John Forsyth **

  General Notes:

The parents ascribed to John, Thomas and Elizabeth, are a little speculative and based on the burial record below with an age of 64. These names would not appear to fit the usual Scottish naming conventions in terms of John and Agnes' children's names. There are several other John Forsyths born in Stirling between 1755 and 1770 who could potentially be candidates.

Both John and Agnes were described as from the parish of Larbert when they married there in 1791.

It is likely he was deceased before April 1841 as he is not with Isobel in the Census. His last child was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire and a number of his children and grandchildren worked in the Shotts Iron Works. His wife died in Shotts, it is likely he did too.

There is a record of a "John Forsyth Shotts I Wks" aged 64, paying "Mortcloth Money" amounting to 10 Shillings to the Treasurer of the Poors Funds in the Parish of Bartram, Shotts on September 26, 1830. It is possible that this was our John and that this is a record of his death.
A Mortcloth was the pall covering a coffin on the way to the gravesite. The mortcloth was hired out to parishioners by the kirk session or the guild.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He worked as an Iron Miner according to daughter Elizabeth's Death Certificate in 1857.

• He worked as a Coal Miner according to son Livingstone's Death cert in 1885.

John married Agnes Isobel Laird **, daughter of Robert Laird and Isobel Richison, on 26 Aug 1791 in Larbert, Stirling, Scotland. (Agnes Isobel Laird ** was born on 27 Jul 1770 in Larbert, Stirling, Scotland, died on 7 Jan 1857 in Shotts Iron Works, Shotts, Lanark, Scotland and was buried in Churchyard of Shotts, Shotts, , Lanark, Scotland.). The cause of her death was Natural Decay.