Agnes Leslie (1777-1869) & James Smith (1776-1863)

By the time he wrote his will in 1862, James Smith had lands at Radernie in Fife. As indicated on the page about his father-in-law, Robert Leslie, he married one of Robert's daughters, Agnes Leslie. In his will, James refers to four sons and two daughters:

• David Smith, a millwright in Glasgow.
• Robert Leslie Smith, a merchant in Dunoon.
• John Johnstone Smith, a bootmaker in St Andrews.
• James Smith, a merchant in Glasgow.
• Agnes Smith, residing at Radernie.
• Marion Smith, relict (widow) of William Anderson, a gardener, in Crail.

Read about James Smith's will (includes a complete transcript).

Again, the family tree and subsequent research online has provided us with much more information about these people, and about Agnes' and James' family.

Agnes Leslie and James Smith married in Cameron parish in Fife on 26 July 1805. It is possible that they were related, and so may have known each other for most of their lives (see Note 1 below). They had six children, all born in Cameron parish in Fife:

• Agnes Leslie Smith was born on 2 July 1806 and died on 20 April 1902 at 6 Southfield, St Andrews. She never married.

• Marion Smith was christened on 9 August 1808. She married William Anderson, from Kingsbarns near Crail, on 21 November 1836. There is a possibility that they were related, but we haven't yet proved or disproved that (see Note 2 below). William died on Christmas Day 1858, but Marion lived many years more, dying on 21 May 1895 at 23 Kelly Street, Greenock. The picture on the right shows the stone erected in their memory in old Crail churchyard (next to the modern cemetery, which is on the left as you enter Crail coming from St Andrews). It reads (I have used slashes to indicate the start of each line):

  "Erected / in memory of / William Anderson / Town Treasurer / of Crail / from 1826 to 1858 / who died 25 Dec 1858 / aged 57 years. / of his wife / Marion Smith / who died 21 May 1895 / aged 86 years / and is interred in the / Greenock cemetery. / of their son / William Anderson / Banker, Edinburgh / who died 15 Oct 1865 / aged 19 years. / and of their children / who died in infancy. / The grass shall fade the / flower shall pass away / yet let this truth the / fainting spirit stay / the Word of God is firm / and lasts for aye."

  They had seven children - all but the first were born and christened in Crail:

  • Agnes Leslie Anderson, christened on 26 November 1837 in Kingsbarns, Fife. Agnes married James McCall, a Ship Chandler and Painter originally from Ayr. They moved to Greenock in Renfrewshire, and there they had three children. James died in 1916, and Agnes in 1927.
  • Isabella Smith Anderson, christened on 25 August 1839. Isabella never married, and lived with her mother, moving with her to Greenock. She later shared a house there with her widowed sister Marion Leslie Jervis Anderson. She died in 1932.
  • John Ogilvie Anderson, christened on 4 June 1843. Trained as a Teacher of Music, he moved to Edinburgh, and on 10 August 1870 married Eleanor Foster McClure, from Glasgow. They had six children. Eleanor died in 1886, just 5 years after the birth of their youngest child. John died in 1928.
  • William Anderson, christened on 15 February 1846. We know from the monumental inscription given above that he worked as a banker in Edinburgh. He died of typhus fever in Crail on 15 October 1865, aged nineteen.
  • Marion Leslie Jervis Anderson, christened on 23 July 1848. Marion married Neil McLeod Watson, from Forres in Morayshire, in Edinburgh in 1876. They moved south to Nether Hallam in Yorkshire, where, in 1881, Neil was Manager of a Newspaper Office. They had three children. Neil died in 1883, when the youngest child was just 3 years old. Marion moved the family to Greenock, sharing a house with her mother and her unmarried sister, Isabella. In 1891, Marion gave her occupation as Shopkeeper. By 1901, she was a Ladies Outfitter. She appears to have died some time after 1931.
  • Jemima Smith Anderson, christened on 31 August 1851.
  • James Smith Anderson, christened on 7 August 1853. James married Nellie Hunter, and had two children.
  
  

• David Smith was christened on 11 August 1811 and died in 1886. He married Marion McLean and moved to Glasgow. They had three children:

  • Peter McLean Smith.
  • David Smith.
  • Marion Smith.
  
  

• Robert Leslie Smith, my great-great-grandfather, was christened on 22 October 1813 and died on 16 April 1902. He lived in Edinburgh for a while, may have spent some time in London, and then moved to Dunoon in Argyll around 1850-1855. He married Mary Thom (née Sinclair) in Glasgow on 30 November 1853. They had three children.

• John Johnstone Smith was christened on 13 December 1815 and died on 23 April 1902. He moved to St Andrews, and took up the craft of bootmaking (eventually becoming a master bootmaker, with his own workshop employing others). He married Isabella Walker on 26 September 1846 in St Andrews & St Leonards parish in St Andrews. Isabella died in 1890. He and Isabella had nine children:

  • Margaret Neaves Smith, christened on 15 August 1847.
  • James Smith, christened on 10 June 1849. He must have died in infancy or early childhood, since a later child (born in 1857) is also called James.
  • Thomas Walker Smith, christened on 30 March 1851.
  • Agnes Leslie Smith, christened on 27 February 1853. She married Alexander Thom, at that time a Journeyman Joiner from Strathkinness. They had one child, David Thom. She died on 7 June 1886, aged 33, and just 14 months after giving birth to David. Alexander then became a Commercial Traveller, leaving the child in the care of his parents, David Thom and Janet Adamson in Strathkinness. By 1901, however, Alexander had married again, and was running a private hotel in Edinburgh with his second wife, Marjorie Dunnett, and David, his son by his first wife.
  • Mary Anderson Smith, born 23 May 1855. She married Charles Ness, a stone mason from Strathkinness. Charles died in 1925, and Mary died in 1928. They had five children.
  • James Black Smith, born 13 May 1857. He married Mary Westerby, and had one child.
  • John Johnstone Smith, born 20 March 1860. He married Eliza ('Lizzie') Margaret Paterson from Abernethy in Perthshire, and had four children. He became a librarian at St Andrews University Library. Lizzie died in 1932, and John in 1944.
  • Robert Leslie Smith, born 11 May 1862.
  • Isabella Walker Smith, born 12 August 1865. It's possible that Isabella never married. In 1901, she is listed as unmarried and living at the same address as her parents. She worked as a dressmaker.
  
  

• James Smith was christened on 11 July 1820 and died in 1889. He married Lillias Taylor from Barony, Lanarkshire, in June 1843, and moved to Gorbals in Glasgow. Lillias died in 1894. They had three children:

  • Marion Smith, born on 16 March 1844. Marion married William Aitken Davidson, a Writer from Glasgow. They had one child.
  • James Smith, born on 22 February 1846 and died in 1883.
  • Agnes Leslie Smith, born on 9 October 1853 and died in 1918. Agnes never married. She lived with her parents and taught music. At some point after her mother died, she moved to Kirn in Argyll.
  
  

Agnes Leslie and James Smith, and their daughter, Agnes Leslie Smith, are commemorated with a stone in Cameron Parish churchyard. It is one of the group of three stones which refer to Ann Malcolm (possible first wife of Agnes' father - see the page on Robert Leslie and Agnes Henderson for more details), and Robert Leslie and Ann Leslie, Agnes' brother and sister.

The inscription on the stone reads:

In Memory of
JAMES SMITH
Feuar Radernie born 21st May 1776
died 7th March 1763
AND
AGNES LESLIE
his spouse born 11th Sept 1777
died 8th April 1869
Erected by their children.
AGNES LESLIE SMITH
their daughter born 2nd July 1806
died 20th April 1902

Next: Robert Leslie Smith

Notes

1. The 1931 family tree indicates that Agnes Leslie and James Smith are related. Agnes' grandfather is shown as being the brother of James grandfather. The following table shows the relationship.

   David Leslie marries Janet Crumbie (unsure)		Possible great-grandparents of both Agnes Leslie and James Smith.
   David and Janet's son, Robert Leslie, marries Elizabeth Honeyman (unsure)	David and Janet's son, David Leslie, marries Isabell Adamson	Robert and David Leslie are brothers.
   Robert and Elizabeth's son, Robert Leslie, marries Agnes Henderson	David and Isabell's daughter, Marion Leslie, marries David Smith	Robert Leslie and Marion Leslie are cousins.
   Robert and Agnes' daughter, Agnes Leslie, marries James Smith	Marion and David's son, James Smith, marries Agnes Leslie	I think that makes Agnes Leslie and James Smith second cousins.

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2. According to the 1931 family tree which we recently recovered, William Anderson and Marion Smith were related. Marion's grandmother is shown as being the sister of William's grandmother. The following table shows the relationship.

   David Leslie marries Isabell Adamson		Possible great-grandparents of both Marion Smith and William Anderson (junior).
   David and Isabell's daughter, Marion Leslie, marries David Smith	David and Isabell's daughter, Jennet Leslie, marries George Jervis	Marion and Jennet Leslie are sisters.
   Marion and David's son, James Smith, marries Agnes Leslie	Jennet and George's daughter, Marion Jervis, marries William Anderson (senior)	James Smith and Marion Jervis are cousins.
   James and Agnes' daughter, Marion Smith, marries William Anderson (junior)	Marion and William's son, William Anderson (junior), marries Marion Smith	I think that makes Marion Smith and William Anderson second cousins.

   The only problem with this is that I can't find anything definite about Jennet Leslie except that she did exist - there is a very faded and worn stone set into the wall of Cameron Parish Churchyard which once read:

   "G.J J.L T.J / Her lys befor this ston / the dust of Jennet Lesly / laful spous to George / Jarvis Fewer in Radernie / who departed this life / April ye 8 1771 aged 48 / David Jervis her son 3 / years & Margrat Jervis aged 6 yrs / Thomas Jervis ??? in Muirside / Husband to Euphan Trail who / departed this life (Apr? Sept?) the 13 1757 / aged 43"

   Note: This transcription is from the old family tree, since, when we visited Cameron in Autumn 2002, this stone was so worn that it was impossible to read more than a few words.

   I've been unable to trace anything further about Jennet, and nothing so far that would tie her in with "our" Leslie family. I can find records of other children born to David Leslie and Isabell Adamson, but no Jennet or Janet. Nor have I been able to trace anything definite regarding a daughter of Jennet and George marrying William Anderson in Kingsbarns. Lots of possibles and maybes, but nothing that you can tie down. So the relationship between Marion Smith and her husband William Anderson remains a "maybe" for now, until we uncover any further information to prove or disprove it.

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© 1998-2005 Donna Smillie <dms@zetnet.co.uk>