Lookup Please - John MAY family - near Edinburgh and in Ireland

[ab325]

I am looking for information on a John May family who is said to have lived 15 miles from Edinburgh around 1820.  I do not have a birth date, death date or marriage info for him.  What information I have comes from his granddaughter's husband.

John and his wife had three children born in Scotland - Williamson was born around 1814;  Jim was born before 1821; and Nancy was born Dec 12, 1821.  They moved to Ireland where a son, John, and two daughters, Mary and Martha, were born.  Another son was born in either Scotland or Ireland.  Before 1840 they made a brief trip back to Scotland before immigrating to the states where they settled in Ohio.  The son I don't have a name for died at sea on the way over to the states.

Who was the father's wife?  What village or town did they live in?  Where did they live in Ireland?  Were they what was considered Scotch-Irish?  Were they most likely affected by the potato famine?  There is no mention of the mother in Ohio.  Was their brief trip back to Scotland to bury her?  If so, where is she buried?  Who were John's parents and his wife's parents?  What was John's occupation?  Were any of the children old enough to have occupations at that time?  More questions than answers - probably some without answers.

I would greatly appreciate any help.

[Thinlizy]

Hi ab235,Have some info but this is away further than left field.You will need to double and triple check this to confirm it is right. Here goes:
From IGI
John May or O'May b 10 Feb 1794 Cleish Kinross parents George May and Mary Flockhart
Elizabeth Boyd b ?
Married 1819 Abbey (Paisley) Renfrew
Nothing on the sons but
Jeanie 4 July 1820 Abbey (Paisley) Renfrew
Nancy (Agnes) 12 Aug or Sep 1822 Abbey (Paisley) Renfrew
This as close to Edinburgh as I can get except for some John May's in Aberdeen, Perth and Glasgow but there are no families for them except the Aberdeen one. Don't know if this is a help or hindrance, as for the Irish connection I cannot help there, but good luck anyway, Thinlizy

[KirstyG]

Hi

Are there any records in Ohio that might help help such as marriages for any of the children? I'm not familiar with what information is available on marriage certs in the US. I see there is a marriage in Hamilton County Ohio, 2nd of June 1847 for a Nancy May to John Bailey. Could that be your Nancy?

There is an extracted marriage for a Williamson May to Rebecca W. Huffman in 1838 Clark Ohio. Could this be your family? It would indicate that he at least was in Ohio before 1840.

The mother's name may for the family posted by Thinlizy have been Helen Boyd looking at the IGI entries (if that is the right family at all - Paisley is about 60 miles from Edinburgh). There are some extracted and some submitted entries so as mentioned above triple checking the originals is a good idea!

Do you know what religious denomination they were? The births may not have been registered with the Established Church so they might be held elsewhere.

Kirsty

[ab325]

The only records I have been able to find in Ohio are Williamson's marriage to Rebecca and their listing in the census.  As for Nancy (my ggg grandmother), she married Aaron B. Moore on Nov. 19, 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I cannot find anything else.  A long time ago I thought there was a wife's name of Lydia ??, but I cannot find it again.

I appreciate you efforts in trying to help.

[johnsmay13]

I came across you note re John May Edinburgh. I have been tracing my ancestors in that area. I still live in the Edinburgh area and you may be connected to the may family that lived in the Preston Pans?Port Seaton area of East lothian, about 10-15 miles east of Edinburgh. The family were all fishermen and had been for many generations. I have traced my arm of the family from today back to 1700.

One of your relatives fought with Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, as it was the case that in paece time the family were fishermen but in times of war they were in the Royal Navy, this tradition contiued right up myself in the 1970's and eighties

regards

Rev John May
Edinburgh

[tidybooks]

Hi John,

Welcome to Rootschat, I, too am related to Port Seton/Prestonpans fishermen. I have not came across the surname, May as yet, but many of my names, are Buchanan, Ritchie, etc. I have my own tree online on My Heritage tree builder. Once you have made 3 posts, we could PM each other, and we could change email addresses etc.

Tom Buchanan

[johnsmay13]

Hi

Most of the Mays probably died out around 1900 as in the mid 1800's many moved. My direct descendants on my father's side moved to Gilmerton, south of Edinburgh and started to work in the Lothian coalfields. I visited Preston Pans church grave yard recently and the last May name I saw was dated around 1910 and female, her first name was Ann. So perhaps most descendants were female hence the name not being so familiar.

Hope this helps!

Iain May

[may2491]

I am not sure if my May Family is of England, Ireland or Scotland, but my paternal great-great-grandfather was a seaman in North County Dublin and he died at sea sometime around the 1860s.  My paternal side has other family lines who lived in Scotland and Ireland so, in relation to your discussion of the John May Family near Edinburgh, I am wondering if there is any general knowledge of migrations from Scotland to the Dublin area either of May families, or fishermen, or seamen in the 1800s or even earlier in the 1700s.  One theory I have is that the May Family in North County Dublin may have moved there from Scotland. 

Even if there is no record of particular May Family migrations I am wondering if there was such a connection between Scotland and County Dublin.  I am happy to know even the titles of books that may discuss the history.  I am enjoying reading related history as much as following the genealogical trail.  Thank you for any help or leads.

Timothy May

[tidybooks]

Hi johnsmay13,

I have found a Margaret May married an Alexander Coull around 1805 in Prestonpans. They had twins plus a daughter, the boy twin Peter Coull married an Agnes Ritchie 19 Nov 1848 in Prestonpans, Peter and his father were fisherman.

Tom