Samuel Spence (1789 - 1857) Samuel Spence was born in 1789 in Symington, Ayrshire. He was the second of at least ten children born to Samuel Spence and his wife Mary (née Osburn). At times the surname was recorded as Spencer. The first five children were born in Symington but the family must have moved to Loudoun around 1795 as the rest were born there. Janate Spence 2 Feb 1788 Samuel Spence 1789 Mary Spencer 25 Sep 1791 Mary Spencer 30 Sep 1792 James Spencer 5 Mar 1794 Margaret Spencer 24 Jul 1796 Helen Spencer 20 Jan 1799 Janet Spencer 6 Sep 1801 Elisabeth Spencer 2 Jun 1805 Jean Spence 21 Jun 1807 The re-use of some Christian names indicates that some of the children died very young. At the age of 22 Samuel Spence married Margaret Stirling in Kilmarnock. He was a soldier. When the birth of their first child was recorded in 1813 Samuel Spence had become a collier and he appears to have been a collier for the rest of his life. They appear to have had 9 children, all born in Kilmarnock. Archibald Spencer 7 Nov 1813 Mary Spencer 28 Sep 1815 Margaret Spence 16 Jun 1817 Samuel Spencer 1819 John Osborne Spencer 1821 Adam Spencer 1824 Douglas Guthrie Spence 28 Sep 1826 George Spence 1833 James Spence 1839 Their daughter Margaret Spence had a child with William Houston around 1837. The child was called William Houston. I can find no record of a marriage of the parents nor birth or baptism of the child. In the 1841 Census William Houston (aged 4) was living with his grandparents Samuel and Margaret Spence.