Janet Chisholm

Abt 1758 - Bef 1797  (38 years)

• Name	Janet Chisholm  [1, 2]
  Birth	Abt 1758	Demerara, British Guiana
  Gender	Female
  Death	Bef 1797  [2]
  Burial	Corstorphine, Midlothian, Scotland   [2]
  Person ID	I192875	Our Genealogy
  Last Modified	12 Jan 2017

  
  

  Family	Col. Alexander Baillie, of Dochfour,   b. 1734   d. Feb 1799, Bath, Somerset, England (Age 65 years)
  Marriage	Unmarried
  Children	1. Janet Baillie,   b. Abt 1783, Scotland d. Oct 1848, Marylebone, London, Middlesex, England (Age 65 years)   2. Emelia Baillie,   b. 1787   d. 1816, Southampton, Hampshire, England (Age 29 years)   3. Alexander Baillie,   b. Abt 1790   d. 1838, Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana (Age 48 years)
  Family ID	F79409	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 May 2016

  
  

• Notes

  1 - Alexander's father was Alexander Baillie of Dochfour, Inverness (this is confirmed by the latter's will) and his mother, Janet Chisholm - also confiremd by his (natural) father's will. What is NOT confirmed by the will is that Janet Chisholm was born in Demerara. Alexander the father describes her as his cousin, and though the term has a general significance as well as a particular one where Highland genealogy is concerned, this Janet Chisholm is very difficult indeed to trace among the Baillie kin. A descendant of Alexander the natural son's younger daughter thinks that the relationship between Alexander senior and Janet Chisholm began in the lifetime of Dochfour's wife, whom he had married in Nevis. Do you have a source for Janet Chisholm's Demerara birth, or her parentage? The date you give is in itself, plausible, but Demerara at that time was Dutch-controlled and there was very little UK involvement there. I can find Jamaica Chisholms but no mention of any in Demerara. [E-mail from James Brennan forwarded by Glenda Dickson of CMAust. rec: 6 Dec 2016] 2 - the only likely Chisholm with Inverness roots I can find who certainly DID have interests in Demerara was Colin Chisholm, MD, son of Provost William Chisholm of Inverness, who himself married as a second wife, (apparently not to Colin's pleasure, since she herself in her testament indicates they were not on friendly terms and Colin's memorial to his father in the Inverness High Kirk doesn't even mention her), Alexander Baillie of Dochfour's sister, but his career didn't begin until the American War of Independence, and he didn't even visit Guyana until the 1790s. The suggested date of birth for Janet is certainly plausible but the place is unlikely for the date. I am trying to check this with one of Alexander Baillie (1790-1838)'s descendants, and also with David Alston, who is an authority on Highlanders in Guyana, but Chisholm genealogy and Guyana records for the period are both full of holes. It may be that Dutch Demerara records might hold an answer, but getting at them isn't easy, and French and British records don't seem to survive accessibly.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3701] Ancestry.com.au, Ancestry Public Member Trees, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), BAILLIE (DOCHFOUR)/FRASER (BELLADRUM) Owner: DavidAlston59 (Reliability: 3). [S3701] Ancestry.com.au, Ancestry Public Member Trees, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), TAIT FAMILY TREE Owner: Kuching20 (Reliability: 3).