How are they related?
Posted 5990 days ago by Mary Muir
I have a mystery on my hands. It’s related to the gravestone I previously mentioned which I found in Old Dailly’s churchyard. The back side of the gravestone describes my 5x great grandparent, Agnes Gardiner who was the wife of John Murray. The mystery is the front side. It seems to consist of two more John Murray. Are they related? How are they related to my John Murray? In total the three Murray’s are:
- John Murray (about 1708 – 26 Feb 1785) and Margaret Blain (about 1692 – 1782)
- John Murray Jr. (? – Oct 1817) and Margaret McDoual (about 1729 – 13 Jan 1802) Also mentioned are 3 of their children Will’m, Thomas and William.
- John Murray (? – ?) and Agnes Gardiner (about 1769 – 29 Dec 1836) Also mentioned is one son, Robert Murray
If I had to guess, I would say this is three generations. The first two is suggested on the tombstone as they mention Junior. It is also consistent based on their approximate ages (or the ages of their wife). Now if there was only a way to go back in time…
Joys in Updating
Posted 5990 days ago by Mary Muir
I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to my site but I found a bit of time when I heard of some of the updates in textpattern, in particular, it is now easier to modify the admin themes. Updating textpattern is easy enough, just copy the new version over the old and you are done. The hard part was to figure out how to actually change the themes. It turns out the setting is hidden within the Advanced Preferences section. Once that was found, I must say I am impressed. I went with the “A bit of blue 2” theme which seems much cleaner and much less yellow theme. Now on to genealogy…
Old Dailly Churchyard
Posted 6093 days ago by Mary Muir
In 2006, I had a chance to have a whirlwind trip to Scotland between terms in school. I was able to visit with several cousins. This included Muir and Sturgeon cousins in Ayrshire, and a Rayment cousin in London. While staying with my Sturgeon cousin, we visited the Ayr, Girvan, and Dailly area of Scotland. While in Dailly, we did a couple things. We tried to find the house that my 2x great grandparents lived in Dailly. While we found the street, we couldn’t determine an exact house. We looked in the “New” Dailly churchyard where I found a gravestone of a cousin’s ancestor (but not mine). We also drove out towards Old Dailly and decided to stop at the churchyard on a wim. We looked at every gravestone on the property and I was shocked to find one for John Murray and his wife. The picture above marks the location of the grave with the red arrow. Below is a thumbnail which can be enlarged to show the back side of the gravestone.
I had previously looked at a MI (monumental inscription) book which included only the information on the front of the grave. An image of the front side of the stone is below.
I haven’t been able to determine how the people on the front of the stone are related to the back but as they share a surname, I presume they are related.
William Muir (1853-1913)
Posted 6103 days ago by Mary Muir
My grandfather always said “If you start shaking the family tree, you are going to get the willies.” In this case, what he was referring to was the fact that our family REALLY liked to use the name William. My grandfather was the third in the line of being called William Muir. He also broke this family tradition by not naming one of his sons William. He left that task to some of his cousins.
The first William Muir is quite an interesting man. He started the illegitimate son of Jane Muir and Maxwell McKie and ended up being a land owner in Stewarton, Scotland. The farm, Gilmill, is still held in Muir hands and the family is still raising cows on the farm. William was born in 1853 in Dailly, Scotland. His mother, Jane Muir, left him and his sister, Agnes in the care of her mother, Agnes. Jane died in 1963 of consumption.
The main picture of this site shows William Muir with his wife and two youngest children. They are in front of Parkside, a farm which was part of the Lainshaw Estate. Today there is nothing left of the house other than a few stones. After living in Parkside they moved to Gilmill where William died in 1913.
Welcome to My Site!
Posted 6103 days ago by Mary Muir
This is a place for me to share information I have found about my family (especially the Muir’s!) and share information I have found about Muirs that so far are not related to me. In addition, I will be sharing pictures that I have collected in my search, stories about my search so far and profiles on specific family members.