WEBSTER, Richard ²

  General Notes:

When his daughter, Margaret, was baptised on 13 March 1796, Richard Webster was recorded as 'Richard Webster weaver'.

The baptism narrative of Richard Webster's son, also called Richard, in September 1799, recorded his occupation as that of weaver. ^{3 4 5}

  Research Notes:

FATHER OF HELEN WEBSTER

'Richard Webster' was identified as the father of Helen Webster by Helen's death certificate of 1883. No birth or baptismal reference has as yet been found for her, either under the name of Webster, or under her mother's surname of Jack. We have six examples of her age during the course of her life and death, and these are consistent. They lead to the belief that she was born in the area of Water of Leith, Edinburgh, about 1810-1811. Her parents therefore are likely to have been born about, or before, 1795.

According to the old parish registers of the Church of Scotland, there are only two men by the name of Richard Webster who married in Scotland in the forty years leading up to Helen's birth, and both of these men married in Midlothian. They may be the same man. One married Margaret Yewl, or Yule, in 1784, the other married Jane Oreme or Orme in 1807. The latter marriage took place in Edinburgh parish, and children of this marriage were christened in the same place between 1809 and 1816.

In the twenty years after Helen's birth, four men called Richard Webster married in Scotland, two in Lanarkshire, one in Stirling, one in East Lothian. With few details to help us pick out a likely candidate, it was extremely fortuitous for this research that Helen's daughter, Catherine Winton, named one of her children Elizabeth Robertson Winton, because Elizabeth or Bettie Robertson was the name of a woman who married William Webster in 1749 in the parish of Inveresk with Musselburgh. This couple had quite a number of children, and one of them was Richard Webster. Though not proof, this link is a strong indication of the direction in which we should look.

The son of William Webster and Elizabeth Robertson, Richard, was born on 7 October 1760, at Inveresk, Midlothian. He is certainly eligible, then, to be the Richard Webster who married Margaret Yule, spelt variously, in 1784.

Banns for this marriage were called in Dalkeith parish and in the parish of Inveresk with Musselburgh, both in Midlothian, on 3 December 1784. Inveresk seems to have been the Websters' parish, and Dalkeith the Yules'. This couple's marriage produced children, between 1786 and 1802, who were born in Dalkeith parish. After 1802, they produced no more children. It may be that Margaret died.

Helen Webster, daughter of Richard Webster and Catherine Jack, a younger woman than Margaret Yule, was born between 1808-1811. There is no record found as yet of any marriage between Catherine and Richard, but since, in Scotland of that time, irregular marriages were a frequently chosen alternative to regular established church marriages, this does not necessarily mean what it would mean today.

When Helen Webster married Robert Winton in 1829 in St Cuthbert's parish, Edinburgh, the marriage account in the register recorded her as 'daughter of Richard Webster weaver'. The Richard Webster, outlined above, was recorded as a weaver, witness the account of his son Richard's baptism in 1799, where he was designated 'Richard Webster weaver'.

For the time being, the evidence presented here is all we have on which to base our judgment about which Richard Webster was Helen's father.

Richard married Margrat YOULL, daughter of William YULE and Esther ALLAN, on 3 December 1784 in Dalkeith parish, Midlothian, Scotland.¹ (Margrat YOULL was baptised on 13 March 1759 in Buccleugh Street Burgher Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland ^{1 2}.)

  Marriage Notes:

The banns of marriage were called in Inveresk with Musselburgh parish on the same date.

In both Dalkeith and Inveresk parishes, in the parish register data about the marriage, references were made in the register about an irregular marriage contracted previously between these two parties in Edinburgh. An irregular marriage was one which did not take place under the auspices of the established church. This may refer to a marriage contracted within the nonconformist Burgher Church in Edinburgh, that was not to the approval of the Church of Scotland minister when a subsequent child of that union was brought for baptism in the Church of Scotland.

Margaret Youll, and her brothers David and James, were baptised in the Burgher dissenting church, so it is possible she and Richard Webster contracted a marriage there. ^{1 6}

Richard had a relationship with Catherine JACK, daughter of John JACK and Helen GRIEVE. (Catherine JACK was born about 1790 in Midlothian, Scotland,⁷ died 21 December 1860 at 00.00 pm in 19 Salisbury Street, Canongate District, Edinburgh, Scotland ⁸ and was buried in Newington Burying Ground, Edinburgh, Scotland ⁸.). The cause of her death was hemiplegia over about 6 days.