• Born: 10 February 1812, Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, Scotland ^{4 5 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15}
• Christened: 18 July 1812, Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, Scotland ^{16 17 18}
• Marriage (1): John VALLANCE on 11 March 1836 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland ^{1 2}
• Died: 4 April 1897, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland at age 85 ^{19 20}

   Other names for Jane were Jean HAINING, Jane HANNING,²⁰ Jean HANNING,^{16 17} Jane VALLANCE, Jean VALLANCE ^{11 12 13} and Jean VOLLANCE.¹⁴

  General Notes

THE PROBLEM OF JANE'S PARENTS

Jane Haining is attached in my tree as the daughter of Peter Haining and Agnes Brown. Just about all the evidence points to that conclusion:  every census enumeration says that she was born in Kirkconnel, Dumfriessshire, Scotland, with a birth year ranging from 1811 to 1814. The first daughter is named Agnes after her mother, and the second son is named Peter after her father, so that conforms to the typical naming pattern for Scottish families in this era. (First son Alexander and second daughter Margaret are named after her husband John's parents, so that also conforms.)  And if you check the records in Kirkconnel parish, the ONLY Haining (or Henning/Hanning/Hannan, etc.) family having children baptized in that parish during that time period is the family of Peter Haining and Agnes Brown.  And Peter and Agnes do have a daughter named Jane, who was born 10 Feb 1812 in Kirkconnel, baptized on 18 July 1812.

So what's the problem?  It's the death certificate.  On her death certificate, Jane's son John Vallance says that his mother's parents were James Hanning, general labourer, and Elizabeth McSkimming.  Huh???

Is is possible that there was another Haining family in Kirkconnel, who didn't participate in church life?  Possible, maybe.  But even without birth records in the local church, you'd expect to see other evidence.  Single child families are (relatively) rare in this time period, so you'd expect to find other Haining children of this James Haining and Elizabeth McSkimming family.  Yet there are none.  And what about the naming pattern?  Why are there no daughters named Elizabeth, if Elizabeth McSkimming was Jane's mother?  Even if it's possible there was an infant daughter named Elizabeth who died, you'd still expect to see a later child given the same name to carry on the tradition of honoring one's parent through the children's names. But no Elizabeth Vallances in the family to be seen.

Now if you do genealogy research a lot, you'll find that it's not uncommon for one of the parent names on a death certificate to be wrong, or at least partially wrong.  Sometimes the mother's first name is wrong, but the surname is correct.  Or sometimes a second or third spouse of a parent is listed as the parent as well (instead of as the step-parent, as he or she actually is).  This kind of inaccuracy happens a lot, and it's not too surprising.  But it is extremely rare for a death certificate to be wrong in the case of BOTH parents. 

We know the father's surname is accurate:  Haining (or Hanning or Henning).  Jane's maiden surname is given on all the birth records for her children, so that's not in doubt.  As regarding first name "James" versus first name "Peter" — well, you can understand that John Vallance might get confused since his grandfather Peter died before he was even born, and his grandmother Agnes died when he was barely 6 years old.  If you check the names of sons two and three in the Vallance family birth order they are Peter and James — twins.  So perhaps John got confused about which twin was the elder?  (On their birth record and on the 1851 and 1861 censuses, Peter is listed before James, implying that he is the elder of the twins.) 

Did John simply give the names of Jane's grandparents, rather than her parents?  Peter Haining's father WAS named James Haining.  But where does Elizabeth McSkimming come from?  Was she a later wife of James Haining, the grandfather of Jane?  (Since Peter died before Agnes, Elizabeth can't be a later spouse for him — although it's remotely possible Peter could have had a wife BEFORE Agnes.  If so, this first wife would have had to have died only a year or two after they married. And if this mythical first wife existed, she could have been named Elizabeth McSkimming.)

These questions may never be resolved. However, the majority of the evidence seems to point to Jane being the daughter of Peter Haining and Agnes Brown. Despite the troublesome death certificate, I've come to believe that — for whatever reason — John Vallance simply got it wrong and Jane Haining's parents are really Peter Haining and Agnes Brown, not James Haining and Elizabeth McSkimming.  So that is how she is attached in my tree.

— 11 March 2015, kmh.

  Christening Notes

Kirkconnel Parish Church

  Recorded Events in Her Life

• Gallery: Baptismal Record, on 18 July 1812, in Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. ¹⁷

• She appeared on the census on 6 June 1841 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland. Age: 25. ¹¹

• She appeared on the census on 30 March 1851 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland. Age: 36; Relation to Head of House: Wife. ¹²

• She appeared on the census on 7 April 1861 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland. Age: 45; Relation to Head of House: Wife. ¹³

• She appeared on the census on 2 April 1871 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland. Age: 57; Relation to Head of House: Wife. ¹⁴

• She appeared on the census on 3 April 1881 in Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Relation to Head of House: Mother. ⁷

• She appeared on the census on 5 April 1891 in Wilton, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Relation to Head of House: Mother. ⁸

Jane married John VALLANCE, son of Alexander VALLANCE and Margaret McKNIGHT, on 11 March 1836 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland.^{1 2} (John VALLANCE was born about 1810 in Carsphairn, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland ^{21 22 23 24 25} and died on 13 December 1889 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland.)

  Recorded Events about their Marriage

• They have conflicting marriage information of 12 March 1836 and Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. ⁶