RootsChat.Com

Hi Folks

My 3rd great grandmother was Elizabeth Shanks ( b abt 1798) from , I think from Co Down. Her parents were Robert Shanks (farmer) and Elizabeth Bolton. She came to Scotland with her husband Thomas Pew and their children and settled in Airdrie, Lanarkshire . I've tried to find out about the Shanks family but its not easy at all - do these names mean anything to anyone - I thought farmers would have been easier to find

David

I'm just so so pleased with your reply and the replies that have been generated. Dorothea was my 3rd Great Grandmother, both she and her husband John are on the death certificates of their children , and John is shown as a soldier - I was half contemplating that he was English but couldn't find any evidence of his existence other than on those certificates. I also have the details you mention about Robert Beresford marrying Mary Beck over in Dromore and thought that possibly the Beresfords kept a bit more in touch with the remaining family in Dromore and that Mary was in fact related. I would of course be interested in knowing more

I have a Thomas Beresford who married Mary Hamilton and eventually moved to Blackridge. He died 1938 in Blackridge. as far as I know , he had 4 sons and a daughter . One son Thomas died in a clay mine accident in 1911 . He did have a son called William 1898-1955, but I think he went to Australia. Does anything ring a bell ?

Hi jenniwren100,
Do you why this is very confusing and because of the birth being before 1855. it's difficult to substantiate anything.
I found the 1841 census and have assumed that the Daniel Gray with the Russells is the one I'm looking for simply because of the names, and assume that they are his grandparents.
Unfortunately I can't find death details for the Russells,
I also found the 1851 census where he may be with his parents. if 1841 census had been more specific than saying his place of birth was Lanarkshire !!
That Elizabeth Gray seems to have been born in Hamilton though , and the older Russells came from New Monkland and I don't see a connection with Hamilton. Blackbirdhaw is an older house in Glenmavis and was near the old manse.
I expected Elizabeth Russell or Gray to be born in New Monkland as Thomas & his wife Helen Murray were married there

    There is a Robert Russell died aged 1 in 1857.      He died at Airdrie or New Monkland.      Mother's name: Russell.       It might or might not be Robert Shanks Russell Gray.

doddsie4 - no this isn't my family. His mother was called Mary Russell, sorry about that - good try though- thanks