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Thanks everyone.

The Maria in the 1870 census tallies with her marriage certificate which also shows her age as 26 meaning she was born about 1844. So this must be George Gordon and his wife. It is useful to know that she used her middle name Maria. That might make it easier to trace the birth of her child and her death, whenever that was.

George's age is wrong. He was actually 37 but he faked his age consistently throughout his life and the discrepancy grew as he got older. On his third marriage certificate in Scotland he claimed to be 40 when he was actually 50. I am not surprised either that he claimed it was his first marriage. In fact I believe the marriage was bigamous as his first wife didn't die until 1871 in Scotland and there is no trace of a divorce.

That being the case it is likely that he used variant names and moved around to escape detection which makes the task of tracing his subsequent movements all the harder. Nevertheless I will keep trying and any more information would be welcome particular about George Gordon and Maria's child.

Thanks everyone. Andrew's Maria is a mystery. George Gordon had a daughter Maria by his first marriage but she would have been 14 in 1870 and in any case appears in the 1871 Scottish census as a domestic servant living in Old Machar, Aberdeenshire.

Saying this was his first marriage is in character. I believe that the marriage was actually bigamous as his first wife didn't die until 1871 and there is no record of a divorce. This may mean that he used variant names or otherwise evaded detection which makes tracing his subsequent history all the more difficult.

Anyway keep the information coming as this story is fascinating.

This may be a complete co-incidence.

(Sorry my computer has suddenly slowed down, so it may take me a while to follow this up)

Name: Gordon George Hardy
Birth Date: abt 1877
Birth Place: Byhalia, Miss
Age: 68
Death Date: 15 Oct 1945
Death Place: Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee
Burial Date: 17 Oct 1945
Burial Place: Byhalia, Miss
Cemetery Name: Byhalia
Gender: Male
Race: White
Marital Status: Divorced
Residence Place: Whitehaven, Shelby, Tennessee
Occupation: Millwright
Father's Name: George Hardy
Father's Birth Place: Byhalia, Miss
Mother's Name: Lovina Carhoun
Mother's Birth Place: Byhalia, Miss
FHL Film Number: 2137363

Draft Registration
Name: George Gordon Hardy
County: Poinsett
State: Arkansas
Birth Date: 2 Jun 1876
Race: White



Not seeing him on pre 1900 census

I thought that the Maria Hardy there was maybe Ruth using her middle name but if it is looks like her age is a bit out?

1860

Name: Ruth M Andrews
Age in 1860: 22
Birth Year: abt 1838
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Home in 1860: New Bedford Ward 5, Bristol, Massachusetts
Gender: Female
Post Office: New Bedford
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members: Name Age
Christopher Andrews 49
Ruth Andrews 46
Ruth M Andrews 22
Caroline Andrews 21
Christopher S Andrews 19
Frederick W Andrews 15
Ruth Pollay 74
Catherine Desmond 43
Hannah Mcdonnall 22

1850

Name: Ruth Maria Andrews
Age: 12
Birth Year: abt 1838
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Home in 1850: New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts
Gender: Female
Family Number: 694
Household Members: Name Age
Christopher Andrews 40
Ruth Andrews 34
Ruth Maria Andrews 12
Caroline A Andrews 10
Christopher S Andrews 8
Fredk W Andrews 5
Eliza Reynolds 34

On the original image of his 1870 marriage it looks like he's living Poston?

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11029-17256-69?cc=1469062&wc=6961510

Cheeky blighter, saying it's his first marriage!

Possible for George US census 1870

1870 United States Federal Census
about Geo G Hardy
Name: Geo G Hardy
Age in 1870: 32
Birth Year: abt 1838
Birthplace: Scotland
Home in 1870: Taunton Ward 6, Bristol, Massachusetts
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Taunton
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members: Name Age
Lemuel Talbot 53
Mary N Talbot 49
Polly Williams 77
William Walker 25
Owin Atwood 19
>>>>Geo G Hardy 32 Gardner
Maria Hardy 26
Catharine Lyons 29

Andy

Thanks to AnnCardiff's discovery of George Gordon Hardie's second marriage I have now been able to make sense of a reference in the divorce papers relating to the ending of his third marriage. His third wife Christina Munro complained about a child George Gordon had foisted upon her whom he had brought back from America. Presumably this was a child by his marriage to Ruth M Andrews in Massachussets. Unfortunately the divorce papers give no further details and without an age or sex for the child I have been unable to trace a birth certificate in America. George Gordon was a wanderer and it does not follow that he and his wife stayed in New Bedford even though they married there.

As an alternative I am wondering if there is any way of tracing his return to Scotland with the child. I am familiar with emigrant passenger records from Scotland but does anyone know if there are inbound records and if so where I could find them online?

I have no idea what happened to the child but I would like to find out. Possibly he/she returned to the USA with George Gordon in 1883. But given his previous history of abandoning the four daughters of his first marriage it is more likely that the child was left in Scotland to be fostered, adopted or put into some kind of care. Is there any way of tracing children in this unfortunate position in Scotland in the 1880s?

Thanks in advance for your help.

it's on the free Mormon website - www.familysearch.org

Thank you very much everyone. Some of this information I already knew but George Gordon's second marriage in the USA is a breakthrough. Brilliant!

Great minds think alike, Andy!

Could be Annie 1901

EDIT. Sorry Potty, we seem to be doulbe posting the info!

1901 Scotland Census
about Annie Matheson
Name: Annie Matheson
Age: 45
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1856
Relationship: Sister-in-law
Gender: Female
Where born: Boharm, Banffshire
Registration number: 82
Registration district: Tain
Civil parish: Tain
County: Ross and Cromarty
Address: 1 Lamington St
ED: 2
Household schedule number: 27
Line: 23
Roll: CSSCT1901_21
Household Members: Name Age
George Henderson 40
Elizabeth Henderson 42
Violet Henderson 6
Annie Matheson 45
Jane Hardie 92
Janet Henderson 69
Annie Campbell 21




Andy

Annie in 1901 - could Elizabeth Henderson be her sister Eliza?

1901 Scotland Census
about Annie Matheson
Name: Annie Matheson
Age: 45
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1856
Relationship: Sister-in-law
Gender: Female
Where born: Boharm, Banffshire
Registration number: 82
Registration district: Tain
Civil parish: Tain
County: Ross and Cromarty
Address: 1 Lamington St
ED: 2
Household schedule number: 27
Line: 23
Roll: CSSCT1901_21
Household Members: Name Age
George Henderson 40
Elizabeth Henderson 42
Violet Henderson 6
Annie Matheson 45
Jane Hardie 92 Grandmother-in-law, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire
Janet Henderson 69
Annie Campbell 21

Edit: looking at Elizabeth's DOB, she is probably Lizzie.

Robert in 1901 - No Annie but is is shown as a Commercial traveller in 1911:

Name: Robert Spence Matheson
Age: 41
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1860
Relationship: Visitor
Gender: Male
Where born: Forgue, aberdeensh
Registration number: 168/2
Registration district: St Machar
Civil parish: Aberdeen Rubislaw
County: Aberdeenshire
Address: 32 Desswood Pl
Occupation: Grocer Merchant
ED: 43
Household schedule number: 136
Line: 4
Roll: CSSCT1901_59
Household Members: Name Age
Michie F G Cumming 31
Sarah Wood Cumming 27
Robert Spence Matheson 41
Annie Simpson Curran 17

Annie death??

Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deaths Mar 1924 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matheson Annie 70 Kensington 1a 233


and Robert?

alia Death Index, 1787-1985
about Robert Spence Matheson
Name: Robert Spence Matheson
Death Date: 19 Jan 1934
Death Place: South Australia
Registration Year: 1931-1935
Registration Place: South Australia
Page Number: 463
Volume Number: 555




Andy

Possible marriage for Annie:

Marriages Dec 1891 (>99%)
Hardie Annie Camberwell 1d 1481
Matheson Robert Spence Camberwell 1d 1481

These are the banns for that marriage but the marriage (which would confirm her father's name) does not seem to be in the parish records. The marriage cert would be needed for that:

Name: Annie Hardie
Spouse Name: Robert Spence Matheson
Record Type: Banns
Event Date: 11 Oct 1891
Parish: South Dulwich St Stephen
Borough: Southwark
Register Type: Parish Register

Robert is shown as a batchelor of St Pauls Parish, Deptford.

Just seen Andy has already found this. The banns for St Pauls Deptford are also on Ancestry and in the margin is written "Certificate Oct 12"

Annie 1911??

Date of birth slighty wrong, but place of birth OK

1911 England Census
about Annie Matheson
Name: Annie Matheson
Age in 1911: 52
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1859
Relation to Head: Wife
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Banff, Scotland
Civil parish: Lambeth
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street Address: 111 Helix Road, Brixton Hill, Brixton, London SW
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 19
Estimated Marriage Year: 1892
Registration district: Lambeth
Registration District Number: 25
Sub-registration district: Norwood
ED, institution, or vessel: 11
Piece: 2110
Household Members: Name Age
Robert Spence Matheson 52
Annie Matheson 52

Married 19 years, no children.


Andy

Gordon G. Hardie
Massachusetts, Marriages, 1841-1915
birth: 1839
marriage: 04 Jun 1870 New Bedford,? Massachusetts
parents: William,? Jane
spouse: Ruth M. Andrews


name: Gordon G. Hardie
event: Marriage
event date: 04 Jun 1870
event place: New Bedford, Massachusetts
gender: Male
age: 31
estimated birth year: 1839
father: William
mother: Jane
spouse: Ruth M. Andrews
spouse's father: Christopher
spouse's mother: Ruthe
record number: 638
digital folder number: 4332358

??

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1891 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardie Annie Camberwell 1d 1481


on, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
about Annie Hardie
Name: Annie Hardie
Spouse Name: Robert Spence Matheson
Record Type: Banns
Event Date: 11 Oct 1891
Parish: South Dulwich St Stephen
Borough: Southwark
Register Type: Parish Register


See 1911 census posted below.




Andy

Neil, the best way to find out if anybody on here has any of them in their tree is to put the names in Search, Search all Trees at the top of the screen. Andy seems to have found Annie in 1891 so she may have stayed in England.

William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: Francis William Hardie



William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: Alexander Hardie



William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: Eliza Isabella Hardie



William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: Jane Hardie



William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: Margret Hardie



William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: Gordon Hardie



William Hardie
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
spouse: Jane Wight
child: James Hardie