Current assessment
Evidence-led research study
Edinburgh and Leith: Glasgow women in craft households
Marriage and baptism entries place several Glasgow women among tailors and cordiners. The shared trades and locality point to research connections, while each woman must be identified from her own records.
Evidence-led study · connections under review How to read the evidence1607–1620 · Edinburgh and South Leith, Midlothian
1607–1620record span
5people in the study
10catalogue records
The question at the heart of this study
Do craft incorporation, marriage-cautioner or testament records identify the fathers or earlier marriages of Barbara and Margaret Glasgow?
Margaret Glasgow married cordiner William Hardie in 1611; one Barbara married George Johnstoun, also a cordiner, in 1616; another Barbara has a South Leith entry with John Wilson in 1611. The Edinburgh register also lists a cordiner William Hardie marrying in 1608, 1641 and 1643, but does not establish whether these entries concern Margaret's husband or namesakes. Ninian's son Robert was a cordiner, making his household a plausible context for the unattached women. Isobel, who married tailor William Symountoun in 1619, is now probably identified with Andrew of Corsoun's daughter; that proposed join remains qualified.
A study rooted in place
The record chronology
Small dots are catalogue records; larger dots mark selected story events. A record occurrence alone is not proof of a relationship.
Read all 9 dated entries, earliest first
- 1596 — Ninian Glasgow · Burgess Admission 23 Oct 1596 · Glasgow, Scotland · Documented
- 1598 — Isobel Glasgow · Daughter named in Andrew Glasgow's inheritance clause · [Corsoun?], Calder Cleir parish, Scotland · Documented
- 1607 — Ninian Glasgow · Testament/Probate 27 Aug 1607 · Glasgow, Scotland · Documented
- 1611 — Margaret Glasgow · Marriage 16 Jul 1611 · Edinburgh, Scotland · Documented
- 1613 — Ninian Glasgow · Testament/Probate 8 May 1613 · Glasgow, Scotland · Documented
- 1613 — Ninian Glasgow · Occupations 1613 · Scotland · Documented
- 1613 — Ninian Glasgow · Fisher and burgess; spouse Jonet Hutchesoun; son Robert; siblings John and Marion · Glasgow, Scotland · Documented
- 1616 — Barbara Glasgow · Marriage 21 Nov 1616 · Edinburgh, Scotland · Documented
- 1619 — Issobell Glasgow · Marriage 10 Jun 1619 · Edinburgh, Scotland · Documented
Reading the evidence
How much can we say?
How to read the evidence What each label means, and why a research cluster does not prove kinship.
Documented
No separate claim assigned at this level.
Strongly supported
No separate claim assigned at this level.
Working hypothesis
No separate claim assigned at this level.
Unresolved
- A craft and locality network, not proof that the Barbara entries refer to one woman or that Margaret and Barbara are Ninian's daughters.
What would settle it
high priority
Read the original 1611 South Leith entries, trace John Wilson after the marriage, and inspect Edinburgh tailoring and cordiner incorporation records for named fathers or cautioners. Compare the Hardie OPR marriages and testaments before treating the later William as Margaret's husband.
Distinguish a documented occurrence from a family connection.
Sources & people
People in this study
Ninian Glasgowc. 1550 – after 1613-05-08
Barbara (Glasgow) Wilsonc. 1590 – Not recorded
Barbara Glasgowbefore 1600 – Not recorded
Margaret Glasgowbefore 1595 – Not recorded
Issobell Glasgowc. 1597 – Not recorded
Continue the research
Source provenance and individual uncertainties are retained in the linked profiles and dated record entries.