William Dey - my maternal great grandfather
One my 8 great grandparents
Here’s the second of the biographies of my 8 great grandparents: William Dey
Birth and early years
William Dey was born illegitimate as William Robertson in Auchindoir, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 31 October 1870. The birth entry notes he is William Dey or Robertson.
William was the eldest son and he had a younger brother John Robertson (or Dey), and also illegitimate, born 3 years later in 1873.
Their father, also called William Dey, went on to marry two years later and have another 8 children including one called William who was 12 years younger than my great grandfather. I have some DNA matches from some of his half siblings.
Their mother Mary Robertson did not marry any of the 3 fathers of her 4 children.
William and his brother John spent their early years living with their grandmother Barbara Thomson (their mother Mary was also illegitimate).
On the 1871 census he is 5 months old and living at Lochside in Auchindoir with Barbara and Mary.
In 1881 he is 10 and his brother John is 7 still living with Barbara and Mary at Steppingstone Loch in Auchindoir. There’s also their half sister Mary Robertson who is 2 (her father was a George Ellis). This may be the same property as in 1871.
Steppingstone Loch is mentioned in the Ordnance Survey Name Books on Scotlands Places. It is described as “A small croft to the west of the County road leading from Lumsden to Rhynie. property of H. G. Lumsden Esq: Clova,”
I’ve highlighted some of the places mentioned on the map below.
Work History and Married Life
In 1891, by the age of 20 William is working as general merchant in Auchindoir and living with his mother Mary and half siblings Mary Ellis and James Robertson.
In 1901 he is recorded on the census as a Grocer and Spirit Dealer in Lumsden in Aberdeenshire, 35 miles inland from Aberdeen.
He married Mary Hosie in 1903 (see the previous article about her and their marriage with photos of them all).
He’s a ‘master grocer’ in 1904 when William Hosie Dey is born and he is a ‘general merchant’ on Elizabeth’s birth registration in 1906.
In 1911 he is living in “Deeview” in Nigg, on the outskirts of Aberdeen with Mary and their two children.
His business is a wine and spirits merchant at 660 Holburn Street in Aberdeen according to the Post Office Directory of 1910-11.
I managed to find an image of where his wine and spirits merchant in Holborn Street, Aberdeen was located. It is now a plumbers merchant.
On the 1921 census he is the Secretary of the Bon Accord Investment Corporation and he and the family are living at 541 Holborn Street in Ruthrieston.
I don’t have any information about him for the last 30 years of his life. At some point I will pay to get his entry from the 1939 Register for Scotland (£15 per person) and not available online only via the National Records of Scotland. To apply for someone’s record use this link.
Death and Burial
He died at 21 Albyn Place, Aberdeen on 23 Jan 1951.
His wife Mary Hosie is buried alongside him in Allenvale Cemetery in Aberdeen.
Thanks for sharing another wonderful piece of research with us Emma, it also makes you realise how detailed the Scottish Civil Records are compared to those of England and Wales!
I spend more time than I'd like to admit picturing the places described in the Ordnance Survey Name Books. My ancestor Agnes Cardno came to Canada from a place called Burn Mill, just outside of Peterhead, which sounds quite pretty: "A good corn mill propelled by water power; having dwelling house, offices, yard & garden attached. property of Colonel Ferguson, Pitfour."