William was born in Montrose (like all of his sisters) on May 5, 1856. Margaret Herrald referred to him in her letter as Uncle Willie, but I'll use the formal name in this biography. William next appeared in the official records in the 1871 census living at #50, St. John's Place in Montrose. With him, was his mother, his grandmother, and his three sisters. By the 1881 census, now 24, William was living as a boarder with the Robert Penman family in 39 High Street, Cockpen parish. Presumably, that location was in Bonnyrigg. William was employed as a chemist & druggist. You may recall that John Burns, William's maternal grandfather, was an analytical chemist and his uncle, John Burns, was an experimental chemist. William was a chemist in the strict sense of the word - we would refer to him now as a pharmacist.

William married Matilda Campbell on August 5, 1885. According to the marriage certificate, at the time of his marriage, William was living at Maryfield, Lasswade. However, the boundaries between Bonnyrigg and Lasswade may have been in flux, because census documents would refer to William's residence as Hillview, Maryfield, Bonnyrigg. I have presumed that this was the residence that housed his sisters, Catherine and Amy Louisa, before their marriage. Also, we've learned that William's mother, Margaret, stayed in this residence until her death. A picture of the modern Hillview house is shown above.

Matilda Campbell was born in 1856 to parents Barbara McCammond and James Campbell. Her father was a welder. At the time of her wedding, Matilda was an assistant teacher, living at Polton Street, Bonnyrigg. Depending on where she lived on Polton Street, she would have been a 5 minutes walk from Hillview House. One might speculate that Matilda might have met William through Amy Louisa who (presumably) had been a teacher in Bonnyrigg and had married just two months previously. Three children followed in due course:

The 1891 census revealed William and Matilda living in Hillview, Bonnyrigg along with William's mother, Margaret. Two recent additions to the family were:

• Edith Mary Hutcheon, b. April 27, 1887, and
• Alice Burns Hutcheon, July 14, 1890.
• Joining them on March 29, 1896 was Amy Campbell Hutcheon.

All children were born in Bonnyrigg. The family relocated to 24 Derby Square, Douglas, Isle of Man in 1903. The picture below may have been taken in 1906 and shows Matilda and William in the center, with two of their daughters on each side. Margaret Serzans, our resident expert on deciperhing facial characteristics from faded photos, suggests that the girl on the left is Alice (2nd born) and the girl on the right is Amy (3rd born).

The picture below was taken in Londonderry, Ireland. (Londonderry was not that far from Isle of Man, and we believe that the Hutcheon family was not adverse to travelling.) Cousin Margaret thinks that Edith (the oldest) is on the left, Amy (youngest) is in the middle, and Alice (2nd born) is on the right. I'll take a stab at dating the picture as 1914-1918, putting the age of Amy between 18 and 22. If so, the picture was taken after their father, William, had died in 1913. His wife, Matilda, continued to live in the home at Derby Square and died in 1936.

Our third, and last picture of the Hutcheon daughters records the marriage of Edith (the oldest) to George Pert in 1919. John Murray Wighton, the distinguished looking gentleman standing on the right side of the picture, gave the bride away. Cousin Margaret believes Alice is the bridesmaid on the left and Amy is the bridesmaid on the right.

Edith and George moved to the US and had three children (George, Mary, and James). They lived for a short time in Brooklyn before moving to New Jersey, first to Haworth and later to Tenafly. Edith died January 29, 1960 in Tenafly, New Jersey.

Edith's son, George graduated from Dartmouth College and served in WWII in the Marine Corps Reserve. His initial career was in banking, but later worked with Norman Vincent Peale working for the church. George had no children. Edith's daughter became Mary C. Pert Tator of Manchester, New Jersey. James became a doctor and lived in Glenmont with his wife Trudy.

Alice was one of the bridesmaids in the wedding picture - possibly the one on the left. A more recent picture of her is immediately below. Alice took up work in the Isle of Man as a chemist and druggist, possibly taking over her father's businenss. She died October 23, 1951 while on tour in France.

Amy became a science teacher in Douglas. She died March 18, 1974. Here's an excerpt from her 1968 letter to Margaret Serzans that you might find interesting. This has been a difficult year and I have had a struggle to keep going. It seems to take me all my time to keep this little apartment in order. It is surprising the difference two years can make at my age. I am 72, the age Grandmother was in 1899 when she passed away. I find all the rapid changes taking place in the world difficult to keep up with. The present condition of the world does not make it any easier. One just wonders where it is all going to end. I feel sorry for Mr. Johnson. He is in a very difficult position. I cannot feel Kennedy would improve matters.

Sources

Margaret Serzans

Letter from Amy C. Hutcheon, AL(H)W's niece, to Margaret Serzans, 1968.

Letters from Amy Louisa Hutcheon Wighton to John Latta Wighton and Ella Peterson around 1939

Various web sites, including:

ScotlandsPeople Database (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/)

The Latter-Day Saints website: http://www.familysearch.org/

Orender Family Home for Funerals in New Jersey: http://www.ordenderfamilyhome.com/OBIT.htm. (The obituary for Edith's son, George Pert, as discovered by Margaret Serzans.