Our Story Begins... In the Middle

A view of Tweedmouth, with Berwick-upon-Tweed in the background.
Take a virtual tour of Berwick-upon-Tweed area here, or view some
beautiful photos of the area here

In this town of Tweedmouth, in 1731, a boy named William Paxton was born.  He was (assumed to be) raised in the area.  In the same town, sometime in March of 1733, a girl was born, named Isabel Archibald. William and Isabel married in Tweedmouth on June 30 of 1751 (because of legibility issues, this year is disputed, and may be 1754 or 1761, but assuming 1751 based on year of birth of first child).


According to what we know from current documentation, William and Isabel had seven children:

• William   (1752-?)
• John (1755-?)
• Jane (1757-?)
• John (1758-?)
• Selby (1760-?)
• Isabel (1763-?)
• Robert (1764-?)

Isabel's paternal family had been in the Northumberland for several generations, having made their way from Worcestor, in central England, up through Alnwick, in southern Northumberland, eventually settling in the Tweedmouth area.  Other ancestral lines had been in the Northumberland region for several generations longer.

A view from Fife, Scotland

Whiile no more specifics are certain about William's heritage, there is reason to believe they came from Scotland.  A certain Hew Paxton was born 12 Sept 1675 in Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland, and married Christian Tosh (b. 1672, Dundee).  Hew and Christian had eight children, according to records, the first 6 of which were born in Abbotshall.  The seventh child, James Paxton, was born 16 Jan 1720, in Berwick-upon-Tweed.  It is quite certain that James was not William's father, as James was born only 11 years before William.  However, James had four brothers (George, b 27 Mar 1698;  Hew, b 10 Feb 1702; Hugh, b 4 Nov 1705; Robert, b 15 Aug 1708) that would have been plausible ages to have been William's father.  Did James' brothers come with Hew when he moved to Berwick-upon-Tweed?  Could one of them be our link to further generations?  Or were there already Paxton relatives living in the area that encourage Hew to move to the area?

And so it is that we begin in the middle of the story.  From here, we will investigate William's descendants, but also attempt to determine William's heritage.  You are invited to join in the investigation and contribute what you find, or if it suits you better, just join along for the journey.  Either way, let's all enjoy the journey !