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Hi,

I haven't done much genealogy for the past few years -- not from lack of interest, but lack of time as I just don't have any these days.  So looking through my genealogy documents I can see that I was halfway through organising them, which is the worst type of organisation to leave them in!  I can see from the dates in this thread that it's been longer than I thought it had been.  Perhaps I will find time to pick up the threads again this year.  Or at least organise the research I've completed up to now.

As I recall, I was all over the place trying to find the parents of Alexander Davidson -- John Davidson and Margaret Wilkie.  I could find no digital documentation for either of them, beyond reference to them in their son's own documents.

As I recall (without reading through the whole thread), there were very few Wilkies in Aberdeenshire (where AD apparently comes from), though I found a family with names which fitted a naming pattern.  However I could find nothing concrete.

I concluded (at least temporarily), that though it was possibly the same family, that given Alexander's first found census (in 1861, aged 20-21) was in Roxburghshire (a fair way from Aberdeenshire), and his father was a farm servant, that the family may have moved around the country a lot.  Failing that, the documents may have been among those which if I remember correctly were destroyed.

All I know for sure is that John Davidson (d. 1869-1923, oc. farm servant) married Margaret Wilkie (d. 1839-1869), and had at least one son called Alexander Davidson (according to censuses b. 1839-1840 in Cruden or Peterhead, died 23 May 1923 in Dundee, oc. railway surfaceman).  Anything else about JD and MW has been little more than speculation.

If you ever come across "my" Margaret Wilkie, please do let me know!

I think I did, Malky. I would have to log back into Scotland's People and go through all the certificates I looked at. But I did look at a lot of Davidson certificates. Also, Alex's (and Ann's) only daughter was named Margaret, and like a lot of people of the time they certainly named their children after a naming pattern. And of course Margaret was named on Alex's marriage certificate (1869, mother deceased, father a farm servant).

Hi Monica,

Thanks for posting that. My initial feeling is that Dickie is a bit far from Davidson, especially when also Margaret's name goes from Wilkie to Wilken. However, iirc, there were suprisingly few Wilkie families in Aberdeenshire at the time, and I wondered if perhaps she was a Wilken. Again, possibly clutching at straws (and I may also be mis-remembering --- it really has been a while since I looked at my thankfully detailed notes!).

Also, I would be extremely surprised not to find a James Davidson. I would also expect to find a Thomas Davidson, and possibly a George Davidson too. But Alex and Ann named their third child James, and their fourth William Lumgair Davidson --- the fourth I know for certain was named after a family member of Ann's, so I would expect to find James as a family member of Alex's. (The first and second children were also named after identified family members.)

Alex being the son of the elusive John Davidson and Margaret Wilkie, and Ann (Sturrock) being his wife.

Thanks for the suggestion though, and taking the time to post it.

Tim

Hi Joe,

You must have been notified because we chatted years ago (see beginning of thread).

I should have said, I was hoping to contact RFM66 who is a cousin of mine, and tried to contact me four years ago but apparently I've not set up my notifications.

Tim

Hello Geo,

You have some brilliant photographs.  I have no pictures at all of my Scottish ancestry, so I'm quite jealous.

The picture of "The Lodge Blair House" has frustrated me.  I'm sure I recognise the cleanly cut stone and distinctive shape of the door -- but I might very well not.  It looks like the sort of house which belongs on Perth Road, Newton Street, or Keay Street -- that sort of area.  I will stroll that way in the near future for you and see if I can spot the house.

I believe the primary school is Hill Primary School (Google street view: http://tinyurl.com/5uxuqd2).  Not only because of the location, but also because of the stonework, the decorative stonework around the windows, and the width between the window "columns".  If they took photographs then in the same way they did when I was at school (front row sitting on the ground, second sitting on benches, third standing on ground, fourth standing on benches) then I'd estimate the windows to be about the same height too.  The school was closed last year and now the gates are locked securely, so I couldn't get in to see if the wall on the left of the photograph still remains.  In contrast to the grills I could see and which are in the street view, the grill in the photograph is also above the sill of the window, but the design of the grill is the same.

I've just used street view to look at the back of the school (here: http://tinyurl.com/3ko8g2y), and noticed the grills are at just the right height -- between the first and second lighter tone decorative stones surrounding the windows.  From what I can tell there is two windows of three columns at the back of the school, so I would think that is where your father was standing for his photograph.  (Also notice the rounded top of the wall in your photograph, and the rounded top of the walls in the street view.)

More good news: the building which was your grandfather's smiddy still exists (street view: http://tinyurl.com/6cpg5hp).  Look at the roof windows (two sets of three windows, now gone since the street view was taken), the size of the door, the gap between the window and the door, and the same narrow gap between the window and the roof, and the door and the roof.  Unfortunately the gates to the building are always shut so there's no chance of a better picture.  But I will look at the library blacksmith pictures I previously mentioned, and see if there are any similarities.

The church may be the church on James Street which is next to Hill Primary (you can see it in the background from the school street view).  But there is also another church very nearby at the bottom of Kirk Wynd, and another on George Street (North/East end).

Tim