Like William Begley, Jane's eventual husband, Jane herself has led me a merry dance. See William Begley's entry for the full tale.

KEY EVENTS AND DATES

Birth - 1831 -1840

From the ages ascribed to Jane in the 1881 and 1891 Censuses, Jane would have been born around 1832 to 33; from the 1861 and 1871 Censuses it would have been 1837 to 1838; from her Marriage record it would have been 1831 and from her Death record it would have been 1839 to 1840. Although there are obvious discrepancies here, there is no doubt from the evidence gathered that these records all belong to the same Jane Hill.

The Censuses show her place of birth as Cramond. The age shown on her Marriage certificate would suggest she was born a couple of years earlier, but I don't think there is any doubt that it is the same Jane Hill in all cases. According to her Marriage and Death certificates, Jane's father was William Hill, an Agricultural Labourer, but the two certificates cite different mother's names - her Marriage certificate gives it as Isabella Hodge, while the Death certificate gives it as Jane Stewart. Unfortunately, I cannot find a record of Jane Hill's birth, so cannot verify any of these dates.

1851 Census

No record found.

20th February 1856

Jane's daughter, Ann Begley, was born at 7.10 a.m. at 327 Canongate, Edinburgh. Ann's father was recorded as William Begley, a Labourer.

24th April 1858

Jane's second daughter, Margaret, was born at Stevenlaw's Close. Although Jane is recorded as "Jane Begley, M/S Hill" on the Birth certificate, no date or place of marriage between she and William was entered, (lending credence to their not being married at this time. William was employed as a Quarries Labourer.

13th December 1860

Jane's son, William, was also born at Stevenlaw's Close. Once again Jane Begley is given a maiden name of Hill, but no date or place of marriage.

1861 Census

The Census records that Jane Baigley (aged 30) lived at 11 Stevenlaw's Close, Edinburgh, with her husband, William, (31). Also living there were her children Ann (5), Margaret (3) and William (4 months). Jane's place of birth was given as Cramond.

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27th August 1861

Sadly, Jane's son, William, died from Bronchitis, aged 8 months, at home in Hastie's Close, Edinburgh.

1871 Census

The Census records that Jane Hill, aged 36 and William Begley, aged 41 lived at 18 Hyndford's Close, Old Church, Edinburgh. Both are recorded as unmarried, despite there being four of their children living there - Ann (15), Margaret (11),Jane (5) and Elizabeth (3). William was employed as a Mason's Labourer. Ann, Margaret and Jane were all described as Scholars. Jane's place of birth was Cramond; William's was Leith and the girls were Edinburgh.

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1st July 1873

Jane give birth to another son, also called William, born just out of wedlock. However, he was legitimised 49 days later when Jane and William finally married. At the time of this event, they lived at 1 Chalmer's Close, Edinburgh.

Marriage - 19th August 1873

Jane married William at the Free Church College on The Mound, Edinburgh. Unbelievably, this was some 17 years after the birth of their first child, Ann. Jane was aged 43. William was employed as a Road Labourer. Jane and William still lived at 1 Chalmer's Close. Jane's parents were recorded as being William Hill, an Agricultural Labourer and Isabella Hodge (deceased). Their witnesses were Hugh Walker and Robert Biegley (probably William's brother?).

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11th November 1873

Jane's first daughter, Ann Bueglay, married Robert McKay at 3 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh. Ann's mother was recorded as being "Jane Wilson" (see William Begley's entry for further details), while her father, William, was described as being "deceased" when he plainly wasn't and I'm sure that Ann would have been well aware of that. I assume there may have been some falling out, but we'll never know for sure.

1881 Census

The Census shows Jane, aged 48 was still living at 1 Chalmer's Close along with her husband, William (52), and their children Jane (16), Elizabeth (14) and William (7). Also living there, as boarders, were Robert and Ann McKay and their daughter, Jane (10 months). So, despite having claimed that her father was deceased some 8 years earlier, here was Ann living with her parents in the same house that her parents would have inhabited at the time of Ann's wedding! Jane's place of birth was recorded as being Cramond.

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1891 Census

This Census shows Jane, aged 58 (recorded as "Jane H") now lived at 117 High Street, Morrison's Close, Edinburgh with her husband, William, aged 61. This is the next Close up the High Street from Chalmer's Close. Her daughter, Elizabeth (22) and her son, William (17), are still living with Jane and William. Jane was aged 58 at the time of the Census and was employed as a Nursery Labourer. Again, her place of birth is given as Cramond.

Also living with them is Jane's granddaughter, Jane McQueen. Jane McQueen was the illegitimate daughter of Jane Hill's daughter, Elizabeth and was born on 27th July 1889. At this stage, I don't know if Elizabeth eventually married a 'McQueen', but on checking it doesn't appear that she had by the time of this Census. So, perhaps Elizabeth, simply gave Jane her father's name.

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Death - 3rd June 1894

Jane died at 8.10 a.m. at 1 South Foulis Close, High Street Edinburgh. (This, incidentally, was the same address at which Ann McKay's daughter, Jane Baiglie McKay, later died, also in 1894.) Her age was recorded as 54, which is clearly out of kilter with the ages recorded for other events. However, there is no doubt this is the same Jane - she lived at the address where she was at the 1891 Census; her deceased Husband's occupation was Stonebreaker and her father's and son's names are William. I can only assume that her son, William, who registered the death, was unsure of her date of birth.

Her parents were recorded as being William Hill (deceased) and Jane Stewart (deceased), which is different from Jane's Marriage certificate which records her mother as being Isabella Hodge. I haven't yet been able to explain this discrepancy, but I'm sure that it is the same Jane Hill in both cases. Jane's cause of death was Cardiac Lynosse and Chronic Bronchitis and it was reported by her son, "W. Begley", who was present at her death.

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