Was George Allan, who in 1781 fathered an illegitimate daughter, Martha Allan, by Anne Parker, the same man who was at that time married to Mary Lockhart, and had at least twelve lawful children by her?

George was cited as the father of ten lawful children (almost all of them daughters) in the Galston OPR: Mary in 1770; Isabel in 1773; Margaret in 1774; Agnes in 1776; Elizabeth in 1778; Isobel in 1780 (implying presumably the death of the previous Isabel); Joanes (a daughter) in 1782; James in 1785; Maria in 1788; and Barbara in 1790.

In connection with most of these births, George was designated as a 'Stockin weaver', or something similar. In connection with the birth of Joanes in 1782, he was stated to be a hosier.

Elizabeth was noted in an insertion to the text as the seventh daughter (or child?), and this would imply that two previous children had not been recorded. (Does this imply that George and his wife had previously lived in a different parish?)

Only the entries for the final two births contain the information that George's spouse was 'Mary Lockart'. Notice also the words 'their 12 child' in the final entry. This would imply that Mary Lockhart (correct spelling of 'Lockart') was the mother to all of these children.

If the same George was indeed the father of Martha in 1782, his marriage to Mary survived. The name George Allan was not particularly common in Galston, but neither was it unique. However, there was no one of that name recorded as living in Galston Parish at the time of the 1801 census, so presumably he either died or else moved away.

A further caveat is that according to the IGI, George and Anne had already had a child together, almost exactly three years before the birth of Martha, born on the 12th of January 1778. A proper examination of the OPR however reveals this to be a further mistake. The entry in question refers to Margaret Allan, a daughter to Andrew (not George) Allan. The name of Margaret's mother is not given.

The IGI traces George's line of supposed descent back several generations more (and apparently even further on ancestry.com), but this particular work of scholarship owes much to wishful thinking and unaided assumption, as the several links are very far from being established.

There appear to have been two men of the name George Allan in Galston at this time. The elder of these, a lawful son to John Allan in Brieryhill, was baptised on the 22nd of July 1733. The younger, a son of David Allan of Galston, was born on the 20th of September 1740 and baptised on the 28th. At present, there is no obvious way of determining which of the two, if indeed either, was the father of Martha.