Margaret Wighton, 5th child out of 7, was born May 4, 1797 in Newtyle. She was recorded as Margarat in the birth record but was listed as Margaret in later records - at least that was the case if my speculation on Margaret's marriage and family life is correct.

I was able to find a husband, family, and grandchildren for Margaret Wighton - provided that our Newtyle Margaret is the Margaret Wighton who married William Sim in Kettins. The problem is that I couldn't find any census record that included a reference to Margaret's birthplace. That little piece of detail - born in Newtyle - would have been sufficient to cement this Margaret Wighton's relationship to John Wighton and Elizabeth Taylor since there were no other Margaret Wightons born in Newtyle during the appropriate period. Nor could I find Margaret's death certificate - that actually would have named her parents. In the absence of a definitive link, I base my projected life story on simple geographical proximity. Margaret Wighton, the only Margaret Wighton born in Newtyle or in Kettins, married a man in Kettins less than a mile or so from her birth place. The marriage certificate stated that Margaret and her groom were residents of Kettins at the time of their marriage. However, this is not a problem since we know that other family members had "dual citizenships" in these parishes. Parents Elizabeth and John had two children in Kettins and 5 children in Newtyle. Niece Janet (Jr) Lindsay had her son in Kettins but lived in Newtyle afterwards. Even sister Janet (Sr) had two parishes in her background - living in Newtyle most of her life but working in Meigle for a short period. Thus, it is entirely likely that our Margaret Wighton could have been raised in the High Keillor area of Newtyle and ended up working in Kettins before her marriage.

My hesitation in declaring this Margaret our Margaret stems from the mobility of families that was taking place during this period. A century earlier, when families stayed very close to their family homestead, I'd have had no doubts that I had found our Margaret. Now, I have just a bit of a doubt. My reservations are reduced by the fact that there were only 6 Margaret Wightons born in Scotland between 1792 and 1802. Theoretically, it was possible for one of these Margarets to have relocated to Kettins, but some would have had some distance to go (Kirriemuir, Dundee) and others a lot of distance (Fife, Glasgow). Logically therefore, it makes sense that Margaret of Newtyle was the Margaret Wighton who married in Kettins. Still, I wish I could have found that last confirmation.

I believe that Margaret Wighton married William Sim, November 23, 1817 in Kettins at the age of 20. Census records suggest that William was the same age as Margaret; however, I was unable to find any William Sim born in Newtyle or Kettins in or around 1797. There were plenty of William Sims though, so it's just likely that he was born elsewhere and moved to Newtyle for work.

William and Margaret's first child, John, was born in Kettins, on October 26th, 1817 which, if you're keeping count, was one month before they were married. The family left Kettins and reappeared in Inchture in 1819. Inchture is about 12-15 miles south of Meigle (as the crow flies) and about 6 miles west of Dundee. Inchture is farming territory and this would suit Margaret's husband well since he was a labourer. Three children were born in Inchture: Isabel, July 1, 1819; Betty, March 22, 1822 (named after an Aunt?) and Euphemia, July 11, 1825.

The family picked up stakes sometime after Euphemia was born and moved to Errol, 6 miles or so south-west and close to the Tay River. Still, farming territory. Son Robert (named after an uncle?) was born in Errol, August 21, 1833. Margaret would have been 36 years old.

The next, and last appearance of Margaret Sim in the records was in the 1841 census. William Sime and wife Margaret were living in Seaside, Errol on June 6, 1841. Their oldest son (John, 24) was not with them in Errol. Isabella (not Isabel) was shown as 20 (really 21). Neither Betty (19) or Euphemia (15) are shown on the census. There was an unexpected entry though - a daughter named Lilley with an age of 13. (I confirmed the accuracy of the name by searching for that specific spelling of the forename and pulling up the correct record.) However, I found no birth records for this daughter (with even a minimal similarity to the census' forename) through numerous wild card searches and broad-based searches throughout all parishes in the country. The last entry in the census was a solid find, however, - the fifth child Robert who was identified correctly as seven years old.

In my search for a way to tie Margaret Sim of Inchture/Errol to the Margaret Wighton born in Newtyle, I pursued the families of Margaret's children. I drew blanks in all but one case - the eldest, John. I found him living in Inchture between 1842 and 1854. He married Agnes Morris there January 21, 1842. They subsequently had 7 children between 1843 and 1854: Janet, Jean, William, Margaret, Frances (male), Euphemia, and Isabella. (Note the duplication of the names Euphemia and Isabella.) Second born Jean Sim had an interesting addition to her name: She was shown in the records as Jean Wighton Sim, thereby cementing the link between John Sim and Agnes Morris to Margaret (Wighton) Sim. Unfortunately, that didn't link her conclusively to Margaret Wighton, born in Newtyle.

Margaret was born at a time when the revolutionary events in France were creating concern among governments in Europe as well as Britain. What if this madness spread? However, in taking preventive actions, they increased the turmoil that already existed within their citizenry. Even rural Scotland was affected, for example in Alyth and Blairgowrie, two towns very close to Newtyle and Kettins. For further information, read the essay on forced enlistment in militias.

Sources

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

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

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