Hi all thanks for your input it has been very helpful. roderickpaulin, The family name is John so every generation has a John in it, although as far as I can see my family come from Neilston, Renfrewshire but they did move about, my part of the family ended up in the West Midlands but other members did stay in Scotland and moved about. when researching the Scottish census, Neilstone seemed to have lots of Steels which could stem from a family I haven't found yet. If you had Steel/Steele in your family not sure you know but they were a sept of the Gordon clan.
