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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Banffshire => Topic started by: eversg on Thursday 12 October 17 03:12 BST (UK)

Title: Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald in Banff
Post by: eversg on Thursday 12 October 17 03:12 BST (UK)
Hoping to learn when an Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald moved to Banff. She worked as a housekeeper  in 1948 for a John Thomson who lived on Kingswell Lane in Banff. She was born in Lossiemouth in 1875.
Title: Re: Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald in Banff
Post by: Rosinish on Thursday 12 October 17 03:27 BST (UK)
Hoping to learn when an Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald moved to Banff. She worked as a housekeeper  in 1948 for a John Thomson who lived on Kingswell Lane in Banff. She was born in Lossiemouth in 1875.

Is the 'Murdoch' a m/s, a middle name?

Who were her parents & what do you know prior to 1948?

Where/when was her last known address pre 1948?

How do you know she worked for J T in 1948?

If Murdoch is her m/s what info. do you have on her husband please?

Did she marry before/during/after working for J T?

Did she have children, when did she die etc?

Any other info. you have will save duplication of effort.

Annie

Title: Re: Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald in Banff
Post by: eversg on Thursday 12 October 17 05:40 BST (UK)
Agnes Murdoch was born in 1875 to John Murdoch and Christina Lamb.
Murdoch was her maiden name. The last address I have for her prior to 1948 was in 1911 in Lossiemouth. According to her death record in 1848, she was working as a housekeeper for J.T. Her husband was Alexander McDonald who passed away in 1898. Any information on John tomsin would also be useful Thanks.
Title: Re: Agnes Murdoch or McDonald in Banff
Post by: Forfarian on Thursday 12 October 17 16:14 BST (UK)
The obvious source is the Register of Electors. The vote was extended to all women in 1928, so she should be listed from then onwards. Start with 1948/9 and work backwards.

The snag is that the Register of Electors cannot be consulted online. You would need to go somewhere that has them in hard copy, or get someone to go on your behalf. There are copies in Edinburgh and in Aberdeen, and it is possible that the library in Banff might also have a set.

The usual, and unambiguous, way to set out the name of a married woman is 'xxx yyy or zzz' where 'xxx' is her given name, 'yyy' is her maiden name and 'zzz' is her husband's surname. This is the form mostly used in legal documents in Scotland, where a woman does not legally lose her own surname on marriage.
Title: Re: Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald in Banff
Post by: eversg on Thursday 12 October 17 16:35 BST (UK)
Thanks for the excellent leads. The difficulty is that I live in Canada. I'll have to make a trip sometime.
Title: Re: Agnes Murdoch or McDonald in Banff
Post by: Forfarian on Thursday 12 October 17 18:23 BST (UK)
Ah. Yes, that is a bit of a drawback. If I were in the National Library of Scotland at all regularly, I could do this, but I live some distance from Edinburgh, and my NLS reader's ticket has expired.

Title: Re: Agnes (Murdoch) McDonald in Banff
Post by: eversg on Thursday 12 October 17 19:04 BST (UK)
Thanks anyways