Margaret Laing

Lifespan: c. 1783 – ?

FamilySearch ID: KH36-ZYD

Summary

Born c. 1783 in Rhynd, Perthshire, Scotland. Foggy’s oldest known ancestor with a specific birthplace. Married William Miller on September 4, 1799, at St. Nicholas Church, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England. She was about 16. Mother of Sophia Miller (1805). The family later emigrated to Canada.

Relationships

• Husband: William Miller (1786–?, FamilySearch ID: LZF4-CX5) — married Sep 4, 1799, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Daughter: Sophia Miller (1805–?, MCXT-PV1) — born in England or Canada. m. Thomas Hutcheson (1808, England). Direct line.
• Parents: Unknown — check FamilySearch and Scottish parish records for Rhynd, Perthshire.

Sources

• FamilySearch — birth: “abt 1783 of Rhynd, Perth., Scot.” (7 sources attached for sex, 0 for birth — birth location may be inferred)
• Marriage record, St. Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England — Sep 4, 1799. FamilySearch source: 2:3KT62RR.

Research Notes

Rhynd, Perthshire

• Rhynd is a small parish near Perth in central Scotland (Perth and Kinross). Agricultural area along the River Tay.
• Perthshire is in the Scottish Highlands/Central Belt — not the Borders region. Margaret traveled ~150 miles south to Newcastle.
• Scottish parish records from the 1780s are often well-preserved (Church of Scotland). A baptism record for Margaret Laing in Rhynd c. 1783 may exist in the Old Parochial Records (OPR), available on ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk.

Laing surname

• Laing (also Lang) — Scottish surname meaning “long/tall.” Common in the Scottish Lowlands and Perthshire. Variant of “Long” in English.
• Well-attested in Perthshire records.

Migration path

• Rhynd, Perthshire, Scotland (c. 1783) → Newcastle upon Tyne, England (married 1799) → Canada (by c. 1805, when daughter Sophia was born)
• Scottish migration to Newcastle’s industrial economy was very common in the late 1700s.
• The family then emigrated from England/Scotland to Canada — part of the massive British emigration to Upper Canada (Ontario) in the early 1800s.

Connection to Foggy

Margaret Laing is Foggy’s 6x great-grandmother through this chain:

1. Margaret Laing → 2. Sophia Miller → 3. Eliza Hutchinson → 4. Eliphlet Martin → 5. Gerald Martin → 6. Helen Martin → 7. Betty Schmidt → 8. Foggy

Next steps

1. ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk — search Old Parochial Records for Rhynd parish, baptism of Margaret Laing c. 1783. Would give parents’ names.
2. Newcastle upon Tyne parish records — St. Nicholas marriage register, Sep 4, 1799. May give fathers’ names as witnesses.
3. FamilySearch — check for more above Margaret Laing (parents).