Queensland - tracing the Kemp connections with Airth in Scotland

[Dunganess]

I am trying to trace my grandfathers connections with Scotland. Alexander Kemp who married Mary Jane Waddell in the Herbert River District. I believe that his had 2 brothers William and Hugh and a sister Jessie and his parents being William Kemp and Catherine nee McMillan. Alexander came from Airth in Scotland and his brothers also left Scotland but not sure where.
It is possible William had 2 other children to his first wife Elisa Christie, Eliza and Janet.
Would appreciate and information on the family.

[loobylooayr]

Hi,
I think William Kemp is on the 1851 Census with his wife Elisa at Airth

William Kemp   age 35 Head  Road Laborer     Born Stirlingshire, Airth
Elisa Kemp      age 32  Wife                                        "          , St. Ninians
Elisa Kemp      age 8 months Daughter                         "         , Airth

I found the couple on www.freecen.org.uk.
Looby

[loobylooayr]

Hi again,
Alexander Kemp's birth is on www.familysearch.org-
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FQL5-X78

His brothers - Hugh (2 of them , first one must have died), William and sister Jessie are also on the site. You can also find the marriages of William snr. and the births of his first two daughters.

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk is a pay to view site which hold the originals of these records. William and Catherine marry in 1855 which is the year official compulsory registration begins in Scotland. Their marriage certificate should provide you with more information on the family - parents names/occupations/ previous marriages/ no. of children from previous marriages. Some of this info was only recorded  during the first year of registration so having a 1855 marriage is a lucky year for a family history researcher!!

Good luck with your search,
Looby

[Ruskie]

Dunganess, if you are searching for details of this family in Scotland, this thread might get more responses on the Scotland board, (though looby is doing a grand job  ). A moderator can move it for you if you wish.

You need to get those certificates from Scotlands People as recommended by looby. They contain a wealth of information.

Are looking for the brother's immigration as well?

[Dunganess]

Hi All, Thanks for all the information, any information available will be appreciated.

Tim.

[Ruskie]

Tim, I see this has been moved to the Stirlingshire board, which should attract the attention of any knowledgable Scottish researchers.

If you are looking for the emigration records you should probably start a thread solely related to this on the Australia board. It is difficult to know where to post sometimes as there is often some information which crosses over or duplicates, but to prevent this happening wherever possible, it is a good idea to provide links to any related topics.

I will have a look later for your Kemps in Scotland (I have to sign off shortly  In the meantime, if you have any further information about the Kemps, please let us know. Once again this is to prevent anyone going to the trouble of looking for information that you already have.

Is the information you provided in your initial post all that you know about your Kemps? Presumably the information about Alexander's parents came from his marriage or death certificate/s? And are looby's finds all new to you? I get the impression you know more. 

Have you registered with Scotland's People yet? You need to purchase credits to view records though you can search for free. Obviously let us know if you need help along the way, and if you purchase any records let us know what information they contain if you require further help in the search for the Kemps.

[apanderson]

There appears to be a few Kemps buried (or are at least mentioned on MI's) in Airth Churchyard/Cemetery.

Have a look here: http://memento-mori.co.uk/1.pdf

Anne

[Dunganess]

Hi All,
I was lucky enough 2008 to visit Scotland and on the spur of the moment went to Airth and walked around the grave yard where I found numerous Kemp graves. I also had a discussion with the post mistress across the road and she directed me to a retirement village Where I met an Alexander Kemp who informed me that there were 2 separate Kemp families from around Airth and he could not verify if he was connected. There was a great resemblance to one of my Australian cousins. This is how I became interested in my families history.
I think my line goes to William Kemp 1780-1868 & Janet Gilfillan <>Hugh Kemp 1748-1830 & Mary Mitchele <> John Kemp.
Not sure if that is correct and have no idea if they all came from the Airth area or what their occupations were.
Thanks, Tim

[willerson]

Hi, I happened upon this site and your request for information last night, so have just activated the account.

Alexander Kemp was my grandmothers uncle. I live a few miles from Airth and have recently been gathering data on my family tree. I have spent several days at Register House in Edinburgh using the Scotlandspeople database.

I had concentrated on two of the brothers of Alexander, William & Hugh as Hugh was my Great Grandfather.

However I have a copy of the Birth  registration for Alexander. Alexander was born January 26th 1860 at 2 p.m., his father was William Kemp, giving his occupation as Turnpike Road Surfaceman (the Turnpike Road ran through Airth), his mother is Catherine Kemp nee McMillan. The registration is signed in his own hand by William Kemp and the registration was made on February 2nd 1860 at Airth to the registrar Robert Armstrong.

In addition, his father William was married 3 times.

1. To Helen Anderson of Edinburgh on 8/6/1845, they had a child born May 1846 that died 13/10/1846, no indication on the death register of cause of death and the child had not been given a name. I have a copy of the Old Parish Register from Airth Parish Church. The page comes from the Interments in Airth Parish Graveyards. It shows Oct 13 _ Kemp, child of Wm Kemp farm servant, Airth, disease ? (it shows the question mark), Age 5 months.

Still to gather more data on Helen.

2. He then married Eliza Christie from Airth, on 24/6/1849 and had 2 children : Eliza Kemp born 10/6/1850, baptized 23/6/1850 and Janet Kemp born 6/4/1854, baptized 16/4/1854.

Eliza died around 6/4/1854. Again from the Interments in Airth Parish Graveyards I have April 26th 1854 Elisa Christie, Wife of William Kemp, Labourer, Airth Disease : in childbed (I take this to mean in childbirth or shortly thereafter) aged 34.

The 1854 register of Births in Airth Parish shows that Janet was born April 6th 1854 hence my belief that Eliza died then or just soon after.

Unfortunately, Ive got to run just now, my neice gets married in 3 hours and I have to get to the wedding.

I'll post more soon. Just to say though that Catherine Macmillan sadly ended her days in the local Lunatic Asylum. I have details of her almost 27 year stay there and a photograph of her taken about 1900 while in the Asylum. I believe she may have suffered from Porphyria as the faulty genes have found there way to my sister via my father whose mother was Catherine MacMillan Patterson (nee Kemp) and her grandmother was the Catherine Kemp who also gave birth to Alexander. Hopefully Alexander did not inherit this problem which today is readily understood and treated but in Catherine McMillan's day was not really understood.

Bye for now