Corrections to the birth dates of John Loudon, Claudius Buchanan and Jane Webb Loudon 

There is good reason to doubt the generally published names and dates of John Claudius Loudon, Claudius Buchanan and Jane Wells Webb Loudon.

1. A baptism date for Claud Buchanan (with father Alex Buchanan) is given in the Old Parochial Register of Cambuslang as 16th March 1765 - not 1766 as reported eg in Wikipedia (accessed 23.8.2024). Buchanan’s birth in 1765 would make him 49 on the day of his death, not 48 as stated on his gravestone 9 February 1815. It may be that Mr and Mrs Buchanan had another child who was named Claud and died in infancy.
2. John Claudius Loudon, as noted by Brian Doggett, below, published his own year of birth as 1782 - not 1783 as usually cited eg in Wikipedia (accessed 23.8.2024). This makes him 61 on the date of his death (14 December 1843). 
3. Jane Wells Webb’s daughter, reported the date of her mother’s birth as 19th August 1800 - not 1807 as reported eg in Wikipedia (accessed 23.8.2024). This makes Jane 57 on the date of her death (13th July, 1858).
4. The Somers, Buchanan and Loudon families need the attention of a professional genealogist. 

Brian Doggett makes the following points

See: Brian R. Doggett “John Claudius Loudon (1782–1843): corrected date of birth” Archives of Natural History, Volume 51 Issue 1, Page 186-188, ISSN 0260-9541 Available Online Jun 2024.

1. “Loudon himself gave his birth year as 1782 in his Encyclopaedia of gardening (Loudon 1822: 1283) and Encyclopaedia of agriculture (Loudon 1825: 1170).”

2. “In his earlier publications and letters, Loudon referred to himself as ‘J. Loudon’ or ‘John Loudon’ or signed with the initials ‘J. L.’ (for example, Loudon 1804; Loudon 1806; Loudon 1808). The middle name ‘Claudius’ first appeared in 1809 in his father’s will.”

3. “The fact that James was referred to as the ‘only brother of the late John Claudius Loudon’ (Anonymous 1870;Wooster 1870) suggest that Claudius died young. It is therefore likely that John Loudon added his unusual middle name in memory of his brother.”
4. “Jane’s birth year is given as 1807 (Howe 1961; Desmond 1994; Shtier 2004); this date needs corroboration since there is evidence that she was born earlier (for example, Jackson 1881; Bridson et al. 1980).”

Mrs Agnes Loudon

The date of the death of John Claudius Loudon's mother also needs to be checked and corrected. Jane Loudon tells us that:

'Nothing, however, could stop him in the performance of what [Mr Loudon] considered his duty, and indeed I believe his eagerness to see his mother overpowered every other feeling. It was also a singular circumstance, that, on his return to Edinburgh after an absence of nearly thirty years, he should be obliged to pass through it almost without stopping; yet such was the case, as we found on our arrival at the inn that a packet was just about to sail for London, and that if we did not avail ourselves of it we should be compelled to wait several days. We, therefore, hurried down to the pier; and, finding that the captain of the vessel was just going on board, we hired a boat, and were luckily in time to save our passage. We had a very quick voyage, and arrived at Bayswater about half an hour after the letter we had sent from Glasgow to announce that we were coming. Mr. Loudon's mother was so delighted to see her son, that she seemed partially to revive; so much, indeed, that we had hopes of her recovery. Nature, however, was too far exhausted, and she died about six weeks after our return, in October, 1831.'

These details have the appearance of veracity. But the wording on Mrs Agnes Loudon’s grave  tomb in Pinner says: 'Here lies the body of Agnes Loudon Wife of the late William Loudon of Woodhall in this parish. Died October 14th 1841, aged 77.'  This is puzzling. The wording on the gravestone also records the death of John Claudius Loudon. This makes it likely that the wording was supplied to the stone mason by Jane Loudon. Since she wrote the details of their visit to Edinburgh at about the same time, it is difficullt to see how whe confused 1831 and 1841. It seems likely that the stone mason made a mistake and she did not visit Pinner to check his work.