John Johnston Hudson Reid and Christina Macleod descendants?

[mairiw]

I've recently discovered that my grandmother Christina Macleod (born 1907) married a divorcee John Johnston Hudson Reid (born 1902) in Canongate & Portobello Registry Office in 1941 but can find no more about them.  Their parents were Donald and Jane Macleod, and John Johnston Hudson Reid and Jessie Jane Aitken.  I would like to know if they had any children from their marriage but not sure where to start looking.  My mother now deceased was born to Christina Macleod before she married John Reid.  The address on their marriage certificate was Elliot Street in Edinburgh, but that's really all I know.

[excel]

Hi Mairiw,
Welcome to Rootschat.
As the records you are looking for are quite recent [in genealogy terms, that is] they are more difficult to search. Have you tried General Register House in Edinburgh?
On the scotlandspeople.gov.uk deaths search I entered in Reid Christina, other name M*cLeod, born 1907. There is one on there, and she died in Edinburgh. To further confirm whether it is the correct person you can put in her mother's maiden name if you know it. You will have to buy credits to access this. The certificate will show you where she was living, if she was married/widowed, and if widowed the informant may by a child of theirs.
Hope this proves successful.
Rae

[mairiw]

Many thanks Excel for the welcome and your prompt reply.  I will do as you suggest and have a look at the death certificate and see if a family member has registered it.  My mind drew a blank as to my next move.  Regards, Mairi 

[excel]

My pleasure! I hope your search proves successful. Any difficulties and there is always someone on here to ask.
Rae

[MonicaL]

If you are local enough to be able to do this...Someone here on RootsChat has mentioned that if you are visiting one of the main genealogy centres in Scotland (e.g. Edinburgh or Glasgow) you can look for births online at the centres post 1928 (I think from around this time...must double check this) using both family and mother's maiden names. This is obviously a big help, similar to what you can do on the English and Welsh GRO index. You cannot do this search online remotely, it must be at one of the centres with a direct link to the GROS.

Monica 

Added: Just had a confirmation email from the ScotlandsPeople Centre. You are indeed able to do this kind of search at one of the main centres from around 1928 when this information began to be included on the index. Great service and a quick response to my email today.

[mairiw]

Thank you Monica for your reply.  Unfortunately I'm not residing in the UK at the moment so I'm unable to check the records, however I'll try and recruit another family member to the task!  Many thanks for your assistance.   

[Archiet]

Dear Mairiw,

I might be able to assist you.

My Grandfather was John Johnston Hudson Reid (1902-1963) through his marriage to Isabella Templeman Wilson. Their oldest child is my mother, Catherine Wilson Torrance nee Reid (b.1928) who lives in Ayrshire. They had two other children namely Norman McLeod Reid and Muriel Johnston Reid who have sadly now passed away. However, between the three children of John and Isabella there are six offspring who are all living but are pretty scattered - Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Kent and California.

I personally visited the graves of John Johnston and Ann Hudson (our 4x Great Grandparents) in Coldingham Parish Churchyard, Berwickshire, just yesterday and took some photographs. The line down to John Johnston Hudson Reid (Jnr) goes as follows......

John Johnston & Ann Hudson -> Mary Ann Johnston & William James Reid -> John Johnston Hudson Reid (Snr) & Jessie Jane Aitken -> John Johnston Hudson Reid (Jnr).

Hope this all assists. Please do get in touch so that we can share more information. It would be wonderful to know if my mother has other siblings and if I have other cousins.

Kind regards,

Archie Torrance
Kent, England (formerly Ayrshire born and bred)

[mairiw]

Dear Archiet

Thank you so much for the information.  Do you know when and why John Reid and Isabella divorced as it wouldn't be a very common event in those years, and in what year Isabella died?  He would have been 39 when he married my grandmother, and she would have been 34, so they could potentially have had more children but I don't know if they had any together or not.  Would you know where they resided following their marriage?  It is very possible we are related in some way through this marriage!
My siblings and I were always led to believe my mother was an only child and know of no half brothers or sisters, but are keen to find out if this is true or if we have any relatives on my mothers side. 
I do not live in the UK at present and my eldest brother, who began this process so many years ago has traced the family tree to this point so far, but this part has always been the stumbling block.  It would be great to know if we are somehow related!

Regards
Mairi

[Archiet]

Dear Mairi,
Many thanks for your message. Yes, I can help with some of that information.

John Johnston Hudson Reid (Jnr)(1902-1963), a Commercial Traveller in 1928 who went on to become a mechanical engineer, married my grandmother, Isabella Templeman Wilson (1905-1991), at The Manse, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, on 3 July 1924. She divorced him in 1936 after a really difficult time. He had become embroiled in a court case following an alleged assault on a woman called Janet Tosh Edgar on 22 January 1936. [This is well documented in the Edinburgh newspapers at the time, which can be viewed online.]

John Johnston Hudson Reid and Christina Macleod did have at least one child, a son also called John Johnston Hudson Reid (the 3rd in line with exactly the same name), born 26.4.1941 died 2009. This John Johnston Hudson Reid I believe married Margaret Lunn Farmer.

John Johnston Hudson Reid (1902-1963) died on 30 May 1963 at 137 Moredun Park Road, Edinburgh, and was cremated at Warriston Crematorium on 3 June 1963. His death certificate shows cause of death as coronary artery disease/myocardial infarction. I presume that he and Christina continued to live in Edinburgh throughout their life together. I have a photograph of him and another of him and Isabella together; I can send them to you if you can let me have a contact email address or contact number.

Can I ask - do you have information on your mother's father? It's just that you say your mother was born to Christina Macleod before she married John Reid in 1941 and it would be useful to identify her father. Would you mind letting me know your mother's name and dates for her birth and death please so that I can update my tree? Also, do you have any photographs of John Reid and Christina Macleod and your mother; they would really enhance my tree. For information - I use Reunion 9 software on my Apple Mac computer. I would be happy to send you more information on John Reid's siblings x8 if that is helpful but I don't have very much on Christina Macleod, I'm afraid.

I have a subscription to Scotland's People website, which contains a lot of information. I'd be happy to do some further digging, which might be of mutual benefit.

Kind regards,

Archie