John Laidlaw

[marcie dean]

According to a census 1891 he was born 1869, according to his marriage to Marjory Brown in 1904 he was 32 which makes his birth 1872

His parents were William Laidlaw and Margaret Laing, this I know and have the details of.
I have his marriage info and the birth of his son William Walker Laidlaw in 1904.  I have the birth years of his children including my grandad.  I cannot find his death year.  The name is so common in Edinburgh that it is difficult to ensure you obtain information on the right John Laidlaw.  Spoke to my mum today and she thinks grandad was in his mid/ late teens when his dad died.
Apparently John had a sleeping sickness due to being in Africa or somewhere hot and dusty during the WW1 and she said that he died from this illness, this is the only clue I have. Having GReat difficulty with this, seems that he was older than I thought when he died. More than 39/42 yrs old, possibly by 8/10 yrs older. I have John Laidlaw records coming out of my ears there are so many!
Marcie

[marcie dean]

 I have searched the records for Scotlandspeople and the LDS with no true results.  Cannot think of anything else which would help, with the exception of actually going up to Edinburgh to do the research.
Perhaps try alternative years 10 yrs at a time.
marcie

[hume]

Hi Marcie,

Just linking these two threads ... http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,478330.0.html

John Laidlaw died April 4th 1923 at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. He was 53 and parents were registered as you note (William was a cab driver like his son). Marjory, widow, registered the death. They were staying at 3 Albert Street. He died of encephalitis lethargica, which is described (as far as I can see) as some sort of sleeping sickness.

hume

[hume]

Hi Marcie,

1871: Address: 49 Duke Street, South Leith
William Laidlaw, m, head, 29, cab driver, b. Leith
Margaret Laidlaw, f, wife, 25, -, b. Edinburgh
John Laidlaw, m, son, 2, -, b. Edinburgh

1881: Address: 3 Laurie Street, South Leith
William Laidlaw, m, head, 36, cab man, b. Leith
Margaret Laidlaw, f, wife, 33, -, b. Edinburgh
John Laidlaw, m, son, 12, baker's message boy, b. Edinburgh

1891: Address: 38 Duke Street, South Leith
William Laidlaw, m, head, 48, cab - hirer, b. Leith
Margaret Laidlaw, f, wife, 44, -, b. Edinburgh
John Laidlaw, m, son, 22, cab - hirer, b. Edinburgh

1901?: Address: Hill Street Cancer Hospital, Glasgow
John Laidlaw, m, patient, 36, formerly coachman (domestic), b. Leith

Marriage:
William LAIDLAW and Margaret LAING, 1863, Leith

Children (extracted from IGI):
Charles William LAIDLAW, 1863, Leith (mother Margaret Ann LAING)

I cannot find a birth for John to these parents so it would be interesting to find where you found his birth certificate. It looks like he could have been registered under another name and brought up as William and Margaret as their own.

hume

[marcie dean]

Hume,
Thank you!
That is just as well, because his youngest son Alexander whom my uncle was named after because alexander died, was born in 1915 I believe from memory and I did wonder if he died before the child was born then who was my great granny seeing on the quiet
Sad, I dont think I ever met him unless he came down south when I was a baby.  I know that Marjory did with Rob Robertson and Jimmie and Wyn his wife and stayed over. Drunk as Lords, I was about 4 at the time.
This will help because I needed a time line to work to. He named his eldest boy Robert Clermiston Laidlaw and of course there was Clermiston Hall/House which is where the Zoo is now or just the other side of it on land adjacent.  And the family have always said that he was the son of a Laird who lost his family during the war and decided to talk to John to try and repair the damage of ignoring him all his life, was prepared to leave him monies so that he could live comfortably for the rest of his natural.  But he refused to have anything to do with him, his own grandfather.  So the land and such went to Edinburgh.
He advertised in the papers for the whereabouts of his Grandson. Need to find the newspaper to confirm my suspicions that I have the right family, so that I can feel comfortable that the family was not lying and that our history lies somewhere else other than with the Laidlaw family entirely.  If that was the case, the truth, then my grandad would have inherited from his father being the eldest, my grandfathers eldest died before his 2nd birthday and my uncle Alexander is dead, but his eldest son Robert would be in his forties, and would possibly welcome the news, though I have not seen him for 32 yrs. so know nothing of him, which is also sad. Have to take a guess as to the time that John met his grandad and go from there.
Once again, thank you so very much for this ...Marcie

[aghadowey]

Please remember not to post details of living, or possibly living, people.

[marcie dean]

Hume,
I looked under William Laidlaw and Margaret Laing.  Did not know that his first name was Charles nor that Margaret had a middle name of Ann, so that is news.

How would i find out what name John was registered under, if not their names,
my nan told me that the birth mother died in labour or soon after john was born, and that she was either a friend of the family or was connected to the family whilst working as a servant in the house.  She gave the child to them to look after and bring up. I dont think that they ever had any other children. Would his death cert, and marriage certificate be enough to use as a reference with the Registrar in Edinburgh to find out for sure.  It was also said that as his way of showing John acceptance he seconded him for the masons in Edinburgh.
marcie

[marcie dean]

I was going to say that they are all dead, but my uncles wife remarried and possibly renamed her children, so does that count?......
Robert Laidlaw b. 1908 died aged 74
Alexander died after the war, drunk set fire to his bed by accident
Alexander (uncle) Jimmie identified a head less corpse (so he's dead)
Wyn died 18mnths before Jimmie about 20yrs ago
my nan died 16yrs. ago.
Older generation of family is dying out rapidly now so must unravel this conundrum asap.  and tell the younger generation whether its false or true.

marcie  ..... I understand, keep forgetting that I am not having a conversation just with hume, but everyone and their aunty.

[hume]

Hi Marcie,

Unfortunately with family stories, they can be very hard to prove unless you have some exact names or connections. I have a similar story in my family (an ancestor being closely related to aristocracy) and I'm afraid although I have made headway with her family, I haven't been able to prove any close links.

Can you post a full list of John and Marjory's children? Providing, of course, all are deceased and their details are allowed to be posted. It may help with names but if the story is right, it doesn't seem like John would name any of his children after his "natural" family.

hume