Frances Newall, familiarly known as Fanny, was born on 19^th March 1827. Her place of birth appears in the 1881 census as Ayr. It had been given more specifically as Monkton in the 1851 census. However, this question appears to be be definitively resolved by the Parish Register for Monkton & Prestwick as follows:

Lawful daughter of Wm Newal and Margt Edgar, Spouses, was Born in Prestwick the 19th and Baptd 21st March 1827, by Mr Oughterson.

Frances’s surname had no fixed form and was given on various occasions as Newall, Newell, Newal and Newel, suggesting illiteracy. (This is significant - note the Christian and middle names of the second witness to the marriage of George Stuart Brown and Janet McAslan Steele.)

In the 1851 census, Frances Newall appears living with her parents, four brothers and two sisters in Main Street, Newton-on-Ayr. She was employed as a ‘sewer’ at the time.

In the 1871 census, Frances appears as ‘Mrs Thos Dinning’, aged 44, born in Prestwick, residing at 4, Warroch Street, Anderston, Glasgow, in a tenement property having two rooms with one or more windows. Residing with her were her various unmarried sons and daughters, all born in Ayr: Thomas, 18, an apprentice plumber; Margaret, 16, a shop keeper; John, 14, an apprentice plumber; Frances, 12, a message girl; and James, 9, a scholar.

Frances was still at 4, Warroch Street, on 19^th October 1874 when, as Fanny Dinning, she acted as informant on the death certificate of her mother Margaret Edgar.

The recently widowed Frances Dinning appears in the 1881 census, residing at 4, Elliot Street, Barony Parish, Glasgow. Her age is entered as 54 and she is the head of the household. Residing with her there were her children; Margaret, aged 26, Frances, aged 22, and James, aged 19, all born in Ayr.

Frances Dinning MS Newall died on 3^rd August 1905, at 10^h15^m am, at 8, Richard Street, Glasgow. Her age was entered as 78. The cause of death was entered as a cerebral haemorrhage and heart failure, as certified by Charles Alfred Lewis, MB CM. The informant was James Dinning, her son, who had been present.

Brothers and Sisters

On the evidence of the 1841 census, Frances had an elder sister named Janet who was born c. 1825. There is no sign of her in 1851.

Frances was the eldest of the seven children all unmarried and living at home at the time of the 1851 census. Robert, born c. 1828; James, born c. 1830; Margaret, born on 19^th March 1834; Barbara, born on 8^th March 1836; William, born c. 1838 and John, born c. 1842.

It is presumably the same James who is found in living in Back Riggs, Newton on Ayr in the 1861 census with his wife and family, in a dwelling with one room having one or more windows:

James Newall, head, married, 29, fisher, born Ayrshire, Prestwick Ann, wife, 29, born Ayrshire, Prestwick Ann, daur, 6, born Ayrshire, Newton Margaret, daur, 5, born Ayrshire, Newton Janet, daur, 1, born Ayrshire, Newton

Margaret’s birth and baptism were recorded in the Monkton & Prestwick Parish Register thus:

Lawful daughter of William Newall and Margaret Edgar, Spouses, was born 19th March and baptized 11th April 1834.

Margaret married William Shearer on 18^th February 1856 at Newton-on-Ayr ‘After Banns was (sic) solemnized between us according to the Forms of the Established Church of Scotland’. William, a widower, was 26 years of age. Margaret was a spinster aged 21. Both were resident in Newton-on-Ayr. William’s parents were entered as William Shearer, a carter, and Elizabeth Shearer MS Ellice (presumabably Ellis). The witnesses were Hugh Lindsay and William Newall, the latter presumably being Margaret’s brother of that name.

Barbara’s birth and baptism were likewise recorded in the Monkton & Prestwick Parish Register:

Lawful daughter of William Newall and Margaret Edgar Spouses, was born 8th and baptized 29th March 1836.

Robert acted as the informant on the death certificate of their father William Newall in 1873.