Did William Innes marry a Murdoch or Shaw?

A number of years ago I first came across the name William Innes, brother-in-law, as an informant for the death of John Smith Murdoch, my second great-granduncle. The name was a curiosity and I wondered which side of the family he was on. Since John Smith Murdoch had a sister, Margaret, did William Innes marry her or was William connected to Ellen/Helen Shaw, John's wife, side of the family?

Burgh of Glasgow, Scotland, "Statutory Deaths," 1858 Deaths in the Central District, p. 38, John Smith Murdoch; digital image, General Register Office for Scotland, ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: 20 Jun 2009).

At that time and after a bit of researching I realized I would have to order some records from ScotlandsPeople to answer the question. However, I had more important records to purchase first so I put this question on the back burner.

Jump forward to the present day and I was filling in the gaps in my records using the Scottish Civil BMD Registrations found on FamilySearch and available for viewing at the Family History Centers and their affiliates and what did I see recorded as the informant of David Murduch, John Smith Murdoch's son, birth? You guessed it...William Innes, David's uncle.

Scotland Registrar General,  Registers of births, marriages, and deaths, 1855-1875, 1881, 1891; and general index, 1855-1956, (The New Register House, Edinburgh), 1858 Births in the Central District in the Burgh of Glasgow: 30, 90, David Murdoch; FHL microfilm 280,518.

This is where it gets into hazardous territory to a genealogy and family history researcher. Do I take the time to find out the connection or not. Since I'm writing about this you can well imagine the course I took. Time to set out and find how William Innes is connected to the Murdoch family. I did set one limit on my exploration: I could only spent time and not money to research William's connection.

I started off with a few assumptions about William Innes:

• He was about the same age as John Smith Murdoch, plus 15 or minus 5 years¹
• He married either a Murdoch or Shaw²
• He resided in Glasgow itself or in Lanarkshire around 1858³
• He resided in Glasgow or at least in Lanarkshire in the 1851 census⁴

Of course, these are only assumptions and might have to be re-evaluated as possible facts are presented.

I did come across a William Innes married to a Janet in the 1851 census of Scotland residing at 97 Saltmarket Street in Glasgow.

1851 census of Scotland, Royal Burgh of Glasgow, Parish of St. Andrews, enumeration district (ED) 15, page 1, schedule no. 1, William Innes; FHL microfilm 1,042,436.

• William appears to have been born about 1815 making him 13 years older than John Smith Murdoch.
• He resides in Glasgow in 1851
• It isn't a Margaret but this Janet could be a Shaw.

From this census I do have an address, 97 Saltmarket Street, and the statement that William is a spirit dealer. Might I be able to find details about the birth of his daughter Janet? Will it list her mother's maide surname? Also, is William recorded in a city directory of Glasgow?

William's daughter, Janet, was born before civil registration started so I have to rely on the Old Parish Registers available on ScotlandsPeople and also on FamilySearch. Since I'm being frugal it was back to my local Family History Center to look up the record.

Parish of Glasgow (Lanarkshire, Scotland), "Registration District 644," baptism of Janet Innes, 28 Sep 1845; FHL microfilm 102,921.

This looks to be the right person and look...her mother is Janet Shaw! This looks promising.

This is where luck is very, very important. I searched for Janet Innes on ScotlandPeople to learn when she died⁵. Assuming she is Helen Shaw's sister then I already know that Helen's parents are John Shaw and Janet White/Whyte.

Screen capture from ScotlandPeople for a search of the death of a Janet Innes started from 1851 with a birth year 1819 +/- 5 years.

Now not all the returned results include the mother's maiden surname but note the first result...Whyte. Even better, the death is in the time frame where I can view records for free from a Family History Centre or affiliate.

Scotland Registrar General,  Registers of births, marriages, and deaths, 1855-1875, 1881, 1891; and general index, 1855-1956, (The New Register House, Edinburgh), Registration District 644/04, 1856 Deaths in the District of Calton in the Burgh of Glasgow: 54, 162, Janet Innes; FHL microfilm 252,432.

This looks to be the right Janet Innes. She is a wife of a spirit merchant and the daughter of John Shaw and Janet Whyte. However, she died at 93 Saltmarket Street. That's only 2 doors down from the address in the 1851 census.

This is where the Scottish Post Office Directories becomes your friend. I started with the 1851-52 post-office directory for Glasgow and looked for Saltmarket Street.

Post-Office Glasgow, Post-Office Glasgow Directory for 1851-1852, 444; digital images, National Library of Scotland (digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/ : accessed 6 Dec 2019); Saltmarket Street odd numbers 3-95.

If you look at the second last line in the directory you will see that Wm. Innes, a spirit dealer, had the properties at 93, 95, and 97 Saltmarket Street.

What about a possible marriage for William Innes and Janet Shaw? That, as they say, is problematic. I've found an 1840 marriage for a Janet Shaw to a William James or Innes within the FamilySearch indexes for the OPRs and the image confirms that it might be James or Innes for William's surname but his occupation is a baker. Unfortunately the church register doesn't record the names of her parents.

I did come across the death of a William Innes, a spirit merchant, on 13 Jul 1858 at 93 Saltmarket Street. If I had been willing to spend a few pounds I could have viewed the documents pertaining to his will and administration on ScotlandsPeople. Additionally, I might have checked out the "Scotland, Lanark, Glasgow, Glasgow Sheriff Court, probate records" collection at my local Family History Center⁶.

Assuming that my research is good⁷ then it appears that William Innes didn't marry Margaret Murdoch but a Janet Shaw. Too bad that the line I'm researching is the Murdoch line. At least this is one mystery resolved.

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1. Why 15 years? Why not? If William married Margaret Murdoch (born about 1826) he could be older than Margaret by a decade or more. 15 years just sounded right as a starting point.
2. To be a brother-in-law and an uncle to the same family William had to have married either Margaret Murdoch, John Smith Murdoch's older sister, or a sister of Helen Shaw.
3. Since he is an informant he probably lived near to the John Smith Murdoch family and they resided in Glasgow.
4. This is a stretch but I had to limit the scope of my searching somehow. Helen Shaw and Margaret Murdoch were both born in the Glasgow area so I figured they were married there also.
5. I know, I'm not supposed to spend money on this research endeavor. However, searching ScotlandsPeople is free. It is only getting the images that costs you money.
6. That is for the new year I think.
7. I haven't recorded all the paths I took to get here in order to eliminate other possible people.