Elizabeth McGuffog was born in Inch about 1843, to parents William McCuffog and Jannet McClannochan. William is a shoemaker, and they were married on 18th May 1826.

On the 7th October 1875 Elizabeth marries John Craig in Kirkmaiden, by this time her mother Jannet has passed away but father is still alive. This is shown on the marriage certificate in Chapter three.

There is much confusion at present in actually finding out information about her; it is not helped by the census information retrieved. On all census she says she was born in Inch, however I have been unable to find any Elizabeth McCuffog born in Inch, in fact on 1851 census for Inch there are no McGuffog's in the Village. The next problem we have is her age On 1881 she is 41 on 1891 she is 45 and on 1901 she is 40. Maybe she always wanted to be 40. I am certain I have the right family as her son William is 2 on the 1881 and on 1891 son William is 12.

So she is unlikely to be 41 on 1881 census as she would be 51 when giving birth to Elizabeth Craig. It is more likely that in 1881 she was 35, in 1891 45 years old, and in 1901 she was 55, which would put birth as 1846. I searched for birth in Inch of Female McGuffog from 1553 to 1854. There are only five and no Elizabeth's. Only Janet 1828, Jannet 1830, Sarah 1834, Jane 1836 and Mary 1839.

Of all Elizabeth McGuffog’s born from 1553 to 1901 there are 28. 20 of which are before 1836, too old to be her and 4 are after 1875 so are too young. This leaves the following:

1854 - Kirkmaiden - 21 when married in 1875. 37 on 1891 census

1845 - Pennighame - 30 when married in 1875. 46 on 1891 census

1859 - Dumfries - 16 when married in 1875. 32 on 1891 census

1860 - Kirkmabreck - 15 when married in 1875. 31 on 1891 census

We know she married in 1875 and on 1891 census aged 45 as this is the clearest copy of the three. However on receipt of her marriage certificate it states she is 32 and therefore born 1843 and should have been 48, did this lady actually know how old she was? It has proved the most troublesome thing to overcome, maybe in time some new evidence will emerge to finally confirm that it is her and how old she was. So, at present the one in Penninghame looks favorite but it is 20 miles from Inch, and I am not convinced.