Plowman

I have a PLOWMAN puzzle.

It starts with the marriage of John WAUGH & Elizabeth PLOWMAN in 1856, both the marriage cert and Elizabeth's 1868 death cert stating that her parents were Donald PLOWMAN & Mary FINLAYSON. The marriage cert states that John and Elizabeth were second cousins.

John WAUGH's parents were Adam WAUGH & Margaret CORMACK whose parents were Alexander CORMACK & Isobel CALDER, sister to Margaret CALDER who married Magnus PLEWMAN / PLOWMAN in 1760. Magnus & Margaret had a number of issue baptised who can be found at Scotlandspeople but some researchers give a son Donald PLOWMAN 1774 for them as well. There doesn't seem to be a baptism or another good source for him, so I don't know how he is arrived at.

If Elizabeth PLOWMAN's father Donald PLOWMAN was the son of Magnus PLOWMAN & Margaret CALDER then that makes John WAUGH & Elizabeth PLOWMAN second cousins (as per the marriage cert) via CALDER when they married in 1856.

So far so good.

Donald PLOWMAN, who was in Bilbster at the time, & Mary FINLAYSON married 1826, had their daughter Elizabeth at Bilbster in 1827 (=John WAUGH) and daughter Isobel at Bilbster in 1833. The family is at Bilbster in the 1841 census, Donald age 71 (i.e. born about 1770) and Mary age 52.

06 Jun 1841 Census of Scotland
@ Bilbster, Wick, Caithness
Donald PLOWMAN 71 Ag Lab Yes
Mary PLOWMAN 52 Yes
Eliz PLOWMAN 13 Yes
Isabel PLOWMAN 10 Yes


There was another Donald PLOWMAN in Bilbster married to Mary MOWAT in 1798. They had several childen baptised when at Bilbster. Some researchers place the births at Staxigoe but the actual baptisms say the parents were at Bilbster when they occurred. I have seen unsourced data that suggests that Mary MOWAT died 1826 which is the year that Donald PLOWMAN married Mary FINLAYSON.

The obvious question to ask is, are Donald PLOWMAN at Bilbster who married Mary MOWAT and Donald PLOWMAN at Bilbster who married Mary FINLAYSON one and the same person? On the side of Donald who married Mary FINLAYSON we have the evidence of their daughter Elizabeth whose marriage cert states that she and John WAUGH were second cousins, and the CALDER connection fits that beautifully.

On the side of Donald who married Mary MOWATT,there is the evidence of the first son being named Magnus and the second daughter being named Margaret, both these names hinting at the possible grandparents, Magnus PLOWMAN & Margaret CALDER who married 1760.

Now the puzzle starts...

The problem with theorising that Donald who married Mary MOWAT and lived at Bilbster can be identified as Donald who married Mary FINLAYSON and lived at Bilbster is that there were two eldest children called Elizabeth PLOWMAN, i.e. Donald PLOWMAN & Mary MOWATT's eldest child was Elizabeth PLOWMAN baptised 1799, plus Donald PLOWMAN & Mary FINLAYSON' s eldest child was Elizabeth PLOWMAN baptised 1827. That would work if the first Elizabeth died young...but she didn't, she married William GRAY and died 1871, her death cert naming her parents as Donald PLOWMAN & Mary MOWAT. The second Elizabeth bap 1827 has her parents as Donald PLOWMAN & Mary FINLAYSON on both her marriage and death certs, and she died 1868 before the first Elizabeth.

So, for Donald PLOWMAN to be identified as a one person who married both Mary MOWAT and Mary FINLAYSON, he has to have twoeldest daughters named Elizabeth, one to each marriage, who were contempories of each other. That doesn't sound right. Is such a thing possible?

It seems more likely that there were two Donald PLOWMAN living at Bilbster and both married a Mary, one marrying Mary FINLAYSON in 1826 the same year that Mary MOWAT may have died.

If there were two Donald PLOWMAN in Bilbster who were contemporaries, then which one should I pick as being a possible son to Magnus PLOWMAN & Margaret CALDER, the one who married Mary MOWAT or the one who married Mary FINLAYSON?

The second cousin thing could be a big fat red herring if it doesn't apply to CALDER, maybe it could apply to a different family line.

Magnus PLOWMAN & Margaret CALDER had a child baptised in 1763 whose name I can't discover - unfortunately the baptismal register page has a piece missing, torn out right where the name should be. A researxcher at Worldconnect identifies the child as Alexander but I don't know how.

Does anyone have further information or theories about these people?

Peter