Hi,
I've hit the proverbial brick wall with my Scottish ancestors and wondered if anyone could offer guidance. I've traced my lineage back to a George Roy, 1795-1864, baptised at the Chapel of Orton (Inchberry) and latterly a carpenter in Fochabers, but cannot seem to locate his parents with any certainty.
I have baptism and death certificates for George and his siblings John (b. 1789) and Helen (1791-1857) which list the parents as John Roy, a salmon fisherman and crofter latterly of Fochabers, and Helen Gordon, but cannot find records of their marriage on ScotlandsPeople. I have a suspicion that they may have been Catholic due to the baptisms at Orton chapel and realise therefore that marriage records may be unavailable at that time. With no timeframe for their births (presumably before 1771 if they were 18 at the first child's birth) or deaths (post-1795 when the eldest was born) I'm having real trouble working out who they were.
The witnesses at the baptism of Helen in 1791 include James Roy and Helen Johnston, whom I believe I have found in their late 80s in Dundurcas at the 1841 census. I suspect that James is the brother of my John Roy (rather than his father) as he and Helen Johnston did not have children registered together until 1786 at the earliest. That has led me to scour ScotlandsPeople for records of a John and James Roy being born to the same parents around Rothes, and in approximately the right timeframe for James to have been born c. 1750s, but with the names being so common I'm not having a great deal of luck narrowing the field. Libindx hasn't thrown up any likely candidates for either John or James.
Has anyone researched the Roy family around this area and found these people before? Am I missing something blindingly obvious that would allow me to identify John? What other sources could I search for details of George's parents? Or have I reached as far back as I'm likely to be able to go?
Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer.