Alexander Sturrock's mysterious move?

[Keryn]

Hi Gali

Yes you have it correct!  The will of Alexander in 1843 said he has two other children David William and Mary Ann to his wife Margaret to which he leaves half of everything in trust til they are 21 (so they are definitely alive in 1843).  The other half goes to his natural son Alexander Charles (mother Sophia Godwin). 

Yes I am trying to find out about the other two children and Alexander's lineage as this is where our family history goes back to Scotland - its the big link.

I thought perhaps David was baptised in two places, however it would mean that for him to be baptised in Cripplegate and then Dundee, Margaret, David and Alexander would have to travel back to Dundee, as Mary Ann was conceived around December 1831 - after David was baptised in Dundee.

Here is what I have found from records so far:

• 22 Aug 1831 David William born/baptised - Dundee (although there are two dates on the baptism with 22 being the 1st date and the 2nd is unreadable
• 22 May 1831 David William baptised - Cripplegate
• 21 Sept 1832 Maryann born - Dundee
• 4 December 1833 Maryann baptised - Dundee
• 13 Aug 1837 Alexander James born (mother Sophia Godwin) - Southwark (died 1838)
• 25 April 1840 Alexander Charles born (mother Sophia Godwin) - Southwark
• 17 June 1843 Alexander Sturrock (the father) dies - Southwark - leaves half of everything to David William and Mary Ann
• 1852 Sophia Godwin dies - leaves everything to Alexander Charles including stock and savings in Cripplegate Savings Bank

David could have been born in Cripplegate 22 May 1831, baptised in Cripplegate 10 June 1831 then traveled to Scotland and was baptised again in August 1831 - perhaps. I was going to attach David's Scottish baptism record, but I wasn't sure if it would be a copyright infringement .

I did consider that Margaret, Alexander and David may have traveled back to Dundee after David's birth and then Alexander went back to London without Margaret and the children.  I don't have enough knowledge of Scotland and London in the 1800's to understand why he might do this.  I also thought it was interesting that Maryann was baptised 15 months after she was born.  It is all a bit of mystery at the moment. 

Sorry I confused you, I hope this clears things up a little.  If there is any other info you would like, please let me know and I will post it.

Thanks again for all your help, my husband has been away since Thursday and I am really looking forward to updating him on our discoveries when he gets back on Tuesday which I really couldn't have done without your help 
Thanks heaps 

K

P.S. I am really hoping this family is the one with Margaret Carnie as they are relatively easy to follow!!!  There is no other sign of any Margaret, Alexander, David William and Mary ann that I can find, other than the Margaret Carnie family.

[Gali]

I haven't seen the original baptism record for David in Scotland but IGI gives the date as 22 May 1831, the Cripplegate baptism record also gives his birth date as 22 May 1831 although the baptism date is 10 July 1831.

From the Poorhouse records on the FDCA website it looks as if Margaret Carnie was admitted twice, once in 1873 aged 69 and again the following year.  You should definitely contact Dundee Archives about this as they may have more information on her situation and about David's fate, 'The original registers contain further information on each pauper, including place of birth, number of children, occupation, reason for admission, and date of discharge/removal'
http://www.fdca.org.uk/FDCAPoorIndexes1.html

[Gali]

Meant to ask, how do you know when your Alexander was born?  From the 1841 census only?  This can sometimes be a few years out, I think enumerators were asked to round up or down to the nearest five  years ... so take the birth date with a pinch of salt if the 1841 census is your only source for his birth. 

There are a couple of trees on Ancestry which link 'your' (d. 1843) as being the son of another Alexander Sturrock and wife, also Margaret ...  I'm not sure about that though, there is a death of an Alexander Sturrock (b. 1806) in 1878 in Monifieth so someone might be getting confused ...

If you haven't already done so I'd check on SP for deaths of 'Alexander Sturrocks' b. 1806 plus or minus 5 years in Angus - there are two - which would enable you to rule out who you are NOT descended from ... parents' names should be listed.   

There is a cluster of Sturrocks in and around the village of Monikie.  Anyone with ancestors from here is lucky to have the great resource of www.monikie.org.uk

The website has some information about Sturrocks which might be of interest:
http://www.monikie.org.uk/sturrock-guildy.htm

[Keryn]

Hi Gali

Thought you might like an update!    I got Alexander Sturrock's birth date from the census and his death certificate which states he was 38 in 1843, (b1805).  The informant on the death cert is the coroner as there was an inquest into his accidental death.
I have:

• emailed the Dundee archives re:Margaret Sturrock's poorhouse records.
• scoured the Monikie website for any mention of Sturrock's but nothing definitive has come from my reading.
• emailed the Tay Valley Family History Society regarding the Sturrock papers etc they have as directed from the Monikie website.
• looked at the two deaths of Alexander Sturrock you mentioned and now know that 'my' Alexander Sturrock did not descend from John and Mary (nee:Roberts) Sturrock, nor from Alexander and Margaret Sturrock (looks like nee: Sturrock?). Nor was he the husband of Elizabeth Maul or Clementia Lunguin (I think I have the spelling wrong there).
• There was also another Alexander Sturrock who died in 1851 (b1810), but he was a flaxd?ef?er

So now I am waiting for replies to emails and hoping that I get a call for some relief teaching so I can save money to actually come to Scotland and scour the records myself and visit some of the places I have read about!!!  Wouldn't that be great!!! 

Will update again when I have more info to post.  Thanks again for all your help and suggestions, I do feel like I am getting somewhere now.

[Keryn]

Found a marriage bann for David and Jean Sturrock who proclaimed on 7th Dec 1794.  I'm hoping these are the parents of Mary McKechnie/McKechney in the 1841 census where Maryann and David Sturrock are residing.  Now... how do I find out if David and Jean Sturrock had any other children???

I also found the marriage record for Mary Sturrock and James McKechney (who was a seaman) in 1828.

[Gali]

That's great re a possible marriage for David and Jean ... does the document say anything else?

I was just going to write and say that I have found another child for David Sturrock and Jean/Jane Miller.

Barbara Sturrock, b. Dundee c. 1803-6 (Ancestry transcription of 1841 census says b. 1806, 1851 says 1804, 1861 says 1803) married Charles Irvine, died Inverarity 1864.

Some death certs on SP have mother's maiden name shown so in theory you should be able to search statutory death records for births between 1794 and ?1820 for surname Sturrock and mother's maiden name Miller but this does not work for Mary Sturrock McKechnie/ey as the mother's maiden name is not included in the index!  So, the only way you would be able to find out about other surviving children of David and Jean/Jane is to trawl your way through SP death certificates of those Sturrocks born 1794 - ?1820 ... I think there are four pages of them so a rather $$$ exercise but might prove fruitful ... you never know. 

[Gali]

Do you think that David Sturrock, married to Jean/Jane Miller, was Alexander's (d.1843) father, uncle, or cousin? 

[Gali]

Just looking at births/marriages for 'st*rr*ck' on LDS ... it looks as if the surname was sometimes indexed at 'Storrock' in the late 1700s ... but not so much after this time, e.g. 1750 - 1800 = 48 'storrock' births in Scotland vs 1800 - 1850 = 4 'storrock' births in Scotland.  Might be something to bear in mind if you do get further. 

[Forfarian]

I've also come across it spelled 'Stroak' so you might like to look at that too.