIRN Births 1538-1854", Birth ?Bap.? 18 Jun 1800 Isobel d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isobel TAIT, Legerwood, BEW, 749/ 0010 0156, extracted from index Sep 2010.
[S3110] Scotlands People Index, "OPR Berwick, Scotland, FAIRBAIRN Births 1538-1854", Birth/bap.? 2 Jun 1802 Janet d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isable TAIT, Legerwood, BEW 749/ 0010 0158, extracted from index Sep 2010.
[S3110] Scotlands People Index, "OPR Berwick, Scotland, FAIRBAIRN Births 1538-1854", Birth ?Bap.? 17 Jul 1804 John s/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isabel TAIT, Legerwood, BEW, 749/ 0010 0164, extracted from index Sep 2010.
[S3110] Scotlands People Index, "OPR Berwick, Scotland, FAIRBAIRN Births 1538-1854", Birth ?Bap.? 2 Jul 1806 Isabel d/o James FAIRBAIRN & Isobel TAIT, Legerwood, BEW, 749/ 0010 0168, extracted from index Sep 2010.

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