Jane Clark is my Great Grandmother, who married (1910 in Crieff) the baker David Keay of Perth. They had three boys in Comrie, Perthshire before David died in France during WWI. Then in 1922 Jane Keay remarried to Charlie Hutton, which is why she is now remembered as Grannie Hutton. Jane & Charlie had two girls (and a baby boy who died as an infant) - more about the Hutton family in this post.
Now for some more information about Jane Clark and her family.
Here it begins to get tricky as there were two Jane Clarks in Crieff who were the same age - and they both had a mother of similar age, also named Jane Clark! A simple listing of what I found when I searched for female Clarks who were living in Crieff in 1901 shows the problem:
Jane Clark aged 11, born Crieff, 1890 - with a widowed mother called Jane Clark, aged 47, born Argyle.
Jane Clark aged 11, born Crieff, 1890 - with a mother called Jane Clark, aged 42, born in Crieff.
Our Jane Clark is this second one. We can tell because of further details we know from her marriage certificate (1910): we are given the Bride's parents as William Clark (baker, deceased) and Jane Clark (nee McKeith), and the witnesses were William Keay & Ellison Clark.
The groom David Keay was a Journeyman Baker, aged 24, of 9 Burrell Sq., Crieff {but we know he was born in Perth}. I'd like to know if David worked with or for William Clark at any time.
More details were given about Jane & David Keay and their short future together in the post 'Beginnings'.
A big help to me on this family line has been Sheila, a contact made on Genes Reunited (again!). She is a descendant of John Clark, son of David Clark & Janet McCulloch. She has fond memories of Crieff! I'm very grateful to her as she has shared very freely with stories, info and photos.
National Census Information
So, our Jane appears in the Crieff census for 1901 in Crieff, a scholar aged 11.
Her parents {these details also confirmed by her marriage certificate} were Willm Clark (40, Foreman Baker) and Jane Clark (42) who were both born in Crieff.
If we go right back thru time (via the time machine that is the National Census) in Crieff, Jane's father William Clark first appears in 1861 as a baby, his father David Clark was a Woolen Weaver (aged 30, born in Crieff ~1831) and they stayed at Burrell St, Crieff. William's mother is Janet aged 30 (born at Monzie), and he also lived with an older brother James & sister Mary.
{In 1851, his father David was listed at Gallowhill, Crieff as a Cotton Weaver, son of James & Helen Clark, with 4 siblings who were all Cotton Weavers - a noisy house! James Clark was also a Cotton Weaver, aged 52, born ~1799 in Madderty, Perthshire. His wife Helen was born ~1799 in Monivaird, Perthshire. I've also seen the 1841 records when David Clark was just 12- then the family were living at Browns Row, Crieff. His siblings were John (1826), Helen (1832), Jean (1834) and James (1840).}
Then at the age of 10 (in the 1871 census) our William is a scholar at Millnab St. Crieff, with his father now a Mason Labourer. His brother James has become a Baker's Apprentice, and 2 younger boys have been born to Janet (Peter, and John). William's sister Mary Clark is in service at the Manse, Blackford.
The couple David & Janet also had a son named David, born 1863, who died in 1864, aged just 14 months.
In 1881, our William has moved out and lives with Jane McKeith (described as his wife) at Crieff. Working as a baker.
More on his parents below. His brother James was living on Comrie St., Crieff, working as a meal & flour merchant in 1881.
I have now seen a copy of their marriage certificate, from 25th March 1881 (so they were very newly wed at the time of the census). William Clark there is described as a Journeyman Baker, of Milnab St., Crieff, whilst Jane is a Furniture Polisher. See another post I'm writing about that certificate and the details given on it; 'help me decipher this'.
September 1883: A tragic month, here as their baby son William Clark died on Sept 18th, 1883, at High St., Crieff. (Died 4 mths old of haemmorhage from bowels. Informant was grandfather William McKeith, of Ramsey St. Crieff.)
In 1891, we see our William is a Baker (30) at 26 Commissioner St. Crieff, with Jane (32) and 5 bairns including David (9), Janet, Mary, James, and our Jane (1).
Again a tragic month, September 1893, when their daughter Ann Clark died, aged 14 months, after 16 days suffering with Gastroenteritis. The couple lived at 26 Commissioner St. Crieff, and William their father was described then as a Journeyman Baker. {Thanks to Sheila for passing on the death certs for little William & Ann}
Also a huge thankyou to Sheila for passing this photo of modern-day Crieff to me. A wonderful service!!! So here is 26 Commissioner St, Crieff...
And some other photographs from Sheila which (for now) I've placed on this separate page: click here.
Which brings us back to 1901, where we first found our Jane (11) with parents William & Jane Clark. They stayed then at Buchan’s Buildings, Cornton Place, Crieff. William was by then a Foreman Baker. There were also 8 other bairns; oldest was David (19; a journeyman Baker), Janet (a preserve worker; born Glasgow), Mary (a draper's messenger), James, Kate (9), Ellison (7), Ellen (3; born Braco), William (1; born Braco).
{This Ellison Clark was perhaps the same lass who was later a witness to Jane's marriage?}
We know that by the time of our Jane's first marriage to David Keay in 1910, her father William Clark had passed away. I found his death certificate & saw that he died of a heart condition at the age of 48, in October 1909. His occupation is listed as Baker; his address as Primrose Cottage, Burrell Square, Crieff.
As a little extra info, the informant for this death cert was his Son-in-law, John Douglas who lived in Maryhill, Glasgow. So he must have been married to a sister of Jane's; perhaps Janet or Mary. {ScotlandsPeople index tells me John Edward Douglas married Mary Clark in 1908, in Crieff.}
Another Douglas is the witness to the second marriage of our Jane Clark when she remarried after the war- to Charlie Hutton, 1922. His name was Alexander Edward Douglas, of Crieff. Perhaps he was also a brother-in-law, having married Janet Clark in 1906, in Crieff?
William's parents
Further questioning of the Death registries in Crieff reveals that Jane's grandfather, David Clark (born 1830) died in 1911. His wife Janet Clark (born 1830) died in Crieff in 1912. We can see that after William Clark had moved out to marry, David & Janet lived (in 1881) in Crieff with just 2 of their children John (14) and Jessie (8). David is recorded as working as a Scavenger - a streetcleaner employed by the Parish {a "scaffie", thanks Sheila!}. His young son was employed as a message boy.
In 1891, David & Janet are at 11, Milnab St., Crieff. They are both aged 60 & David works as a Mason Labourer once more. Note that in later records, Janet is recorded as born in Fowlis Wester.
In 1901, they had their daughter Janet Clark (28; laundress; single) living with them and David (70) continues to work - now as a Garden Labourer.
It's quite rare to be able to follow the family thru the decades like that, often families go missing for a while. Sometimes, because their names are misspelt or folk didn't know how old they were(!), they are tricky to search for in the databases. But this branch has been nice 'n' easy & here they all are - right back to 1799!
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