Looking for birth of Archibald Mackenzie approx 1835

[Kateryan]

Hi Lizzie,

I am researching the MacFies and just worked myself backwards to Stephen, the one who married Jean Bowie. I am assuming as well that Stephen the Railroad Engineer is the son of Stephen the Baker. I have been unable to find parents for Jean or Stephen, have you been able to find out anymore about them?

[LizzieL]

Sorry, I haven't found any more about the Mackenzies. I have only just discovered that my link (Archibald) was the son of Stephen and Jean/ Jane Bowie. According to 1841 census, Jean was born in 1801, but as ages were rounded down she could be up to 4 years older. The Maxwell name seems to keep cropping up, so could be Stephen snr's mother's maiden name. Archibald also used several names which could be surnames as middle names for his children. Excluding Scott (his wife's maiden name), they are  Morrison,  Burtan (or Burton) and Waterfield.

[Kateryan]

Could you link that 1841 census for me? I haven't been able to find it. Thank you for the names and especially explaining the census to me! It's something I should have googled but it's driven me crazy that birth dates could change so much. I had no idea they were purposely doing it. Do you know if the middle names that appear to be family names are always family names? In my MacFie research I've found most of the middle family names going backwards but so far one I can only find as the maiden name of an aunt that marrued into the family. It seems odd and I can't figure it out.

[LizzieL]

The census record is a transcription on FindMyPast. As it is a Scottish record, it doesn't give a piece, folio or page number.

Jane    McKenzie    40    b Scotland    
Mary    McKenzie    20    b Lanarkshire,     
Stephen    McKenzie    15    b Lanarkshire    
Jane    McKenzie     13    b    Lanarkshire   
James    McKenzie    8    Lanarkshire     
Archibald    McKenzie    6    Lanarkshire     
James    Russell    15    Lanarkshire

I assume that Jane age 40 is the mother probably widowed and all the others are her children except James Russell. Stephen's occupation is Engineering AP (apprentice?) and so is James Russell, I suspect he is a lodger and not a member of the family.

On the 1841 census, ages of everyone over 15 was rounded down to the nearest 5. Although some enumerators didn't always do that. The birthplace was a yes or no to the question whether they were born in the county of residence. So all the children were born in Lanarkshire, but the mother was born in a different county. 

I found the record by searching on Archibald with a birth year of 1835 +/- 2

[LizzieL]

Using surnames as second forenames could be from a mother's maiden name or go back a couple of generations or there could be no obvious connection at all. I was just mentioning some names which cropped up in Archibald's family. An aunt who married into the family could have been very much liked or had money and been very generous to the family and was honoured by her name being given to a niece or nephew. Similarly that can happen with a friend of the family not even a relative.
There are no hard and fast rules about naming children - otherwise I hate to think what I'd be called!
But there were some traditions families used.

[Forfarian]

The census record is a transcription on FindMyPast. As it is a Scottish record, it doesn't give a piece, folio or page number.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=714261.0

In this case, FreeCEN http://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl has a complete transcription, including the district, enumeration district and page numbers. Scotland does not use the terms 'piece' or 'folio' in indexing the census.

Interesting to see that Stephen's name in FreeCEN is transcribed as McQuarrie not McKenzie, so you need to check by looking at the original census image at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk .

[shrewsmack]

LizzieL,
Just wondering if you could make out Susan Scott's mother's maiden name on the marriage cert?  Her father was Robert, a confectioner, and her mother Margaret MacKenzie maiden name (looks something like Thomson???)

[LizzieL]

I think it is Thomson. There is a Euphemia Thomson with Susan on the 1861 census. I think she was Margaret's younger sister. I have Margaret and Euphemia's parents as William Thomson and isobel Clelland.

I have 10 children for Archibald and Susan, between 1856 and 1879. They are at approx. 2 year intervals, except a larger gap between James Scott Mackenzie (born 1866) and George Paul Mackenzie (born 1873), so I suspect there may be one or two more.