As you've already read, William Wighton had a child out of wedlock with Marjory Anderson in 1760. The information from the Kirk Session (in which Will Wighton acknowledged Thomas as his son) also reported that Marjory/Margery had been a parishioner of Meigle but she had married a John Fairweather in Glamis around four months prior to the birth.

I found no record of a Marjory/Margery Anderson being born in Meigle, however a Marjory Andersone was born in Newtyle on July 6, 1729 to a John Andersone. John Andersone had seven children born between 1719 and 1733. Marjory, the third child, was born in Newbigging, a little farm settlement just north of Newtyle.

Marjory's birth year would make her some 6 years older than William Wighton. She would have been 31 In 1760, when she gave birth to our Thomas and when she married John Fairweather. That seems to be a little old for a woman marrying during this period, but it's not out of the question. I wondered if she might have been married previously, but I found no such record. I wondered if there might have been two Marjory Anderson women. I found no other birth records for a Marjory/Margery Anderson in the surrounding area (Kettins, Glammis, Alyth) but there were a lot of Anderson families in Scotland, with a variety of alternative spellings, so it's possible that our Thomas' mother was another Marjory Anderson. But, in the absence of any such information, let's assume that Thomas' mother was born in Newtyle parish in 1729.

As to Thomas Wighton's birth: ScotlandPeoples' database has Thomas being born/baptized to William Wighton in Meigle on December 24, 1760. This is confirmed in the LDS site as well. However, the interesting piece of information is that the LDS database also shows a Fairweather child born to Marjory Anderson and John Fairweather on December 21, 1760 in Meigle. No first name was given. This baby was Thomas Wighton.

Marjory Anderson married John Fairweather, July 12, 1760 in Meigle and not in Glamis as stated in the Kirk Session minutes. She was a parishioner of Meigle, he was of Glamis. If the Fairweather-Anderson couple was living in Meigle at the time of Thomas' birth, his appearance 4 months early would have prompted a Kirk Session inquiry. Initially, the suspicion would have been on Marjory and John having engaged in pre-marital sex - a serious accusation. However, Marjory accused William of being the father and he admitted to his sin and scandal. It's entirely likely that Marjory and John Fairweather would have left Meigle immediately after the scandal was revealed, leaving William to appear before the church three times in January 1761.

However, that wasn't the end of the incident for Marjory. Although Will appeared in front of the church congregation to be rebuked and although he paid his fine, this did not let Marjory off the hook. From the Kirk Session minutes of February 4, 1761, we learn that the church had additional expectations as noted thusly: Officer to call upon Marjory Anderson who was cited to appear this day before the Session, but not compearing, the Minister was desired to write to the Minister of Glammis to cause his officer to cite her to appear next session.

And again we find on February 8, 1761: Said day, the officer called upon Marjory Anderson but not compeared, the Minister was desired to write again to the Minister of Glammis to cause cite [illegible].

And again on March 8, 1761: This day received Marjory Anderson's penalty money 6.0.0. Marjory Anderson on the pillory (1)

May 8, 1761: Marjory Anderson on the pillory. (2 & 3)

Obviously, the Meigle Kirk Session found it necessary to deal more stringently with Marjory. They fined her more than Will Wighton and added three sessions on the pillory. I suspect that this was because she refused to appear in front of the Session and accept her punishment. Being in Glamis, she may have felt that she was exempt from the Meigle church's jurisdiction. Or, she may have feared the punishment which could be quite humiliating. For further information on these kinds of punishment click pillory.

Since it's likely that Thomas Wighton was raised by Marjory Anderson and John Fairweather in Glamis, I thought I'd try to get more information on his step-father. There were two John Fairweathers born in the area at the appropriate time, one in Glamis, the other in Couper Angus. It was impossible to pin it down any further. One of these families moved to Meigle and it was there that John married Marjory.

Assuming that the Fairweather/Anderson couple moved to Glamis after Thomas' birth as reported in the Kirk Session minutes, I found evidence of seven children born to John Fairweather and an unnamed mother. Those children were: James (Nov 1, 1761; Isobel (April 22, 1763), ? male (March 22, 1765), Janet, (Feb 24, 1768) another James (July 27, 1770), Elizabeth (July 7, 1773), and William (Sept 27, 1775). All of these dates fit with a marriage in 1760.

We do not know when Marjory Anderson (Fairweather) died.

Sources

Family Search, The LDS Genealogical Website: (http://www.familysearch.org/) The Fairweather births were found in C7220810 and in C112794

Greg Wighton of Tasmania provided me with an excerpt from Meigle's Kirk Session records that linked our Thomas to William.

The LDS microfilm of Meigle's parish records held the Kirk Session minutes

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

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