MILNE, William married Martha

[deeree]

Some kind people on Brit-Gen found William MILNE on the 1841 census in Finchley, London. He gave his birthplace as Scotland. According to his Finchley headstone he was born about 1757, died in 1844. He and his wife Martha had their children in Finchley between 1795 and 1810, but William and Martha were not married in Finchley. Would someone with access to Scotland's People be able to find William's birth and even his marriage for me please? I know it's not much to go on, but here's hoping.

[Isabel H]

You may not realise that Scotlands People is not a subscription site, it's pay to view, which means everyone has exactly the same access as we do here in Scotland i.e. we have to pay for each and every document we view. Searches however are free, and I searched for the marriage of William Milne and Martha in the Old parish Registers, but found nothing. The OPRs are the registers of the established church and they are incomplete. Some have not survived at all, some were never well-kept. Also if William and Martha were of another denomination they would probably not be included. The baptisms of 28 people called William Milne are recorded between 1755-1760. Not much help, I'm afraid. Without knowing where in Scotland he was born, and who his parents were, there's no means of knowing if one of these is your man.

[Mutley]

Could they have married in the London area, where did Martha come from, in or out of Parish?

There is a marriage in Southwark, just across the river, it was Surrey then.
William Milne of the parish, a batchelor married Martha Morley a spinster of the parish of St. Saviour on the 30 July 1794. Witnesses were ? Bell and Sarah ?. She could be Salter, Sadler or Waller or similar, it is difficult to make out.
They all signed their names.

[deeree]

Thanks Mutley and Isabel H, I don't know where Martha came from or her maiden name. I don't know where they married, but it wasn't Finchley. It's unfortunate that the census gave William's birth only as Scotland, no shire was named. The marriage date at St. Saviour is compatible with the first child being born in 1795 and MILNE is not a common name in England at the time, but it's not definitive is it? Where do you think I should go from here?