Isabella (Margaret) Galloway, my three times great grandmother, was born on 29 October 1790 in Fife, the daughter of Agnes and William White. She married Joseph Galloway on 29 February 1812 in Canongate, Midlothian. They had eight children in 18 years. She died on 1 December 1856 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, at the age of 66.
In the late 18th century, Elie was a small East Neuk burgh whose importance grew as nearby Earlsferry’s port declined after its harbour was destroyed in a severe storm in 1766.
Isabella married Joseph Galloway in the Canongate, Edinburgh. At that time, Joseph was a Private in the Perthshire Militia, and records show the Militia could have been based at Edinburgh Castle. Isabella and Joseph may have returned to Monzie, Perthshire, where Joseph was born and where three of their children were born: Agnes (1816), William and James (1817). William and James were born on the same day, so they must have been twins, which was uncommon in the 19th century, with about 1-1.5% of the population, compared to around 12% today. The brothers became tobacconists and owned a shop on Nicholson Street on the Southside. You can read about them in another post.
Isabella and her family moved to Edinburgh before the birth of Alexander, her fourth child, in 1823. Between 1823 and 1834, they had four more children. The 1841 census shows her living at 14 Lauriston Street with her husband, Joseph (60), and children James (20), William (20), Alexander (15), John (13), Robert (9), Isabella (15), and Alison (7). There is no record of Agnes, now 25, living in Edinburgh at this time, but there is a reference to Agnes Galloway marrying James Stalker in Logie, Perthshire, on 9 Aug 1834, so she may have remained in Perthshire when her parents and siblings moved to Edinburgh.
Joseph died on 21 Nov 1841 at Lauriston Street. The 1851 census shows Isabella living at 2 Home Street, Tollcross, with her son Robert (20), daughter Alison (17), and Isabella White, her 10-month-old granddaughter. The census notes that Isabella cleans a banker’s office and boards a child. The child must be her granddaughter, Isabella, but it is unclear who her parents are. Robert is a lithographic printer, and Alison is an apprentice straw hat maker.
Isabella died on the first of December 1856 at 2 Home Street, Tollcross, Edinburgh, from “Apoplexy”. She was 65 years old and was buried in Saint Cuthbert’s Churchyard.
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