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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Kincardineshire => Topic started by: Anneatki on Monday 23 April 12 04:00 BST (UK)
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I'm the great granddaughter of Alexander Morrison, blacksmith at Stonehaven, 1881 - 1891, born at New Deer about 1846. Would like info on his life in Stonehaven, and a trip to Australia during the Goldrush. This is my first ever post!
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Hello Anne & welcome.
The only Alex. Morrison I can find in Aberdeenshire who is a blacksmith was born 1849 & living in Fraserburgh.Is this him?
jim
Edit:
OK I have him now.Parents Peter & Margaret.1871 married to a Janet.
What makes you say he went to Australia?
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A warm welcome from me as well :)
1891 census -
Alexander Morrison 45 b. New Deer, occ. Blacksmith
Jessie Morrison 45, b. Old Deer
George Morrison 15 b. Stonhaven
Betsy Morrison 10 b. Stonehaven
John Morrison 7 b. Stonehaven
Ina Smith 5, visitor, b. Glasgow
Robert Swinton 56, Servant, b. St Andrews, Fife Shire
Living at 92 Barclay Street, Fetteresso, Kincardineshire
Hopefully this is the man you are looking for.
JJ
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Thanks, Jjen!
Yes that is him - I have also found him in the previous census, but not in any others as a family, so not sure when he left Stonehaven. I have only just started to search seriously so it's early days! Anne
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The same family but in 1881,
Alexander Morison 35 occ. Blacksmith Master Employing 2 Men
Jessie Morison 36
William Morison 14
Alexander Morison 12
James Morison 10
Margaret Morison 8
George Morison 5
Jessie Morison 2
Betsy Morison 1
Living at 49 Allardice St. Stonehaven, Kincardineshire
JJ
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Hi
Goldrush in Australia covered many years in many states.
Have you anymore info please?
Tks
Tinam
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Hi Tina, the only clue is that my dad said Alex.' Sold the blacksmith shop and came to Australia for a year or so, found no gold but returned home with a sea chest of apples!'. (maybe Granny Smiths from Victoria?) , thanks, Anne
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Hi, and welcome to Rootschat on the 1871 census mentioned above is an Ann Robertson aged 11 Stepdaughter b Old Deer, so Alexander appears to have married a widowed Janet Robertson?
Keyboard86
PS or maybe due to Janet's age in 1871 ie 28 another possibility?
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Will have to check that one out!
Thanks, Anne
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Hi again, in 1861 an Ann Robertson aged 1 is shown as Grandchild b Old Deer to a William Mitchell aged 58 and Ann Mitchell aged 48 with along with others a daughter Janet aged 19 residing at Craigyhill, Savoch, Aberdeenshire
Census ref RG09/237/0/11
Keyboard86
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1851:
Peter Morison/46/Monquihitter Aber./farmer of 36 acres emp. 1 labourer of son.
Margrat/36/Perth
Ann/14/Gen.Servant/Forgue Aber.
George/12/Forgue Aber.
William/10/do
Robert/8/do
Alexander/5/do
Andrew/3/New Deer
Kathren/9months.
jim
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There's thi marriage:
Alexander Morrison=Jessie Mitchell/23/6/1866/Old Deer Aber.
jim
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Hi again 1841 for Peter and Margaret and family:-
Peter MORISON 35 occ Farmer
Margaret 25
Peter 10
James 8
John 6
Ann 4
George 2
Residing at Glen Mollen, Forgue, Aberdeenshire
Census ref HO107/194/5/9
Keyboard86
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Many,many thanks! I'm a bit overwhelmed - a simple misspelling (a instead of o), I think I've found him in 1871, and now I see your info for 1841, and Jim1's for marriage etc, will get back to you. This is so exciting!
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I'm not having much luck on Ancestry(Aus), can't find the marriage that Jim mentions. I'm still learning the ropes on how to search, but thank you all for the info so far!
The sure things are the 1881 & 1891 census, but I have to find out when Janet left or died, and when Jessie ? Married Alexander. Any suggestions as to the best lead to follow?
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Hi I believe Jessie is a "Pet name" for Janet in Scotland?
The marriage is on the Family Search site
Keyboard86
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Hi,
The link below gives the marriage of Alexander to Jessie and baptisms of their children.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/records/index#count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Aalexander~%20%2Bsurname%3Amorrison~%20%2Bspouse_givenname%3Ajessie~%20%2Bspouse_surname%3Amitchell~
JJ
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MORRISON, Alexander/26/Journeyman Blacksmith/New Deer/Aberdeenshire
MORRISON, Janet/28/Old Deer/Aberdeenshire
MORRISON, William/4/Old Deer
MORRISON, Alexander/2/Foveran/Aberdeenshire
MORRISON, James/0/Udny/Aberdeenshire
ROBERTSON, Ann/Step Daughter/11
Checking the births against the 1871 census confirms Jessie Mitchell as the wife.
There's no suitable Jessie Mitchell birth but there's this one:
Janet Mitchell/b.25/4/1841/Old Deer/parents:William Mitchell & Anne Robertson
jim
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Hi again the 1861 census with Ann Robertson, and possibly Janet/Jessie Mitchell:-
William Mitchell 58 Farmer of 70 acres b Rathen
Ann 48 b Strichen
William 23
Jannet 19
Peter 17
Elizabeth P 15
Alexander 13
James 5
Ann Robertson 1 Grandchild
All children born Old Deer
Residing at Craigyhill, Savoch, Aberdeenshire
Keyboard86
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These are Janet's siblings;
John/b.22/11/1834
William/b.26/4/1836
Anne/b.6/3/1839
Peter/b.31/7/1843
Elizabeth/b.19/11/1845
Alexander/b.23/5/1847
James Johnston/b.20/12/1855
all Old Deer
So where does Anne Robertson fit in to all this?
Edit:
The only one I can find born Old Deer (1861 cen.)
Anne Robertson/b.2/12/1858/parents:James Robertson & Anne Cooper but she's with her family in 1871 so not her..
She must belong to Janet/Jessie but not registered or christened & either the father was a Robertson or her own objected to her having his surname so gave her her mother's.
jim
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Hi again, hope you are enjoying your time on the forum, this is the only likely marriage I could locate for Peter and Margaret Morrison, due to the spelling of MORISON on the 1841, maybe someone could locate the children's baptisms as this marriage is post at least 1birth?
Peter MORISON to Margaret Youngson 8th May 1834 Forgue, Aberdeenshire
Keyboard86
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John/b.1/3/1835/Forgue
Ann/b.6/5/1837/do
George/b.2/4/1839/do
William/b.2/9/1841/New Deer
Andrew/b.8/4/1848/do
Catherine/b.27/6/1850/do
John/b.12/8/1852/do
Mary/b.19/6/1854/do
highlighted are the ones that match the censuses.
jim
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John/b.1/3/1835/Forgue
Ann/b.6/5/1837/do
George/b.2/4/1839/do
William/b.2/9/1841/New Deer
Andrew/b.8/4/1848/do
Catherine/b.27/6/1850/do
John/b.12/8/1852/do
Mary/b.19/6/1854/do
jim
Thanks jim, so who was the mother of Peter and James, think it could be an Ann?
Keyboard86
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Margaret's too young to be their mother,so who's likely?
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The only ones I can see in time frame are:-
To Helen Patterson 13th November 1830 Cluny or 20th November 1832 Huntly Ann Brigg
Keyboard86
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I can't find a Peter or James to Peter Mor(r)ison
jim
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I can't find a Peter or James to Peter Mor(r)ison
jim
:)
Maybe they are just relatives possibly just visiting, as 1841 does not show relationships?
Keyboard86
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Could be but visitors or others were usually put after family members.
jim
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Could be but visitors or others were usually put after family members.
jim
Not in 1841 necessarily?! The marriage to Margaret looks a good one, as we both cannot locate births for Peter and James, it is just the Peter first name b c 1831 in 1841, that makes me a bit concerned that their was a previous marriage?
Keyboard86
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I'm just amazed every time I log in! Now I know why my dads's middle name was "Mitchell", and, he had a sister named Jessie. Lots of names and dates to fill in, and work out the next step. Have been looking at passenger lists, but there were lots of Alexander Morrisons! Thank you, will be back soon!
Ps thanks for the link to Familysearch
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Hi Anneatki
You mentioned earlier struggling to find some Scottish records on Ancestry...
Ancestry's Scottish census transcripts have been a great boost to Scottish research. However, the only place to view original images, or more importantly now for some of the questions you have regarding BMDs, is the official pay to view site www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. It is free to register on and carry out some general searches - you just have to buy units to view search results and original images for censuses up to 1911 and also all images available for births, marriages and deaths from the Parish Registers and the Statutory registers. Costs are reasonable.
Monica :)
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Thanks for that Monica! I heard about Scotlandspeople for the first time this week, when I went to the South Australian Library in Adelaide to visit the quite large Archives section.
Will join up, as I have come further than I could have imagined with the help of RootsChatters! Anneatki
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I've just done a freebie on SP & there's no Peter Morison christened in Monquhitter 1800-10,however there is one in next door Turriff 1/12/1803 which has been confirmed by IGI,father also Peter but no mother listed.
jim
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These are the other Turriff christenings with father Peter Morison:
Jean/1796
Mary/1801
Margaret/1809
Below list mother's name:
Barbara/1799/parents Peter Morison & Barbara Sangster
George/1800/do
Margaret/1818/do
William/1797/parents Peter Morison & Elspet Morison.
Hard to say if this is your family.
There are 2 Peter Morison marriages in Turriff:
24/2/1793 = Elspet Morison.
16/3/1798 = Barbara Sangster.
In Monquhitter there's a birth for a Peter Morison 1780 father James.
So are the Peter Morison marriages the same person married twice or is the 2nd. marriage Peter Morison b.1780 Monquhitter?
This is always the problem with extended families living in the same area.
jim
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Earlier I came up with John Morrison b.1764 and Mary Ritchie b.1761, but that was from someone else on Ancestry, so have to follow it up.
One question - if the parent listed on a marriage cert. is deceased, does it say so? Still trying to find if Alexander was alive in 1908 when his son John got married in Newcastle on Tyne ( I have the certificate). Thanks and goodnight!
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It wasn't compulsory to state if the father was deceased.
jim
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I'm back! Came to a stop with Alexander Morrison b. 1846, found him with parents Peter and Margrat (Youngson) in 1851. But can't find him after 1891, found lots of Deaths for the name, but there's no detail,so presume I have to order lots of Certs. To maybe find the right one?
Also tried to find out from the newspaper in Stonehaven if they have any records of his time there, but no reply. My dad said he had seen cutting from the paper about Alexander and his two employees saving a drowning man, but don't know what year. Any suggestion how to follow that one up?
Have got a whole list of A.M's travelling to Australia, but again, no detail, so can't do much with the story re the trip to Oz.
Is there a good way to trace other descendants, as he had several other children,and maybe they kept better records than my dad and grandad! :-\ Anne
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Hi Anne,
The 1901 census below could be the Alexander Morrison you are trying to find after the 1891 census -
Catherine Brebner head, 56, Tobermory, Argyleshire
James A Brebner son, 30, Edinburgh, Midlothian
Emma Brebner dau, 15, Edinburgh, Midlothian
Harry Good, boarder, 12, Boston, Lincolnshire
Robert S Mitchell, boarder 40, India
Alexander Morrison, 59, b. New Peer(transcribed as New Peer but should be New Deer), Aberdeenshire, Blacksmith
Slight difference in Alexander's age but the place of birth and occupation matches, the census transcription does not show a relationship.
Living at 35 Jamaica Street, Edinburgh
Regards
JJ
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Many thanks JJen, sorry I've been slow replying, the phone lines have been out for 5 days. It sounds like the right man, so now I have to find out what happened to Jessie.
My dad said "he sold the blacksmith shop and came to Australia for a year or so". Maybe this was between 1891 & 1901, maybe Jessie died or they split up. I found grandfather John Watt Kemp Morrison living in Northumberland in 1911, but haven't found him in 1901 yet. Anne
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I think I found Jessie living in Turriff in 1901, so decided to try and find Alexander's birth between 1842-48 on Scotlands People. Maybe I'm doing something wrong - can't find any children of Peter Morison & Margaret Youngson, yet Jim gave me some of their birthdates in an earlier reply, so they must be there. If I was less specific I ended up with a list two pages long,but wrong parents and areas! Any hints for searching?
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I didn't use SP I used IGI
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0mpr/
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Thanks Jim! I've just learnt a bit more about the filter system- I couldn't work out why I was getting mainly American records till I followed your search!
Still can't find Alexander, so now I'm trying different name spellings and sounds,he must be there somewhere, :-\. Anne
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I can't find him either.It may be the pages are missing or unreadable.I wouldn't spend too much time on it as it won't tell you anything you don't already know.
jim
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Robert's missing as well.
jim
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Yes, I've started on his dad, Peter, but there seem to be so many Morisons in the area all having babies! In the 1851 & 61 census his birthplace is Auchterless, (Ancestry)but this seems very close to Turriff where I've found two Peters in 1802 & 03, so not sure if I can work out which is gt gt grandfather!
I can't think anymore tonight, will try again tomorrow , thanks for your help! Anne
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Earlier I came up with John Morrison b.1764 and Mary Ritchie b.1761, but that was from someone else on Ancestry
There's a member submit on IGI for this couple having a son Peter in Auchterless in 1803.There's no reason to believe it's not true at the moment.
SP has him;23/1/1803.
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search/oprbirth/index.aspx
You might find this helpful:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,413464.0.html
jim
PS
By a process of elimination these are the siblings of Peter,all born Auchterless:
Mary/1794
Ann/1797
Elisabeth/1801.
John Morrison married Mary Ritchie/18/12/1788/Auchterless.
jim
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Brilliant! Printed out the OP records for Peter 1803, and his parents m. 18 Dec 1788.
Have started looking for Johns birth, haven't found one in 1764 yet, but got one for 1755, 18 Dec. was it common then for people to get married on their birthday, or on the other hand, was 33 a bit old to get married?
Thanks for the links, I'm learning so much from browsing RootsChat :DAnne
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Unfortunately there are a few John Mor(r)isons born Auchterless & surrounding area who fit the bill.There seems to be a general opinion that most people married around their mid 20's so someone born 1764ish would be the most likely candidate.
It's not a theory I subscribe to however because circumstances were so varied.
There do seem to be certain times of the year which were favoured for marriages & christenings mainly around religious festivals,Christmas etc.
Because of high mortality rates people married at all ages with 2nd. & 3rd. marriages.
You need something a bit more specific which is difficult with the dearth of information at this time.
I haven't seen the actual marriage entry,does it give witnesses or Parish of birth?
jim
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No, just their names,not even ages or occupation.
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I think you've come to the end of the road with this family.Anything else would be guesswork.Even if you could go further back all you'll have are a load of names & nothing else.
In Mary Ritchie's case you can say she was born between 1758 (as her last child was born 1803 making her 45 & unlikely to have children if she was any older) & 1770 (as she married in 1788 when she would have been 18 & unlikely to have married younger).
There's 2 on IGI & SP,one born 1758 Methlick about 10mls. from Auchterless,father William which is probably her,there's another in (New) Aberdour same year but that's about 25 miles away.
jim
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I think you're right, Jim. I'm amazed at how much I've found out in the month since my first ever post on RootsChat ! Back in 2004, another Jim (in Canada) told me about a family in the 1881 census living in Stonehaven who might be my gt. grandparents. Until now, that's all I knew.
Some of the info I got from Ancestry (members trees) went back another couple of generations, Alexander 1727-1801, Theodore 1691-1766, George 1636-99. Will keep the names in case anything turns up, but as you say,just a list of names is not important .
I will now work on Alexander's later life and hopefully turn up the trip to Australia. Lots of research ahead! Many thanks for all your help, Anne :D