Not content with producing one set of twins (Elspet & William), Elizabeth (Taylor) Wighton produced another 2fer1 set - Betty and Robert. (Note: it was not uncommon for Scottish parents to baptise more than one child at the same time. The presence of two sets of twins in the family suggests that Thomas and Elizabeth may have adopted that practice.) This biography focuses on Betty Wighton, born August 30, 1800 in Newtyle.

The first record that I found of Betty after her birth was her presence in the 1841 census. (ScotlandPeoples Database transcribers had incorrectly identified her as Ketty.) Betty/Ketty was unmarried and living in Lochee, Burnside in the parish of Liff & Benvie (part of Greater Dundee). At the age of 40, she was employed as a flax spinner. Curiously, the building in which she lived held 10 tenants and within that building there were two other Wighton families. This seemed like a bit of a coincidence - was Betty living with those Wightons because they were family? So, I researched them.

The older Wighton family consisted of John Wighton (age 69, a wright), his wife Margaret (67) and daughter Jean (31). Using that information I was able to find the rest of John's family. Birth records revealed that John had 10 children between 1800 and 1816. In addition to Jean, there was another Jean in 1800, Isabella (1802), John (1804), David (1806), James (1807), William (1812), Jacabina (1813), Agnes (1815) and Elisabeth (1816).

The younger Wighton family living in the same building with our Betty was John (Sr)'s 3rd child - John (Jr). With him was wife Janet (40) and children Margaret (17), Jean (14), James (12), Jess (8), John (5), William (3), Alexander (1). Further research identified wife Janet as Janet Watson. However, there was no record of John and Janet's marriage, nor were there any birth records for their first four children - evidence that even in the 19th century, births and marriages weren't being universally recorded yet in Scotland.

As to whether or not these Wightons could have been related to Betty: John (Sr) Wighton would have been born around 1772 if the 1841 census had recorded his age accurately. Might he be the John Wighton, born to William Wighton and Margaret Finlay in 1770 and thus half-brother to Thomas Wighton, Betty's father? Further research on this John Wighton, wright of Liff and Benvie turned up a death certificate which certified that John Wighton, widow of Margaret Elder died in Dundee in 1865 at the age of 94 years old. The ages and the wife's name match. Also, the informant was John Wighton's son, James. (John, the wright of Liff and Benvie, had a son named James.) Sure sounds like this is the death certificate of John, the wright of Liff and Benvie. Now, as to the important piece of information - the name of John's parents. Turns out that John, the wright of Liff and Benvie, had a father named David not Thomas. Case closed. It was just coincidence that brought Betty to the building where two other Wighton families were living in 1841.

Back to Betty Wighton. She did not appear in the 1851 census, however I found Betty in 1861 living with Janet (Jr) Lindsay, her niece. Also appearing was Janet's newborn son, John. Betty was unmarried, 59 years old - which is close enough - and working as a field worker. The census put Betty in the parish of Kettins, but it also indicated that they were living close to High Keillor, the Newtyle hamlet where Janet (Sr) Lindsay was living. I have previously contended that this was the homestead area of Thomas Wighton and Elizabeth Taylor - Betty and Janet's parents.

In 1871, Betty was still in the same area, but this time, she was living just two residences away from her sister Janet in High Keillor. At the age of 70, Ketty was working as housekeeper for her older brother, William (shepherd). Robert Bain reported that Betty died April 28, 1881 in High Keillor at the age of 80.

In the previous biography (Betty's sister Margaret), I linked to an essay that described how the British government in 1797 began conscripting men to serve in the militia in 1797 the same year that Margaret was born. Here's part 2 of that essay: Why the government of 1797 felt that militias were necessary. I've titled the essay, Revolution! That should give you a hint.

Sources

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

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

Robert Bain's research on The Descendants of Thomas Wighton as provided to the author in March 2011. Robert's partner, Eilidh Mary Smith is a descendant of Janet Wighton through her daughter Anne Fleeming Lindsay.

Where to now? To read more about Generation 4 John's immediate family, just click top to make a selection from Generation 4's genealogical table at the top of this page. The navigation buttons just below will give you quick access to biographies in other generations.