William McKINTY

  General Notes:

William was a Cartwright by trade. He had a relationship with Elizabeth Weir, who also appears to have been known as Elizabeth Hutton. Although William and Elizabeth were in a relationship and had children Elizabeth is recorded as unmarried in all the census records and they do not appear to have lived together as a couple. Their children appear to be William born about 1848 and Margaret born about 1861

It appears William joined the army and left his son William with Elizabeth to be brought up in the household of John Hutton and his wife Margaret (nee Kirkwood), Elizabeth's mother and stepfather.

William is described as a 'Pensioner' or 'Army Pensioner' on a couple of records and therefore his service appears to have been between 1854 and 1856 (90th Foot Regiment, Army Service Number 3251). He was discharged with a pension due to being severely wounded in the left leg by fragments of a shell in the trenches during the Crimean War .

William being in the army between 1854 and 1856 would tie in with his children's birth dates (around 1848, 1859 and 1861). William is described as a Wright Journeyman in the 1841 census and a Cartwright in 1868, at the time of his daughter's death, and in the censuses of 1871, 1881 and 1891. In the Valuation Roll of 1865-66 William was living at Hatters Close, Edinburgh and is described as a Pensioner. He is described as an Army Pensioner at the time of his death in 1899.

William had children with Elizabeth Weir around 1848 and 1861 and he also had a relationship with Margaret Archman/Archibald (widow of Thomas Hastie, Shoemaker) with whom he had a son, John, born in 1859. Given William's daughter, Margaret, was recorded as being 7 when she died in 1868 this would suggest William may have been in two relationships at the same time. However, the registering of ages at the time of census or death is not always very accurate so his daughter may actually have been older and conceived before William had a relationship with Margaret. Margaret Hastie (nee Archman/Archibald) died in 1868 and this explains why William described himself as a widower in the 1871 census (Elizabeth Weir/Hutton was still alive). William's neice Margaret Cunningham married Margaret Hastie's son Thomas in 1861.

William is elusive in the 1851 census and also in the 1861 census, where he is not with son John and the rest of the Hastie family at Hatters Close. At the time of his daughter Margaret's death in 1868 William is described as being deceased! Margaret's death was registered by William's son William, but both Williams are recorded together in the 1871 census along with John (Hastie) McGinty.

William's death in 1899 was registered by Jessie McDonald. Jessie appears to have known William for some time. They may have overlapped in the tenaments of 11 Stevenlaws Close where William is recorded in both 1881 (census) and 1885 (death of son John) and Jessie in 1885 (Valuation Rolls). William was lodging with Jessie at 5 South Niddry Street in 1891 and they were both occupants of 211 Cowgate when she was present at William's death in 1899 from old age and heart failure.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Census, 1841, Campbell's Close, Canongate, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Wright Journeyman

• Birth, 4 Dec 1859, Hatters Close, Edinburgh, Scotland.

• Death, 31 Aug 1868, 1 Browns Close, Canongate, Edinburgh.

• Valuation Roll, 1865, Hatter's Close, 154 Pleasance, St. Cuthbert's Edinburgh, Scotland. Pensioner

• Census, 1871, 4 Campbells Close, Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland. Cart Wright

• Mariage, 16 Jun 1880, 3 St John Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.

• Census, 1881, 11 Stevenlaws Close, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Cart Wright

• Death, 21 May 1885, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

• Death, 1899, 211 Cowgate, Edinburgh. Described as an Army Pensioner

• Census, 1891, 5 South Niddry Street, Lady Lesters, Edinburgh. Cartwright unemployed

William married Elizabeth WEIR, daughter of Unknown and Margaret Andrew KIRKWOOD. (Elizabeth WEIR was born about 1823 in Fisherrow, Inveresk, Midlothian, Scotland.)

William next married Margaret ARCHIBALD, daughter of Unknown and Margaret INGLIS. (Margaret ARCHIBALD was born about 1820 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland and died on 13 Jun 1868 in Newington, Edinburgh, Scotland.)