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Hi,

My query relates to surnames BROWN, McREADY, HADDOW in Lesmahagow and my attempts to find father of an illegitimate child, James Brown McReady.

1. Would it be the case in early 1850s that an unmarried woman having a child would be mentioned in Kirk Session or only in cases where she was prepared to name the father?

2. Would the 'hard copy' original of Kirk Session records be available elsewhere e.g. at National Records of Scotland, Mitchell Library for consultation? I can't find digitised Kirk Session records for 1850s Lesmahagow on Scotlands People website nor on Oldscottish.com

3. Could an unmarried woman claim to be married on Census records, birth records?  Would this be checked in any way?


Background


(Apologies for the jumbled list of info but anything relating to Margaret Brown seems to cause me confusion!)

I have hit a brick wall trying to find the father of James McReady, born in Lesmahagow (according to Census records) around 1852.  His mother was Margaret Brown born 1825, daughter of James Brown (a stone Mason) and Jean Bunton.  The only mention of his father I can find is on his death certificate where father is recorded as 'James Haddow McReady, Mason' but I can find no record of this person.  There are a few Haddows in Lesmahagow (and Margaret later has children with a William Haddow) but I haven't found another McReady around time James is born.  I wondered whether James' father has just been visiting as he was a mason and maybe moved around for work but Margaret seemingly also had two other McReady sons.

1851 Lesmahagow Census lists Margaret as 'Unmarried' and staying with her mother at Sandknowe, Lesmahagow along with Jean's grandsons, William and Thomas (tho' surname is transcribed on SP as 'McKeddie') so it's possible Margaret had 3 sons (William, Thomas & James) with the same father.  NB This is the only mention I've ever found of Thomas McReady but I have been able to find records for William McReady (who eventually emigrates to South Africa but no father's name on marriage or death cert unfortunately).

Margaret later has 2 children with William Haddow (Grace Swan Haddow and Robert Haddow). Margaret is recorded as Margaret Haddow, 'Mason's wife' in Census 1861 (and as 'Widow' in later censuses) and William Haddow is 'married' on 1871 Census but his Death Cert in 1877 records him as 'Single'!

William Haddow, William McReady and James McReady are recorded in 1871 as staying as lodgers in Muirkirk (all working as Masons).

Margaret also appears as 'Margaret Haddow, formerly McReady' on one grandchild's birth record but I can find no record of marriage to either a McReady or a Haddow.

James McReady has to claim poor relief in 1905 when unable to work and is recorded as the 'illegitimate son of Margaret Brown, now Mrs Haddow'.

NB: McReady is spelt several different ways in various records which doesn't help with the search.

Any help appreciated

Bella

I'm a novice when it comes to military records and would appreciate some pointers. 

If a child was born to a serving soldier, would records be kept by the army? If so, where's the best place to look for these?

My 3rd great-grandfather, William White, was a Saddle Tree Maker in the 2nd Dragoons Scots Greys from 1846-1874.  Born in Glasgow, he ended up in Lanarkshire after leaving the army in Brighton.

I have a few clues from family notes that he had 8 sons and 1 daughter, Mary.  I have not found birth records for any of them - not even for Robert who was born in Edinburgh around 1862 (I expected to at least find his birth on the Scotland's People site).  I have found mention of the 8 boys in census records, a poor relief record and some Scottish records for those who were married/died in Scotland but nothing about Mary.

William's wife, also Mary, was born in Ireland and I am assuming they met whilst stationed there but I don't have a record of their marriage which would also be good to find.  Her surname appears variously as Fairley, Fairlie, Earlie and Early.

thanks,
Bella

Hi,

I've started a family tree on Ancestry and have a lot of information in there covering maternal and paternal sides of my family. 

Perhaps a rookie error but, as it's grown, I've wished that I had started 4 separate trees - one for each of my grandparents' families as I'm finding it unwieldy to navigate the one, large tree that now has branches goes off in all directions!

Is there a simple way to do this?  Or a site with guides on how to use Ancestry that I could check out for answers?  I haven't yet found it on Ancestry's site.

best wishes
Bella

Hi,

I have a copy of a page from Parish of Dalziel records for a woman, Mary Fairley or White, who was moved to Lanark District Asylum from Aberdeen Royal Asylum in 1903.  I can make out most of what it says but not the words underlined (badly!) in red in the attached photo.

"Pauper is the widow of Wm White Cemetery Superintendent who died here in January last. Residences. Aberdeen 6 ?? ? Dalziel Cemetery houses 30 years."

One of the sons of Mary and William lived in Aberdeen but I note from Census entries in 1881, 1891 & 1901 that William & family lived in the 'Dalziel Cemetery House' so my assumption is that the parents moved in with the son in Aberdeen at some point.

Does anyone have any idea what the text means between 'Aberdeen' and 'Dalziel'?  I think the first part might be '6 ms' i.e. 6 months but that's a guess.

thanks,
Bella55

PS I've not uploaded a photo before so i hope it works!