I know of James Paterson through his daughter, Margaret Paterson's death certificate, which records her parents as being James Paterson, a Labourer and Agnes Brown, both deceased. A James Paterson is also mentioned as being present at Margaret Paterson's marriage to Alexander Kerr, but it does not record his relationship with the bride, although it may be safe to assume that it was her father.

KEY EVENTS AND DATES

1801/02

James's daughter, Margaret Paterson, must have been born in this period, based on the 1851 Census record, which has Margaret's age as 49. No record has been found yet, though.

10th March 1826

James's daughter, Margaret, married Alexander Kerr in Dalkeith. Margaret lived in the Parish of Liberton, while Alexander lived in Dalkeith Parish. Interestingly, one of their witnesses was called James Patterson, "Named for the Bride". This is almost certainly Margaret's father, as we know from Margaret's death certificate that her father was called James - so presumably the double 'tt' is simply a spelling mistake even though the minister had already spelled Paterson (as in Margaret) with a single 't'?

22nd April 1876

James's daughter, Margaret, died at 7 a.m. at Wilson's Land, High Street East, Dalkeith. She was married to Alexander Kerr, a Coal Merchant. She was aged 64. The death certificate records her parents as having been James Paterson, a Labourer and Agnes Brown, both deceased. The cause of Margaret's death was Cancer of Glands of Neck, 10 months. Her death was reported by her grandson George Sutter (4) who lived at Robertson. Close, Dalkeith (possibly Roberton's Close?).