Richard Rynsiman (bef. 1701 - aft. 1768)

Born before 13 Apr 1701 in North Berwick, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Husband of Janet Gourlay — married 28 Apr 1728 in North Berwick, , East Lothian, Scotland

Descendants

Died after 1768 after age 66 in Dunbar, Haddingtonshire, Scotland [uncertain]

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

Biography

Name

Name: Richard /Rynsiman/ ^[1]

Variants: Runciman, when Richard's own children were baptised.

Family Group

Husband: William Rynsiman

Wife: Jean White

Child: Richard Rynsiman

Child: Clara Rynsiman

Child: William Rynsiman

Marriage:

Date: 5 May1700

Place: North Berwick, , Haddingtonshire, Scotland^[2]

Birth

Date: Before 13 APR 1701 (the date of baptism).

Note: The North Berwick church records of the time recorded only the date of baptisms. The record shows that Richard was baptised on 13 April 1701 (a Wednesday). At that time baptisms were occurring on a regular weekly basis at the Church and it's reasonable to suppose that Richard was born during the preceding 7 days. However his precise DoB cannot be stated with that absolute certainty.

Place: (the parish of) North Berwick, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Christening

Date: 13 APR 1701

Place: North Berwick, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Note: entry reads: "John Rynsiman & Jean White in this parish had a childe baptised here named Richard witnesses Richard Richeson & Thomas Olivir."

The name of Richard's father is not as evident as we would choose, but it would be wrong to consider it questionable. It is worthy only of discussion & dismissal. According to the 1701 church record of Richard's baptism his parents are 'John Runciman & Jean White'. This entry is concluded to be erroneous for two reasons.

The weaker of the two reasons is that all Richard's siblings' baptisms record their parents as William & Jean. The possibility that John was indeed Richard's father and that John died between Richard's birth and the birth of the next child (Richard was the first-born) has been considered and is discounted. It would require a fast, though not impossible, turnround in 'arrangements'. The gap between Richard's birth and second child Isobel's birth is 18 months (April 1701 - October 1702). Whilst this gap in itself is not unreasonable for a married couple its a bit more highly paced to represent a period in which father John dies, mother Jean remarries a William, gets pregnant and has the new couple's first baby. Not impossible though and we're fortunate in that there is additional very strong evidence that instead it was nothing more than clerical error.

We have sourced the Old Parish Record dated 5 May 1700 in which the marriage of William & Jean is entered, incorrectly indexed by Scotland's People as 'Bunciman' which prevented previous researchers from its discovery. It was only when I changed tack and searched the index for 'Jean White' marriages rather than anything to do with the non-existent indexed 'Runciman' that the secret of the erroneous index was revealed! So it turns out Richard is baptised some 11 months after his parents' marriage, on 13 April 1701. William & Jean were a couple since 1700 and it seems the church session clerk made an error in 1701 when recording Richard's baptism.

A further two circumstantial indicators exist, though with the discovery of the marriage in 1700 they become less significant: there is no evidence in parish records of Jean White ever having married anyone other than William. Secondly, son Richard went on to name his first son William, (being 'William of Crail') in line with the tradition of naming the first born boy after the paternal grandfather.

The foregoing is only a (reasoned) opinion (by Alan Runciman), but it concurs with the view of other Runciman researchers with whom I am in contact.

^[3][4]

Marriage & Family

Marriage:

Date: 28 APR 1728

Place: North Berwick, , Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Note: entry reads: Richard Runchiman and Jennet Gourly both in this parish gave up their names to be proclaimed^[5][6][7]

Husband: Richard Rynsiman

Wife: Jennet Gourlay

Child: William Runciman

Child: Hugh Runciman

Child: Jennet Runciman

Child: Richard Runciman

Child: Jean Runciman

Child: Marion Runciman

Child: James Runciman

Child: Helen Runciman

Child: Renay Runciman

Residence

Prior to Marriage in April 1728

Place: (Parish of) North Berwick, , Haddingtonshire, Scotland^[8]. The marriage record doesn't state where either was living at the time of marriage, only that they were both 'of this parish'. Given Richard worked on farms all his married life it's probable he was living and working as a single man on a farm within the NB parish, rather than in the town. Jennet's background is currently unknown.

After marriage in April 1728

Richard & Jennet lived all their early married life in Whaupknow in the parish of Tyninghame, later merging in 1761 to become Whitekirk & Tyninghame. All 9 children were baptised in the local church at Tyninghame, starting with William in 1729 until their last child, Renay, who was baptised there in 1746. There's no categoric evidence again of residence until 1765 at the time of his son William's drowning in the Crail Fishing Disaster when it's noted that the orphans were to be cared for by their grandfather in North Berwick. In later records the location is referred to as Castleton (near North Berwick). There was (and still is) a farm there. There is nothing to indicate when they left Whaupknow. Their daughter Jennet married in 1753 in North Berwick indicating she was living there but of course she could be a young independent woman living away from the family home so we can't consider this as evidence that Richard & Jennet had moved there by then.

Whaupknow, a cluster of agricultural labourers' cottages belonging to Aldhame Farm, is extensively researched and summarised in a separate Whaupknow profile.

Evidence of Parent/Child Relationship to 'William of Crail'

This Richard is identified as the father of William of Crail. The records of the Crail Fishing Disaster disclose that William's childrens' grandfather is named Richard. A search of GROS records on Scotland's People show only one Richard is recorded as a father to a William in a generously wide period. The broadest possible parameters were used in the search in order to account for spelling variations, as follows:

"You searched for: Surname: "R*N*M*N*"; Surname Option: Wildcard; Forename: "WIL*"; Forename Option: Wildcard; Sex: "Any"; Parent 1 Name: "R*D*"; Date From: 01 January 1650; Date To: 31 December 1770; " (I also re-searched substituting 'WIL*' with W*L*M*)

One baptism only was revealed:

23/03/1729 RUNCIMAN WILLIAM

RICHARD RUNCIMAN/JENNET GOURLAY

FR76 (FR76) M WHITEKIRK AND TYNNINGHAME /EAST LOTHIAN 723/00 0010 0071

But while there is no doubt that Richard & Jennet Gourlay are William of Crail's parents there was initially a questionmark when it comes to identifying Richard's parents. This was later resolved with the discovery of the relevant marriage record in 1700 (greater detail at 'Christening' section.) ^{[9][10][11][12]}

Note

Date: 1765

Note: William of Crail's death left 5 orphaned children, as detailed in the papers about the pay-outs to the widows and children of the fisherman drowned in 1765:

‘ William Runcieman, a widower left 5 children and a Bastard: Janet Runcieman aged 16, Margaret 10, Elizabeth 8, Helen 5, John 3. The Bastard's name Mary aged 6 months.’ Observation: originally the entry was erroneously interpreted as stating "16 months" whereas in fact it states 6 months. A downward stroke from the line of handwriting above contrives to make "6" look like "16". [Alan Runciman, Jan 2014]

Grandfather Richard was paid for looking after the three youngest, Janet presumably old enough at 16 to earn her own keep, Mary, "the Bastard" was not orphaned as her mother was Patricia Steven with whom she was presumably already living, and both Catherines died young? (The first Catherine is in fact buried as an infant with her mother in Crail Churchyard.) ^[13][14][15]

Date: 01 DEC 1766

Place: Dunbar, , Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Note: That upon enquiry William Runciemans father intromited with no more than eighteen shillings two pence halfpenny sterling and has taken over three of the children of said William Runcieman and allowing these three children one shilling per week for ninety eight weeks being the whole space from the time the disaster happened to 10 December 1766 which being deduced there remains a balance in Richard Runciemans hands of £13. 4. 2½ ster.

The accompanying schedule shows: "There are three children in Dunbar provided for Alimente children of William Runciemans Vizt

Elizabeth Runcieman 1757 9

Helen Runcieman May 1760 6

John Runcieman June 1762 4"^[16]

Death

Date: BET 1768 AND 1780

Place:  ?Dunbar, , Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Note: the 1780 end date being based on the assumption that if he had still been alive when grddtr Helen married that he would have been the witness rather than her brother John, and the Dunbar being based on minutes accounting for the payouts to the orphaned children placing Richard back in Dunbar in 1766^[17][18][19]

Associated Profiles

There are 3 other Runciman 'lineages' which thanks to DNA testing are now discovered to be branches of the same lineage with a Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) in the 1600s, most likely in East Lothian or the Scottish Borders. Lorna Henderson manages a One Name Study which gives a good insight to our Crail Line's relationship to the other DNA-related lines - as well as the non-related lines. (there's a glitch with link-manually search for website runciman.lornahen.com)

Runciman histories in associated profiles:

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.

Crail Fishing Disaster About the 1765 Crail Fishing Disaster in which William of Crail drowned with 7 others. A 250th anniversary commemoration for the drownings was held in Crail on 16 May 2015.

Scotland and Beyond In 2004 a family history of the William Runciman of Crail line was published. The latest research & continuing updates are now displayed on WikiTree & several other online genealogy sites 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, originally had kindly agreed to make their publication available in PDF format. But increasing sensitivity over personal security halted that intention. This link provides further information from which it's possible to email a specific query about an ancestor.

The Runciman Cradle Tour provides the reader interested in visiting some of our ancestral locations around Haddingtonshire (now East Lothian) with a suggested itinerary and their associations 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 met his early death from drowning.

Whaupknow is about Life & Circumstances in the 1700s at the earliest discovered birthplace on Lineage 1b.

Sources

• Source: S103 OPR East Lothian RUNCIMAN Marriages 1538-1854, http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk Repository: #R146
• Repository: R146 Scotlands People (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/)
• Source: S1045 RUNCIMAN Correspondence, H.D.W. (Edinburgh)/ L Henderson (NZ)
• Source: S3 RUNCIMAN Analysis, http://Runciman.lornahen.com Author: Lorna Henderson Repository: #R156
• Repository: R156 RUNCIMAN One Name Study Address: http://RuncimansAll.blogspot.com
• Source: S3221 EM RUNCIMAN/WISHART/JAMIESON ex Phyllis RUNCIMAN (SCT)
• Source: S3222 "Scotland and Beyond" (2004) Author: Diane Middleton Jen Jelley plus subsequent research by Alan RUNCIMAN, Ros RUNCIMAN, Lawrence FLETCHER, Lorna HENDERSON & many, many others, Compilers' Addresses: UK, Australia and New Zealand
• Source: S55 Scottish Birth, Marriage, Burial entries (to 1854), http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php

1. ↑ Source: #S55 Bap. 13 Apr 1701 Richard s/o John RYNSIMAN & Jean WHITE, Nth Berwick, ELN, 713/00 0020 0292, copy rcvd from Alan R, Oct 2012
2. ↑ Source: #S55 Bap. 13 Apr 1701 Richard s/o John RYNSIMAN & Jean WHITE, Nth Berwick, ELN, 713/00 0020 0292, copy rcvd from Alan R, Oct 2012
3. ↑ Source: #S3221.
4. ↑ Source: #S55 Bap. 13 Apr 1701 Richard s/o John RYNSIMAN & Jean WHITE, Nth Berwick, ELN, 713/00 0020 0292, copy rcvd from Alan R, Oct 2012
5. ↑ Source: #S103 Marr. 28 Apr 1728 Richard RUNCHIMAN & Jennet GOURLAY, North Berwick, 713/ 0030 0051, extracted from index Feb 2010
6. ↑ Source: #S55 Marr. 28 Apr 1728 Richard RUNCHIMAN & Jennet GOURLY, North Berwick, 713/ 0030 0051, copy d/loaded Nov 2012
7. ↑ Source: #S3222
8. ↑ Source: #S55 Marr. 28 Apr 1728 Richard RUNCHIMAN & Jennet GOURLY, North Berwick, 713/ 0030 0051, copy d/loaded Nov 2012
9. ↑ Pay-outs to the widows and children of the Crail fishermen drowned on 21st January 1765GD/26/12/25 held National Archives of Scotland (NAS), transcr. by Phyllis rcvd Nov 2012
10. ↑ Source: #S55 Bap. 13 Apr 1701 Richard s/o John RYNSIMAN & Jean WHITE, Nth Berwick, ELN, 713/00 0020 0292, copy rcvd from Alan R, Oct 2012
11. ↑ Source: #S3 Feb 2013
12. ↑ Source: #S55 Dth 31 Jan Bur. 2 Feb 1830 Elisabeth RUNCIMAN, wife of Charles HERKES, aged 72, Churchyard Nth Berwick, ELN 713/00 0070 0178, copy d/loaded Feb 2013
13. ↑ Source: #S3 Oct 2012
14. ↑ Source: #S3221 Pay-outs to the widows and children of the Crail fishermen drowned on 21st January 1765, from GD/26/12/25 held National Archives of Scotland (NAS), transcr. by Phyllis rcvd Nov 2012
15. ↑ Source: #S1045 Pay-outs to the widows and children of the Crail fishermen drowned on 21st January 1765, extracted Feb 2010 from photocopies taken 1980s, from GD/26/12/25 held National Archives of Scotland (NAS), rcvd Feb 2010
16. ↑ Source: #S3221 Dec 1766 Minutes from Pay-outs to the widows and children of the Crail fishermen drowned on 21st January 1765, ref GD/26/12/25 held National Archives of Scotland (NAS), transcr. by Phyllis rcvd Nov 2012
17. ↑ Source: #S55 Marr. 20 May 1780 Helen RUNCIMAN & Patk DUDGEON, Whitekirk, ELN, 723/00 0020 0166, copy rcvd from Alan R, Oct 2012
18. ↑ Source: #S3 Feb 2013
19. ↑ Source: #S3221 Dec 1766 Minutes from Pay-outs to the widows and children of the Crail fishermen drowned on 21st January 1765, ref GD/26/12/25 held National Archives of Scotland (NAS), transcr. by Phyllis rcvd Nov 2012

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Alan Runciman for creating WikiTree profile Rynsiman-1 through the import of RUNCIMANAlansPaternal4WikiTreeAug2013.ged on Aug 29, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Alan and others.