Elizabeth Borthwick
(1789-1842)
(2nd
daughter of John BORTHWICK and Elizabeth DINWOODIE)
Early
Life / Marriage
/ Descendants
/ Burial at Biggar
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Early
Life
Elizabeth (Betty) Borthwick, was
born at Stobo, Peebles, Scotland and baptised on 29 November 1789
in Drumelzier, Peebles. Nothing is known of her early life. Nor do
we know yet what her parents were doing in Drumelzier. The OPR for
Drumelzier in 1789 states:
Elizabeth Borthwick. Born
the 20th Novr Baptized 29th, Elizabeth Borthwick, DL to John Borthwick
and his spouse Elizabeth Dalwoodie in wester Dawick.
(Note that Dawick is also spelt Darwyck
and Dawyck.)
John Borthwick was probably a shepherd
at Wester Dawyck as this was his occupation around that period.
Marriage
to George Lillie
At some time, probably before 1832, Elizabeth
Borthwick married George LILLIE. This marriage record has not
yet been found. Interestingly, Elizabeth was apparently 15 years older
than her husband. An unusual situation in those times?
The LILLIE surname was also spelt LILLY
and LILLEY and appears with different spellings in Borthwick letters
and official Scottish records.
George Lillie must have been born about
1804, if he was 67 years old when he died, as stated on his headstone.
The 1861 census indicates that he was born at Kelso, Roxburgh &
confirms a birth year of around 1804. However his death record (just
received in July 2002) states that he was 65 years old when he died,
making his birth year circa 1816. The informant for his death was,
however, a neighbour in Biggar, William Russell, who may not have
known George's exact birthdate.
From the death record we now know that
George's parents were George LILLIE and Elizabeth PURVES. A couple
by those names married in Chirnside, Berwick, Scotland on 21 June
1774, 30 years before our George Lillie was born. It seems unlikely
that they would be his parents but ...
Are there any Lillie researchers out there
who can assist?
Descendants
of George Lillie & Elizabeth Borthwick?
Elizabeth BORTHWICK & George LILLIE
had just one child it seems. Jane (Jeannie) LILLIE was born
20 September 1832 in Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The Parish records
for St Mary's Church at Biggar (an almighty mess of information) record
the following:
"Jane, daughter of George Lillie
and Elisabeth Borthwick, his wife, was born 20 September 1832. Entered
8 December 1838."
... AND they record the following....
"Jane, daughter of George Lillie
and Elisabeth Borthwick, his wife, was born 20 December 1838. Entered
12 January 1839." !
By the 1840s the family was living in
Glasgow. George Lillie appears in Glasgow Directories as a dairy farmer
& potato grower. According to the letter from John Borthwick to
his brother in Australia Betty was doing very well as she had 18 cows
in Glasgow in 1843! John also says that "Betty's only daughter"
died about 1841-1843. She would have been just 9-11 years old.
In 1850 Elizabeth Lilley gave a small
bible to her nephew Alexander.
This bible, which is still in the family, bears the following notation:
"Jeannie Lilly
Born 20 September 1832"
"Presented to Alexander Borthwick by his affectionate Aunt
on his departure to America
July 18th 1850"
Sometime between 1841 and
1861 the Lillies moved from Glasgow back to Biggar. In the 1861
census George Lilley, aged 57, his wife Elizabeth Lilley, aged 62
(a little poetic licence there!) and their niece Janet Borthwick,
aged 21, were recorded at "Little Nell" near Biggar. George
was a "farmer of 15 acres". Elizabeth is listed as a "farmer's
wife" and Janet as a "domestic servant". This Janet
may have been the daughter of Alexander Borthwick and Mary McNight
(see below), although the age in the census does not quite fit with
her birthdate.
Burial
at Biggar, Lanarkshire
George LILLIE died on 19 April
1871 at Biggar, Scotland, aged 67, or 65, years. He is buried in St
Mary's Churchyard at Biggar. His death record states that he was a
retired farmer who died at 11.45 at Biggar, aged 65. The cause of
death was Hemiplegia 4 weeks. His parents are listed as George Lillie,
Farmer (dec) & Elizabeth Purves (dec). The death was registered by
William Russell, Neighbour, Biggar on 26 April 1871.
Betty Lillie, known as "Aunt
Lillie" to the family, died on 8 August 1872 (according to her
headstone), aged 85, while staying with her niece Janet
(Jessie) Brown, at Currie, near Edinburgh, MLN. Jessie was
the daughter of Alexander Borthwick & Mary McNight. She &
her husband Robert, a farm steward, were living near Currie MLN when
their children were born in the late 1860s but by the time of the
1881 census were at Newlands.
The death record for Elizabeth Lillie
nee Borthwick, widow of George Lillie, states that she died on 6,
not 8, August 1872 at 1 a.m. at Hermiston, Currie, aged 83. Her parents
names were not completed. The cause of death was General Decay and
her death was registered by Robert Brown, Householder on 10 August
1872 at Currie.
Memorial Inscriptions for Elizabeth Borthwick
& George Lillie are on the family
headstone in St Mary's Churchyard.
Copyright: Ann Carson 2001
All rights reserved.
Created: February 2001
Last Updated: March 2001
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