Dingwall - Ancestors of Hugh McLean

[Gow67]

I have the marriage certificate for Dingwall residents Hugh McLean and Hellen McKenzie at Dingwall on 11th Dec 1868.

It shows Hugh as aged 23, and lists his parents as Archibald MacLean, Farm Grieve Deceased and Jessie MacLean m/s MacGrigor Deceased.

I'm having no luck with birth or death certificates for Hugh.

Have not been able to find anything on Archibald Mac/McLean's marriage to Janet Mac/McGrigor/Gregor (!), or their births or deaths before 1868.

I'm also not finding much in census data with these name combinations.

Been stuck on this one for ages now, so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Scottish Janealogy]

Do you have anything on Hugh's birthplace?  For example, have you found Hugh and his wife Helen in the 1871 census? If so, where did he say he was born? How old was he then? Do you have his death registration at all? Just trying to build up the bigger picture.

If he was 23 in late 1868 he would probably have been born around 1845. That would be two years after the Disruption which led to the formation of the Free Church of Scotland so his baptism might not be in the OPRs at all (the Free Church was one of several churches outside the established C of S by the mid 1840s). But best to exhaust the OPR searches before you look elsewhere as some session clerks were very good at recording baptisms/births in other denominations.

[Gow67]

Thanks for the reply SJ.

Hugh complicates things a bit. Following his marriage to Hellen McKenzie in 1868 ( in Church of Scotland not Free Church) the family appear in the 1871 census residing at 145 High Street Elgin. I don't have the extract, just info from Freecen and Ancestry.

Surname       First name(s)       Rel       Status   Sex       Age       Occupation       
MCLEAN       Hugh                       Head       M       M       24       Coachman    

Where Born:   Inverness-shire - -

In both the 1881 and 1891 census records, though, Hugh is stated as born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. Again  haven't seen the actual extracts just transcriptions but this seems a bit strange.

Frustratingly I can't find his death record.

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

[Scottish Janealogy]

How frustrating to have no Inverness-shire parish. You can check the censuses online to see if there really is a gap after Inverness-shire in 1871 (suspect there is if both Ancestry and Freecen say so) and also to get the full 1881 and 1891 information.

Are you anywhere near Edinburgh or one of the the other centres where you can access ScotlandsPeople at £15 for a day? It could be worthwhile to go along just so you can check through all the possible Hugh Mclean death records, baptisms and census (pre 1871 and post 1891) records. It could also be worth checking for baptisms under the name McGregor - it is possible that he was illegitimate but baptised under his mother's name. You can check a lot of records in a day!

[Gow67]

Thanks again SJ.
Yes - close to Edinburgh so that might be the best option.
That's a good tip about teh birth being recorded as McGregor.

I also found the following entry on Freecen yesterday:

Piece: SCT1851/107 Place: Urquhart&Glenmoristn-Inverness-shire Enumeration District: 2
Civil Parish: Urquhart&glenmoristn Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 76 Page: 2 Schedule: 8
Address: Kilmichael

Surname       First name(s)       Rel       Status       Sex       Age       
MCGREGOR       Margt       Head       U       F       42       Ag Lab & Knitter        Inverness-shire - Urquhart           
MCGREGOR       Janet       Sister       U       F       35       Ag Lab & Knitter        Inverness-shire - Urquhart           
MCLEAN       Hugh       Nephew       U       M       5       At Home        Argyllshire - Ardgaur(Originally: Inverness-shire - Ardgour)   

No sign of the father and the possible mother still called McGregor.
This backs up your theory of illegitimate birth.

It's an interesting lead.

[maclennan25]

There are two Hugh Mcleans on the http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/people/mainfilter.asp website who are listed as coachmen.

One is clearly too young but it shows his father as also being called Hugh.
The other died in Canada.

These may not be who you are looking for but if they are then there are newspaper archives available which should give more information (I hope).

Kind regards,

[Gow67]

Thanks for that info maclennan25. Very interesting and the dates fit.

Hugh McLean certainly had a son called Hugh abt 1879 according to later census info. Will check out his marr cert.

Interesting Canadian lead also.

Brilliant detective work.