Biographical notes

James and family appear in the St Quivox Parish Registers and also in the Census Returns for 1841, 1851 and 1861. Six of the children of Elizabeth Downie and John Pettigrew married and, in the Census of 1841, the resulting families are all living in Content Street, Wallacetown.

In the 1841 Census, James (given age 45, actual age 40), is living in Content Street, Wallacetown in the same street as his brother, William. He is a coal miner, married to Agnes with one child, Elizabeth, probably from an earlier marriage. In the 1851 Census, the family have moved to a house in Boghall Row (See large scale Ordnance Survey map for 1855 which shows all the streets in the Wallacetown area). James age is given as 51 and there are 4 children. There is one additional child in the 1861 Census, where they have returned to Content Street (number 14).

There is a record of a James Pettigrew marrying Janet Gray recorded in the registers of St. Quivox And Newton, on the 26th April 1825. Could this have been James first marriage (of three)?