Guthrie Family Group 6 – Branch B
JAMES GUTHRIE (1773 ENG – UNKNOWN)
of Northumberland, England

JAMES GUTHRIE

Parents: Adam Guthrie (abt. 1740 Northumberland, England – aft. 1785 England) and Elizabeth Nesbit (m. 23 November 1761, Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland, England). See full parental profile and family context on the dedicated Branch B page.

Birth: 22 September 1773, Spittal, Northumberland, England.

Baptism: 29 September 1773 at the United Presbyterian Church (also referred to as a dissenting or non-conformist congregation), Spittal, Northumberland, England.

Occupation: Unknown (family context in the Northumberland/Durham border region during the early Industrial Revolution often involved keelmen, agricultural laborers, or coal-related trades along the Tyne, though no specific record ties James to these).

Marriage: Unknown / undocumented in available records.

Residences: Presumed Spittal and surrounding Northumberland areas (Berwick upon Tweed vicinity); the broader family showed mobility within Northumberland and into Durham County, influenced by economic opportunities in the coal and river trade economy.

Death: Unknown.

Burial: Unknown.

NOTES / HISTORY: James Guthrie represents one of the early documented children in Guthrie Family Group 6, Branch B, a lineage rooted in Northumberland, England, with possible Anglo-Scottish border influences. His birth and baptism occurred in Spittal, a small community near Berwick upon Tweed known for its Presbyterian dissenting congregations during a period of religious nonconformity in the 18th century. This affiliation with the United Presbyterian Church (rather than the established Church of England) is consistent with the family’s profile and may explain gaps in Anglican parish records.

No marriage, spouse, occupation, census (pre-1841 English censuses are limited), land, tax, or probate records have been located for this specific James in public or indexed sources. Given the era and region, several nuanced possibilities exist:

• Early death in childhood or young adulthood (common in the period, especially in border or industrializing areas).
• Sparse record survival due to nonconformist church practices or local disruptions (e.g., economic shifts, border tensions).
• Migration within England (e.g., to Tyneside industrial hubs like Blaydon or Ryton, where siblings and later descendants appear in keelmen/laborer roles).
• Name commonality, making differentiation from contemporaries challenging without additional identifiers.

GUTHRIE CHILDREN: None documented / Unknown (0 known).

Y-DNA Project Participants: NONE – Survival to Adulthood Unknown
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE – Survival to Adulthood Unknown

Primary Sources and Citations

• United Presbyterian Church, Spittal, Northumberland, England – Baptism Register (1773): Entry for James Guthrie, born 22 September 1773, baptized 29 September 1773 (son of Adam Guthrie and Elizabeth Nesbit). This is the core primary record establishing parentage and vital details. Access: Likely available via microfilm, local archives (e.g., Northumberland Archives), or digitized non-conformist registers on platforms such as Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org. Exact film/reference numbers may vary; cross-reference with user’s Ancestry tree attachments for images/transcriptions.
• Marriage Record of Parents (Adam Guthrie & Elizabeth Nesbit, 23 November 1761): Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland, England (establishes family unit). Source: Parish or civil registers; cited consistently in Branch B compilations.