"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet."

first of all a special thanks to William Shakespeare for the title .... not from one of your more cheerier tales, but good none the less.

I grew up considering myself a "Watson" ..... now that being said, Watson is my Mother's maiden name, so TECHNICALLY I'm only part watson.   Now not only did I spend a large part of my childhood with my Watson Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and cousins, but with my family if you have Watson blood, you're a Watson (we do tend to be a wee bit clannish).    now the question is .... should we REALLY be Watsons ??!!     without meaning to ruin the end of the story, the answer is "no".

ok, it started in Scotland back in the 1800s (well actually it started in Ireland, but that's another story, and possibly another bone of contention within the family ... dont tell a proud Scottish family they actually have more history in Ireland !!).  

the first reference to my 2xGreat-Grandmother, Mary Chalmers Watson was in the 1851 Scotland Census, as a 12 year old girl living in Queensferry, West Lothian with her parents (James & Helen Watson) her brother John (14) and sister Martha (8).    I wonder back to that wee Irish girl, now living in Scotland, can she even imagine the impact she will have on so many lives, how she will be challenged but revered and honoured by the son she is going to have in the future, and that she will be "remembered" by her ancestor 112 years after her death.

let's jump ahead 10 years, to the 1961 Scottish census .... Mary Watson  is now 22 and  although the address has changed (13 Kirk Street, Glasgow), she's still living with her Parents .... a husband Richard Malloy (21) and a son James Malloy !!    

I know very little about Richard Malloy, other than he died 21 January 1869 .... leaving Mary with potentially 6 children !!!

• John 1859-1914
• Archibald 1861-?
• Jeanie 1863-?
• James Watson 1865-?
• Archibald 1867-?
• Helen 1868-1916

10 years later and it's 1871, Mary is still living at 13 Kirk Street.   I cant find any record of her parents I'm assuming that they have passed away by this time, but she has 2 of her children living with her, John (11) and Ellen (9).    it's interesting that her name in this census is her married name of Maloy, not Watson like it was in the previous census where she was living with her parents and (I assume) her husband.

on March 19th, 1873, Mary Watson-Malloy gave birth to a son ... but there's a catch .... who is the Father, and where is he.    why dont we let my Great-Grandfather tell you, in his own words ...

My parents were never married, through an unfortunate circumstance which arose prior to my birth. My father, Henry Downie by name, stone mason by trade, Roman Catholic by religion, met my mother while he was a member of the Eastern Division Glasgow Police Force. My Mother was a widow at the time.

Her deceased husband being one by the name of Richard Maloy, a dyer by trade, who died at a premature age of tubercular trouble of the lungs, after living a short and uneventful life. (This disease is the workers’ heritage.) He left her nothing but a sad heart and three children, two boys and one girl. The eldest, John Maloy, dying at 54 years of age, the next, Ellen Malloy, dying at about 48 years of age, and the last, Richard, dying about one year old.

Needless to say, when Father and Mother met, it was a love match. Locks, bolts or bars cannot keep love back. Neither can religion. Love laughs at all things, and so they loved like a true son and daughter of old Adam and Eve. I don’t want to condemn Father for leaving Mother when her great sorrow was coming on her. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe he was sorry. Maybe he was pained. Maybe he suffered. God knows, who knows. I just want to think kindly of him.

In the month of February, a month before I was born, Father was working at his trade in scaffolding, quite a few feet from the ground, when one day the man working next to him started quarrelling with him. Blows were struck, the man was knocked off the scaffold, which resulted in his death some time after. My Father had to flee the country going to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. We never saw him again. My Mother only heard of him casually through his parents. It is said that he sent money again and again to Mother, but she never got it. His parents being Roman Catholics were very angry at Mother, because she was a Protestant. So, I never knew the touch of a Dad’s hand on my head or a kiss of a Dad’s lips or a hug or a Dad’s voice saying ‘sonny mine’.

so, my Great-Grandfather was named for his Father, but kept his Mother's maiden name for his own .... Henry Downie Watson.    In order to appease the Downie family, my Great-Grandfather was baptised in a Roman Catholic Church, although it doesnt seemed to have done anything to help with the realtionship between the Watsons and the Downies (and I'm sure it didnt impress the Watson clan at the time at all !!)

as a side note, Mary Chalmers Watson-Malloy did marry again, in 1882 to William Killin, so the name on her death certificate is Mary Killin, but it shows her as the widow of Richard Malloy and widow/wife of William Killin.

Henry Downie Watson had a son, Robert McCracken, who had a Daughter, who had ME :)

so ... now the $64,000 question is ..... am I a "Watson", or a "Downie" .... OR, does is really matter.   it's odd to think that something you are so proud of being, you only are because of a freak accident that happened 139 years ago.