B-3: William Guthrie

Guthrie Family Group 3A – Branch B
William Guthrie 1791SCT – 1856SCT and Susan Good
of Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotland

WILLIAM GUTHRIE
Parents: William Guthrie c1771SCT-1844SCT and Ann Hunter c1763SCT – 1801SCT
Birth: 1791 in Harperland, Ayrshire, Scotland
Baptism: 31 October 1791 in Harperland, Dundonald Parish, Ayrshire, Scotland
Occupation: Tenant Farmer
Marital Status: Single / Bachelor
Non-Marital Relationship: Susan Good about 1813/14.
Death: 26 March 1856
Death Location: Drummieholm, Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotland
Burial: Unknown

SUSAN GOOD
Parents: Unidentified
Birth: Unknown – presumably 1777-1797
Baptism: Unknown
Non-Marital Relationship with Allan Galt about 1812 > child Susan Good
Non-Marital Relationship with William Guthrie about 1813/14 > child James Guthrie
Death: After 1814
Death Location: Unknown

NOTES:

Much of William Guthrie’s life seems to remain undiscovered. According to his Dundonald Parish baptismal record: William son to William Guthrie and Ann Hunter in Harperland was baptized there the thirty first day of October, Seventeen hundred and ninety one year.

Our next encounter with William Guthrie Junior at Harperland is not until 1814 when he is identified as the natural father of James Guthrie, the son of Susan Good, born on 13 Jan 1813. Susan had a daughter also named Susan Good born out of wedlock on 27 Apr 1812, who was baptized the same day as James on 21 March 1814. Although the baptismal record for James identifies William Guthrie Junior as the father, the record for Susan does not identify the father, which led to some speculation that he might also be the natural father for the for the girl. However, Susan (Good) Arthur’s death record names her father as Allen Galt, a master joiner, and the atDNA test of a descendant does not reveal Guthrie ancestry.

Susan Good was living at Fairlie Mains in March of 1814 when her children were baptized. Fairlie Mains is a village in North Ayrshire. Harperland is very close by. There are very few records in the OPR for women named Susan Good. One potential record is a marriage record in Irvine, Ayrshire dated7 Nov 1823 between Susanna Good and John Smith, both of Irvine Parish. No OPR birth/baptismal records for children for that couple. There is a Susannah Smith documented on the 1847 Dundonald Mortality Register. “Susannah Smith died at Troon on the 16th and was buried at Dundonald on the 19th of Oct 1847.”

Susan Good’s daughter, Susan Good/Galt, married twice. Her first marriage was to Archibald Dyet on 31 July 1836 in Irvine, Ayrshire. They had two daughters: Mary and Ann. Archibald died in 1843. Susan remarried to Charles Arthur in Irvine Parish, Ayrshire, on 12 May 1844. They had seven children: James, Daniel, Janet, John, Susan, Isabella, and Margaret. The wording of Susan Arthur’s death record indicates that Allen Galt was her father, and that Susan Good was her mother’s maiden name indicating they were a married couple. No marriage record has been found. Neither Allen nor Susan have been found in the 1841 census of Scotland suggesting their deaths were prior to that year.

The location of William Guthrie Jr and Susan Good’s son James Guthrie between the time of his baptism and his 1843 marriage is unknown. It is presumed that he was living in Dundonald, Ayrshire, but we also do not know where his father, William Guthrie Jr, was in 1841. It is possible that they were living together.

The 1851 census of Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotland at 19 Struthers lists William Guthrie, head, unmarried, 60 Annuitant, born Dundonald; James Guthrie, brother, unmarried 53, annuitant, born Dundonald; Jane Mowat, unm, 60; Mary Robertson, unm 18 both House Servants.

William Guthrie Jr’s death record, dated 26 March 1856, lists him as a farmer, single, his death occurring at 3PM at Drummieholm, at age 64. His parents are listed as William Guthrie, farmer, and Ann Hunter, both deceased. His COD: spinal disease causing paraplegia. The informant was James Guthrie, his brother.

GUTHRIE CHILDREN: 1
Y-DNA Project Participants: YES
Autosomal DNA Participants: YES

CHILD 1: JAMES GUTHRIE (Farmer)
1814 – 1889 SCT
Spouse: Isabella McIntyre

James Guthrie was the natural (illegitimate) son of William Guthrie Jr by Susan Good. He was born on 30 January 1814 in Ayrshire, Scotland, and baptized in Dundonald Parish on 21 March 1814 along with his half sister, Susan Good.

James was a farmer. He married Isabella McIntyre on 8 December 1843. The baptismal records of their eldest children suggest they initially resided in Dundonald, then Kilmarnock, then Riccarton in Ayrshire prior to settling in Whithorn, Wigtownshire. They had a large family. James died on 21 April 1889 at 75 years of age (documented on his death record as 73). Isabella made it into the next century. Her death occurred in 1902.

1.) William Guthrie 1844 SCT – 1878 ENG m. Annie Pettener Arnall +children
2.) John Guthrie (farmer/landed proprietor) c1847 SCT – 1930 SCT m. Margaret Cunningham Kellie – no children
3.) James Miller Guthrie (farmer) 1849 SCT – 1904 SCT m. Maggie Nicol Broadfoot – no children
4.) Alexander Guthrie c1851 SCT – aft. 1861 SCT – no further data – not listed in the 1871 census with family
5.) Archibald Guthrie (Laborer/Gardener) 1855 SCT – 1924 CAN m. Jane Elizabeth Harrison +children
6.) Robert Guthrie 1857 SCT – 1920 NZ m. Catherine Rebecca Rolleston / McCassey +children
7.) Janet Guthrie (publican) 1859 SCT – 1932 SCT m. William Muir +children
8.) Thomas Guthrie (chemist / druggist) 1861 SCT – 1949 SCT m. Helen Park Dunn +children

READING and RESOURCES

MAP of ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS of AYRSHIRE: NORTH, EAST, and SOUTH

BAPTISMAL RECORD of WILLIAM GUTHRIE: 31 Oct 1791
OPR Births 590/00 0010 0197 Dundonald (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
Dundonald Baptismal Register Anno 1791
William son to William Guthrie and Ann Hunter in Harperland was baptized there the thirty first day of October, Seventeen hundred and ninety one year.

BAPTISMAL RECORDS of SUSAN GOOD and JAMES GUTHRIE: 21 Mar 1814
OPR Births 590 / Dundonald, p.270 of 306. (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
Dundonald Birth and Baptismal Register 1814
GOOD: Susan daughter to Susan Good at Fairlie mains begotten in fornication with (no man named) was born the twenty seventh April eighteen hundred and twelve and baptized the twenty first March eighteen hundred and fourteen, her father being sponsor.
GOOD/GUTHRIE: James, son to Susan Good at Fairlie mains begotten in fornication with William Guthrie junior at Harperland was born the thirtieth of January last and baptized the twenty first March eighteen hundred and fourteen, her father being sponsor.

MARRIAGE RECORD of JAMES GUTHRIE and ISABELLA MCINTYRE: 8 December 1843
OPR Marriages 590/ Dundonald p.131 of 461 (Digital Repository: Scotland’s People)
Dundonald Matrimonial Register 1843
James Guthrie and Isabella McIntyre both in this parish gave in their names for proclamation on the eighteenth, were regularly proclaimed on teh nineteenth, and two following sabbaths, and were married by the Revd. Alexander Willison, Dundonald, on the eight December Eighteen hundred and forty three.

MARRIAGE RECORD of SUSAN (GOOD) GALT and CHARLES ARTHUR: 12 May 1844
OPR Marriages 595/ Irvine p.305 of 347. (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
Given in for Proclamation 12 May 1844: Charles Arthur & Susan Galt, Parishioners.

DEATH RECORD of WILLIAM GUTHRIE: 26 Mar 1856 – Parish of Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotland
Statutory Registers Deaths 590/ 11 (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
William Guthrie, farmer, single; died 26 Mar 1856 at 3PM at Drummieholm, male, aged 64 years, Parents: William Guthrie, farmer, and Ann Guthrie, m.s. Hunter, both deceased; COD: Disease of the spine causing paralysis; buried at Churchyard at Dundonald; Informant: James Guthrie, brother, present. Recorded 31 March 1856.

DEATH RECORD of SUSAN (GOOD) ARTHUR: 2 July 1881 – Parish of Dreghorn, Ayrshire, Scotland
Statutory Registers Deaths 589/ 30 (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
Susan Arthur (widow of Charles Arthur, coal miner), died 2 July 1811 at 11:10 AM at Dreghorn Village, female, aged 69 years; Parents: Allan Galt, master joiner, and Susan Galt m.s. Good (deceased), COD: Pleurisy, 7days, Informant: John Boyd, son-in-law, Recorded 2 July 1881 at Dreghorn.
Note: There is no OPR or Statutory Galt-Good marriage found.

DEATH RECORD of JAMES GUTHRIE: 21 April 1889 – Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Scotland
Statutory Registers Deaths 900/ 15 (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
JAMES GUTHRIE farmer, married to Isabella McIntyre, died 21 Apr 1889, 73yrs, Parents: William Guthrie, farmer, and Susan Good, both decd, COD: Natural causes, probably paralysis, Informant: John Guthrie, son, Airies Mill, Sorbic.
Register of Corrected Entries:
The following Report of result of a Precognition has been received, toughing the death of James Guthrie, registered under Np.15 in the Register Book of Deaths for 1889:
James Guthrie, 73 years, male
Died about 9Am on sunday, 21st April 1889 within his dwelling house at Corwar Outon in teh Parish of Whithorn and County of Wigtown.
COD: Natural causes probably paralysis. The fatal attack lasted only a few minutes. Joh Charles Douglas, MD , Whithorn, examined the body shortly after death.
ALSO: Legal Records – Wigtown Sheriff Court SC 19/41/18 (Digital Repository: Scotlands People)
Guthrie James 26/7/1889 Farmer, Corwar Outon, Parish of Whithorn, d. 21/04/1889 at Corwar Outon aforesaid, intestate
ALSO: Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories – 1889 (Digital Repository: Ancestry.com)
Death Date 21 Apr 1889
Death Place Corwar Outon
Confirmation Date 26 Jul 1889
Confirmation Place Wigtown, Scotland
GUTHRIE, James. Value of Estate: L2,722. 17s. 4d.
26 July. – Confirmation of James Guthrie, Farmer, Corwar Outon, Parish of Whithorn, who died 21 April 1889, at Corwar Outon aforesaid, intestate, granted at Wigtown, to John Guthrie, Famrer, Airies Mill, Parish of Kirkinner, and James Guthrie, Corwar Outon aforesaid, his sons, Executors dative qua next of kin.

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