According to my father, James Baden Thorp his mother, Alice Brownhill Thorp, maintained a claim to Scottish ancestry. From some very vague recollections I understood this to be on her father’s side: James Brownhill Paul.
James Brownhill Paul was the son of James Paul and Elizabeth Brownhill. JBP was born in Sheffield, Wincobank, in 1879 but we know little about the origins of his father: James Paul, Engine Fitter. In his marriage certificate he gives his father as James Paul, Carpet Weaver. Elizabeth’s father Amos is a Labourer but there are good records for a Brownhill family line stretching back to the 1700s in this area of Sheffield.
James Paul the Engine Fitter didn’t leave much of trail in the Sheffield area and there are no good connections with any other of the Sheffield Pauls. As of December 2019 the best two matches by father and date of birth (1853) is an 8 year old James Paul who appears in the 1861 Scottish Census, the son of James and Isabella Paul in Calton and a birth certificate (20th October 1853) showing James Paul and Betsy Nairne of Methvern, Perth.
Third point of contact
As well as father’s name and date of birth James seniors occupation in 1871 is shown as Carpet Weaver which corresponds with James’ declaration on his marriage certificate to Elizabeth. In the 1861 Census James senior’s occupation is “cotton hand loom weaver”. By 1861 Hand Loom Weaving must have been a rare and precarious profession given the rise of factory production which probably explains the shift to factory work, probably at Templeton’s carpet factory in Calton. Unfortunately, there appears to be some other ancestry family tree evidence of this James Paul marrying and staying in Scotland. This probably needs birth and marriage certificates to sort out.
Methvern Pauls
Name and dates line up with James and Betsy in Methvern but as of December 2019 finding other connections or records is proving difficult. He ought to appear in the 1861 Census if this James survived. The difference in names is also intriguing it might be thought his parents weren’t married at the time of birth, other records show they married in 1831.
Post Script 18th December 2019
Turns out the Methvern James Paul was different and went off to become a watchmaker and bore is mothers maiden name as his middle name – James Naire Paul.
Genealogical Jigsaw 