Hi all,
This is my first post and I'm pretty new to the whole genealogy thing so please be gentle with me! ;-)
I am trying to track family and forebears of my great-grandfather James Christie who was born in Arbroath on 20-Feb-1858 and died on 23-July-1911, also in Arbroath. He married one Barbara Finlayson on 08-Nov-1978 and divorced her in 1909 for some reason I have not yet been able to find out. (Links to images of his birth and death cert are at the bottom of this post.)
Basically I would like to know if he had any siblings or other children apart from 2 sons - yet another James Christie and my grandfather George Johnstone Christie (b. 05-Dec-1884 at 38 Mary St, Arbroath, d. 05-Mar-1947 in Dunedin, NZ). In particular I am trying to find his father, also a James Christie, who had my great-grandfather out of wedlock with one Matilda Mahon(e). They were both flax mill workers (not surprisingly all my Christie relatives seemed to work 'down the mill') and I know in 1858 he was living in Gravesend, Arbroath when my great-grandfather was born.
My problem is that I can't nail down any firm details as there were so many James Christie's in Angus in those days so if anyone can help I would really appreciate it. I have tried ScotlandsPeople and FindMyPast but there are just so many James Christie's and none of really them fit any dates I have. I have googled and looked up every record library, registrar and website I can find with no real luck so I am hoping someone in Scotland or the UK may be help me (I am a Kiwi but live in Sydney at present).
I think the image (see link below) of the 1861 census could be him as he has a son James Christie, age 2, which could be my great-grandfather as the age would fit given he was born in 1858. This would mean that he was married with 4 or 5 other children when he (perhaps) had a fling with Matilda Mahon(e) and had my great-grandfather then raised him as part of the family - would love to be able to confirm that though!
Anyway, if I haven't completely confused everyone, I'd certainly appreciate any help finding out more about any of the James Christie's mentioned above - or else any other good advice or web links etc that might help really nail down some more concrete info.
Cheers,
Mike
1861 Census:
http://www.41south.com/familyresearch/Census1861_James_Christie.gif(Can anyone tell what all the names under the Christie entry are as well the street name?)
Birth Cert of my great-grandfather James Christie:
http://www.41south.com/familyresearch/BirthCert_James-Christie_20-02-1858.gifDeath Cert of same:
http://www.41south.com/familyresearch/DeathCert_JamesChristie_23-07-1911.gif