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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: Jeannetta on Saturday 27 February 10 12:34 GMT (UK)
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Does anyone have info on Robert Mcleod - Crofter/Farmer; b. 1776 Sutherland and Fanny Liddle b. 1781 Londonerry. (various spellings of her name, including Francess Leighton).
I have some knowledge about some of their children: William; Donald; Jean; Robert; another William; John, and David (my GGG Grandfather). All born Reay and Farr. But I need any information on Robert and Fanny's parents, and siblings. Thanks.
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I am re-posting this with more information: Does anyone have info on Robert Mcleod - Crofter/Farmer; b. 1776 Sutherland and Fanny Liddle b. 1781 Londonerry. (various spellings of her name, including Francess Leighton). Robert Mcleod was in one of the Fencible units deployed to Ireland in about 1798, where he met Francess/Fanny Liddle. They married and had their first child in Londonderry while he was still with the Fencibles, i.e. George Mcleod b. 1800 Londonderry. I cannot find any records of the marriage of the birth of baby George. I wonder who Robert and Fanny's parents were and any other information if at all possible. They returned to Robert's Scotland after the disbandment of the Fencibles in about 1803 and went on to have more children.
I have some knowledge about some of their children: William; Donald; Jean; Robert; another William; John, and David (my GGG Grandfather). All born Reay and Farr. But I need any information on Robert and Fanny's parents, and siblings. Thankyou.
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If your 1776 birth comes from the 1841 census - you may not know that most ages in 1841 were rounded down to the nearest 5 years so Robert would have been born 1772-1776. There is a baptism record on ScotlandsPeople for a Robert McLeod, father Donald McLeod born Lairg Parish.
Looking at the detailed list of parishes from here
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/old-parish-registers/list-of-old-parish-registers
The Lairg baptisms start in 1768, while those from Farr (as per the location of Robert in 1841) only start in 1790 - so if your Robert was born in Farr, there are no surviving church records at the time of his birth.
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Thank you very much Westward for your reply - I have seen the baptism of the Robert Mcleod in Lairg (father Donald), and have wondered if it applies. Knowing now that ages were marked down in the 1841 census makes for a re-think. On that same 1841 Census (Strathy, Farr) there is a boy of "10" living (or visiting) them born "not of this Parish" - I haven't been able to locate him at all even via Robert and Fanny's grandchildren. All the relevant Roberts are with their respective parents in the Strathy, Farr, 1841 census. I believe that Robert would have had to get permission to marry Fanny while he was in Ireland with the Fencibles - I can find no record of this on line, nor of the birth of their first child, George Mcleod born in Londonderry in 1800. If you have any further suggestions I would be most grateful.
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Knowing now that ages were marked down in the 1841 census makes for a re-think.
Census day in 1841 was 7 June, so a person listed as aged 65 on 7 June 1841 would (if the age is accurate) have been born between 8 June 1771 and 7 June 1776.
On that same 1841 Census (Strathy, Farr) there is a boy of "10"
It's only adults' (those aged 15 or over) ages that were rounded down, so if 10 is accurate, this child was born between 8 June 1830 and 7 June 1831
born "not of this Parish"
An 'N' against a name in the 1841 census doesn't mean 'not born in this parish'. It means 'not born in this county'. So this child could have been born in Caithness, or indeed anywhere in Scotland except Sutherland.
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Thank you very much for the explanation.
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If you're looking for Irish records prior to independence, then you may struggle.
A large proportion of the then-surviving parish records were destroyed during the civil war in 1922 - including the majority of the early census returns: the only surviving complete census sets prior to this period are 1901 and 1911. Some parish records survived, but coverage is patchy at best.
Ruth
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You have said that Fanny came from Londonderry. Was that the city or the county? If you know where the Fencibles were in 1800 when their first child was born, that might help.
The other question is what was Fanny’s denomination? Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church. I looked in the 1831 census for Co Derry and there was only 1 Liddle family listed in the whole county. Headed by Samuel who lived in the townland of Craig, parish of Cumber Upper. They were Presbyterian (so probably of Scots origins).
If the couple married in the Church of Ireland, in the city of Londonderry, their marriage records go back to 1642. I am not sure whether they are on-line though. There is a copy in PRONI, the public record office in Belfast. If the marriage was Presbyterian (and I suspect it probably was) then the earliest marriage and baptism records for the city of Londonderry date to 1815, so too late. (The church was there from the 1600s but earlier records are either lost or never kept). Cumber Upper Presbyterian only has baptisms from 1827 and marriages from 1834.
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Many thanks for all your information - it does seem to be a hopeless task - I have hoped that their story might have been passed down the generations, but so far I have not been able to find any living descendants who have any knowledge of Fanny and Robert, sadly.
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FreeCEN's transcription of the 1851 census says 'Co Londonderry' but you'd have to look at the original to check that.
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If you're looking for Irish records prior to independence, then you may struggle.
A large proportion of the then-surviving parish records were destroyed during the civil war in 1922 - including the majority of the early census returns: the only surviving complete census sets prior to this period are 1901 and 1911. Some parish records survived, but coverage is patchy at best.
Ruth
Many Church of Ireland records, originally sent to Dublin for safe-keeping, were destroyed in Dublin. Survival of other denomination's records vary greatly.
The 1831 census for County Londonderry does survive but only lists head of household giving number of males a & females and number by denomination.