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Topics - Forfarian

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 ... 52
19
Scotland / County Names
« on: Thursday 01 June 23 22:46 BST (UK)  »
Does anyone know for certain exactly when the names Forfarshire, Elginshire, Linlithgowshire, Edinburghshire and Haddingtonshire were coined for Angus, Moray, West, Mid and East Lothian respectively?

And by what method? And why were analogous names not inflicted on Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland, Kincardine, Fife, Bute and Argyll?

I know the name Forfarshire was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1928, but it seems much harder to find the starting date.

20
Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Where did Issobel live?
« on: Monday 01 May 23 14:04 BST (UK)  »
I'm interested in the marriage of John Decks and Issabell Clerk on 14 March 1699, but I'd welcome another opinion on it. It's from the East Kilbride parish register.

March 14 99 John Decks Son to ? Decks in Hamilton paroch and Issabell Clerk in ?


21
Moray (Elginshire) / Nuggets from the Kirk Session
« on: Tuesday 28 March 23 21:55 BST (UK)  »
Rothes, 1813
July 11. Preach'd and Colld 10s 11d
July 18. No sermon, the kirk being unroofed
July 25. Preach'd in the Minister's garden Col'd 6s 6d
Augt 1. Preach'd in the Minrs garden Coll 6s 6d
Augt 8. Preach'd and Coll 5s 10d
Augt 15. No sermon
Augt 22. Coll'd in the Minrs garden 3s 6½d
Augt 29. Preach'd in the Minrs garden 4s 8¾d
Sept 5. No sermon Minr at Botriphnie assisting at the Sacrament
Sept 12. People assembled in the church and prayed but no collection
Septr 19. Preach'd in the Kirk Coll'd 9s 6¼d
Even back then repairs took a wee while to complete!

22
Somerset / Temperance Leitch
« on: Tuesday 28 March 23 21:09 BST (UK)  »
William Williams, aged 38, married my relative Isabella Masson or Wilson in Elgin, Moray in 1867, and died in Lasswade, Midlothian, in 1889.

Both his marriage certificate and his death certificate give the names of his parents as William Williams, farm overseer/farm servant, and Temperance Williams, maiden surname Leitch.

There's a William Williams, parents William and Temperance, of Goblin Combe, Somerset, baptised on 31 May 1829 at Wrington, Somerset, who looks a pretty good fit.

Is there any way of verifying his mother's maiden surname, for example a marriage record?

23
Scotland / FindMyPast transcriptions - grumpy rant
« on: Tuesday 28 March 23 09:43 BST (UK)  »
I am becoming more and more disenchanted with the census transcriptions on FindMyPast. Not because they mangle the personal names like Ancestry does, but because they mangle the names of parishes/districts.

For example, in their index to the 1841 census there are hundreds (probably thousands) of people listed as being in Lanark, Lanarkshire, but when you look at the individual transcriptions the addresses are clearly in the city of Glasgow, not in the burgh or parish of Lanark, and Glasgow is not mentioned in the transcription. For example addresses in Cowcaddens or Gallowgate.

And in some years they list all the information in all the headers, so you can get multiple names of overlapping districts, defined for all sorts of different purposes, supposedly part of one address.

Then in 1861, every address I have looked at in the parish of Mortlach has been listed as in Marnoch, Mortlach, Banffshire. Marnoch is an entirely different parish. It's not even next door to Mortlach, except in the alphabetical list.

Mortlach again, in 1871. Addresses in Glenrinnes are listed as 'Mortlach, Glenrinnes, Banffshire'. As Glenrinnes in only part of Mortlach, they should be listed as 'Glenrinnes, Mortlach, Banffshire'. There are umpteen similar examples all over Scotland.

It's fine for me. I live in Scotland and I can read maps and plans and work out where places or addresses actually are. But it's unhelpful, to say the least, to confuse folk from distant places who don't know the lie of the land here. And potentially misleading.

I've tried to get FindMyPast to do something about these worst examples but I have got nowhere so far.

The only answer is: don't trust transcriptions. Always use transciptions on commercial web sites as finding aids, and check them by looking up the originals at Scotland's People.

I also wish that FindMyPast had included the parish/district, enumeration district and page numbers in their transcriptions. But if the absence of those details encourages people to look at the originals, than I suppose that omission could be regarded as a Good Thing.

24
Scotland / Services of Heirs
« on: Friday 24 March 23 09:13 GMT (UK)  »
According to the index to the Services of Heirs, Janet Lesslie, daughter of John Lesslie, shipmaster in Dundee, was served heir of line general to her brother William Lesslie, 9th March 1789.

Does this specifically mean that all of her brothers must have predeceased her?

If not, under what circumstances would a sister be served heir to a brother during the lifetime of their other brothers?

I have checked and there is no testament, either testamentar or dative, of this William Lesslie in the index to wills and testaments at SP.

25
Lancashire / The Lady Vanishes
« on: Saturday 18 March 23 12:30 GMT (UK)  »
Jane/Jean Bell, daughter of William Bell and Jean Rhind, was born on 10 May 1815 in Leven, parish of Scoonie, Fife and baptised there on 11 June 1815.

On 8 August 1837 she married John McLean. He was a merchant seaman, and living in Dundee.

They had a son, William Bell McLean, born 21 September 1841 in Dundee. In 1841 and 1851 they are in the census in Dundee, apart from John in 1851, who must have been at sea.

Then they vanish.

The son William Bell McLean became a marine engineer and fitter, moved to Liverpool, married Ann Reid in Leslie in 1864 and had seven of a family, all born in Liverpool/West Derby. I have all the relevant census except William in 1861, most of the birth references, and the deaths and probates of William Bell Mclean and Ann Reid or McLean, all in West Derby/Liverpool.

However, in 1891, lo and behold, in their household is William's widowed mother, Jane McLean, age 75, born Scotland.

But she vanishes again. I haven't found a death in Scotland, England or Wales (I don't think she's the one who died aged 72 in West Derby in 1895 - that one was the widow of a Thomas McLean). Nor have I found her (yet?) in 1861, 1871 or 1891. Was she in Liverpool all that time?

Any suggestions?

Just in case the names ring a bell (Aarrgghh! No pun intended!), there are previous threads on other members of Jane Bell or McLean's family
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=572906.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=723974.0
but neither of these threads mentions Jane/Jean Bell or McLean except in passing.

26
Occupation Interests / HMS 'Monarch', 1842
« on: Wednesday 15 March 23 21:22 GMT (UK)  »
Can anyone point me at the log book of HMS 'Monarch' for 1842?

A relative of mine, William Nic(h)olson, died aboard this vessel on 21 April 1842. I'd be interested to see what the log says about him (if anything).

See https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=572906.msg7424273#msg7424273 for the background to this.

27
Occupation Interests / Alexander Nicolson, Seaman
« on: Saturday 25 February 23 12:36 GMT (UK)  »
Interested in Alexander Nicolson, born 1825 in Leven, married in 1847, youngest child born 15 May 1853, wife is a widow in 1861 census, and gravestone says 'buried at sea'. His widow had an illegitimate child, born 20 June 1856, so I am assuming that Alexander died between summer 1852 and say 1854. There's no death in the indexes at Scotland's People.

I have looked at online newspapers but found no reference to an Alexander Nicolson being lost at sea between these dates.

There's a listing of Alexander Nicolson, Leven, in the British Merchant Seamen 1845-1857, ticket no 36238, National Archives reference BT114/15.

My questions are, does this reference point to another document which contains more information about Alexander Nicolson, and if so how do I find out what it says without having to go to Kew?

(I have lots of information about his family members, including all relevant birth/baptisms, marriage, death/burials/gravestone and census, so there's no need to look those up for me, thank you.)


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