Witness to an Event 4

Birth Witnesses (Children of James Anderson & his spouse, Margaret Reid)

Christian Anderson: entered Curry Aug 18th, 1734. James Anderson & Margaret Reid, a daughter named Christian born 17th Inst. Witnesses- Walter Reid & Alexander Anderson

Agnes Anderson: entered Curry Dec 27th, 1736. James Anderson & Margaret Reid, a daughter named Agnes born 25th Inst. Witnesses- Walter Reid & Alexander Anderson

James Anderson: entered Curry Feb 8th 1739. James Anderson in Hermistoun & his spouse, Martgaret Reid, a son named James. Born 5th Inst: Witnesses- Alexander Anderson & Walter Reid

Postal Directories

I have continued perusing the sight I mentioned before, archive.org, and found that more than just one postal directory for Edinburgh exists. Many from the entirety of the nineteenth century (and some of the eighteenth century) exist for Edinburgh and it's immediate suburbs/surroundings. The Symes, amongst others, exist in these directories and have opened up interesting avenues of research.

James Syme
1784-85 (a quadruple dip... what's going on? James Syme Sr. Daddy?)

Syme James, Efq; of Norll field, Chalmers's clofe-

Syme James, Efq; of Northfield, Monteith's clofe

Syme of Noi ;li field, foot of Chalmer's clofe

Syme James of Nor thfield,. Chalmers's cMe

1790-92

Syme James, Efq; of Northfield, Chalmers's clofe

1794-95
Syme James Efq; of Northtfeid, foot of Chalmer's dofc :

1799-1800

Syme James of North-field, Lauriston

1800-01
Syme James of Narthfield, No 8. Society

1805-6

Syme, James 2 1 , York place

1807-8

Syme, James 20. York place

1808-9


Syme, James esq of Northfield, 1 1. Argyll square

1809-10
Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 11. Argyll square

1811-12
Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 26. New street

1812-12

Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 25. New street

1816-17
Syme, James esq. of Northfieid, 26. New street

1817-18
Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 26. New street

1818-19
Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 26. New street

1819-20

Syme, .Tames esq. of Northfield, 26. New street

1820-21
Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 26. New street

1821-22
Syme, James esq. of Northfield, 26. New street

1822-34

absent from the record and then suddenly shows up in "Prestonpans and
Cockenzie" as "Syme, James, esq. of Northtield" in the 1834-35 directory.
You see this same title until the 1838 directory and then George, the
younger brother, is suddenly the "Esq. Northfield" in 1839-40 postal
directory.

It looks like an unbroken line from James to George but since James Syme
the elder died in 1819 according to his will and testament, the James Syme
 you see in the 1820s and the mid 30s most probably is James Syme, Jr.

Interesting: 1775-6 has a directory not naming any Northfield or Esquire but
the James Sime (sic), SLATER, of Monteith Close shows up again. Is this the
Syme daddy I've been seeking?

The mysteries of William Kemyss

Not all my research is aimed at my direct ancestors. It is sometimes interesting to see the family surrounding those said ancestors--siblings, relatives by marriage, witnesses of events, business partners, clients, employers, etc. It tells you a lot about the family in general, their place in society, people they may have known or known of.

My direct ancestress, Catharine Syme, had an elder sister, Christian, who married William Kemyss, Esquire. Bits and pieces I've tried to pick up about him are relatively vague. They seem to point to the fact that he is a Writer. I assume that means Writer to the Signet but assumptions, of course, are just assumptions after all.

Year by year, the internet and the digitization of old documentations adds to my hunt in ways I couldn't have imagined. I just found a digitized copy of a postal directory of 1819-20. This is from after the marriage of Christian and William and recently after the death of James Syme, father of Christian. It is prior to the early death of William.

Archive.org may prove to be more valuable but for now I find an address in my hunt for more details of the marriage of Christian and William Kemyss. William Kemyss, Writer, is shown as living on Pitt Street in Edinburgh at this time. If you look at Google Map of Pitt Street, it borders between northern Edinburgh and Leith.