2.3.7. Margaret Brownlee (1871-1943)

Margaret Brownlee was born on 13 June 1871 at the Barnhill Poorhouse in Springburn. Her mother was Esther Brownlee who normally lived at 5 Union Street in Glasgow and worked as a domestic servant. No father was listed on her birth registration, which was registered with government officials by the assistant governor of the poorhouse.

Sometime after her birth she was adopted by Robert and Margaret (Melrose) Smith. I believe she lived with her adoptive parents in the Calton district of Glasgow on 81 Oswald Street in 1881 and attended school. I have been unable to find the family in the 1891 census. Her mother died in 1906 and her father in 1910, so the family should be together as Margaret did not marry until later in the year. Margaret used the name Margaret Brownlee or Brownlie Smith until her marriage.

She married Thomas Riddell on 4 September 1891 at 165 Brook Street, which was the home of Thomas' sister and her husband, according to the forms of the Church of Scotland. Margaret was 20 years old, lived at the address at which they were married and worked as a steam loom weaver. The couple had 13 children during their marriage.

By 1911 the family had settled in the town of Clydebank in the County of Dunbarton. Margaret died on 26 December 1943 of a cerebral thrombosis in Auchterarder, Perth. Her son John was the informant listed on her death registration.

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1881 Scotland Census, 03/04/1881 Smith, Margaret (Census 1881 644/01 015/00 019)
1901 Scotland Census, 31/03/1901 Riddell, Thomas (Census 1901 501/00 017/00 014)
1901 Scotland Census, Parish: Old Kilpatrick; ED: 17; Page: 14; Line: 2; Roll: CSSCT1901_173
1911 Scotland Census, 02/04/1911 Riddell, Thomas (Census 1911 501/00 020/00 012)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1871 Brownlee, Margaret (Statutory Births 644/04 0763)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1891 Riddell, Thomas - Smith, Margaret Brownl (Statutory Marriages 644/02 0178)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1943 Riddell, Margaret (Statutory Deaths 329//00 0050)