McNAIR

The McNAIR side of the family was a bit tricky at first, as three brothers Alexander McNAIR, James Hutchison McNAIR and John McNAIR had daughters called Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR.

1. Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR was born 1894 to James Hutcheon McNAIR and Marion Millar
2. Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR was born 1899 to Alexander McNAIR and Janet WALLACE
3. Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR was born 1904 to John McNAIR and Jane Baillie HUTCHISON

Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR was born in 1904 on the 13 Oct. to John McNAIR and Jane Baillie HUTCHISON.

(Apologies that not all certificates are showing since I imported them from my now-defunct website.  This will take time to go through them all and reinstate the images)

She married Alexander GORDON on 11 Jul 1930.

They had one son, Hugh GORDON born in 1931.  Sadly, Elizabeth died the following year in 1932.

All three certificates above, confirm the parents' names for Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR.  John McNAIR (1877-1963) married Jane Baillie HUTCHISON (1878-1962) and their daughter (Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR (1904-1932) married Alexander GORDON.

They had one son Hugh GORDON, but following the death of Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR,  he spent some time being looked after by Granny McNAIR (Jane Baillie HUTCHESON) but was eventually adopted by the SMITH family (who were friends and neighbours of Alexander GORDON) when he was nine years old (hence the name Hugh Gordon SMITH).  See GORDON/GORMAN pages for that line.

(photo of baby Hugh GORDON with granny McNAIR (Jane Baillie HUTCHISON) abt. 1934.

Children born to John McNAIR and Jane Baillie HUTCHESON were:

Elizabeth Keppie McNAIR born 1907 died 3 March 1932 (married Alexander GORDON)

John Hutcheson McNAIR born 14 Dec 1899 died 20 Jul 1940

William McNAIR born 3 Oct 1910 died 1968

Mary Jane McNAIR born 20 Sep 1902 died ?

Arthur McNAIR born 3 Mar 1906 died 23 Jun 1964

BMDs (1877-1963) for John McNAIR

Births. Scotland. St Giles, Edinburgh, 685/04 0521. 8 June 1877. McNAIR, John. GROS Data 685/04 0521.[.scotlandspeople.gov.uk]

From this birth certificate, it states John's parents (Alexander McNAIR and Elizabeth KEPPIE) and provides the date of their marriage (1865, 29th December - see above)

Both sets of parents and witness names can be gleaned from the marriage certificate.

John's marriage and death certificates also confirm that this is the correct John McNAIR.  His wife is still alive.  (Note variation in spelling of Hutchison/Hutcheson - this is common in older certificates).

Marriages. Scotland. St. Andrew, Edinburgh. 685/02. 3 June 1898.  McNAIR, John and HUTCHISON, Jeanie.  GROS Data 685/02 0198. [scotlandspeople.gov.uk]

Deaths. Scotland.

John's parents were Alexander MCNAIR  (1843 - 1906) and Elizabeth KEPPIE.  They married  on the 29 Dec 1865.  (As it was late in December, the actual marriage wasn't recorded until 1866

The ages on the marriage certificate can be subtracted from the year of marriage to find out the birth dates of Alexander and Elizabeth.

On  the marriage certificate, Alexander's mother's maiden name was given as SETON, but as she died when Alexander was nine years old, it is possible that he wouldn't recall his mother's maiden name, or perhaps she was simply known as Mary from Seaton's lodgings (where she lived), thus Mary Seton! - see later discussion.

Alexander McNAIR and Elizabeth KEPPIE  had the following children:

James H McNAIR (b. 1868;) Robert McNAIR (b. 27 May 1870, d. 1874); Alexander McNAIR (b. 3 Aug 1872, d. 14 Jun 1959);  John McNAIR (b. 8 Jun 1877-d. 6 Mar 1963);  WIlliam McNAIR (b. 6 Aug, 1879); Arthur McNAIR (b. 1867, d. 1868); David McNAIR  b. 31 Jan 1875, d. ?; Arthur McNAIR b. 30 Oct 1883, d.?

Alexander's death certificate in 1906 has the mother's surname left blank but it confirms his two wives, Elizabeth Keppie and Margaret McDonald.

The furthest this family has been traced (with proven certification and DNA) is James McNAIR who married Mary SETON or INNES in 1838.  There is a bit of trickiness around the name 'SETON' as all certificates (including James' death certificate) suggest that the  surname of his first wife was INNES.  (He later married Janet WATT following the death of Mary in 1852 where she was recorded as McNAIR or SEATON).  This can possibly be explained by looking at the OPR(Old Parish Record) of a James McNAIR marrying a Mary INNES.  Mary's address was given as Seaton's Lodgings:

When James died, the death was reported by his son Alexander whose address at the time of the 1891 census was 4 Dalrymple Place, and this was the address given for the informant on his father's death certificate, so we can conclude that Mary SETON was in fact Mary INNES.