Elspet was born in Bervie, according to her marriage register entry.
The Peter family had farmed at Fernieflatt, south of Catterline and near Stonehaven, and at Mains of Hall Green. They were relatively prosperous. In 1881, Alexander and Elsie were farming 105 acres at South Bradieston, Garvock, employing two men, a girl and a boy. Alexander is said also to have been very polite, and to have shaken hands with those beside him at his death. He died, aged 83, on 21 October 1897 at 20 Market Street, Montrose. Elspet was still living at 22 Market Street in 1901, with her unmarried daughter Mary and her granddaughter Jemima.
Alexander and Elspet Peter had six children:
1 JANE PETER (1838-1868), baptized at Kinneff and Catterline, Kincardineshire, on 5 February 1838. She is said to have been only 19 when she died, so her dates are uncertain.
2 FORBES PETER (1839-1929), baptized at Kinneff on 20 January 1840. She was born at Fernieflatt. It is said she got the name because her pregnant mother was walking with her father beside a rich man's house when a horse reared. Elspet was frightened, and the owner of the house took her in and treated her so kindly that she called the child after the man's name.
Sheila Dodds has a sampler of hers, dated 1849. In 1861, she and her future spouse were servants at Kennerty in Peterculter. She married James Valentine at Garvock on Boxing Day 1861. After James' death in 1895, she went to live with her daughter, Forbes Davie (née Valentine) in Irvine Place, Aberdeen. She died there on 29 August 1929.
3 ANN PETER (1842-??), baptized at Kinneff on 20 May 1842. She married John Edgar, a draper, at Laygate Presbyterian Church, South Shields on 3 February 1866, according to the Shields Daily News. She is said to have emigrated to Austin, Texas. They had six children:
3.1 ARTHUR DOUGLAS EDGAR (1867-1920)
3.2 EDITH ETHEL EDGAR (1869-1960), who became Mrs Lawrence
3.3 HAROLD CHESTER EDGAR (1870-1932)
3.4 AMY ELSIE EDGAR (1873-1964), who became Mrs Womack
3.5 STANLEY LIVINGSTON EDGAR (1875-1962)
3.6 FLORENCE LOUISE EDGAR (1883-1976), who became Mrs Barnes
4 ALEXANDER PETER (1845-??), baptized at Kinneff on 14 September 1845. He married Sarah King, at Torthorwald in Dumfries, on 19 June 1874. In 1881, he was working for his father in Garvock. They had issue:
4.1 AGNES PETER (1868-?), born illegitimately at Torthorwald on 13 December 1868, aged 12 in 1881. She may not have been Alexander's daughter.
4.2 ALEXANDER PETER (1875-?), born at St Cyrus in 1875, aged 5 in 1881.
4.3 ELSPETH CLARK PETER (1877-?), born at Garvock in 1877 and aged 3 in 1881.
4.4 JANE PETER (1879-?), born at Garvock, aged 1 in 1881.
5 SUSANNA GLENNIE PETER (1848-??), baptized at Kinneff on 12 January 1848.
6 MARY PETER (1855-19??), born at Kinneff on 12 October 1855 and aged 25 in 1881. She lived with her parents in Market Street, Montrose, working as a laundress, and was the informant of her father's death. In 1901, she was still living with her widowed mother, and with her mother's 13-year-old granddaughter Jemima C Peter.