Janet Carstairs and children

[Shona]

I'm struggling to find births/baptisms for Janet Carstairs and her (up to three) illegitimate children.

Janet Carstairs was the daughter of George Carstairs and Mary Beveridge. George and Mary had the following children baptised in Aberdour, Fife, Scotland:

George Carstairs, born 1 Jan 1803, bpt 9 Jan 1803
John Carstairs, born 22 Jan 1807, bpt 1 Feb 1807
Arthur Carstairs, born 29 Jan 1812, bpt 6 Feb 1812
William Carstairs, born 6 May 1814, bpt 15 May 1814
Catharine Carstairs, born 18 Dec 1816, bpt 5 Jan 1817
Marion Gray Carstairs, born 16 June 1822, bpt 30 June 1822

Try as I might, I haven't been able to track down a birth or baptism for Janet Carstairs.

In 1841, Janet can be found with her parents at Aberdour - Wester Village North Side.

George Carstairs, ag lab, 50
Mary Carstairs, 50
Janet Carstairs, 30
James Aitken, 11
Susan Thomson, 7
Elizabeth Sinclair, 6

All are born in county.

In 1851, Janet is with her widowed mother in Aberdour. This suggests she was born c1813.

Mary Carstairs, head, 73, born Dalgety, Fife
Janet Carstairs, daughter, 38, laundress, born Aberdour, Fife

The above are Ancestry transcriptions - I haven't found or viewed the images on Scotland's People.

Janet then vanishes.

Mary Carstairs, 84 and a pauper is on her own in Aberdour in 1861. She died in 1862.

Which leads me on to the three children on the 1841 census - James Aitken, Susan Thomson and Elizabeth Sinclair.

I had assumed that all three are the illegitimate children of Janet Carstairs, but I haven't been able to find any birth/baptism records for any of them.

Susan is, in fact, Sophia Thomson. She married John Armit in 1854 in Aberdour. When Sophia died, Janet Carstairs is recorded as her mother. No father is mentioned. Info here: http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=16213&highlight=sophia+thomson

Can anyone help me find out what happened to Janet after 1851? And what of James Aitken and Elizabeth Sinclair - who may or may not be Janet Carstair's children?

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch lists a James Curstairs, born 4 Oct 1804 and baptised 14 Oct 1804 at Aberdour, parents George Curstairs and Mary Baveridge, to add to the list. It says male, so unlikely to be a mistranscription for Janet.

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch has a marriage at Aberdour 7 May 1853 between Robert Dunbar and Janet Carstairs. I haven't managed to find them in 1861 yet to see whether it is (or could be) the right Janet. No children come up for them on FamilySearch.

[kiterunner]

Oh, okay, found them in 1861 - ancestry transcription has them at 1 Palmer's Land, Old Monkland, Lanarkshire:
Robert Dunbar 29 born Ireland
Janet Dunbar 40 born "Aberdeen, Fifeshire" (thanks, ancestry!)
Andrew Sloan 23 lodger born Ireland
James Skinner lodger 30 born Inverness.

Janet is a lot younger than your Janet (if ancestry have transcribed her age correctly) but given the age difference between her and Robert, she could well have knocked some years off, couldn't she?

[kiterunner]

Scotland's People has the death of a Janet Dunbar in Lanarkshire in 1887, other surname Carstairs. Age is 76, which fits with your Janet's age on the early censuses. I haven't got time to narrow down which district on the free search at the moment, but anyway, she should probably be in Lanarkshire on the 1871 and 1881 censuses.

[Shona]

Brilliant! Thank you.

That is the right Janet.

1871 census - Martine's Land, Highcoates, Old Monkland, Lanarkshire

Robert Dunbar, head, 39, labourer, b Ireland
Janet Dunbar, wife, 55, b Aberdrosse, Fifeshire
James Robenson, boarder, 25, joiner, b Roxburghshire
Michael Mulligan, boarder, 25, labourer, b Ireland

Looking at the image, the place of birth is Aberdour.

1881 - Bothwell
Robert Dunbar, head, 50, gen labourer, b Ireland
Janet Dunbar, wife, 69, b Aberdare

[Shona]

The 1887 death confirms that Janet Dunbar is Janet Carstairs.

Janet Dunbar
Married to Robert Dunbar, ironworks labourer
Died 3 December 1887, age 76
50 Scott Row, Craigneuk, Dalzeil, Lanarkshire
Father: George Carstairs, farm servant (dec)
Mother: Mary Beveridge (dec)
Cause: Abscess of spine
Informant: Robert Dunbar

[kiterunner]

James Aitken could be the one baptised 11 May 1828 at Aberdour, son of James Aitken and Mary Craig. They had several children who seem to be scattered around in 1841 if I am looking at the right entries.