Simply speaking the line moves from my Father, Thomas, who was born in Belfast, 1916. His father John was born in Govan, Lanarkshire in 1891. John's father was Thomas, and Thomas was born in Fintry, Stirlingshire in 1863. Thomas' mother was Jane Maitland and she was one of ten children born to James Maitland and Anne McEwan. Those ten children were Elizabeth, Agnes, John, Janet-1, Janet-2, Jane, William, Margaret, James and Thomas. James Maitland and Anne McEwan were married in Fintry in 1822. I have traced Anne McEwan's family back a couple more generations.

I have found records on each of the ten children from this marriage and have enough information for the new searcher to connect 20th century information to this tree.

My dilemma lies in information gleanned from death records and the 1841 and 1851 census data. The 1841 census has James and Anne with the appropriate children plus four other Maitland's listed. John-50, Agnes-60, Marion-46, Anne-30. The 1851 census has James and Anne again with appropriate children and the stray John is now 60 and Anne is 55 or 53-one of them is Anne McEwan. Agnes died in 1846, so I have accounted for her absence from the census. Marion disappears. Age discrepancies are minor and to be expected.

So now I have John, Agnes and another Anne that have stayed consistent with this family group. Agnes's death is just a line entry in an OPR. The second Anne died next, in 1856. The informant was her brother John. So now I know that John and Anne were related. Anne's death record states her parents were John Maitland and Agnes Gibson. Good we are on the right track now. The IGI reveals that John Maitland and Agnes Gibson were married in 1768 at Neilston, Renfrewshire. Agnes Gibson's birth can be found on the IGI as abt. 1752-patron submission. Nothing further on John Maitland. So moving forward again, I found IGI records for the birth of Agnes, to John and Agnes, in 1769. John was born to the same couple in 1785. Now one of those quirky things. Anne, on the IGI-extraction, is shown as being born to John Maitland and Margaret Gibson in 1790 at Mearns, Renfrewshire. Yet, her brother, John informed the registrar that her parents were John and Agnes for her death record. But I am accepting that she was John and Agnes' child and Agnes could have been named Margaret Agnes or vice versa. Next follows John's death in 1860. His parents are listed as John Maitland and Agnes Gibson. The informant is John Maitland, nephew. Well, the only John Maitland in Fintry is the child of James and Anne. So in the search for any clue that will connect, this leads me to think that James Maitland may also be the son of John Maitland and Agnes Gibson,as well as the brother to John. However, I have been unsuccessful at finding any records of other children born to the John-Agnes couple. World Connect does have some information on one of the posted trees that may have additional information regarding Agnes Gibson. The tree owner never responded to my query, however, his data may be correct for this Agnes and may provide information on her parents. The main problem is the Maitland's they hold tightly to their
ancestry and every small bit of provable data has to be diligently pried from the records.