Alexander Wight

Alexander Wight, dairyman, and his family were recorded at No. 1 in the 1911 Census.¹ He was born at Newbattle on 5 May 1857, son of blacksmith Alexander Wight (1823-1896) and his wife Margaret Robb (1821-1916).² The family moved to Dalkeith when he was young, and in 1871 he was working there as a blacksmith, aged 13.³ By 1881, he was a butcher, living in Galashiels.⁴ He moved to Dalkeith before 1889, and was recorded there at White Hart Street, Dalkeith in the 1891 Census, working as a butcher.⁵

The family had moved to Union Street, Edinburgh by 1895, and Alexander Wight’s occupation changed to dairyman.² In 1899, the dairy moved to 20 Raeburn Place, and the family to 15 Comely Bank Avenue.⁶ The dairy continued to operate at 20 Raeburn Place until about 1914, but the family were living at 24 Raeburn Place between 1900 and 1910. They moved to No. 1 (7 St Bernard’s Row) in 1910 and remained there until 1914.⁷ Alexander Wight died at his home, 14 Lee Crescent, Portobello, on 22 December 1933.²

Alexander Wight married Jessie Henderson Noble, at Galashiels, on 12 July 1881.⁴ She was born on 9 September 1859, at Gordon, Berwickshire, and was the daughter of Alexander Noble, a labourer, and Isabella Henderson.² Mrs J. Wight is listed in the Edinburgh directories as the operator of a dairy, between 1895 and 1914.⁷ She died at Gartmore, Perthshire on 21 March 1946.⁸

Alexander Wight and Jessie H. Noble had five children. Four were recorded living at No. 1 in 1911:¹

Margaret Robb Wight, aged 21 and a shop assistant in 1911, was born at Dalkeith on 28 August 1889. She married John James John Binnie in 1920 and died in 1982.²
Alice Mary Noble Wight, aged 19 in 1911, was born at Dalkeith on 19 March 1892, and died in Edinburgh in 1970, unmarried.²
Alexandra Noble Wight was born at Union Street, Edinburgh on 20 November 1895. She died in in Edinburgh 1961.²
Alexander Noble Wight was born at Union Street, Edinburgh on 6 September 1897.² He was registered a qualified dentist in 1923, and practised in Edinburgh and later in Romford, Essex. He married Christina Jordan in 1931.⁹ He died in Edinburgh in 1965.²

1. Census records. Scotland. St Bernards, Edinburgh. 2 April 1911. WIGHT. Alexander (Head). 685/1 25/4. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 15 April 2019.
2. Wight (family tree). Ancestry. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 November 2020.
3. Census records. Scotland. Dalkeith, Midlothian. 2 April 1871. WIGHT, Alexander (senior) (Head). ED 2, p. 5. Ancestry. Collection: 1871 Scotland Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 November 2020.
4. Marriages (CR). Scotland. Galashiels, Selkirkshire. 12 July 1881. WIGHT Alexr. and NOBLE, Jessie. 775/ 38. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 31 October 2017.
5. Census records. Scotland. Dalkeith, Midlothian. 5 April 1891. WIGHT, Alexander (Head). ED 6, p. 7. Ancestry. Collection: 1891 Scotland Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 November 2020.
6. PO Directory 1899-1900.
7. PO Directories.
8. Probate Index. London. 3 September 1946. NOBLE, Jessie Henderson. p. 88. Ancestry. Collection: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 November 2020.
9. Dental Surgeons Directory 1925; Dentists’ Register 1930, 1935, 1940, 1942. Ancestry. Collection: UK, Dentist Registers, 1879-1942. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 November 2020.