Dorothea (Clerk) Craigie (abt. 1747 - abt. 1817)

Born about 1747 in Scotland

Wife of David Craigie — married about 15 Oct 1779 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Descendants

Died about 1817 at about age 70 in Scotland, United Kingdom

Biography

Dorothea was possibly born around 1747.

Dorothea married David Craigie on or after 15 October 1779 in Edinburgh, Scotland.^[1]

Mr David Craigie Writer to the Signet New Gray friars parish and Miss Dorothea Clerk Tolbooth Kirk parish, daughter of George Clerk Esqr. Commissioner of the Customs

Dorothea and David Craigie's four known children were:

1. Dorothea
2. Barbara Stewart
3. Robert and
4. George Clerk.

Dorothea's husband died in 1796 and she outlived him by at least 20 years as evidenced by the inventory to her testament dated 27 May 1817, which also shows that she did not marry again.^[2]

Research Notes

Dorothea's origins

It seems likely that Dorothea Clerk's father as described in her marriage entry ('George Clerk Esqr. Commissioner of the Customs') was later Sir George Clerk-Maxwell of Penicuik, 4th Baronet, who served as Commissioner of Customs in 1763.^[3] Dorothea may have been the daughter born or baptised on 27 February 1747 in Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, as this is where the Maxwell family had estates which came to George Clerk through his marriage to his cousin Dorothea Clerk-Maxwell.^[4]

The Clerk and Maxwell families

Dorothea's probable parents, George Clerk and Dorothea Clerk-Maxwell, were cousins who came to live in the same household when George's uncle William - Dorothea Clerk-Maxwell's father - died in 1721 and George's father John became Dorothea Clerk-Maxwell's guardian. Sir John wrote: "... my Brother William, who came with us, grew daily worse, and died, aged 40 years. He was an Advocat, and was married to Agnes Maxwell, daughter and Heiress to John Maxwell of Midlebee, in Anandale. He left behind him only a daughter, Dorothea Clerk, who fell under the Tutory of her Mother, a very verteous woman, and me..." ^[5] Two generations of connections between the Clerk and Maxwell families resulted in the unusual name 'Dorothea' being relatively common in the family.
There was also a connection between a Dorothea with the surname Craigie and Dorothea Clerk Maxwell in correspondence listed in the National Records of Scotland catalogue, but this would require further research to clarify.^[6]
Beware of 'The Peerage' website entries for the family: The page says David Craigie was the son of Robert Craigie and Dorothea Clerk, but there is a 1779 marriage for David Craigie and Dorothea Clerk. It also states that Dorothea's daughter Robert(a) was supposed to have been born in 1770 (Scotlands People has her birth in 1784), which would mean she was born 9 years after the marriage of David's parents, clearly a highly unlikely scenario. Newsam-80 03:52, 25 February 2023 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ "Old Parish Registers Banns and Marriages" database, National Records of Scotland, ScotlandsPeople (accessed 25 February 2023)
   CRAIGIE, DAVID / DOROTHEA CLERK/FR91 (FR91), 15/10/1779, citing reference number 510 / 164, Parish: Edinburgh.
2. ↑ "Wills and Testaments" National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 25 May 2023), Craigie, Dorothea, 27/5/1817, alias Clerk, widow of David Craigie, Esq., of Dumbarnie, Inventory, Testament, 2 Codicils, Edinburgh Sheriff Court Inventories, citing reference number SC70/1/16
3. ↑ Wikipedia:George Clerk-Maxwell
4. ↑ "Church of Scotland: Old Parish Registers - Births and Baptisms", National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 25 May 2023), CLARK, DOROTHEA, GEORGE CLARK/, F, 27/02/1747, citing reference number 20/157, Dumfries.
5. ↑ Clerk, John, and John Miller Gray. Memoirs of the Life of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, Baronet, Baron of the Exchequer, Extracted by Himself from His Own Journals, 1676-1755. Edinburgh, Printed at the University press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish history society, 1892, p. 114. http://archive.org/details/memoirslifesirj00clergoog.
6. ↑ ‘NAS Catalogue - Catalogue Record’ (accessed 25 May 2023), Doc ref GD18/5548, place Dumbarnie. Letter to Alexander Gardener, Edinburgh, from Dorothea Craigie, regarding silver jugs from Lady Clerk Maxwell's house, date 23 May 1796 https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/overview.aspx?st=1&tc=y&tl=n&tn=n&tp=n&k=dumbarnie&ko=a&r=&ro=s&df=&dt=&di=y