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Glasgow archive/John de Glasgow alias Smith
Catalogue · 08 Sep 2026
Person dossier · record-medieval-1506-john-alias-smith

John de Glasgow alias Smith

c. 1488 (estimated) – Not recorded

Tools
The research account

Current conclusion

The catalogue securely identifies John by both Glasgow and Smith in a joint four-shilling-rent acquisition. It proves no occupation and no relationship to Sir Allan Smith. The only explicit descent is Robert Watson → Agnes. Maintain this pre-1500-born subject on the canonical free-space draft, not a person profile.

record-medieval-1506-john-alias-smith · Read the complete current assessment

Birth
c. 1488 (estimated)High Street, Glasgow, Scotland (estimated)
Death
Not recordedPlace not recorded

The family

Explore →

No parents named in the supplied model.

No children attached here.

Relationship labels belong to each link. Partners are not assumed to be parents of every child.

What would move the research forward

Evidence and next steps

Evidence highlighted in the case file

  • Glasgow University Archives GUA BL/204 catalogue description, instrument dated 28 April 1506. Agnes, daughter and heir of Robert Watson, disposed the rent to Sir Allan Smith and John de Glasgow alias Smith; Allan's property was the northern boundary. The catalogue's legacy wording includes the malformed Watsonm, which must be checked against the instrument. The complete instrument was not retrieved, so the terms of joint acquisition, survivorship and any omitted associates or relationships remain unknown.
Read the source findings

Recommended next records

Transcribe BL/204 completely and follow the same four-shilling High Street annual rent through later conveyances for a named successor, widow or heir.

Read all current research questions

A life in the records

Open the full chronology →

Personal events

  1. Birth

    High Street, Glasgow, Scotland (estimated)

Records mentioning them

  1. Joint acquirer with Sir Allan Smith of a four-shilling annual rent

    Mentioned person; role not specified

    High Street, Glasgow, Scotland

    Seller Agnes is explicitly daughter and heir of Robert Watson. Sir Allan's property was the northern boundary. No relationship between Allan and John and no occupation for John are stated; legacy `Watsonm` wording requires checking.

The research behind the story.

1 record associations →

Dated assessments, source transcriptions and earlier working notes remain available in full. Where those disagree, use the current conclusion above and inspect its reasoning.

Latest case researchThe current conclusion from the durable research case file.Updated

Current conclusion

record-medieval-1506-john-alias-smith

The catalogue securely identifies John by both Glasgow and Smith in a joint four-shilling-rent acquisition. It proves no occupation and no relationship to Sir Allan Smith. The only explicit descent is Robert Watson → Agnes. Maintain this pre-1500-born subject on the canonical free-space draft, not a person profile.

Life and record timelineChronological mapped occurrences and their underlying sources.1 record
1506

Joint acquirer with Sir Allan Smith of a four-shilling annual rent

High Street, Glasgow, Scotland

Seller Agnes is explicitly daughter and heir of Robert Watson. Sir Allan's property was the northern boundary. No relationship between Allan and John and no occupation for John are stated; legacy `Watsonm` wording requires checking.

Documentedderivative
Source and mapping detail

Glasgow University Archives GUA BL/204 (formerly GUA16403), instrument of 28 Apr 1506

Candidate matched on record type, year, place; inspect before treating it as the underlying record.

Precision: Street-level property context

Case-file source findingsSource extracts and analysis regenerated from findings.md.1 section(s)

Source findings

record-medieval-1506-john-alias-smith

  • Glasgow University Archives GUA BL/204 catalogue description, instrument dated 28 April 1506. Agnes, daughter and heir of Robert Watson, disposed the rent to Sir Allan Smith and John de Glasgow alias Smith; Allan's property was the northern boundary. The catalogue's legacy wording includes the malformed Watsonm, which must be checked against the instrument. The complete instrument was not retrieved, so the terms of joint acquisition, survivorship and any omitted associates or relationships remain unknown.
Evidence assessmentWhat is supported, uncertain or disputed in the current case model.1 claim
1Derivative

Documented or strongly supported

John de Glasgow alias Smith was recorded in High Street, Glasgow, Scotland (1506).

proved1 linked evidence item

Joint acquirer with Sir Allan Smith of a four-shilling annual rent

Working hypotheses and conflicts

No claims in this category have been formally assessed.

Case-file assessments

Identity and relationship assessment

record-medieval-1506-john-alias-smith

John's dual designation is secure at catalogue level. Sir Allan Smith → John is unsupported. Identity with the 1527–1553 Saltmarket holder is plausible but unproved.

Research questionsOpen problems, missing bridges and the next records to inspect.0 open

No formal open question is recorded for this person.

Case-file priorities and cautions

Recommended next records

record-medieval-1506-john-alias-smith

Transcribe BL/204 completely and follow the same four-shilling High Street annual rent through later conveyances for a named successor, widow or heir.

Sources and provenanceStructured citations and source-quality classifications.1 source

Source or provenance: quality describes the record layer, not every conclusion drawn from it.

  1. derivative Glasgow University Archives GUA BL/204 (formerly GUA16403), instrument of 28 Apr 1506
For working on the evidence

Research tools and original material

Original imported identity & family snapshot

Preserved imported material. It may include superseded assertions; the current display assessment is shown at the top of this dossier.

At a glance

Identity & family

Tree links organise the family; documentary status still varies.

1Mapped records
0Close relations
1Evidence items
0Candidate leads
Birth
c. 1488 (estimated) · High Street, Glasgow, Scotland (estimated)
Death
Not recorded · Place not recorded
Parents
Not recorded
Spouses
Not recorded
Children
Not recorded
Gender
Male
WikiTree
Individual WikiTree Space page
Research clusters
Medieval Glasgow bearers
Mapped descendants
Not calculated

Comparison context

These child positions and checks are the subject details used to rank possible parents below.

Naming sequence used by the parentage model

Paternal grandfather positionNot identifiable from dated child profiles
Maternal grandfather positionNot identifiable from dated child profiles
Maternal grandmother positionNot identifiable from dated child profiles
Paternal grandmother positionNot identifiable from dated child profiles

Known-position checks: 0 support · 0 conflict. Ordinals retain unnamed children and recognise reused names.

Estimate and relationship notes
  • Estimated as age 18 at the earliest known adult record (1506).
  • Estimated from the earliest mapped residence record (1506).
Candidate comparisons and scoring

Relationship comparison

Potential parents or duplicates

Compare scored leads with the subject details above—not proof.

Higher-signal leadReview carefullyWeak lead

No named children are recoverable, so child-naming analysis cannot be run.

How parent leads are calculated

Automated leads use birth surnames—not married surnames—as parental eligibility, role-specific biological age limits, bounded and approximate-date uncertainty, household chronology, specific time-aware localities, mapped distance, tenancy succession, migration destinations and sex-aware Scottish naming positions across generations. People already attached as the subject's parents stay in the identity summary and are excluded from this alternative-candidate list, regardless of relationship confidence. The main calibration uses clues available on disconnected profiles; existing parent and sibling links are retained as comparison context rather than treated as transferable evidence. Common ordered names and grandparent-to-child echoes receive a small non-zero weight, so a John or James match can support several independent criteria without producing a lead alone. Rare names, repeated bearers and bundles across otherwise distinct branches receive substantially more weight according to catalogue frequency. An exact migration place is weighted by its rarity and repetition across both branches; a shared destination country is worth only one point. Extra weight is added only when at least three independent clue types converge: naming, locality, specific migration, household chronology or collateral networks. Sparse profiles retain a clearly labelled chronology-only fallback instead of disappearing. Countries, states, counties and research clusters do not count as a shared locality, and fallback, broad representative or kin-inferred coordinates are excluded from distance scoring. Shared descendant profiles are removed before branch-name comparison. A candidate already recorded as a parent-in-law is excluded. A confident or independently supported parent is treated as settled; uncertain and unassessed attachments remain open to alternative comparison. A different linked parent, an uncle/aunt or grandparent path, and a matching existing child profile prevent an alternative from being classified as a strong direct-parent lead until the underlying tree conflict or duplicate is resolved. Familiar forms such as Bessie are normalised. Surname remains an eligibility filter worth zero points.

Naming customs, shared farms and occupations are circumstantial. Children, spouses and collateral relatives may be missing, and tree-derived family networks are not independent evidence. Scores rank research leads; they do not prove parentage.

No sufficiently similar same-name person is currently indexed.

How duplicate leads are calculated

Dates are eligibility gates, not merely deductions: chronologically impossible people are excluded. Dates, places, spouses, parent certainty and children's profiles and names are then compared. A high score is a prompt to inspect records, not a merge recommendation.

Documentary subject

Canonical WikiTree Space page

This evidence is maintained on a supporting free-space page, not forced into a person profile.

Technical profile and raw captureDataset metadata, machine dossier and captured WikiTree biography.Advanced

WikiTree profile information

Dataset: ONT_Glasco_2026-08-18T16_05.json · generated 2026-09-08

Machine-readable dossier

Imported facts and reviewed decisions

Original exports stay unchanged. The public display uses explicitly approved decisions where available.

Read the original JSON · Reviewed decision register

Structured data downloadsOriginal structured dossier

Your research notebook.

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