Death Notice

[iwccc]

Can anyone enlighten me as to what it means when a DN says  "OFS / Scottish colonial"  for a birthplace/nationality?
Also what is the easiest way to get a death certificate from South Africa?
I need the certificate for James McKay Bishop b. 1837 d. 1887 to try and find his parents names.  Does the Scottish colonial bit refer to him or his parents?  As it seems that James McKay died - Cape of Good Hope.  It is still very confusing - spent the whole day on it with a clear head and still can't find James' parents anywhere.  Any help would be much appreciated.

[Nookie]

I am not sure but would think that the OFS/Scottish colonial would mean that he was born in the Orange Free State of Scottish descent.


Did you order the estate file from the archives?

DEPOT     VAB                                                                   
SOURCE    MHG                                                                   
TYPE      LEER                                                                 
VOLUME_NO 0                                                                     
SYSTEM    01                                                                   
REFERENCE B864                                                                 
PART      1                                                                     
DESCRIPTION          BISHOP, JAMES MCKEY.                                                 
STARTING  18870000                                                             
ENDING    18870000                                                             
REMARKS   NAGELATE EGGENOTE MARY (GEBORE VENABLES).   

[Nookie]

James died at Vredefort in the Orange Free State, not in the Cape of Good Hope. The scans of his burial record as well as the births of his children are on familysearch.

[braw]

Or he was born in Scotland and emigrated to South Africa

[iwccc]

hI Nookie,  My mistake.   I know that James died in the Orange Free State.

I am not sure what you mean when you ask 'did I order the estate file from the archives'
How do I go about this?  What archives do you mean?  Can you share how I go about this? Thank you all for your input.

[iwccc]

Thanks braw - I am hoping that there is a Scottish link

[Nookie]

The estate file is kept at the archives and usually contains the death notice, will plus liquidation and distribution account.  If you go to eggsa.org you can order copies from them (through the shop) using the information I gave you.

Generally speaking it will take about 4 - 6 weeks as it is all done by volunteers.  You could also try and order it directly from the Free State archives.  You will find their details on the National Archive site. 

Often the death notice does not contain the names of the parents as the person giving the information does not know their names, but should contain the information of where he was born at least, as well as the names of his children.  The liquidation and distribution account is normally not worth paying for as it just gives information on who got how much from the estate!

Hope this helps.

[braw]

I went to have a look what was in the file, there was a death notice for James and one for Mary both filled in by the same informant whose name I could not decipher. Their place of birth is given as Cape Colony and the parents of each the deceased is given as "unknown. James was a Carpenter and he died 10/11/1887 a few weeks after Mary who died 15/10/1887.Their 6 children who were minors at the time were adopted James Scott and Archibald Whimster Smart.The children were Alfred John B,George James B,Grace Mary B, Gertrude B, Herbert Venables B and Kate Helena B. There is also noted on both the DN's the estates did not have enough funds to bury the deceased and they both died in Bloemfontein, but Nookie,s info says Vredefort so I wonder if the places of birth are correct

[Nookie]

Just to throw a spanner in the works

I was thinking of the traditional naming patterns and wondered whether the mother of James could have been a McKay as it is not a common Christian name.  Just to add to that there was a Charles Haswell McKay living in Vredefort in 1901 when his child Charles George Milne McKay was baptised.

Could he possibly be a cousin?