William Wighton and Margaret Finlay's third child was born/baptized June 6, 1765 in Potento. This was 13 scant months after the birth of Isobel, who died as an infant. As reported by the Scots Ancestry Research Society, and as recorded in both the ScotlandsPeople and LDS data bases, she was named Isobel. However, in my own perusal of the Old Parish Records, I found reference to her as Isabella. This is confirmed by Kirstine Baxter - one of Isabella's descendents, who found reference to Isabella in the 1841 and 1851 census data. She suggests that Isabella may have been baptized as Isobel or Isabel but adopted the longer form of the word later in life. Kirstine Baxter provided all of the detailed information that follows about Isabella.

Meigle's old parish records report that an Isobel Wighton married a William McKinrick on September 17, 1785 and William subsequently had three children born in 1787, 1788, and 1792. William was referred to in the children's baptismal records as William McKinrick of Camno. Camno, (a.k.a. Camno Mill, or Mill of Camno) was a small farmhouse 1 to 1.5 miles south-west of Meigle. If Isabella was the mother to these children, that would make her 20 on her wedding.

An Isobel Wighton reappeared in the Meigle records on August 2, 1794 - this time in a marriage between her and a John McLachlen. John's surname was also spelt variously as McLaughlan, McLauchlan, McLachlan, & McLochlan. Isobel would have six children with John McLachlen, as shown in the table above. Isobel Wighton was identified as the mother of the children in these records. Isobel appeared as Isabella in the 1841 and 1851 census records. Those same records show her as living with John McLachlen in Camno Mill. Isabella died on April 15, 1861 at Camno Mill, aged 96. (Her husband also died at Camno Mill in 1859 which meant that they were married for 64 years.) By 1861, the authorities were issuing death certificates and Isabella's parents were clearly identified: William Wighton, corn dealer and Margaret Findlay.

So, we know for sure that the Isabella Wighton who had six children with John McLachlen is definitely our ancestor. The only question is whether the Isobel Wighton who had three children with William McKinrick is one and the same. The fact that the children from two men - William McKinrick and John McLachlan - were all born at Camno, and that there was an Isobel Wighton married to both men, should be conclusive proof that both Isobel Wightons were the same woman.

Kirstine Baxter's line descended from Isabella Wighton and her second husband John McLachlan. She has researched the full line, but space does not allow me to reproduce that here. I have shown Kirstine's direct line in the table below. Note that I did not continue the line past Kirstine although there are indeed Wighton descendents in both the 10th and 11th generations.

For a bit of whimsy, you may want to read the Tale of the Miller's Daughter.

Sources

Family Search, The LDS Genealogical Website: (http://www.familysearch.org/)

Greg Wighton

Kirstine Baxter

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

Scots Ancestry Research Society (March 26, 1971). Report to John L. Wighton

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