The Ritchies of Fife

Lizzie’s paternal grandmother Margaret Ritchie 1833 -1871 was a seamstress from Newburgh, Fife. She died young at 38 from cancer of the uterus. Her mother Margaret Stalker 1813 - 1896 ran a grocery store on the High Street in Newburgh for many years.

High Street, Newburgh

Lizzie would not have known her grandmother as she was born after she died but she probably did know her great grandmother, Margaret Stalker.

Margaret Stalker was 20 when she had Margaret and married Robert Ritchie 1816 two years later when their second child was born.

The Ritchies were from Cupar in Fife. The first Ritchie ancestor I’ve been able to trace is David Ritchie of Logie, born c 1740. His son William Ritchie 1761 married Margaret Turpie 1761 of Ceres.

Descendants of David Ritchie 1740

Their son William Ritchie c 1794 was a hand loom linen weaver in Dairsie. He married Helen Gilchrist 1784, the daughter of a shoemaker.

Dairsie was originally called Osnaburg after the coarse fabric that was woven there. The name was changed after WWI when German names went out of favor.

Their son Robert Ritchie 1816, Lizzie’s great grandfather, was a millwright. I don’t have his birth certificate - for some reason he was not registered, or was born before his parents’ marriage. He first shows up in the 1841 Census as a 25 yr old working at Lathallan Mill in Kilconquar. He was married by then and his wife Margaret was probably in her home town of Newburgh with their three children. The 1841 Census for Newburgh is missing unfortunately so we don’t have a record of exactly where Margaret was.

Lathallan Mill

The 1851 Census shows Margaret Stalker (37) with daughter Margaret Ritchie (18) and son James (13) living in Mouse Wynd, Newburgh. Young Margaret is a dressmaker and James is still at school.

The Census data only shows the occupants of a house on the actual day of the census so it’s impossible to know how much time Robert and Margaret spent together under the same roof.

In 1855 Margaret Ritchie marries Robert Dalgleish Millar 1831 in Dundee. He was a draper’s assistant so maybe she was working there as a seamstress when they met? They get married in May and their son Andrew Millar 1855 is born in September.

In the 1861 Census her parents are living in Hill Town in Dundee where Robert Ritchie is now a spirit dealer. Their 7 yr old grandson Andrew is staying with them. His parents also live in Dundee.

In 1863 the Millars had a son Robert Dalgleish Millar, who died at the age of 3 months in Newburgh. His grandfather Robert Ritchie signed the death certificate. Their four other children were born in Newburgh:

Margaret “Maggie” Ritchie Millar 1865

Jane Kirkaldy Millar 1867

William Ritchie Millar 1869

James Millar 1870

Robert Ritchie died in May 1869. By then he and Margaret had moved back to Newburgh.

The 1871 Census (April) shows the two little girls Maggie and Jane living with their mother (38) and grandmother. There is no mention of the baby boys - maybe they weren’t counted? or with a neighbor?

In the English Census of 1871 Robert Dalgleish Millar is in Bilston, Staffordshire with son Andrew.

In June Margaret Ritchie dies and her mother looks after the children while Robert Dalgleish Millar is traveling. He remarries in 1874 and moves to Glasgow where he has two more children.

Lizzie’s Millar/Ritchie family

Lizzie lost her grandfather Millar in 1900, her father Andrew in 1901, and her mother Elizabeth in 1902. She may have known her great grandmother Margaret Stalker as a young child before the family moved to England. She was close to her aunt Margaret Ritchie Millar 1865 and her cousin “Daisy” (Margaret Ritchie McPherson). I remember meeting my dad’s “Aunt Daisy” on a visit to Scotland.