Can you help me find Andrew Cochrane’s roots?
QI’m looking for the birth of Andrew Cochrane. In the 1851 census, he and his sister Catherine are listed as paupers living with an aunt and uncle in Craigdow, Glasserton, Wigtownshire, Scotland. He was nine and his birthplace was Glasserton.
However, his marriage certificate in 1864 states his age as 24. The document records his father as Andrew Cochrane (deceased) and his mother Janet Cochrane née McKinley. Will Buckland
AThe 1851 census states that Andrew was born in Glasserton, which is confirmed by the 1861 census in which he is listed at Dunglass, Dunbartonshire, as a 20-year-old ship’s carpenter (journeyman), born in Glasserton. He married in West Kilpatrick three years later, with his marriage entry on ScotlandsPeople ( scotlandspeople. gov.uk) confirming this occupation, but also noting both of his parents to be deceased.
Both Andrew’s description as a “pauper” in 1851, and his mother’s absence, suggest she was in the poorhouse. A general register for the poor of Glasserton covering 1845–1930 is held at the National Records of Scotland (NRS), catalogued under CO4/30/7, which is worth consulting for more information.
Andrew’s marriage in 1864 was according to the forms of the United Presbyterian Church, which suggests that his parents may have been dissenters. Glasserton’s entry in the Statistical Accounts of Scotland ( statacc scot.edina.ac.uk), written in 1845, notes that there were dissenters in the parish at this point. The NRS’s catalogue at catalogue. nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue lists no dissenting congregations in the parish, but confirms that the adjacent parish of Whithorn had an Associate Congregation (later United Presbyterian). Baptism records survive only from 1852 onwards, but there’s a communion roll from 1835–1843 (both at CH3/308/5). A Free Church congregation also existed there, with a surviving baptismal register from 1843 onwards (CH3/801/6). The baptism registers are on ScotlandsPeople in the ‘Other Churches’ category, but show no late baptism registration for Andrew. Surrounding parishes could be checked, but it is possible that no baptismal entry has survived.