Jul 7, 2008: More HUDSONs

Another HUDSON day, with another breakthru, this time on the family of William HUDSON and Aylsie FAIRBAIRN (dtr of William FAIRBAIRN and Jean WANLESS). See the GenForum HUDSON board for the details.
I was somewhat puzzled how a family could be so definite about the exact birthdates of their two children, over two census records, when the dates are impossible for them to both belong to the mother shown (Mary), but that could explain how come George's birth isn't obvious in the Manitoba records under HUDSON, but there is a neatly matching one as George Eddy MISSIER, mother Dina, who is probably the Dana MESSIER shown as a daughter of Mary in the 1901 census.
Also finally found William & Elcy (FAIRBAIRN) HUDSON in 1851, at Wakefield, a few entries away from her brother George FAIRBAIRN, along with a couple more likely children, Robert and Jane.
William Jnr (marr. to Mary Louise previously MESSIER, nee GETDISS (?GEDDES) show up in the 1911 census in Masset, British Columbia, so followed the injunction to "go West young man".
Still looking for John and Caroline after 1901, although it looks like they may have moved to Brandon.

Mar 8, 2008: FAIRBAIRN DNA

FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project pages updated to reflect the new results.
In particular, I've split Roy's supplied pedigree into two, the first being the definite lineage back to William who married Jean WANLESS, with his brother David, and the second being Sir William's line.
I've expanded the latter to show a few more salient connections in the hope that a participant may come forward for the project to help resolve whether or not Reby (Johnston) DODDS claim of a relationship in her book Who's Which (1970) is based in fact.
I confess to needing more proof, as the schoolmaster Reby refers too as the connection would appear NOT to be a William married to Elsie ELLIOT, but the one married to Margaret SCOTT.
How I'd love a time machine to go back and ask Reby why she has William and David's parents as William and Elise (ELLIOT) FAIRBAIRN, when indications are that their father is an Archibald.

Mar 7, 2008: FAIRBAIRN DNA match

What an eventful day, genealogically speaking. Yesterday the preliminary 12 marker results arrived in for the 3rd kit of the FAIRBAIRN DNA project and to my surprise, showed a 12/12 match with both of the other 2 participants, neither of whom had ever been seriously considered as relations.
Sure, I'd speculated at times that, despite what others had said, that the William who married Jane WANLESS and the David who married Jane WILLIAMSON, who had emigrated to Quebec, might be the children of my Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Alison CROSSER, purely on the basis of naming patterns of their children, and approximate ages, but proof was definitely lacking.
Then today, the rest of the results arrived showing a full 37/37 match with the descendant of Archibald and Mary (GRIERSON) FAIRBAIRN, and a 36/37 match with a descendant of my Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN.
I've spent a lot of today re-examining assorted claims and OPRs and will soon update the patriarchs page of the Surname project to reflect my findings, combining them as best I can with details reported to me, leaving exactly where they fit into the overall tree for another day, and possibly an upgraded dna test or two.
I'm still very drawn to attaching them to an Archibald as a father, but it would now have to be the one married to Mary GRIERSON instead. A 1790 date for William would fit in between two known children both baptised St Boswells but at different farms, and a 1799 date for David would definitely fit in between 1793 Margaret baptised when they were at Thornylaw, St Boswells, and 1804 George by when they had moved to Macksidemoor, Southdean.
As to the rumoured/believed connection to Sir William FAIRBAIRN's family via his schoolmaster uncle....
I believe that schoolmaster to be the William married to Margaret SCOTT. He was teaching at Bowden from 1778 to 1789 and from 1792 thru 1798 children are now being baptised in Galashiels. This latter period would fit the dates when Sir William was supposedly learning book-keeping from his Uncle in Gala.
In addition, this William looks very like the 53 yr old buried in the Galashiels Old Kirk Cemetery in 1810, which date coincides very nicely with the baptism of the William, son of John FAIRBAIRN and Helen ANDERSON, Apr 1756, Smailholm.
All in all, an eventful day indeed. It is wonderful to know that the work I have sporadically done on the descendants of William and David in Quebec has not been in vain, and that they are indeed all relations, just not sure where yet! Maybe one day soon we'll also figure out how come Walter A FAIRBAIRN is a cousin to his wife Clarissa. I now have more of a vested interest in the answer to that.
In the meantime, I've updated the FAIRBAIRN introductory page to include charts for William and David.
The other charts will also now include some new twigs for the family of John FAIRBAIRN and Bessie FLINT, and Robert FAIRBAIRN and Agnes LANDRETH/LAUNDRESS found while looking for others.