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Dumfriesshire / Robert McLean (d. 1862) - cannot find father
« on: Friday 26 April 24 23:24 BST (UK) »
Good evening all,
I am trying to figure out who the father of one Robert McLean was.
Robert married Isabella Halliday in Dumfries in 28/09/1840. The Censuses of 1841, 1851 and 1862 note that he was resident in Dumfries and that he was born in Dumfries or Dumfries-shire between 1810 and 1820.
Robert died on 18/10/1862 in Dumfries.
The death register entry lists Robert's father as [Blank] McLean, Freestone Quarryman and his mother as Janet [Blank]. As you might imagine, this is not overly helpful in terms of tracing his father.
There appears to have been a man called Robert McLean who was born in Dumfries in 1814 to a "Richard McLean" but there are no other records which allow me to tie Richard to Robert. Further more, Richard McLean does not appear to have been married to a woman called Janet, but rather a woman called Anne Wood.
There also appears to have been another Robert McLean in Dumfries from the time when the Robert we are researching was alive, who died in 1839 at age 25. This is more likely to the Robert McLean who was born to Richard Mclean in 1814 at Dumfries.
Therefore, I am at a total block in trying to figure out who our Robert's father and mother were. If anyone could assist with this, I would be grateful. If it assists, Robert's descendants all married in the established church, so it is more unlikely that any information would be found for him in non-conformist records.
SOME OTHER INFO:
One of Robert's children was called Mary Smith Mclean, born in 1840, which suggests that their marriage was a shotgun marriage. Due to naming conventions at the time, this also suggests that Janet's maiden name may have been Smith.
Other accounts online seems to suggest that Robert was not born in Dumfries at all, contrary to the census information. I have read in another account the Robert was the son of Donald and Janet McLean. Donald was from Mull and Janet from Greenock (verified in records). Donald came from a family that worked on the sea (verified in genealogical accounts). Donald and Janet married around 1798 in Greenock (verified in Records). In this account, Robert was born in 1804 in Mull (verified in Records, though not sure if it is the same Robert). The family were forced out of Mull and apparently spent time in Dumfries where Donald found work as a Quarryman. No further records of Robert exist, but Donald and Janet did eventually live in Greenock again (verified in records), where Donald was a Ship's Carpenter, as his father had been. This account may be all I can rely on without any recorded evidence, but given that it has some inconsistencies with the census, I thought I must ask here: if Robert was born in Mull but grew up in Dumfries, would that explain why his census lists his place of birth as Dumfries, or were the registrars pretty thorough at the time?
Thanks very much!
GA.
I am trying to figure out who the father of one Robert McLean was.
Robert married Isabella Halliday in Dumfries in 28/09/1840. The Censuses of 1841, 1851 and 1862 note that he was resident in Dumfries and that he was born in Dumfries or Dumfries-shire between 1810 and 1820.
Robert died on 18/10/1862 in Dumfries.
The death register entry lists Robert's father as [Blank] McLean, Freestone Quarryman and his mother as Janet [Blank]. As you might imagine, this is not overly helpful in terms of tracing his father.
There appears to have been a man called Robert McLean who was born in Dumfries in 1814 to a "Richard McLean" but there are no other records which allow me to tie Richard to Robert. Further more, Richard McLean does not appear to have been married to a woman called Janet, but rather a woman called Anne Wood.
There also appears to have been another Robert McLean in Dumfries from the time when the Robert we are researching was alive, who died in 1839 at age 25. This is more likely to the Robert McLean who was born to Richard Mclean in 1814 at Dumfries.
Therefore, I am at a total block in trying to figure out who our Robert's father and mother were. If anyone could assist with this, I would be grateful. If it assists, Robert's descendants all married in the established church, so it is more unlikely that any information would be found for him in non-conformist records.
SOME OTHER INFO:
One of Robert's children was called Mary Smith Mclean, born in 1840, which suggests that their marriage was a shotgun marriage. Due to naming conventions at the time, this also suggests that Janet's maiden name may have been Smith.
Other accounts online seems to suggest that Robert was not born in Dumfries at all, contrary to the census information. I have read in another account the Robert was the son of Donald and Janet McLean. Donald was from Mull and Janet from Greenock (verified in records). Donald came from a family that worked on the sea (verified in genealogical accounts). Donald and Janet married around 1798 in Greenock (verified in Records). In this account, Robert was born in 1804 in Mull (verified in Records, though not sure if it is the same Robert). The family were forced out of Mull and apparently spent time in Dumfries where Donald found work as a Quarryman. No further records of Robert exist, but Donald and Janet did eventually live in Greenock again (verified in records), where Donald was a Ship's Carpenter, as his father had been. This account may be all I can rely on without any recorded evidence, but given that it has some inconsistencies with the census, I thought I must ask here: if Robert was born in Mull but grew up in Dumfries, would that explain why his census lists his place of birth as Dumfries, or were the registrars pretty thorough at the time?
Thanks very much!
GA.