McLay family
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:36 pm
Hello from Australia,
I hope you know somebody on Bute or nearby & help me with my quest!
I have emailed John McLay at mclayglass -at- btconnect.com but maybe you can help by forwarding on this to maybe a local family history group or society.
My Great Grandmother was Isabella McLay daughter of John McLay born abt 1833 Aidrie Lanakshire New Monkland & Mary Love born abt 1828
Isabella married Dugald Rankine (father Daniel Rankine)b: 6 July 1846 in New Monkland, m: 21 June 1871 & d: 9 December 1925 in Scotland.
I note that there is many spellings for McLay/ McLoy/Maclae/McClay.
Some of my research has the family in Rothesay Bute in 1881.
Do you have any ties to this family?
I have pasted in below info passed on to me which may nail down the families.
I have also attached our Work in Progress "Mayes Family Tree."
I can send you more info on the Rankins if you wish?
Thanks Cheers Doug Mayes
Mary Love Birth 16 MAR 1828 in Kilsyth, Stirlingshire
Death
Marriage
Marriage Information
Date
Jun 1845
Location
New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland to John McLay
Residence Residence Information
Date 1851
Location Carnock, Fife, Scotland
Residence Residence Information
Date 1861
Location New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Residence
Residence Information
Date 1881
Location Rothesay, Bute, Scotland
1861 Scotland Census about John Mclay
Name: John Mclay
Age: 35
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Stirligh, Polmont
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 128 Graham St
Occupation: Coal Mine Coachaster
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1861_117
Household Members: Name Age
John Mclay 35
Mary Mclay 33
Robt Mclay 16
John Mclay 13
Mary Mclay 9
Isabela Mclay 7
Janet L Mclay 4
Christine Gibson 15
1891 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary McLay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
Town: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: 32 Mount Stuart Road
Occupation: Retired Coalmaster
ED: 20
Household schedule number: 140
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1891_175
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 65
Mary McLay 63
Margaret McLay 29
Mary Rankine 13
1871 Scotland Census about John Mclay
Name: John Mclay
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Redding, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 651/2
Registration district: New Monkland Landward
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Grahamshill Cottage
Occupation: Contractor Visitor Employing (60 Men 20 Boys & 7 Women)
ED: 12
Household schedule number: 10
Line: 5
Roll: CSSCT1871_147
Household Members: Name Age
John Mclay 45
Mary Mclay 43
Isabella Mclay 19
Janet L Mclay 14
Margaret Mclay 9
Robert Mclay 4
1881 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 55
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Love
Gender: Male
Where born: Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: Wellpark House
Occupation: Coalmaster
ED: 23
Household schedule number: 8
Line: 19
Roll: cssct1881_160
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 55
Mary Love 53
Maggie McLay 19
Robert McLay 14
Mary Love Rankine 3
1861 Scotland Census about John Mclay
Name: John Mclay
Age: 35
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Stirligh, Polmont
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 128 Graham St
Occupation: Coal Mine Coachaster
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1861_117
Household Members: Name Age
John Mclay 35
Mary Mclay 33
Robt Mclay 16
John Mclay 13
Mary Mclay 9
Isabela Mclay 7
Janet L Mclay 4
Christine Gibson 15
1891 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary McLay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
Town: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: 32 Mount Stuart Road
Occupation: Retired Coalmaster
ED: 20
Household schedule number: 140
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1891_175
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 65
Mary McLay 63
Margaret McLay 29
Mary Rankine 13
1891 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary McLay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
Town: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: 32 Mount Stuart Road
Occupation: Retired Coalmaster
ED: 20
Household schedule number: 140
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1891_175
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 65
Mary McLay 63
Margaret McLay 29
Mary Rankine 13
1891 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Ireland
Registration Number: 652/2
Registration district: Coatbridge
Civil Parish: Old Monkland
Town: Coatbridge
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 175 Bucham St
ED: 4
Household schedule number: 113
Line: 22
Roll: CSSCT1891_318
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 65
Mary Love 65
John Love 30
Arthur Love 28
Annie Love 3
1861 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Argyleshire
Registration Number: 559/2
Registration district: Abbey Landward
Civil Parish: Abbey Landward
County: Renfrewshire
Address: Hislop Land
ED: 6
Household schedule number: 10
Line: 2
Roll: CSSCT1861_74
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 29
Mary Love 30
Robert Love 5
Mary Love 2
John Love 11 MO
1861 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Irvine, Ayrshire
Registration Number: 589
Registration district: Dreghorn
Civil Parish: Dreghorn
County: Ayrshire
Address: Springside Hamlet
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 23
Roll: CSSCT1861_84
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 33
Mary Love 30
Helen Love 6
Catherine Love 3
John Love 1
1861 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Bailleston, Lanarkshire
Registration Number: 622/2
Registration district: Springburn
Civil Parish: Springburn
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 154 Charles St
ED: 4
Household schedule number: 16
Line: 16
Roll: CSSCT1861_91
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 28
Mary Love 30
Jane Love 4
Agnes Mazzie 3
Hi Doug
I copied your email from the Airdire website you left a link to. I’ve just had a look at the vital records available online via http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and then did a quick look on Ancestry.com for a census check and a look on familysearch.org for the results of a parent search to be sure we had the right folks. It’s quite straightforward to locate the marriage of your Isabella McClay and Dugald Rankine and also the death of Isabella in 1880. These records can be viewed online and downloaded into your computer without needing to order an extract from General Register House Scotland. The system is quite neat and affordable compared to that of some other countries. Actually Scotlandspeople fees are due to increase in the new year at 1 April so if you were inclined to obtain copies of these records you should act before then. From these two vital records you are able to confirm the names of Isabella’s parents and the occupation of her father and whether the parents were alive or deceased at the time of Isabella’s marriage to Dugald and also at the time of her death. Using a combination of this data is how to prove you are linking the correct people together as family. In your case….you know Isabellas father was John McClay and you think her mother was Mary Love. Both Isabella’s marriage and death confirm these names as correct. They also indicate that her parents were both still alive at the time of her death. A further search for the death of a Mary McClay mn Love turns up just one lady who died on Bute in 1913. This record shows she was the widow of John McClay a coalmaster. Ironstone and Coal Conractor is the occupation of Isabella’s father on her marriage and Coalmaster is his occupation on her death certificate. This looks pretty likely to be the right lady to be Isabellas mother. The only thing I then did to wrap it all up was to look on the IGI to see if John McClay and Mary Love had children that included an Isabella born about 1853 (birth year derived from her stated age at marriage). Because statutory recordkeeping began in Scotland in 1855 it’s not always easy to find pre 1855 records. Well this looks like it might be the case with this family. The IGI shows several children to this couple but none born before 1855. They do however have a Janet Love McClay born in 1857. So next I had a look for John McClay with a wife named Mary and a daughter named Isabella and a daughter named Janet on the 1861 census. There is one who nicely fits the bill right there in New Monkland:
Name: John Mclay
Age: 35
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 128 Graham St
Household consists of:
John Mclay age 35
Mary Mclay age 33
Robt Mclay age 16
John Mclay age 13
Mary Mclay age 9
Isabela Mclay age 7
Janet L Mclay age 4
Christine Gibson age15
Christine is a domestic servant. All the other children are sons and daughters. Mary is his wife. According to the 1861 census Isabella was born in Torryburn, Fife, Scotland. The presence of a sister named Janet L (for Love?) convinces me this is your Isabella with her parents and siblings in 1861 and the death of Mary McClay in 1913 on Bute is that of Isabella’s mother.
Best wishes
Jean
Hi Doug
Happy New Year to you as well.
‘Fraid I’ve no connection to the McLay’s or anyone else so far from Bute. I did have a little look around tonight for further records in your McLay line and you’re quite lucky with that one. Not only can you get back to John McLay and Mary Love but John’s death cert in 1910 gives his parents names as Robert McClay and Mary Bennie and I’ve just now tracked down their deaths which occurred after 1855 in Scotland which means….more parent names!!!!!! Mary McClay mn Bennie died in 1880. Her father was John Bennie and her mother was Janet Ramsay. Robert on the other hand outlived her by a year. His parents were John McClay and Mary Baird. Robert and Mary Bennie had a huge family so you can probably spend the rest of your life just on this line alone!!!!! They were married in 1823 Muiravonside. I’m pasting in 3 of the census indexes of this family below. Not sure what to make of the place of birth of Robert given as England. I haven’t looked any further for earlier generations.
Best wishes
Jean
Here they are in 1861:
Name: Robert Mclay
Age: 61
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Lanarkshire
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 5 Clark St
Occupation: Ironstone Contractor
ED: 16
Household schedule number: 4
Line: 23
Roll: CSSCT1861_117
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Mclay 61
Mary Mclay 51
Alexander Mclay 22
Mary Mclay 30
Thomas Mclay 17
David Mclay 15
Here they are in 1851:
Name: Robert Mclay
Age: 52
Estimated birth year: abt 1799
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name: Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: England
Parish Number: 414
Civil Parish: Carnock
Town: Forth Iron Works
County: Fife
Address: 8 Store Row
Occupation: Contractor Of Ironstone Mines
ED: 2
Household schedule number: 8
Line: 15
Roll: CSSCT1851_85
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Mclay 52
Mary Mclay 48
Robert Mclay 23
Mary Mclay 21
William Mclay 9
James Mclay 7
Margaret Mclay 15
Alexander Mclay 13
George Mclay 11
Thomas Mclay 8
David Mclay 6
And here they are in 1841:
Name: Robert Mclay
Age: 42
Estimated birth year: abt 1799
Gender: Male
Where born: England
Civil Parish: Airdrie
County: Lanarkshire
Address: London Street
Occupation: Iron M
Parish Number: 651
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Mclay 42
Mary Mclay 37
Janet Mclay 15
John Mclay 15 (I’m guessing this fellow is your John who married Mary Love)
Robert Mclay 13
Mary Mclay 11
William Mclay 9
James Mclay 7
Margaret Mclay 5
Alexander Mclay 3
George Mclay 1
I hope you know somebody on Bute or nearby & help me with my quest!
I have emailed John McLay at mclayglass -at- btconnect.com but maybe you can help by forwarding on this to maybe a local family history group or society.
My Great Grandmother was Isabella McLay daughter of John McLay born abt 1833 Aidrie Lanakshire New Monkland & Mary Love born abt 1828
Isabella married Dugald Rankine (father Daniel Rankine)b: 6 July 1846 in New Monkland, m: 21 June 1871 & d: 9 December 1925 in Scotland.
I note that there is many spellings for McLay/ McLoy/Maclae/McClay.
Some of my research has the family in Rothesay Bute in 1881.
Do you have any ties to this family?
I have pasted in below info passed on to me which may nail down the families.
I have also attached our Work in Progress "Mayes Family Tree."
I can send you more info on the Rankins if you wish?
Thanks Cheers Doug Mayes
Mary Love Birth 16 MAR 1828 in Kilsyth, Stirlingshire
Death
Marriage
Marriage Information
Date
Jun 1845
Location
New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland to John McLay
Residence Residence Information
Date 1851
Location Carnock, Fife, Scotland
Residence Residence Information
Date 1861
Location New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Residence
Residence Information
Date 1881
Location Rothesay, Bute, Scotland
1861 Scotland Census about John Mclay
Name: John Mclay
Age: 35
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Stirligh, Polmont
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 128 Graham St
Occupation: Coal Mine Coachaster
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1861_117
Household Members: Name Age
John Mclay 35
Mary Mclay 33
Robt Mclay 16
John Mclay 13
Mary Mclay 9
Isabela Mclay 7
Janet L Mclay 4
Christine Gibson 15
1891 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary McLay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
Town: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: 32 Mount Stuart Road
Occupation: Retired Coalmaster
ED: 20
Household schedule number: 140
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1891_175
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 65
Mary McLay 63
Margaret McLay 29
Mary Rankine 13
1871 Scotland Census about John Mclay
Name: John Mclay
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Redding, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 651/2
Registration district: New Monkland Landward
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Grahamshill Cottage
Occupation: Contractor Visitor Employing (60 Men 20 Boys & 7 Women)
ED: 12
Household schedule number: 10
Line: 5
Roll: CSSCT1871_147
Household Members: Name Age
John Mclay 45
Mary Mclay 43
Isabella Mclay 19
Janet L Mclay 14
Margaret Mclay 9
Robert Mclay 4
1881 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 55
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Love
Gender: Male
Where born: Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: Wellpark House
Occupation: Coalmaster
ED: 23
Household schedule number: 8
Line: 19
Roll: cssct1881_160
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 55
Mary Love 53
Maggie McLay 19
Robert McLay 14
Mary Love Rankine 3
1861 Scotland Census about John Mclay
Name: John Mclay
Age: 35
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Stirligh, Polmont
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 128 Graham St
Occupation: Coal Mine Coachaster
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1861_117
Household Members: Name Age
John Mclay 35
Mary Mclay 33
Robt Mclay 16
John Mclay 13
Mary Mclay 9
Isabela Mclay 7
Janet L Mclay 4
Christine Gibson 15
1891 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary McLay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
Town: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: 32 Mount Stuart Road
Occupation: Retired Coalmaster
ED: 20
Household schedule number: 140
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1891_175
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 65
Mary McLay 63
Margaret McLay 29
Mary Rankine 13
1891 Scotland Census about John McLay
Name: John McLay
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary McLay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 558
Registration district: Rothesay
Civil Parish: Rothesay
Town: Rothesay
County: Bute
Address: 32 Mount Stuart Road
Occupation: Retired Coalmaster
ED: 20
Household schedule number: 140
Line: 3
Roll: CSSCT1891_175
Household Members: Name Age
John McLay 65
Mary McLay 63
Margaret McLay 29
Mary Rankine 13
1891 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Ireland
Registration Number: 652/2
Registration district: Coatbridge
Civil Parish: Old Monkland
Town: Coatbridge
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 175 Bucham St
ED: 4
Household schedule number: 113
Line: 22
Roll: CSSCT1891_318
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 65
Mary Love 65
John Love 30
Arthur Love 28
Annie Love 3
1861 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Argyleshire
Registration Number: 559/2
Registration district: Abbey Landward
Civil Parish: Abbey Landward
County: Renfrewshire
Address: Hislop Land
ED: 6
Household schedule number: 10
Line: 2
Roll: CSSCT1861_74
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 29
Mary Love 30
Robert Love 5
Mary Love 2
John Love 11 MO
1861 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Irvine, Ayrshire
Registration Number: 589
Registration district: Dreghorn
Civil Parish: Dreghorn
County: Ayrshire
Address: Springside Hamlet
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 23
Roll: CSSCT1861_84
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 33
Mary Love 30
Helen Love 6
Catherine Love 3
John Love 1
1861 Scotland Census about Mary Love
Name: Mary Love
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Relationship: Wife
Spouse's name : John Love
Gender: Female
Where born: Bailleston, Lanarkshire
Registration Number: 622/2
Registration district: Springburn
Civil Parish: Springburn
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 154 Charles St
ED: 4
Household schedule number: 16
Line: 16
Roll: CSSCT1861_91
Household Members: Name Age
John Love 28
Mary Love 30
Jane Love 4
Agnes Mazzie 3
Hi Doug
I copied your email from the Airdire website you left a link to. I’ve just had a look at the vital records available online via http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and then did a quick look on Ancestry.com for a census check and a look on familysearch.org for the results of a parent search to be sure we had the right folks. It’s quite straightforward to locate the marriage of your Isabella McClay and Dugald Rankine and also the death of Isabella in 1880. These records can be viewed online and downloaded into your computer without needing to order an extract from General Register House Scotland. The system is quite neat and affordable compared to that of some other countries. Actually Scotlandspeople fees are due to increase in the new year at 1 April so if you were inclined to obtain copies of these records you should act before then. From these two vital records you are able to confirm the names of Isabella’s parents and the occupation of her father and whether the parents were alive or deceased at the time of Isabella’s marriage to Dugald and also at the time of her death. Using a combination of this data is how to prove you are linking the correct people together as family. In your case….you know Isabellas father was John McClay and you think her mother was Mary Love. Both Isabella’s marriage and death confirm these names as correct. They also indicate that her parents were both still alive at the time of her death. A further search for the death of a Mary McClay mn Love turns up just one lady who died on Bute in 1913. This record shows she was the widow of John McClay a coalmaster. Ironstone and Coal Conractor is the occupation of Isabella’s father on her marriage and Coalmaster is his occupation on her death certificate. This looks pretty likely to be the right lady to be Isabellas mother. The only thing I then did to wrap it all up was to look on the IGI to see if John McClay and Mary Love had children that included an Isabella born about 1853 (birth year derived from her stated age at marriage). Because statutory recordkeeping began in Scotland in 1855 it’s not always easy to find pre 1855 records. Well this looks like it might be the case with this family. The IGI shows several children to this couple but none born before 1855. They do however have a Janet Love McClay born in 1857. So next I had a look for John McClay with a wife named Mary and a daughter named Isabella and a daughter named Janet on the 1861 census. There is one who nicely fits the bill right there in New Monkland:
Name: John Mclay
Age: 35
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 128 Graham St
Household consists of:
John Mclay age 35
Mary Mclay age 33
Robt Mclay age 16
John Mclay age 13
Mary Mclay age 9
Isabela Mclay age 7
Janet L Mclay age 4
Christine Gibson age15
Christine is a domestic servant. All the other children are sons and daughters. Mary is his wife. According to the 1861 census Isabella was born in Torryburn, Fife, Scotland. The presence of a sister named Janet L (for Love?) convinces me this is your Isabella with her parents and siblings in 1861 and the death of Mary McClay in 1913 on Bute is that of Isabella’s mother.
Best wishes
Jean
Hi Doug
Happy New Year to you as well.
‘Fraid I’ve no connection to the McLay’s or anyone else so far from Bute. I did have a little look around tonight for further records in your McLay line and you’re quite lucky with that one. Not only can you get back to John McLay and Mary Love but John’s death cert in 1910 gives his parents names as Robert McClay and Mary Bennie and I’ve just now tracked down their deaths which occurred after 1855 in Scotland which means….more parent names!!!!!! Mary McClay mn Bennie died in 1880. Her father was John Bennie and her mother was Janet Ramsay. Robert on the other hand outlived her by a year. His parents were John McClay and Mary Baird. Robert and Mary Bennie had a huge family so you can probably spend the rest of your life just on this line alone!!!!! They were married in 1823 Muiravonside. I’m pasting in 3 of the census indexes of this family below. Not sure what to make of the place of birth of Robert given as England. I haven’t looked any further for earlier generations.
Best wishes
Jean
Here they are in 1861:
Name: Robert Mclay
Age: 61
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: Lanarkshire
Registration Number: 651/1
Registration district: Airdrie
Civil Parish: New Monkland
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 5 Clark St
Occupation: Ironstone Contractor
ED: 16
Household schedule number: 4
Line: 23
Roll: CSSCT1861_117
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Mclay 61
Mary Mclay 51
Alexander Mclay 22
Mary Mclay 30
Thomas Mclay 17
David Mclay 15
Here they are in 1851:
Name: Robert Mclay
Age: 52
Estimated birth year: abt 1799
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name: Mary Mclay
Gender: Male
Where born: England
Parish Number: 414
Civil Parish: Carnock
Town: Forth Iron Works
County: Fife
Address: 8 Store Row
Occupation: Contractor Of Ironstone Mines
ED: 2
Household schedule number: 8
Line: 15
Roll: CSSCT1851_85
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Mclay 52
Mary Mclay 48
Robert Mclay 23
Mary Mclay 21
William Mclay 9
James Mclay 7
Margaret Mclay 15
Alexander Mclay 13
George Mclay 11
Thomas Mclay 8
David Mclay 6
And here they are in 1841:
Name: Robert Mclay
Age: 42
Estimated birth year: abt 1799
Gender: Male
Where born: England
Civil Parish: Airdrie
County: Lanarkshire
Address: London Street
Occupation: Iron M
Parish Number: 651
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Mclay 42
Mary Mclay 37
Janet Mclay 15
John Mclay 15 (I’m guessing this fellow is your John who married Mary Love)
Robert Mclay 13
Mary Mclay 11
William Mclay 9
James Mclay 7
Margaret Mclay 5
Alexander Mclay 3
George Mclay 1