NISBET, Thomas (DNA Linked) ^{2 3}

  General Notes:

Old Parish Register
West Linton Parish Peeblesshire
Births 1778

"Nisbet
Thomas son of John Nisbet & Kathrine Ballantine was born Oct 8 1778"
Note: Other entries take the form "was born ... & bapt...".


Extracts from Session Minutes of 1st Secession (Burgher) Church, Tweed Brae, Peebles:

"23 June 1807
The Session met …. agreed to admit to Church fellowship the following persons who have applied for admishion viz Adam Cairns Margaret Lawson James Lawson Christian Henderson Christian White Isabela Brydon Janet Johnston John Gilchrist Thos Nisbet Janet Brown"
Is this our Thomas Nisbet? The only two births/baptisms in the IGI for Peebleshire (excluding other counties for now) for Thomas Nisbet for the time period of 50 years before the above date are i]Thomas Nisbet born 1778 West Linton to John Nisbet and Kathrine Ballantine, submitted by an LDS member and ii] a Thomas Nisbet born to James N and Janet Alexander in September 1759 in West Linton. They married in 1747 and other children were Janet, Jean, Margaret and John. West Linton is about 20m NW of Innerleithen, 13 NW Peebles on the road towards Penicuik.

"11 Jany 1818
The Session met and being constituted it was moved by a certain member of session that a roumer was prevalent that Thomas Nisbet had been and still was carrying on a correspondence with another woman he being married he was ordered to appear before the session but declined to appear…"
According to the OED one of the meanings of 'correspondence' is 'intercourse or communication between persons, often of a secret or illicit nature'. It is of interest that this extract is dated 1818, the earliest year in the range of years for the birth of William Nisbet, the core of which was 1818-1821.

"20 June 1818
Since the last meeting of session Thomas Nisbet has made his appearance and as nothing could be proven against him he has received his privileges"
This entry, if it refers to our Thomas Nisbet, points to at least the possibility that William Nisbet was fathered by Thomas Nisbet outside of marriage. It would explain or at least point to an explanation of why only William's father's name was noted in his death certificate. In addition, it might have a bearing on why William's son, Alexander Nisbet, refrains from naming any son of his Thomas, even though he does quite noticeably move between each parent and grandparent for a name for his sons and daughters.

In the Old Parish Register for Peebles is a regularisation of the marriage, first contracted in December 1817 in Edinburgh, of Thomas Brodie and Helen Nisbet dated 25 January 1818, Thomas Nisbet, Helen's father, was recorded as grieve to Mr Laidlaw in the farm of Horsbrugh Castle.

The 1888 death certificate of William Nisbet at Stow, Midlothian, recorded that his father was Thomas Nisbet agricultural labourer (deceased). No mother's name was noted. ^{2 4 5}

  Research Notes:

UNCERTAINTY

There is a good deal of uncertainty around this man and his family because of a lack of corroborating evidence: his parents, his wife and the number and nature of his children, so the researcher should beware. certain facts are firm and corroborated, others not.

GRIEVE

A Middle English word that refers to a foreman or supervisor on a farm, who acts as head workman or farm manager overseeing the resources of the farm, collecting rents, and generally fulfilling the role of bailiff for the tenant or owner.

NONCONFORMIST CHURCH RECORDS

A nonconformist church is any church that is not the Established church.

1st SECESSION (BURGHER) CHURCH, TWEED BRAE, PEEBLES

This church was also called the East Church, Leckie Associate Burgher Presbyterian

Before 1790 this congregation was preached to twice yearly at Peebles. In 1790, they applied to the Associate Burgher Presbytery of Edinburgh for supply of sermon, which was granted. The church opened in 1791.

"PEEBLES
(BURGHER)

ON l0th November 1789 48 inhabitants of Peebles and the neighbouring parishes, not in communion with the Secession, petitioned the Burgher Presbytery of Edinburgh for sermon as often as might be convenient. But West Linton session, aware of what was coming, had an extract from their minutes forward praying that that request be not granted till they should have an opportunity of being heard. The interests of their congregation, they were afraid, would be imperilled, or at least "their ability to support the gospel would be greatly diminished, yea, rendered doubtful"; if a preaching station were opened at Peebles, a place distant twelve or fourteen miles. However, the Presbytery on 1st December granted some supply, but reserved judgment as to how far the interests of West Linton might be affected by
the petitioners being formed into a distinct congregation. On 26th July 1791 a paper was received from Peebles, with 20 signatures, intimating that the subscribers could no longer in conscience join with the Established Church. They were convinced, they said, of the evils of patronage, and they complained that on Sabbath they were "entertained with legality, and harangues on morality, instead of the plain truths of the gospel." The Presbytery paused, but it was to be foreseen that resistance to a reasonable demand would be vain in the end, and in the face of a protest from West Linton the erection was carried into effect in November of that year. On l0th July 1792 there was a further development. Members of West Linton
Church to the number of 55, in the parishes of Peebles, Traquair, Manor, Stobo, and Eddleston, who had petitioned their own session for a disjunction, had their case referred to the Presbytery. There was feeling about resigning their hold of the southern territory, and they wished the Presbytery to take the responsibility of the disjunction upon themselves "and be answerable for the consequences." It carried that the session be instructed to disjoin such of the congregation as were nearer Peebles than Linton, should they apply.

On 24th April 1793 a session was constituted by the ordination of three elders and the admission of two who had previously held office in West Linton. Next, a moderation was applied for, with the promise of £65 and a house. The call, signed by 80 members and 60 adherents, came out to Mr Thomas Leckie, who was called ten days after to Moffat. Though the provision undertaken was the same in the two places Moffat was the less promising, but in the Presbytery it was preferred by the casting vote of the Moderator, a decision against which Mr Comrie of Penicuik protested, and the case came before the Synod. By this time East Linton had come forward with a third call to Mr Leckie, and a stipend £5 higher than either of the others. At the Synod Peebles was thrown out by the first vote, and then Moffat was preferred to East Linton. Mr Leckie had declined to speak in the Presbytery when the opportunity was given, but in the Synod he must have expressed aversion to Moffat, for Mr Dick of Slateford dissented from the judgment of the majority, saying :"Why should a preacher be heard if his preferences are to be disregarded" A year afterwards Mr Leckie was dealt with for not submitting to be settled at Moffat, when "Admonish" carried over "Rebuke" or "Rebuke and suspend" but, fortunately, Moffat congregation were willing to have their call set aside, and thus the way was cleared for Peebles beginning anew.
First Minister. THOMAS LECKIE, from Falkirk, East (now Erskine Church). A second call followed the above, and it was signed by 200 in all: 89 members and 111 adherents. He was ordained, l0th July 1794. Under Mr Leckie s ministry, "active, zealous, and faithful" the congregation steadily increased, till it was almost, if not altogether, 400 strong. He died on 27th September 1821, after three months severe illness, leaving a widow and thirteen children, the youngest scarcely over a year old. He was laid in the grave by nine of his sons, the oldest of them little more than a boy. He was in the sixty-third year of his age and twenty-eighth of his ministry. His large family, cast thus early on the fatherhood of God, prospered in the world, and the Leckie Memorial Church, which they built and gifted over to their father's congregation, stands a lasting monument both to their honour and to his memory."

from History of the Congregations of the United Presbyterian Church (PDF)
pages 573-574 Presbytery of Edinburgh southern division

Thomas married Helen GOVENLOCK (DNA Linked) on 8 June 1797 in Selkirk Parish, Selkirkshire, Scotland.¹ (Helen GOVENLOCK (DNA Linked) was born about 1780.)