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I'm looking for descendants of Leslie (McGregor) Douglas born 3 Jan 1916 and/or any of his brothers. His parents were James Henry Douglas and Margaret Ewan Allan who emigrated from Scotland in 1912, and settled in New Jersey.
Margaret Allan was the daughter of James Allan (b.1843) and Margaret Ewan - I have a connection with James Allan. Anyone searching his family tree will find his marriage to Margaret Ewen in which the record shows James' father's name as Alexander Allan (deceased). End of story? No, Alexander was not deceased, he was transported to Australia for cattle stealing in 1844! I am descended from his second marriage in Australia. He married Jane Ogle in 1851 and they had 12 children!
I would love to find some descendants from James Allan, b.1843.

I am descended from a McKenzie family that was living in Kirkcudbrightshire in the early 19th Century.
There is a gravestone in the Kirkcudbright cemetery for 3 brothers, William,(died 1829) George and Cuthbert,(1819).
The intriguing thing is the inscription which states 'Cuthbert and George who died Castle Douglas Dec 1819'.
I realise their grave is not in Dumfriesshire, but in relation to their deaths in Castle Douglas, maybe some records?
I cannot find a death record for any of them.
The fact that 2 brothers, I assume were quite young, died outside their own shire begs the question of what happened. Was it an accident?
If anyone has access to local records from this time I would be grateful for some advice.

Hi all,
just searching for the parents of my 2 x great grandmother, Elizabeth Holland..
I found a birth for Elizabeth in 1816, Portsmouth, mother 'Sarah' and not much else in the way of detail.
I know Elizabeth's father was John Holland from information she gave on her marriage(s) and he was in the employ of the Navy.
Also, one of the marriages was  witnessed by a Sarah Holland.
I have now found a marriage for a John Holland and a Sarah Beans, Portsmouth 1810 and would like to think these are Elizabeth's parents. On this marriage (Pallot's marriage index) it has 'R.Marines' next to John's name - could this mean Royal Marines? If so, lends a bit of weight to the finding.

My 3xgrandfather Charles Fisher Sheppeard lived in Suffolk from birth in 1799 to about 1832. In 1823 he married Sarah Clark from Tattingstone. They had six children. From 1824-26 he was the innkeeper at the Shoulder of Mutton in Hadleigh and it seems he sold up after that, perhaps he was in financial difficulties.. The last record of his existence in Suffolk indicates he was in East Bergholt when his last child was born in 1831.
His next appearance is in New South Wales in 1836, so the immediate assumption is that he may have been transported for some offence, but I can't find a convict record that fits.
I am puzzled why he would leave his wife and children for any other reason. His wife Sarah remarried a few years later (calling herself a "widow") and was living in London with Charles Marsden in 1841.
CF Sheppeard spent several years as an overseer on a number of  sheep grazing stations, notably for Benjamin Boyd at one time. In 1849 he married Eliza Brown ("widower") in Melbourne, Victoria. He died in 1854.
Getting back to why and how he left England - are there any local records that might show him up if he had been convicted for something?
What other way and for what reason could he have emigrated? I can't find him anywhere between 1831&1836.

One of my ancestors (Charles Fisher Sheppeard) was a crewmember on the Steam Sloop 'Driver' in the late 1840's. He is listed as 'Seaman Schoolmr' which I assume is the Seaman's Schoolmaster who was responsible for education on board the vessel, but wondering what exactly he would be doing, how would he have been appointed etc.