It was believed that an ancestor of mine with the surname of Livingstone died in the French wars and left a girl named Ann, but it is also possible that his death occurred just before his birth. Ann married William Stewart of Stirling in 1834. He was a cooper. William was born in Stirling. He was the son of John Stewart and Janet Thomson.
The Napoleonic Wars killed more than 32,000 soldiers on the British side. It is likely that Mr. Livingstone fought in the Battle of Waterloo, which was the last of Napoleon’s 20-year wars and ended in June 1815.
I think the ancestor I am looking for may be William Livingstone because my great-grandfather Robert Stewart, whose mother was Ann Livingstone, used the names of his own relatives to name his children and his first son’s name was William Livingstone (Stewart). This is just one possibility. William and Ann never named any of their children William. They were John and Robert, so it is possible that Ann’s father’s name could have been Robert or John Livingston(e). My theory is based on the fact that according to Scottish naming traditions of the 1700s and 1800s, the second child was often named after the child’s maternal grandfather.
I understand that some military wives were eligible for some kind of government allowance as long as they were classified as poor and had children, but it’s unlikely Ann’s mother would have been one of them unless Ann had an older brother and didn’t have children. there is evidence of this.
We believe that Ann’s mother remarried Mr. Miller and they had at least three sons named Robert, Walter, and Andrew. Andrew and Walter Miller were noted in the 1841 census as staying with William and Ann Stewart (Livingstone) at Old Kilpatrick. What was the connection between the Millers and Ann and William? I wonder.
Our ancestors 3 and 4 generations ago were all adamant about the David Livingstone link and that Ann Livingstone’s father died in the French wars. It’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together.
If anyone has information about this story that could help fill a much-needed gap in our family tree, we greatly appreciate it. I believe the British military records are at Kew, England. If anyone can visit and review them for me I would greatly appreciate it.
