Author: Park, William
Biography:
PARK, William (1788-1843: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born in Effgill, Dumfriesshire, the son of William Park and Grizzel Beattie. He was baptised on 2 Mar. 1788 at Westerkirk, Dumfriesshire; the record identifies him as his father's "natural son." His book includes an appendix with some poems and a biography of his father who served in the Royal Navy and lived in Grenada where he contributed to a newspaper. Park served as a farm-servant to the minister at Eskdalemuir, and the preface to his book is dated from there. At some point he married Jean Laidlaw (1792-1861) and they had at least seven children. The 1841 Census records them living with their children and one married daughter (and her family) at Holmains farm, Dalton, Dumfriesshire. In the final few weeks of his life, he became editor of the Free Church newspaper, the Dumfries Standard. After his death on 5 June 1843, Jean and some of the children emigrated to Ontario, Canada, where Jean died in 1861. William was buried in Watcarrick cemetery where there is a memorial to him, his wife, and several children. (ancestry.co.uk 24 Aug. 2020; findmypast.co.uk 22 Sept. 2025) SR