3B-10: Jacobina Guthrie
Guthrie Family Group 3 · Branch B
Jacobina Guthrie & William Rankin
Harperland · Kilmarnock · Troon · Akaroa and Christchurch, New Zealand
Jacobina, daughter of William Guthrie and Jacobina McClure, married the chemist William Rankin. They raised eleven children in Ayrshire. Following William’s death in 1880, Jacobina traveled to New Zealand, where her son William had settled and where she spent her final years.
The Family at a Glance
Jacobina Guthrie · 1810–1890
- Parents
- William Guthrie and Jacobina McClure.
- Birth / baptism
- 9 / 18 June 1810, Harperland, Dundonald.
- Marriage
- 11 August 1834, Kilmarnock.
- Death
- 3 May 1890 at Jolie Street, Akaroa, New Zealand.
- Burial
- Addington Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.
William Rankin · 1802–1880
- Parents
- William Rankin, clockmaker / chemist, and Agnes Dove.
- Birth / baptism
- 17 / 26 November 1802, Sorn.
- Work
- Druggist, apothecary and chemist.
- Residence
- Kilmarnock; later Langlands Villa, South Beach, Troon.
- Death
- 7 May 1880 at Troon.
| Child | Birth | Marriage & Later Life |
|---|---|---|
| William G. Rankin | 8 June 1835 | Emigrated on the Minerva, 1852–1853; married in New Zealand in 1881. Died 1 April 1904; Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North. |
| Jacobina McClure Rankin | 10 October 1836 | Recorded in 1841; not identified in 1851. An early death is inferred, not independently dated. |
| Agnes Rankin | 26 January 1838, according to the index and source summary | Present in 1841 and 1851. Conflicting June and 1836 readings require the original entry. |
| Margaret Rankin | 25 September 1839 | Died 8 September 1855, Langlands House, Kilmarnock; buried in the High Church burying ground. |
| Janet / Jessie Rankin | 14 March 1841 | Recorded in 1841 and 1851; later life untraced. |
| Ann Guthrie Rankin | 3 January 1843 | Died 26 September 1862, Grange Terrace, Kilmarnock; unmarried. |
| James Donald Rankin | 11 July 1844 | Not identified in the 1851 household; later life untraced. |
| Georgina Rankin | 17 June 1846 | Died 25 September 1861 in the statutory transcription; an older summary gives 26 September. |
| Ellen / Helen Rankin | 13 August 1848 | Recorded in 1851 and 1871; possible school record in Bute in 1861 remains to be matched. |
| Robert Rankin | 15 March 1850 | Traveled to New Zealand with his mother; died 5 November 1881 at Christchurch; Addington Cemetery. |
| James Rankin | 26 December 1851 | Writer’s clerk; died 23 March 1870, Kilmarnock. Death age 17 conflicts with the birth date. |
William G. Rankin · New Zealand and the marriage names
The family account places William aboard the Minerva, which left Plymouth on 12 October 1852, with arrival in New Zealand in 1853. He traveled to work for John Deans, who was also aboard. His subsequent life requires care in distinguishing Palmerston in the South Island from Palmerston North.
The New Zealand marriage index gives a marriage to Margaret Grant in 1881, folio 2647. The legacy narrative calls her Margaret Gibbs Grant and describes a widow with one son who later used Rankin. The names may reflect more than one surname in her life, but the original marriage and her earlier records are needed to establish that sequence. The stepchild is not counted as a biological Guthrie descendant solely because he adopted the surname. No biological children of William and Margaret are documented here.
William died on 1 April 1904 and is associated with Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North. The claim of an earlier dairy farm at Palmerston in the South Island is retained as a locality question, not silently merged with Palmerston North.
Robert Rankin and Jacobina’s journey
The compiled family material places Jacobina and son Robert on the Garonne journey to Australia in 1881 before New Zealand. Robert died at Christchurch on 5 November 1881. His estate account names William Rankin, engineer, South Town Belt, Christchurch, as executor dative qua next of kin and gives an estate of £6,016 1s. 4d.
Jacobina later lived at Jolie Street, Akaroa. The Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser of 6 May 1890 records her death on 3 May as the widow of William Rankin of Troon. Her burial at Addington links her with Robert’s memorial. Akaroa and Christchurch are in Canterbury; the Auckland locations in some index summaries are not adopted.
Guthrie DNA Project Participation
| Family line | Y-DNA | Big Y | Autosomal |
|---|---|---|---|
| William G. Rankin’s family | N/A | N/A | — |
| Other Rankin children | N/A | N/A | — |
✓ = participation documented for this line and test; — = none documented in the reviewed project material; N/A = no applicable direct paternal line or no known descendants. A dash does not mean that no descendant has ever tested.
Historical Highlights
The Rankin household experienced several early deaths, including tuberculosis recorded for daughters and a son. Its surviving records also show continued links with Jacobina’s Guthrie siblings: Robert Rankin reported the death of his uncle Robert Pettigrew in 1877.
Migration did not end those Scottish connections. Jacobina’s New Zealand will was confirmed in Edinburgh, and the Scottish probate trail helps connect her final home with the Ayrshire family.
Family Timeline
-
1810
Jacobina born 9 June and baptized 18 June.
-
1834
Marriage at Kilmarnock, 11 August.
-
1835–1851
Eleven children born.
-
1852–1853
Son William emigrated on the Minerva.
-
1880
William Rankin senior died at Troon, 7 May.
-
1881
Jacobina and Robert traveled overseas; Robert died at Christchurch, 5 November.
-
1890–1891
Jacobina died at Akaroa, 3 May 1890; Scottish confirmation followed on 26 June 1891.
Explore the Research
DNA & the Family Line
This is a female Guthrie descent line, so a Rankin Y-DNA test would not test the Guthrie paternal chromosome. No biological descendant test path is documented in the reviewed material. Untraced children are not assumed to have died without descendants.
Participation summary based on the reviewed branch material, 6 November 2026. Current kit levels and SNP placements require the project’s current results; no new test is inferred from a haplogroup label.
Birth and death discrepancies
Jacobina’s baptism was 18 June 1810, not the 1890 death date accidentally copied into the old heading. The Kilmarnock children’s records are distinct from later census estimates.
Agnes’s indexed birth is 26 January 1838; the legacy narrative elsewhere gives June, and one transcription repeats 1836. The original entry on p. 5/388 is the needed comparison. Georgina’s statutory transcription gives 25 September 1861, whereas the older summary says 26 September. James’s December 1851 birth implies age eighteen in March 1870, despite a reported death age of seventeen.
Jacobina McClure, James Donald and other children missing from a later household require individual tracing. Census absence alone does not establish a death date.
Jacobina’s will and Scottish confirmation
The confirmation calendar gives death on 3 May 1890, confirmation at Edinburgh on 26 June 1891, and an estate of £1,304 13s. 1d. Charles Masterman Henning, solicitor at Akaroa, was the executor named in a will dated 30 November 1888, recorded in Edinburgh on 25 June 1891.
The identified Edinburgh records are SC70/4/253 for the will and SC70/1/296 for the inventory. A reported £500 legacy to a servant and the balance to son William should be checked in the full will before relying on the exact bequests.
Reading & Sources
The records below distinguish original entries, attributed transcriptions and later accounts. Linked repositories may require an account or subscription. A link is a locator, not a claim that every underlying image has been independently examined.
- Dundonald OPR 590, p. 252/306: Jacobina born 9 and baptized 18 June 1810. Sorn OPR, p. 287/481: William born 17 and baptized 26 November 1802.
- Kilmarnock marriage register 597, p. 129/516: William Rankin and Jacobina Guthrie, 11 August 1834, after proclamation.
- Kilmarnock births 597: William p. 408/492; Jacobina p. 422/492; Agnes p. 5/388; Margaret p. 23; Janet p. 35; Ann p. 50; James Donald p. 55; Georgina p. 63; Ellen p. 72; Robert p. 80; James p. 88.
- Troon statutory death 590/2/16: William Rankin, 7 May 1880. Kilmarnock deaths for Margaret (1855), Georgina (1861), Ann (1862), and James, 597/170 (1870).
- New Zealand marriage index, 1881, folio 2647: William Rankin and Margaret Grant; original needed to reconcile the names and marital history.
- Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 6 May 1890 p. 2; New Zealand death index, 1890, folio 831; Addington Cemetery records and memorial.
- Scotland confirmation calendars: Robert Rankin, died 5 November 1881, confirmation 30 June in the linked calendar; Jacobina, confirmation 26 June 1891.
- North British Daily Mail, 8 May 1880 p. 1; Greenock Advertiser, 4 August 1880 p. 2, William Rankin estate inventory, £14,454 10s. 7d.
- Jacobina Rankin will and inventory: SC70/4/253 and SC70/1/296; will dated 30 November 1888.
Research links
Most Wanted Documents
| Record to verify | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| William’s New Zealand marriage | Obtain the 1881 marriage record and Margaret’s earlier records to establish Grant / Gibbs and the stepchild’s identity. |
| Agnes and Georgina’s original entries | Check the January/June and 1838/1836 birth readings for Agnes, and 25/26 September 1861 for Georgina. |
| Untraced children | Follow Jacobina McClure, Agnes, Janet, James Donald and Ellen/Helen beyond their last identified records. |
| Will and travel documentation | Read Jacobina’s full will and inventory and retain the complete Garonne passenger evidence, including ports and dates. |
The Branch B hub explains the project’s provisionally accepted earlier generations and the wider DNA comparison.
Continue the Family’s Story
Jacobina’s story reaches from Harperland to Canterbury. The Scottish and New Zealand records belong together, while uncertain surnames, places and the later lives of several children remain explicit research questions.
Researched & Curated by Ann Guthrie