Helen Runciman (abt. 1744)

Born about Mar 1744 in Whaupknow, Parish of Tyninghame, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Ancestors

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

Biography

This biography was part auto-generated by a GEDCOM import of a tree created by Alan Runciman, a 4th generation grand-nephew of Helen, supplemented with additional research by Alan.

Name

Name: Helen /Runciman/ ^[1]

Birth & Christening

Birth:

Date: On or before 25 March 1744 (her date of christening)

Place: Whaupknow, in the Parish of Tyninghame, Haddingtonshire, Scotland^[2]

Whaupknow was a cluster of cottages provided by Auldham Farm for its workers. The last reference to it in local parish records appears in the 1770s at which time it fell victim to the development of Seacliff House. Read what life was like for the family at Whaupknow here.

Christening:

Date: 25 March 1744

Place: The parish church at Old Tyninghame, Haddingtonshire, Scotland^[3]

Absence of Further Records

No records or references to Helen have been found following her baptism. It wasn’t usual for burials/deaths to be recorded by the church but one would expect to find a marriage & family baptisms almost as a matter of course. Several options can account for an absence of these records after baptism:

• The records were lost.
• She died in infancy or childhood before marrying age, the next likely event to be recorded.
• She survived to adulthood but never married.
• As a young woman before marrying she moved outside Scotland where records may not be so easily traced. (Although there is no evidence in worldwide records in Familysearch.)
• She led a full life but followed a minority religion in a dissenting church whose records were non- existent or lost.
• She married in Whitekirk Church before 1761 when records were lost in the fire. This would require her to have no children baptised after 1761 when Whitekirk's records exist again (or for her to move away etc).

The index of the marriage register at Tyninghame on Scotland's People reveals that there is indeed a gap in the register from 1739 onwards until that church ceased in 1760. This period covers the most likely range for Jean, b 1736, to marry so such a gap is a possible explanation. However it would further require there to be no children of the marriage after 1761 when records at Whitekirk commence again.

At the time of writing (October 2020) church records after baptism for a number of Richard's & Jennet's children have not been found either. This indicates that some explanations put forward above can probably be discounted, such as emigration or Scottish relocation. The possibility of an absence of church records needs more research to determine whether any of the other siblings appear as contenders as parents themselves after the records resume at Whitekirk, or at other adjoining parishes.

At this stage unfortunately the most likely explanation is that there was a number of infant/child deaths in the family. The siblings for whom no records have yet been found after their baptism are -

• Hugh, reasonable level of research on SP, without success.
• Richard, reasonable level of research on SP, without success.
• Jean, reasonable level of research on SP, see note on her profile.
• James, to be researched further.
• Helen, to be researched further.

Another peripheral factor ties in with this conclusion. On William’s drowning his orphaned children were then cared for by Richard, the childrens’ grandfather. Richard was 64 in that year & doesn’t appear the most likely candidate to take on the care of 4 young children aged from 9 to 2, particularly if he’s still working. His wife Jennet is not mentioned in the records of the Widows Fund, so no conclusion can be drawn about her. If any of these 5 uncles & aunts listed above were alive they would be aged in their 20s & 30s & would present a better option for care. Is this the reason not one stepped forward?

Family Profiles of Interest

Helen was a younger sister of William Runciman of Crail , who drowned at an early age in a fishing tragedy,

plus

some facts and comments about the early Runciman ancestors are summarised in The Early Generations.

There are also 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 Runciman 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.

Wiki profiles relating to the Crail Lineage:

Whaupknow, describes where the family was born and lived until adulthood.

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 History and Latest News. Helen is a sister of William of Crail who drowned with 7 others in the 1765 Crail Fishing Disaster. 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 on the web 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 link.

The Runciman Cradle Tour provides the reader interested in seeing some of our ancestral locations 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: S102 Title: OPR East Lothian, Scotland RUNCIMAN Births, Author Address: http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk, Recipient Address: East Lothian, Scotland Abbreviation: OPR East Lothian, SCT RUNCIMAN Births 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

1. ↑ Source: #S102 Page: Birth/bap.? 25 Mar 1744 Helen d/o Richard RUNCIMAN & Jennet GOURLAY, Whitekirk & Tynninghame, 723/ 0010 0105, extracted from index Feb 2010
2. ↑ Source: #S102 Page: Birth/bap.? 25 Mar 1744 Helen d/o Richard RUNCIMAN & Jennet GOURLAY, Whitekirk & Tynninghame, 723/ 0010 0105, extracted from index Feb 2010
3. ↑ Source: #S102 Page: Birth/bap.? 25 Mar 1744 Helen d/o Richard RUNCIMAN & Jennet GOURLAY, Whitekirk & Tynninghame, 723/ 0010 0105, extracted from index Feb 2010

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Alan Runciman for creating WikiTree profile Runciman-619 through the import of RUNCIMANAlansPaternal4WikiTreeAug2013.ged on Aug 29, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Alan and others.

<!—The Profile Manager would prefer you make contact before editing, adding, or deleting anything in this text. Thank you for your consideration! -->