Janet Gourlay (bef. 1701)

Born before 2 Nov 1701 in Dirleton, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Wife of Richard Rynsiman — married 28 Apr 1728 in North Berwick, , East Lothian, Scotland

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Alan Runciman [send private message]

Biography

This biography was part auto-generated by a GEDCOM import with the addition of further research by Alan Runciman, a 7th generation son of Jannet.

Name

Standardised spelling arrived considerably after Jannet’s lifetime with the result that Jannet’s era contained a number of variations of her name, none of them right or wrong for their day. A name such as the modern-day standard Janet Gourlay offers up several combinations – Janet, Jannet, Janett, Jannett, Jennet, as well as options for Gourlay. There are many instances of the surname which became standardised as Gourlay and Gourley being spelt in early parish records to include a 'd'. The spelling in Jannet’s record of Gurdly is accepted as being pronounced in the same way as Gourlay and Gourley was at the time - in particular the 'u' as 'oo' and of course what's now considered as the spurious/incidental 'd'.

This is her baptism record as it indexed on Scotlands People^[1]:

The index entry of Jannet's baptism.

In her marriage record the name was spelt as Jennet Gourly.

Name: Jennet /Gourlay/ ^[2]

Birth & Baptism

Birth:

Date: Before 2 November 1701 (the known date of baptism)

Place: Dirleton, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Baptism:

Jannet’s baptism was recorded in the records of North Berwick Parish Church, Haddingtonshire, Scotland on 2 November 1701.

The record states:

[Headed 'November 2']

'John Gurdly and Marion Donaldson in the parish of Dirleton had a child baptised here named (Jannet) Witnesses James Watson and Alexander Fouler'

Although the two towns are very near each other, quite why a Dirleton couple baptised their child at North Berwick is not known. Presumably one or both kept their allegiance there after moving, perhaps on marriage, to Dirleton. When Janet herself married her banns were read out at North Berwick church so the tie to the area is evident. The parish in which a child is baptised is important administratively as the parish remains responsible throughout life in its financial support if required at a later time.

Marriage

Marriage:

Date: 28 APR 1728

Place: North Berwick, , East Lothian, Scotland

Note: entry reads: Richard Runchiman and Jennet Gourly both in this parish gave up their names to be proclaimed^[3][4][5]

Family:

• Husband: Richard Rynsiman
• Wife: Jennet Gourlay

The couple had 9 children:

• William Runciman
• Hugh Runciman
• Jennet Runciman
• Richard Runciman
• Jean Runciman
• Marion Runciman
• James Runciman
• Helen Runciman
• Renay (Rennie) Runciman

Residence

Janet’s husband Richard works in farm-related employment, most likely as an agricultural labourer but possibly in a more specific role such as a groom etc. As a newly married man he was offered a farm cottage at Whaupknow, a cluster of cottages belonging to Auldhame farm. This location appears in the baptism records of all the couple’s 9 children between 1729 & 1746. It’s not known when the couple, or perhaps just Richard as mentioned below on the subject of Janet’s death, moved on. It’s known that Robert Colt bought the Auldhame & Scougall farms in 1750 and big changes followed at some point thereafter. In 1765 Richard was at Castlehill when it’s known he took responsibility for his grandchildren orphaned by William’s drowning.

Death

No parish record has been identified. Much is recorded following the 1765 drowning of her son William including the fact that her husband Richard takes care of the younger orphans of William. There is no mention of Jannet in the Minutes of The Widows’ Fund. This may indicate she had already died - very possible, as if living she would be 64 at the date of William's drowning. However a frequent lack of detail about the women in families in records of the era means this is not conclusive evidence.

Associated Wiki profiles

Janet was the mother of William Runciman of Crail, who drowned at an early age in a fishing tragedy.

Whaupknow, a Profile of the earliest documented birthplace on the Crail lineage describes where Janet & her husband Richard lived & brought up their family over the space of some 30 years.

Runciman Lineage 1b-The Early Generations As the name implies this Profile covers the latest research known of the earliest ancestors on the 'Crail' Line including Janet & her family.

Crail Fishing Disaster tells the history of the 1765 Crail Fishing Disaster in which her son died. A 250th anniversary commemoration for the drownings was held in Crail on 16 May 2015.

Scotland and Beyond In 2004 a history of the William Runciman of Crail line was published. The latest research & continuing updates are now published as profiles on WikiTree rather than in print. As Scotland and Beyond has been out of print for some time Jen Jelley & Diane Middleton, compilers & publishers of the 2004 book, kindly agreed to make their publication available in PDF format. This Profile contains the information.

The Runciman Cradle Tour provides the reader interested in seeing some of our ancestral locations, including Whaupknow where Janet lived, with a suggested itinerary and their association to the family.

Similarily there is a Crail Trail for those who wish to visit where William of Crail spent his married/working life and eventually to meet his early death from drowning.

Sources

• Source: S103 Title: OPR East Lothian Scotlands People RUNCIMAN Marriages, Author Address: http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk, Recipient Address: East Lothian, Scotland Abbreviation: OPR East Lothian SctP RUNCIMAN Marriages 1538-1854 Author: Scotlands People Index Publication: 1538-1854 Repository: #R146
• Repository: R146 Name: Scotlands People (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/) Address: City: Edinburgh State: Midlothian Country: Scotland
• Source: S1597 Title: FamilySearch Labs Record Search (LDS), Url: http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ Abbreviation: FamilySearch Labs Record Search (LDS)
• Source: S3222 Title: "Scotland and Beyond" (2004) plus subsequent research by Alan RUNCIMAN, Ros RUNCIMAN, Lawrence FLETCHER, Lorna HENDERSON & many, many others, Compiler Address: UK, Australia and New Zealand Abbreviation: "Scotland and Beyond" (2004), plus subsequent research Author: Diane Middleton Jen Jelley Alan Runciman Ros Runciman Laurie Fletcher Lorna Henderson and many others Publication: Jul 2013 Note: imported on 2013/07/24 at 15:44:27.
• Source: S55 Title: Scottish Birth, Marriage, Burial entries (to 1854), Record Type: Scottish BMDB entries (to 1854), File Number: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php Abbreviation: BDM: Scotlands People entries to 1854

1. ↑ https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk - Filing Reference: North Berwick 713/20/294
2. ↑ Source: #S103 Page: Marr. 28 Apr 1728 Richard RUNCHIMAN & Jennet GOURLAY, North Berwick, 713/ 0030 0051, extracted from index Feb 2010
3. ↑ Source: #S103 Page: Marr. 28 Apr 1728 Richard RUNCHIMAN & Jennet GOURLAY, North Berwick, 713/ 0030 0051, extracted from index Feb 2010
4. ↑ Source: #S55 Page: Marr. 28 Apr 1728 Richard RUNCHIMAN & Jennet GOURLY, North Berwick, 713/ 0030 0051, copy d/loaded Nov 2012
5. ↑ Source: #S3222

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Alan Runciman for creating WikiTree profile Gourlay-129 through the import of RUNCIMANAlansPaternal4WikiTreeAug2013.ged on Aug 29, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Alan and others.

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