The Scott Family of Dumfries,Scotland
The family of Charles Scott (1804-1900) originally came from Dumfrieshire
in southern Scotland bordering on England.Charles Bell Scott was born
in Glenzierbecknow and his birth was recorded in the neighbouring parish
of Canonbie.
"William Scott and Mary Bell ,Glenzierbecknow, had
a son born October 18th,baptised 24th 1804, called Charles" Mary Bell of
Canonbie had married William Scott 12 November 1802. William may
ahve been of advanced age by then as he gives his occupation on birth records
for his children as,Pensioner. I assume this means he was pensioned off
from the army. All the children were born in
this area.
This
is a map of Scotland showing Dumfries in red.
I have read that the family were friends with Dumfries most famous
son, Robert Burns, the poet.
This has not and probably can not be confirmed.
I suspect that jobs were not plentiful in the early 1800's.
Charles moved south to Cumberland county, England for work. He first worked
as a servant and later for the railroad. Two of his brothers, Francis and
William joined the army and remained in the service of Her Majesty,Queen
Victoria , for most if not all of their lives.
Charles married Ann Irving in 1827 in Kirkbampton,Cumberland,England.
Charles and Ann had 3 sons within 6 years. There may have been more children
but these are the ones that show up in the IGI and in later records. In
1833, Charles and his widowed mother , Mary Bell, left for New Brunswick
with the eldest 2 sons. Ann followed sometime later with Francis ,born
in 1833.This is the family story and it sounds unlikely. I suspect the whole
family left at the same time.Immigration records for Bathurst do not record
the Scotts' arrival.Their first home may have been a lean-to left open
on one side. Many other pioneers in the area used this form of habitation.
Some time later Charles' brother, Thomas Scott seems to
have emigrated to New Brunswick as well. Thomas settled in Dalhousie, north
of Bathurst.Another brother, James, may have settled in Dalhousie or farther
north in Campbellton.
How do I know about Thomas ? That is a story in itself.
My father had our Aunt Ernestine (Ernie) visiting with him. She arranged to go to have tea with a cousin of her late husband. Ardel Scott was from Quebec's Eastern Townships and knew Aunt Ernie for many years. My father was the driver. He was also invited in for tea. He commented to Ardel that his mother was a Scott from the Bathurst area of New Brunswick. She said her husband's family were from Dalhousie. The close proximity of these two towns made my dad suspicous. He contacted me. I went with him to see Ardel and found that she had the seen similar letters written to Thomas Scott by a brother in the British army who lived in South Africa and Newfoundland at various times. I soon found out that she knew the same Scotts that I had met in Bathurst a few years ago.Small world.