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Thomsons from Prestonpans to North Berwick

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Kelly

Kelly Report 17 Jul 2025 12:39

My Great Great Grandmother Mary Thomson Married George Kelly - Fishing family from Prestonpans / Cockenzie and then to North Berwick.

Previous Research: Died aged 84
Dwelling: 7 Heriot Place, Haddington, North Berwick Scotland
and Canty Bay
She appeared in the census on 7 April 1861 in North Berwick. She appeared in the census on 2 April 1871 in North Berwick.
Thomsons from Prestonpans - William Thomas born 1815. May have married Mary Buchan. They had a daughter Mary Thomson born 1837 in Prestonpans,
Mary Thomson married a George Kelly 20/05/1859 in North Berwick.
Their Children James Kelly Born 1859, William 1861, Janet 1863, George 1865, John 1868, Richard 1871, Mary 1873, Robert 1876 and Elizabeth 1878.

Most in the Fishing Industry but a few turned to Golf

1841: Think I may have found the family on 1841 Census - they appear to be living in a large household with another couple called Gourlay and another family called Blackie (also fisher folk) at Cockenzie in the district of Tranent East Lothian.

William age 30 Fisherman
Mary age 35
and 7 children - Peter 12 Alexander 9 Janet Grant 8 Jane 7 Mary 4 William 2 David 8 mths
also a Jane Thomson age 60 ( perhaps William's mother).
All are born in East Lothian and no family relationships are noted in the 1841 Census .

1851
Hi again,
Just found the family in 1851 too!
Check out www.freecen.org.uk and key in William Thomson age 42 in County of East Lothian for that year's Census.
You'll find the family still at Cockenzie in Tranent district with wife Mary conveniently listed with her maiden name of Buchan
There are also 3 more children - George 8 Ann 5 and Archibald 2.


1861 Census listed as William Thomson as Head of the house, living at the Harbour North Berwick with young Married daughter Mary and son in law George who were in their early 20s with a two year old son named James

in 1871 The Family had moved to Shore street North Berwick, William listed as Lodger and now George Kelly Son In law is Head of the house

1881 census Mary is widowed and her family at 9 Harriot Place - North Berwick. This time Mary is head of the house and William her Dad is listed as boarder.

in 1901 Census
1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census
40, Victoria Road, North Berwick, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland Household members (5 people)
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Mary Kelly Head - Widow Female- 65 - 1836 - Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
John Kelly Son- Single Male - 31- 1870 Fisherman North Berwick, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Robert Kelly Son Single Male 24 1877 Greenkeeper golf North Berwick, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Lizzie Kelly Daughter Single Female 22 1879 General servt Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland

The question is, after much research regarding the Kellys from Fishermen to Golf Professionals I am now looking to find a Family connection to the Thomsons.
Are the Thomson Golf Professionals here linked to my Great Great Grandmother Mary Thomson who married George Kelly.
http://www.northberwick.org.uk/clubmakers_2.html
They seem to be living in the same vicinity.


nameslessone

nameslessone Report 17 Jul 2025 12:56

Have you had other threads on this family ? It seems familiar.

You need to work a tree back for the Golf Thomsons and one for Mary if you haven’t done it yet. You need to make a wide tree ( adding in the siblings and their descendants). You may need to go a long way back.

Added: done a search and I see there is another big thread you started for the book you are writing.

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 17 Jul 2025 13:36

Re the Kellys:

https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/ancestors/thread/1402016

nameslessone

nameslessone Report 17 Jul 2025 14:07

I've just switched machines to post the threads - so there is yet another one connected to the family
https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/1401449

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 17 Jul 2025 17:11

The ONLY way to link different groups of people is for you to carry out a lot of diligent research
Have fun!

Kelly

Kelly Report 18 Jul 2025 08:10

I have asked for help regarding the Kellys before, which I copied and pasted in.
All the advice given was taken. I have got certificates, visited churches, graveyards, websites, joined historical groups. I have learned a great deal and for that I thank this community.

My research has now moved to the female side of Thomson.

I'm sorry, I didn't know there was a limit.

Have a lovely day.

nameslessone

nameslessone Report 18 Jul 2025 08:19

:-S

Whilst it was fairly obvious that you had C & p from somewhere you didn’t say where from.

There is no limit - the advice is to stick to one thread when family are connected.

At the end of your OP you appear to be asking the people on here to find the connection you are looking for. As stated, twice, this has to be done by working the trees. Are you really asking others to do the work for you?

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 18 Jul 2025 10:14

Thomson is a very common name.

The link you give lists the following Thomson names, but without any dates or other helpful info:

Alexander Thomson
*
Lena Thomson
*
George Thomson
*
James K Thomson
*
James R Thomson
*
Jimmy Thomson
*
Robert M Thomson
*
Robert Thomson
*
William Thomson
*
William L Thomson
*
William L Thomson
*
William R Thomson
*
Wilfred Thomson


There's not much detail about the Thomsons in the rest of the page, apart from their golf careers.

The golfing info dates from the early 20th century, or end of 19th.

Several of the Thomsons seem to have emigrated to the USA.

Your Mary was born c 1836-ish, with father William.

You'll therefore have to look at all Mary's siblings' (and cousins' and other relatives') descendants to see if any of them were the listed golfing Thomsons.

As Nameslessone said,
"You need to work a tree back for the Golf Thomsons and one for Mary if you haven’t done it yet. You need to make a wide tree ( adding in the siblings and their descendants). You may need to go a long way back."

It would mean investigating a huge number of multi-generational trees.

I will say, however, that it's very likely that there is SOME link, somewhere during all those years.
There were lots of Thomsons in that area, so one or more of Mary's ancestors or descendants is very likely to be related in some way to one or more of the golfing Thomsons.

Too big a job for me, though - even if they were my family (they're not), which would at least give me a personal interest in them.



ErikaH

ErikaH Report 18 Jul 2025 13:14

INFO

1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Harbour, North Berwick, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland

William Thomson Head Widower Male 55 1806 Fisherman Prestonpans, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
George Kelly Son-in-law Married Male 23 1838 Fisherman Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Mary Kelly Daughter Married Female 23 1838 - Prestonpans, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
James Kelly Grand son - Male 2 1859 - Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland


Not sure why you say William was born 1815............ :-S :-S

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Shore Street, North Berwick, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
George Kelly Head Married Male 33 1838 Fisherman Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Mary Kelly Wife Married Female 32 1839 - Prestonpans, Midlothian, Scotland
James Kelly Son Unmarried Male 12 1859 - Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
William Kelly Son - Male 10 1861 Scholar Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Janet Kelly Daughter - Female 8 1863 Scholar Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
George Kelly Son - Male 5 1866 - Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
John Kelly Son - Male 3 1868 - Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Richard Kelly Son - Male 1 1870 - Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
William Thomson Lodger Widower Male 65 1806 Fisherman Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland



ErikaH

ErikaH Report 18 Jul 2025 13:20

Mary's mother's name will be on the 1859 marriage cert.........................

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 18 Jul 2025 14:06

Are you 100% CERTAIN that this is the same family as William and Mary shown in 1861 and 1871?????

1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Lees Court, Main Street, Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland

William Thomson Head Married Male 42 1809 Fisherman Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Mary Buchan Wife Married Female 45 1806 - Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Alexander Thomson Son Unmarried Male 20 1831 Fisherman Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Janet G Thomson Daughter Unmarried Female 18 1833 House servant Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Mary Thomson Daughter Unmarried Female 14 1837 Servant Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
William Thomson Son - Male 12 1839 Scholar Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
David Thomson Son - Male 10 1841 Scholar Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
George Thomson Son - Male 8 1843 Scholar Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Ann Thomson Daughter - Female 5 1846 Scholar Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Archibald Thomson Son - Male 2 1849 - Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland
Jean Thomson - Widow Female 77 1774 Pauper Tranent, Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Scotland

Kelly

Kelly Report 18 Jul 2025 15:35

I will get to it! I am going to Cockenzie and North Berwick from Devon on 26th July and I'm looking forward to a good poke around. On one of the census, I have that William Thomson is from Cockenzie , so a good place to start - Me thinks. As always I thank you very much for your input. I am learning all the time, and will keep striving to get better. :-) :-)

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 18 Jul 2025 16:19

Look at the 1859 cert

Abby

Abby Report 18 Jul 2025 16:45

Name George Kelly
Age 22 years
Birth Year (Estimated) 1837
Marital Status Single
Occupation Fisherman
Father's Name James Kelly
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Janet Hogg Kelly
Mother's Sex Female
Spouse's Name Mary Thomson
Spouse's Age 22 years
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1837
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Father's Name William Thomson
Spouse's Father's Sex Male
Spouse's Mother's Name Janet Thomson Thomson
Spouse's Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 20 May 1859
Event Place North Berwick, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 18 Jul 2025 16:55

So, as I suspected, the 1851 census is NOT in any way relevant

Thank you Abby

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 18 Jul 2025 17:28

Mary's parents' marriage??

THOMSON, WILLIAM
JANET THOMSON/FR2348 (FR2348)
18/12/1831
718
90 / 65
Prestonpans

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 18 Jul 2025 17:32

Mary's baptism is not on Scotlands People - nor are any siblings' baptisms.

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 18 Jul 2025 17:48

Possibly the family in 1841??

William Thomson
in the 1841 Scotland Census
Name William Thomson
Age 30
Estimated Birth Year abt 1811
Gender Male
Where born East Lothian, Scotland
Civil parish Prestonpans
County East Lothian
Address Prestonpans
Occupation Seaman
Parish Number 718
Household Members (Name) Age
James Thomson 50 - seaman
William Thomson 30 - seaman
Janet Thomson 25
George Thomson 6
Milly Thomson 12
Mary Thomson 2

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 18 Jul 2025 18:19

??

Mary Thomson
in the 1851 Scotland Census
Name Mary Thomson
Age 13
Estimated Birth Year abt 1838
Relationship Daughter
Father
William Thonson
Gender Female
Where born Prestonpans, haddington
Parish Number 718
Civil parish Prestonpans
Town Prestonpans
County East Lothian
Address High Street
ED 5
Page 2
Household schedule number 9
Line 18
Roll CSSCT1851_193
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
William Thonson 32 Head - sailor
George Thomson 15 Son - coal miner
Mary Thomson 13 Daughter

Abby

Abby Report 18 Jul 2025 20:14

Field
(only fields with a value are shown) Value
County East Lothian
Place (Links to more information) North Berwick
Church name (Links to more information) North Berwick Vol Vii
Register type (Links to more information) Unspecified
Register entry number 22
Marriage date 7 Dec 1822
Groom forename James
Groom surname KELLY
Groom parish North Berwick
Groom condition Bachelor
Bride forename Janet
Bride surname HOGG
Bride parish North Berwick
Bride condition Spinster
Notes Proclamation
Transcribed by Mary Hamilton
Credit by the General Register Office for Scotland
File line number 34