Marion Chalmers, on the evidence of the 1851 census, was born c. 1793 in Shotts, Lanarkshire. A likely match appears in the Shotts Parish Register, dated 1790:

John Chalmers Tenant in South Shaws and Elisabeth Smellie his Lawful spouse had a Daughter born there on the 31 Decemr 1790 and Baptized Named Marion Chalmers

She was still living in Shotts Parish at the time of her marriage to James Waddell in August 1818.

The 1851 census was the last confirmed sighting of her. She died on 11^th May 1852 aged 58 years and was buried in Shotts Kirk Cemetery, Lanarkshire. No provision, therefore, was made for her in the Disposition and Settlement subscribed by her husband on 2^nd February 1853.

Forebears

If Marion Chalmers’s birth record has been correctly identified, then her parents were ‘John Chalmers Tenant in South Shaws’ (in 1790) and Elisabeth Smellie. From daughter Janet’s 1788 birth and baptism entry, it emerges that John was ‘in Parish of Bothwell’ at that time and that he and Elizabeth were already married.

It should be noted that Marion named her eldest daughter Elizabeth and that her second son was named John. Since the first son was named James and the second daughter Alison, after her husband James Waddell’s parents, this is powerful confirmation that Marion’s parents have been correctly identified.

Sister

Marion had an older sister, Janet, whose 1788 birth and baptism were recorded in the Shotts Parish Register:

John Chalmers in Parish of Bothwell and Elisabeth Smellie his lawful Spouse had a Daughter born there upon the 11 Septemr. and Baptized Named Janet Chalmers