Margaret Alexander

 

Margaret was known as Maggie according to a couple of censuses.  She was born in Linlithgow in 1869 and given that her parents were living in 269 High Street in 1871 it's a good guess that that would be the address.  That's a significant address because it's currently occupied by a barber's shop and unless I'm mistaken it's the same premises used by "Uncle Tommy" to cut hair for years, sometimes helped by "Uncle Sandy".  They are the two boys in the full photo below from about 1922.

Maggie's family moved to Bo'ness some time after 1875 (her wee brother was born in Linlithgow then) and it was there that she met and married John Anderson.  The break in continuity of possession of 269 High Street is something I must look into.  Maybe one of Maggie's elder siblings kept it on or maybe the landlord remembered Maggie and her family fondly and gave them it back later.  I suspect the former.

She and John spent a number of years in Bo'ness at different address before moving back into Linlithgow Bridge then Linlithgow itself.  The censuses tell us this, not only through the addresses they were staying at but also through the birthplaces of the children.  Strangely, there is a bit of see-sawing at one stage as four consecutive children are born in Bo'ness, Linlithgow, Bo'ness then Linlithgow.  They may have been moving house or it may just have been that one of the middle children was born in a relative's house.  What is certain is that they settled in Linlithgow where my grandfather Bob met Kate Kelly and where Tommy set up his barber shop.  Husband John actually died at the aforementioned 269 High Street in 1930 suggesting it was back in or still in the family's possession by that time.  Maggie died five years later in St Michael's Home, just outside Linlithgow.

It's interesting to note that virtually all of her known ancestry is from Linlithgow.  Something which amazed me when I started looking back into historical records was the amount of moving around there was.  I had always expected that generations stayed in the same town and found partners there.  Well, Maggie's tree is a rare example of that.