The history of the Steel family begins in the town of
Auchterarder in Perthshire, Scotland. Auchterarder is a small town
located to the southwest of Dundee and northeast of Glasgow. The first
of the Steel family to call it home was James Steil (this spelling of the
surname was first recorded by the Auchterarder Clerk of Session) who in 1737
married Margaret Drummond at the parish church there. At the time of the marriage
both James and Margaret were listed as being “of the paroch” of Auchterarder.
 The Church yard at Auchterarder Special thanks to Joyce Stewart However, it does not seem likely that James Steil was born in the town. Going by his given age at his
death, James was probably born around the year 1710. The Old Parochial Records (OPR) for
Auchterarder do not include the christening of a James Steil (or any variation) in that
time period. A likely guess for James’s birthplace might be Blackford, a small town not
far from Auchterarder. Marriages recordes for a Janet Steel and a John Steel, both of
Blackford, are listed in the OPRs of Auchterarder in 1722 and 1729 respectively. Perhaps
these two individuals were siblings of James and the family came from Blackford to
Auchterarder-but this is merely speculation. The OPRs for Blackford do not date back
far enough to search for the baptism of a James Steel.
Wherever and whenever he may have been born, what is known for
certain is that James married Margaret Drummond in Auchterarder in 1737. Born
around the year 1715, Margaret was the daughter of Colin Drummond and Janet Barnet
of Auchterarder. Among the Session notes for the Sabbath, April 24, 1737 is this notation,
The records do not clearly state the month in which the marriage ceremony
occurred, merely that the ceremony was performed on the 3rd of the
month (either June or July).
On April 30, 1738 Jean Steil, the first child of James Steil and
Margaret Drummond, was christened at the parish church. At that time, the James
Steels were living in an area of Auchterarder called Borland. A second child, James,
was born in Borland and christened on August 5, 1739. Robert Steil, christened on
December 21, 1740 was born at Gardub. The remaining Steil children: Thomas (christened
April 10, 1743), Janet (christened November 7, 1744), Mary (christened
September 25, 1747), Margaret (christened November 2, 1749), Colin (christened
May 13, 1753) and Andrew (christened February 16, 1755) were all born at the Steel
family home at Clarty Mire.
In 1748-49 a survey of the forfeited estates of James Drummond
lying in the parish of Auchterarder lists James Stiell, tenant of Clartymyre
paying a rent of £80 for the property. In 1755 a more detailed survery of the barony of Auchterarder
was recorded. At that time, James Steel was again shown to be the tenant at Clartymyre. His family numbered nine in total,
all of whom spoke English. Four family members were recorded as being able to spin. As to the farm, James held five horses,
twelve black cattle, and twenty sheep. Additionally, the survery records that two pecks of flax seed were sown and two pecks of potatoes as well.
A report made in 1765 makes brief mention of Clarty Myre and its tenant is unnamed in the record:
It seems likely, and the record of sasines
seem to further indicate, that the Steels remained as tenants at Clarty Mire until James and
Margaret died in 1794 and 1795. The deaths of James and Margaret were recorded in the
Session records for Auchterarder in this way:
 The Old Kirk Yard Cemetery, Auchterarder The stone on the left belongs to the Taylor family, while that on the right is Donaldson's. The Steels may be buried in the area between the two. Special thanks to Margaret Purcell.
It is difficult to document the lives of the children of James and Margaret. Their
daughters, Janet, Margaret, and Mary, may have married at Auchterarder. The OPRs
list marriages for three women with these names. However, Auchterarder had more than
one Steel with each of the names Janet, Margaret, and Mary!
Andrew Steel, the youngest son of James and Margaret, married Lillias Kemp or Kempy
at Trinity Gask on October 07, 1781. Lillias was most likely born in the town of
Fowlis Wester. The couple were parents to seven
children: James (1782-1816), Helen or "Nelly" (1785-1859), William (1787-1852),
John (1790-1791), Lillias (1792-1857), Jean (1797-1822), and Margaret (1800). Because
of changes in how vital information was gathered and recorded, much more information is
available on this generation of Steels.
Helen, Jean, and Margaret Steel lived in Auchterarder but never married. The
three lived together in a part of the town called "Lang Shot." Margaret was mother to a
son named John McRobbie who was born January 18, 1839, though she did not marry George
McRobbie, the man named as the boy's father. Lillias Steel married the Reverend William
Smith and left Auchterarder for Glasgow. It is not known what qualifications Mr. Smith had
to garner the title of Reverend since he was not affiliated with the established church of
Scotland. William and Lillias had three children born in Glasgow: Lillias (born
September 1817), Janet (March 22, 1819), and William (born June 28, 1821). In 1824 the
Reverend Smith died in Glasgow. Lillias and her three children returned to Auchterarder
following his death and lived in Lang Shot close to the three Steel sisters. Lillias died
on February 11, 1857 and is buried in Auchterarder. Click here to visit her grave site.
William Steel, the second son of Andrew Steel and Lillias Kempy became a master slater. Around the year 1819 he married Margaret Young in Auchterarder. The exact date of the ceremony is not
known as the marriage records for Auchterarder for that period do not
exist. Margaret and William were parents to ten children, all born in
Auchterarder:Andrew (1819), Edward Lennox (1821-1823), James (1823), David (1825-1908),
Margaret (1827-1896), Mary Lennox (1830-1897), William (1832), Edward Lennox (1834-1891),
Thomas (1837-1837), and John (1840).
The 1841 census finds the family of William Steel and Margaret Young living in the feus of Auchterarder
along with five of their children-James, Mary, William, Edward, and John. By 1841 David Steel, at age 16, was apprenticed to a baker
in town by the name of Alexander Crow and living in his home. The census also finds a Margaret Steel, aged 12 living in Redgorton in the home of a 55 year old farmer named Alex Young. Margaret is listed as a female servant and
the household consists of what appears to be
a plethora of Young siblings: David, 60; Isabella, 57; Grisel, 56; Jannet, 50. Assuming that this is the correct Margaret Steel, it seems likely that she may have been employed by members of her mother's family.
By the time of the 1851 census only Mary, Edward, and John were to be found living with William Steel-at that time
the family residence was given as Milton. Margaret Young was not listed in the Steel home on the day of the census enumeration. Instead, she is to be found enumerated in the town of Methven. There she is listed with the family of
Peter McRostie (or sometimes McCrostie). Also residing in the home were Margaret's daughter, also Margaret, her husband John, and their young son, Peter, aged 11 months. One can only assume that Margaret Young's visit to the McRostie
home was connected to the birth of her grandson.
On July 3, 1852, William Steel, slater, was buried in the new church yard in Auchterarder. His wife, Margaret Young, was buried in the new yard on April 22, 1854.
It is at this point where the Steel family
family begins to branch off into different geographical locations. James, John, and Mary lived
the greater part, if not all of their lives in Auchterarder. James married Margaret Donaldson in 1845. John married Isabella McDougall in 1859. And Mary married John Headridge in 1855. Following John's death in 1867, she later married John Stewart in 1868.
David and Edward Steel ventured off in search of new opportunities. On December 15, 1861 David Steel married Margaret Ryan at Lady Chapel, London, England. Margaret was born
in County Carlow, Ireland in 1843, the daughter of Geoffrey and Mary Ryan. The 1871 census finds David and Margaret living on Union Street in Kensington. The couple were parents to four daughters, Mary, Margaret, Catherine Lily, and Ellen, all of whom were born in Kensington, London. The 1891 census finds David at age 59, still working as a baker and living
with his family on Exchange Street in Colne. David
Steel died on November 02, 1908 in Colne, Lancashire. His wife, Mary, died on March 22, 1901 in Colne.
Edward began his ventures throughout Perthshire with the marriage of Jane Fenwick on March 06, 1857 in Methven. Jane, born about 1829, was the
daughter of William Fenwick and Margaret McEwen. On July 26, 1857 a son, whom they named William, was born to Edward and Jane. Jane died in Perth on August 28 of that year, one month and two days after
the birth of her son. The cause of death was given as "disease of the heart with dropsy." According to her death certificate, she is buried in Saint Serf's churchyard in Redgorton. The child, William, died in Perth of scarlatina on March 26, 1858, several months short of his first birthday.
In the 1861 census Edward, a young widower, can be found living in Monifieth while working as a linen yarn bleacher. Though the census enumerator's marks are a bit difficult to decipher, the record seems to indicate that Edward was sharing living quarters with a fellow yarn bleacher named James Stewart.
On June 10, 1864, Edward married his second wife, Jessie Ann Clark in Garvock, Kincardineshire. Jessie Ann was born in 1835 in Marykirk, the daughter of William Clark and Jane Sheret. In 1861 she had been working in Montrose as a cook in the home of a young commercial clerk named Edward Gordon. The Steel family lived in Monifieth for a while following the marriage as their
first child, a daughter named Eliza Jane was born there on April 4, 1865. The Steels relocated to Dundee shortly after and four additional children were born to Jessie Ann and Edward: Jessie Ann (March 7, 1867-July 01, 1867), Margaret (August 10, 1868), David (September 29, 1870-January 07, 1878), and Mary (January 22, 1872-January 26, 1872) Steel.
After close to eight years of marriage to Jessie Ann Clark, Edward would once again find himself a widower, as Jessie Ann died of variola (smallpox) in Dundee on January 26, 1872. She and her four day old daughter, Mary, were buried in the Steel family plot in Eastern Cemetery in Dundee on January 29, 1875.
Twice widowed and with three young children, Edward married for a third time on April 03, 1874 in Dundee. His third wife was Jessie Scotland, daughter of Alexander Scotland and Janet Cram(b). Jessie was born in Auchtergaven, Perthshire in 1836 and was the widow of John McDonald who had been a sergeant in the 79th Highlanders. Jessie also had a daughter of her own, Elizabeth Scotland.
More to come...
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