Guthrie Family Group 6 – Branch B
ELISABETH GUTHRIE (1781 ENG – Unknown)
of Northumberland, England

ELISABETH GUTHRIE

Parents: Adam Guthrie (abt. 1740 ENG – aft. 1785 ENG) and Elizabeth Nesbit (abt. 1740 ENG – aft. 1785 ENG)
Birth: 15 October 1781
Birth Location: Spittal, Northumberland, England
Baptism: 28 October 1781, Spittal, Northumberland, England
Marriage: Unknown (no record located)
Spouse: Unknown
Guthrie Children: 0 (none identified)
Residences: Likely Spittal / Berwick-upon-Tweed / Tweedmouth area, Northumberland, England (family cluster) Death: Unknown
Burial: Unknown
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie line
Autosomal DNA Project Participants: N/A – No confirmed descendants tested / linked

NOTES / HISTORY: Elisabeth (sometimes spelled Elizabeth) was born into a mobile border family in the late 18th century. Her parents, Adam Guthrie and Elizabeth Nesbit, married 23 November 1761 in Berwick-upon-Tweed and raised their known children across several Northumberland parishes (Harbottle, Berwick, Tweedmouth, Spittal). Spittal, a small riverside community near the Scottish border, was tied to fishing, trade, and early industrial activity along the Tweed. The family showed Presbyterian / dissenting church affiliations in some baptisms, common in the Borders region with its mix of Anglican and non-conformist records.

Elisabeth appears as one of the later daughters (following siblings including Adam, Frances, James, and Robert). No marriage, census (pre-1841), death, or burial record has been definitively linked to her in available indexed sources. This is not unusual for women of her era and class: records before civil registration (1837) often omitted females unless they married or owned property, and common-name spelling variations (Guthrie/Guthry/Guthrey, Nesbit/Nesbitt) plus mobility between Northumberland and Durham parishes complicate tracing. She may have married locally (possible candidates in Berwick/Tweedmouth registers circa 1800–1820 warrant further manual review), remained unmarried and lived with family, or died young/unrecorded. No emigration evidence appears for her branch.

Primary Sources

• Spittal / Berwick-upon-Tweed Area Parish Registers (Baptisms, 1781): Elisabeth Guthrie, daughter of Adam Guthrie and Elizabeth [Nesbit], baptized 28 October 1781 (born 15 October 1781), Spittal, Northumberland. Original register entry confirms parentage and exact dates. Available via microfilm/transcriptions on major genealogy platforms; cited in family compilations. (Note: Spittal baptisms often appear under Tweedmouth or dissenting chapels; cross-reference FHL film numbers or Northumberland Parish Registers collection for full context.)
• Parental Marriage Record: Adam Guthrie and Elizabeth Nesbit, married 23 November 1761, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. Establishes legitimacy and timeline for all siblings. (England, Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538-1950 collection.)
• Sibling Records (contextual primary evidence): Baptisms/burials of brothers/sisters (e.g., Adam 1762 Harbottle, Frances 1764 Tweedmouth, James 1773 Spittal, Robert 1779 Spittal) in the same parish clusters confirm family location and naming patterns. No contradictory records for Elisabeth.