James Dixon/Dickson 1815 - 1890

The pirate . Cooper in the Royal Navy from 1841-1863

1815. James Dixon/Dickson was born to William Dickson & Margaret Lyon on 9/4/1815 Stonehaven - this from his 1890 d.c. & naval record . 1 of 4 children: only he & brother William survived infancy . Cannot find a birth recorded in SP parish registers.

His mother, Margaret Lyon, 1778, had a sister Elspet Lyon, 1781, who appears to have married John Thomson { I have been unable to find a m.c. though, so just taking this from A:Carol Ancestry tree- 180000 people! } , and they had a son Robert William Thomson, 1822 -who designed the fountain pen in 1849 . Thus our pirate, James Dixon, and Robert William Thomson were 1st cousins. The Gait family have an heirloom fountain pen from him

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_William_Thomson NOT a LINK!

1842. James Dixon, coopers crew, of Stonehaven Kincardine, - a Royal Navy allotment to his mother, Margaret, payable at the Custom House, Aberdeen, his signature, of 19s 6d : -Ancestry

1846. James Dixon, cooper, of Kincardine, on the vessel Lizard - a Royal Navy allotment to his mother, Margaret, payable at the Custom House, Aberdeen, his mark, of £1.3s : this more than most -Ancestry

1849 James Dixon, cooper, of Stonehaven, Kincardine, - a Royal Navy allotment to his mother, Margaret, payable at Stonehaven, his signature, of £1.3s : this more than most -Ancestry

1851C. His mother & brother, Margaret Dickson & Willam Dickson are living Allardice Street, Fetteresso

Margaret	Dickson	Head	Widow	Female	70	1781	Merchant Of Grocerer's	Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, Scotland
William	Dickson	Son	Unmarried	Male	38	1813	Common Labourer	Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, Scotland

Above would seem to detail payments to his mother in 1. From London 1848 & 2. From Spithead in the Superb 1849, and then 3. one from Sebastopol to his brother William on 19/5/1855: says "mother old/dd in ? home"

Valerie thought this connected to the "letters that Papa sold that were from James Dixon (aka “The Pirate” as he was known due to his portrait) and Sebastopol and     the Crimean War". Need to find out more about these letters!!

1855. His mother dies 3/9/1855 - after the above shown payment to his brother in May 1855.

1856. Nat. Archives record- £3.50 purchased this( on desktop) - shows he volunteered (obviously again!) on 3/1/1856; his continuous service number was 29337. He was 5ft 8 inches, dark brown hair, hazel eyes , fresh complexion. He had his name on his right arm and a crucifix on his left. His behaviour ranged fro faiir to very good. He served 21 years & 21 days in total, from 1841-1863, on the following ships: Formidable 1841-1845; Grampian 1845-1848; Superb 1848-1852; Inflexible 1852-1855; Pearl 1855-1859; St Vincent 1859; Vulcan 1859-1863

HMS Formidable- at this time-was an 84-gun second rate launched in 1825. She was lent as a training ship in 1869 and was sold in 1906.

HMS Grampian- at this time-

HMS Superb- at this time-was an 80-gun second rate, launched in 1842 and broken up in 1869

HMS Inflexible- at this time- was a woodenscrew sloop launched in 1845 and sold in 1864.

In 1852 Inflexible was in Lisbon. & in 1854 Inflexible created a diversion in a part of the Black Sea by making an attack on Fort Nicolaieff

The main battle of the Crimean War was the 11 month siege of the Russian city of Sevastopol on the Black Sea Oct 1854- Sep 1855: James on the Inflexible then. During the siege, the allied navy undertook six bombardments of the capital, on 17 October 1854; and on 9 April, 6 June, 17 June, 17 August, and 5 September 1855.

Have not been able to find a photo of this ship Inflexible

HMS Pearl- at this time-was a corvette of 21 guns launched in 1855

HMS St Vincent- at this time-was a 120-gun ship launched in 1815, on harbour service from 1841, used as a training ship from 1862, sold in 1906.

HMS Vulcan - at this time- was an iron screw frigate launched in 1849. She was converted to a troopship in 1851 and was sold in 1867

1861C. Still serving in the navy

1871C James Dixon, 57, Greenwich Pensioner Cooper Royal Navy, was living 3 Mary Street Fetteresso Exact birthplaces from Ancestry

William	Dickson	Head	Unmarried	Male	59	1812	Labourer
James	Dickson	Brother	Unmarried	Male	57	1814	Grenwich Pensioner Cooper Royal Navy	Fetteresso Kincardineshire,
Margaret	Dickson	Wife-daughter on Ancestry	Unmarried	Female	29	1842	-	Durris Kincardineshire,
Isabella D	Duguid	Grand Daughter	-	Female	5	1866	Scholar	Fetteresso Kincardineshire,
Jane	Morrison	Servant	Unmarried	Female	15	1856	General Servt	Durris Kincardineshire,

1875. James Dixon, 56, cooper, married Jane Morrison , domestic servant, 23 on 9/4/1875 at 43 Barclay Street, Stonehaven, Fetteresso after Banns of the Established Church of Scotland . Both addresses 43 Barclay Street Stonehaven, Fetteresso. His parents William Dixon, merchant service, deceased, and Margaret Lyon, deceased. Her parents John Morrison, ploughman, and Margaret Smith, domestic servant, deceased.

1876. Margaret Lyon Dixon was born to James, cooper, & Jane -Stonehaven . SP not purchased

1881C. James Dickson ,63, cooper, navy pensioner, is living 68 Allardice Street Fetteresso - mistranscribed

James	Dickson	Head	Married	Male	63	1818	Cooper (Navy) Pentioner	Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland
Jane	Dickson	Wife	Married	Female	26	1855	-	Kincardineshire, Scotland
Maggie L	Dickson	Daughter	-	Female	4	1877	Scholar	Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland

1890. James Dixon, 76, Pensioner, married to Jane Morrison, died on 5/7/1890 at 82 Allardice Street, Stonehaven . His parents William Dixon, Merchant Seaman, and Margaret Lyon, both deceased. Informant Margaret Duguid, niece , Ann ? Street, Stonehaven . Buried Cowie Churchyard on 9/7/1890

Probate of £97, executrix Jane Morrison/Dickson, his relict

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Cowie Church- this south of Aberdeen , north of Stonehaven . . . . . . . . . . .

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