James Harvey Godfrey MacKenzie

[Big Mac 2]

I have started collecting information on my family in the hope of doing a family tree.  I have my great grand fathers photo album and some information on him but am unable to find out whether he was born in South Africa or in Scotland.

An uncle has told me that the family thinks he was born in Scotland and came to South Africa just before the Boer War.  Unfortunately he died at a very young age, 27, on 25 September 1906, and his wife died shortly after him.  My grandfather was very young when his parents died and never knew much about them to pass onto his children.

A family member did some research in 1980 but the records contain an error that has made me doubtful of the rest of the information, listing James Harvey Godfrey as having a brother James Charles MacKenzie, and I cannot see any parents naming two sons with the first name.

James Harvey Godfrey's father is listed as William Harvey MacKenzie and his mother as Sophia Hester MacKenzie, nee Waldeck.

I am also told that J.H.G. came from Ullapool in Scotland.  I know he fought on the side of the Boers during the Boer War, was captured at Elandslaagte and sent to St.Helena Island as a prisoner of war.  I have his discharge papers from the Boer Forces, signed by three of their Generals.

If anyone can help with information that will help me go further back, beyond the information I have so far, I would greatly appreciate it.  Any tips pointing me in the right direction would also be great.

Best wishes

James D.N.MacKenzie

[AMBLY]

Hi James

listing James Harvey Godfrey as having a brother James Charles MacKenzie, and I cannot see any parents naming two sons with the first name

It's not unheard of to have 2 living children with the same given forename but it isn't at all common - what is more common though and which was very, very common in Scottish families - was to name  the next born child of the same gender after a child who had died.  Was James Charles McKENZIE said to have been born before JHG?

Cheers
AMBLY

[Big Mac 2]

Hi Ambly

Good to hear from you.

I don't have James Charles birth date, just a date of death, 20 October 1901.  James Harvey Godfrey's birth date is 12 December 1878 and date of death 25 September 1906.

If they were brothers, it is the first time I have come across two with the same first name.

Best wishes

James D.N.MacKenzie

[KirstyG]

Hi James,

You haven't stated where you have tried looking for information so far.

The official source for Scottish BMDs is Scotland's People.
A quick free search on there does show one James H M*cKenzie born in Scotland in 1878 in Ross and Cromarty.
You should bear in mind that there is a limit on the number of characters that show in the index so long names do not always appear in their entirety, but are frequently chopped in half!

The IGI shows a couple of possible christenings for the mother Sophia, both in 1846 in England, on in Bedford to James and Jane., the other in London to Charles and Sophia.

The Census records may have your family if they stayed in Britain long enough after James's birth. You could try looking at the 1881 and 1891 census entries.

Passenger records for shipping to South Africa might have something of use.


There is always the possibility that the two James's were half brothers or stepbrothers. Especially as James Charles could have been named after his maternal grandfather. Just a thought.

Kirsty

[Big Mac 2]

Hi Kirsty

Thanks for your reply.

I have not tried anywhere yet, besides my direct family.  I am a bit bewildered with the amount of options that came up when I Googled MacKenzie family tree!!  I was hoping someone had done all this before me and could point me in the right direction.

I was also hoping that someone would pick up on the name James Harvey Godfrey MacKenzie and that they already had him on their family tree.

As far as we can tell they were brothers, both MacKenzie's, and at that stage father and mother were both in their first marriages.  She later remarried after her husband William Harvey passed away.

I know there is the two spellings of MacKenzie and McKenzie, but I have his name MacKenzie written in his own handwritting so know that spelling is correct.  Could it still be recorded as McKenzie?  Did the record you mention show the date he was born or just the year?

Once again, many thanks for the reply and help.

Best wishes

James

[KirstyG]

Spellings can be variable. Always.

The index only shows years, but you can view a scan of the original entry for a small fee. That should contain full name, date, parents names, date and place of their marriage.

This will tell you what to expect
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=554&402

Something I have seen quite a lot is the addition of middle names later in life, so while they do not appear on the birth/christening record they are used for everything else. Just something to bear in mind when searching.

There are some very helpful tips on maximising the searches on Scotland's People here on Rootchat. I would recommend reading them before you begin any searches or you could land up wasting a lot of money!

As you move further back in time with your family tree a very useful (and free) resource is familysearch.org. Unfortunately it only covers most Scottish records up to the mid 1870s. Perversely it is more difficult to find information the closer to the present you are looking.

Kirsty

[Big Mac 2]

Hi Kirsty

Thanks for the further info, will follow up on those websites.  Will also read those tips, thanks.  I was quite excited about starting this and jumped the gun, before I received replies from everyone I had asked for info on the family.

Some more info, in the form of notes made on the family in 1980, have come from an uncle.  According to the notes William Harvey MacKenzie, JGH's father, married a
Sophia Hester Waldeck, who married a Thomas Caughlin after WH passed on, and Sophia died 30 August 1925, but, again, I don't know whether out here or in Scotland.

There is also a list of brothers and sisters:
1) James Charles MacKenzie who died 20 October 1901
2) James Harvey Godfrey MacKenzie born 12 December 1878 and died 25 September 1906.
3) Sophia Louisa MacKenzie born 3 February 1892 and died 8 November 1965.
4) May MacKenzie born 1890 and died 26 February 1990.

James Charles is listed first but we don't have his birth date so don't know if he was the eldest.  I still find it very strange that both have the same first name!!

Once again, many thanks for the help.

Best wishes

James

[KirstyG]

Hi James

There are no obvious candidates showing up on SP for the deaths of the siblings or parents. That doean't mean they are definately not there,  just that I haven't spotted them so far.

I see that searching in SA for geneological data can be complicated the NAAIRS look worse to navigate that the NAS! There do seem to be quite a few good sites run by volunteers though.

http://www.southafrica.info/services/genealogy.htm
http://www.e-family.co.za/


I see you have already posted on the SA board http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,383845.0.html

I have put a link in that thread pointing here to prevent duplication of effort.

If you want any help just ask, although half the fun of this is doing it yourself

Good luck

Kirsty

[sancti]

This is the only one that looks likely

1880 MCKENZIE JAMES HARVEY Male at  ST ROLLOX GLASGOW CITY/LANARK

The one that Kirsty found is this one

1878 MCKENZIE JAMES HOSSACK Male at  KNOCKBAIN /ROSS AND CROMARTY