Biographical notes

Unfortunately, the link between Elizabeth Downie and inferred parents Daniel (Donald) Downie and Flora McCurdy is very tenuous as no OPR entry for the birth/christening of Elizabeth has survived. The currently available evidence supporting a link is set out below:

The death certificates of Elizabeth's children state that her maiden name was Elizabeth Downie (also spelt Dounie). Additionally the 1851 Census records the birthplace of Elizabeth as Arran, and her age as 77 (suggesting a birth date of about 1774, which would agree with the date of her marriage to John Pettigrew in 1795 at an inferred age of 21, and the year of birth of her last child Archibald Pettigrew in 1816 when she would have been 42).

Looking at the available OPR records for Arran, an enclave of Downies is recorded in the parish of Kilmory. The only recorded marriage which might match the subsequent birth of Elizabeth (bearing in mind the patchy nature of the records at this time) in the early 1770's is that of DANIEL DOWNIE and FLORA MCCURDY in 1773. The name of FLORA given to Elizabeth's first child (b. 1896) and DANIEL (b. 1808), the name of her seventh child might be after their grandparents.

Interestingly in Scottish genealogical references to individuals, the names DANIEL and DONALD were frequently used interchangeably for the same individual.