Searching for the birthplace, parents and siblings of Thomas Nisbett. Born approx. 1816 in Ayr Scotland. His fathers name was Robert and he was a clerk at Dean Quarry in Kilmarnock. Have found Thomas in later yrs census in England but with no luck finding any family.Once old enough to work he was a gardener and believe he worked at the estate of the Duke of Portland in Ayrshire, as he ended up at working in England as a gardener in the same locationn where the Duke of Portland also had land holdings. I am visiting Edinburgh next month and also plan to visit the library in Ayr. Any suggestions as to how to proceed? STUCK IN CALIFORNIA. Thanks in advancee.

Nancy

I apologise if I am a little late in responding but I have just come across your message whilst searching against the name of Thomas Nisbett. I am currently researching the village of Papplewick, Nottinghamshire, where a Thomas Nisbett was resident many years. He first appears in the 1851 Census with his wife and family:

Nisbett Thomas Head Married 33 Gardener Scotland
Nisbett Dorothy Wife Married 40 Heanor, Derbys.
Nisbett Thomas Son 1 Papplewick
Nisbett Sophia Niece 9 Scotland

The 1861 Census reads as follows:

Nisbett Thomas Head Married 44 Fardner (Domestic) Scotland
Nisbett Dorothy Wife Married 49 Heanor, Derbys.
Thomas Nisbett Son 11 Scholar Papplewick

The 1881 Census contains the following:

Nisbett Thomas Head Married 54 Gardener Scotland
Nisbett Dorothy Wife Married 60 Heanor, Derbys.

Thomas Nisbett was head gardener at Papplewick Hall, working for the Walter family, and appears to have lived in a cottage in the grounds. Unless he worked for the Duke of Portland in a junior capacity, coming to Papplewick was something of a come down. Unfortunately, I have no idea where in Scotland he originated from but his date of birth appears to have been either 1817 or 1818.

The Nisbetts did not die in this parish. A quick look on www.freebmd.org.uk records the death of a Dorothy Nesbitt in the second quarter of 1891 in the Chesterfield registration district (7b 534) aged 80. There is also a Thomas Nisbett listed in the Chesterfield district as dying in the third quarter of 1895 (7b 415) aged 82.

Their son, Thomas, moved to the nearby parish of Bulwell, Notts. He can be found on the 1881 Census living at Bulwell Hall Stables, (adjacent to another large country house) as follows:
Nisbett Thomas Head 31 Married Gardener Papplewick, Notts
Nisbett Elizabeth Wife 28 Married Ryoxall, Staffordshire
Nisbett Margaret Ann Daughter 7 months Bulwell, Notts.
I was wondering if you managed to locate any information that conclusively ties the above Thomas Nisbett with the person quoted in your message? As I assume you are related, any information you may have on the Nisbetts whilst at Papplewick would be most welcome.
Colin

Colin, how nice it was to receive your e-mail. You know as much about my Thomas as I do. Yes, you have found my husband's great great grandfather. Since posting my request for info I too have found much of the info you have written. We think the eldest Thomas was born in Ayr, Scotland. Having three Thomas' in a row is quite confusing and at first I gave up. I keep returning. I have no clue as to what brought him to Papplewick or much of his life whilst living there. It appears he only had the one son, Thomas. I tried searching the neice Sophia from Scotland to try and locate siblings or parents in Scotland. Only find one possibility, parents Robert and Elizabeth (Campbell) Nisbet from Kilmarnock, note one t, married about 1895 and did have a son Thomas born in or about 1816. Have never been able to confirm this or find siblings to prove this is in fact him.
My husband John and I have visited the village of Papplewick in the spring of 1997. It is so lovely. The Rev. a the time gave us a tour of the church and grounds. You are right, both Thomas and Dorothy died in Bolsover, Derbyshire on the dates you indicated.
Are you from Papplewick? We live in Northern California near San Francisco. The youngest Thomas came to SF in 1923 with his wife and two sons. He too was a gardener, both in England and America.
I will look through my papers and see if I have anything of interst concerning Papplewick and let you know.
Thank you again for all your hard work and info. If you have any suggestions as to how to proceed in confirming the eldest Thomas and his Scottish family, I would be grateful.
Sincerely,
Nancy Nisbett
Stuck in California

Nancy

Many thanks for your interesting response. As regards Thomas's place of birth, it may be given on the 1891 Census for Bolsover if you have not already tried it. The enumerator in that town may have been a little more fastidious than the one covering Papplewick, giving his actual place of birth instead of merely quoting Scotland. Once his actual place of birth is known, it ought to be possible to track his birth and parents down through parish registers for that place.

Also, have you had any luck tracing Thomas's marriage to Dorothy? As she came from Heanor, a place on the eastern side of Derbyshire about 12 miles from Papplewick, their marriage may have taken place in that parish although for someone "in service" that is working for a landed family, it would not be uncommon for a couple to meet whilst working in the same place.

As regards Sophia, assuming she returned home, I would expect to find a marriage between say 1855 and 1865. You may wish to try a search on www.freebmd.co.uk Again, it might just tie down the familiy's place of origin. Apologies if you have already pursued these avenues in vain.

It appears that Thomas Jnr. had moved from Bulwell into Lincolnshire by the time of the 1891 Census although I do not know exactly where.

I do originate from Papplewick and know Rev. Keith Turner well. If you came to Papplewick no doubt you saw Papplewick Hall. It has a large walled garden to the north (now containing houses) where Thomas would have spent a lot of his time. From the Census returns I cannot work out exactly where the family lived but it must have been somewhere in close proximity to the Hall and not in the main part of the village. The houses which currently lie around the Hall were all built in the last century.

Best wishes for the New Year.

Colin

Colin, it was so nice to get your e-mail. I have been working on this line for over 20 years and have been stuck for 12 yrs. Your idea to look at the 1891 census for Bolsover is a good one. I have not done so. I know each census seems to give more hope.
The elder Nisbetts dwelling in Papplewick was the "Barracks". I am not sure what that means? Their son ended up at Fulbeck near Grantham where he owned the Hare and Hound pub. He had been a gardener in his younger years. Thomas, his eldest son also became a gardener and worked at an estate in Stafforshire called "Rangemore" at the turn of the Century. I have his gardening diary that spans for about a year, showing all the different types of flowers, plants etc. which were grown there. I am in the process of giving the diary to the Staffordshire Council. I wrote to them explaining what I had and they seem most interested. It seems gardeners where thought of as domestics. This man was highly educated and wrote a lovely pen as well as knowing latin. The Staffordshire Museum would like to place his works in their facility. It only collects dust in my house. I hope that my decision would have pleased him.
Regarding Sophia. I have found only one whose age fits the time frame back in Scotland.. I can make no connection to our Thomas. No common parents, grandparents,etc. On the elder Thomas' wedding cert it shows his father as Robert Nisbett a clerk. So that is the avenue I have taken and that is the family I wrote about, Robert and Elizabeth (Campbell) in Ayr Scotland. My husband was given a silver snuff box by an elderly aunt. It was engraved to Robert Nisbet, clerk at Dean Quarry 1848 from a group of Businessmen who conducted business with him. That one T again. So I look at all spellings. It is an adventure for sure.
How nice you live in Papplewick. We found it to be a lovely village. I am trying to locate a water color painting that belonged to my husbands uncle. The title was "Papplewick from my breakfast window". He has passed on this summer and I hope to recover it. I will let you know if I am successful.
Thanks for all your encouragement. I needed a jump start again. Happy hunting.
Regards, Nancy

Nancy

Upon searching through my files again, I find Thomas Nisbet listed in Lascelles and Hagar's Commercial Directory of Notts. 1848 as a gardener at Papplewick Hall. This is the earliest trace I have of him in this parish. Note there is the single 't' in Nisbet as per his forebears. The same spelling occurs in the 1853 edition of F. White & Co.'s Directory of Notts. so it was unlikely to have been a simple spelling error. C.N. Wright's Directory of 1885 also quotes "Thomas Nisbet", being the last directory entry I have for him in Papplewick. The 1886 Electoral Register again quotes the name 'Nisbet'.

Other bits I have found include:

According to the Nottingham Journal of 12th January 1855 Thomas made a contribution of 5s, along with many other villagers, towards the Notts. Patriotic Fund. If I recall correctly, this was a fund established to provide relief for soliders engaged in the Crimea.

The Nottingham Review for 29th July 1870 states that "Mr. Nisbett" of Papplewick was one of the judges at the Hucknall and District Floral and Horticulture Show.

The reference to 'Barracks' is a forerunner to todays 'Barracks Farm', a farm within Papplewick parish about 1 1/2 miles from the village. It comes from the term 'breck' meaning land newly brought into cultivation by rotation. I very much doubt that Thomas & Dorothy Nisbett resided there. It was simply a farm dwelling in 1861, then occupied by John Tagg, a shepherd. Unfortunately, few house names are quoted in the 1861 Census but by 1871 they are listed at 'The Gardens' which suggests a house very close to the gardens at Papplewick Hall. It is in the 1881 Census that the Nisbetts are listed directly under the entry for 'Barracks', which was then occupied by the Hayes family. Looking at the Papplewick Census in its entirety, by that stage, it seems the enumerator was simply mopping up outlying properties. The entry directly under the Nisbetts is also out of order and was in fact a set of houses several miles from the Barracks.

I am intrigued by the painting to which you refer. I would be most interested to know the artist and a date if possible. What does it depict? Any idea from whose breakfast window the view was taken? How did it get all the way to San Francisco?

Best wishes
Colin

Happy New Year Colin. Thank you for all the information you sent on Thomas. It is most interesting to know a bit more about this ancestor. I just wish I knew what brought him from Scotland and when. If I keep hunting maybe I will find the answer, hopefuly in my lifetime. I think he was an intersting soul.
The sketch I was referring to is in England with my husbands couisn who lives in Grimsby. It isn't a painting as I remember, but a black and white drawing. I believe it is of the church tower and the rolling hills nearby. I have no knowledge of who painted it or when. My husbands cousin thought it was from the eldest Thomas Nisbett, which makes sense, since he lived there the longest. I e-mailed them over the holdiay and they will get back to me with what info they have once they find it. The older cousin died this summer and it belonged to him. His daughter remembers seeing it and will try to help out.
Thomas and Dorothy married Sept 19. 1849 at Papplewick church. She is shown as a cook and he as a gardener. Their witnesses were Robert Brown and Ann Wardley. They must have met while they were in service, don't you think?
I have a bit of other info that I would like to share. My husband also received a lovely small bible that is inscripted: To Thomas Nisbett
In memory of Robert Fairley Young
Who died May 28 1868
John III.16
The Gardens, Annesley Park, April 1869

I searched records and found a Robert Fairley Young who was born in September of 1861, district of Basford.
This bible could have been given to either Thomas, the elder or his 19 year old son since they both were gardeners. Who was this child? Why would this have been given? So many questions.
I think we visited Annesley Gardens, or Park or Hall or saw a sign or something as it stands out in my mind. One or both of the Nisbett's could have worked as a gardener there. Just second guessing. Do you know this place?
When you write I can close my eyes and follow the path down to the church in Papplewick. Such a lovely place.
Thanks for writing. Again, Happy New Year.
Nancy

Nancy

Thanks for your last e-mail. I have delayed replying until I had time to make some enquiries.

The only Robert Brown listed in the 1851 Census for Papplewick was landlord of the Griffin's Head pub at the crossroads and a farmer of six acres. He was then 38 years old so of a similar age to Thomas. Another 'foreigner' to Papplewick, he gives his place of birth as London.

Ann Wardley, 55 years of age is listed as a house servant at Papplewick Hall, living with the Case family, so it does seem highly probable that Dorothy served as cook at the Hall before her marriage. With 16 servants living at the Hall in 1851, I can imagine a good number of them attending Thomas and Dorothy's wedding.

Annesley Hall is around three miles from Papplewick. In the 1860's it would have been a country house larger than Papplewick Hall and probably occupied by the Chaworth-Musters family. It would undoubtedly have large gardens attached to it and require the services of many gardeners. I don't know much about Annesley Hall's history and I cannot say I have come across the name Robert Fairley Young before. Annesley Hall has now been derelict for many years.

I searched the parish registers for Annesley and found Robert Fairley Young’s burial entered on 31.5.1868 aged 6 years 8 months. Rather surprisingly, directly underneath and on the same day, can be found Isabella Marion Young, aged 3 years 8 months and then, on 1.6.1868, Alexandra Galloway Young aged 2 years. With all three dying at the same time, it suggests illness or disease was the cause. I had previously searched the Mansfield Reporter on the assumption that Robert Fairley Young may have met with some form of accident but I could locate no reference to the family. Similarly, when I searched the Annesley baptisms, I found no trace of the Youngs. Evidently they moved to Annesley from elsewhere within the Basford Registration district. Alexandra’s second name of Galloway suggests Scottish origins.

Best wishes

Colin