Through thorough research, I identified eleven of their children from previous census records:
- Maria Kerr Brown, b. 1875
- Peter Brown, b. 1876, d. 1884
- William K. Brown, b. 1879
- James Brown, b. 1881
- John Young Brown, b. 1883
- Jane Menzies Brown, b. 1885
- Peter Brown, b. 1887
- Annie Kerr Brown, b. 1889, d. 1909
- Elizabeth Brown, b. 1894
- Thomas Kerr Brown, b. 1896
- Alexander Brown, b. 1889
From this list, we can see that both the first Peter Brown and Annie Kerr Brown had passed away prior to the 1911 census. This leaves a gap—there must have been one more child, born and died between census years, never appearing in any of the census records.
To fill in this missing piece, I turned to other genealogical resources. While searching through Ancestry, I stumbled upon references to a Jennie Kerr Brown. This led me to Scotland’s People, where I discovered a birth record for Jeannie Kerr Brown, born 16 April 1878, and a death record dated 28 March 1880. As suspected, Jeannie Kerr Brown was born and passed away between the census years, thus explaining why she wasn’t recorded in the census records.
This discovery, while fulfilling in terms of completing the family tree, also brought a poignant reminder of the challenges and sorrows faced by our ancestors. The short life of Jeannie Kerr Brown, and the losses endured by Peter and Annie Brown, are now acknowledged and remembered, adding depth and context to the Brown family history.
Sources:
[D00338] 1911 census of Scotland, Larbert, Stirlingshire, Scotland, enumeration district (ED) 2, page 8, schedule no. 57; digital images, ScotlandsPeople.
