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« on: Saturday 06 August 11 10:49 BST (UK) »
Hello Emma
Thank you for your reply.
The birth I seek is that of Peter Cairns. He was settled in England by 1901 and appears on the 1901 Sunderland census. He married in 1903 in Sunderland and remained there until his death in 1953. I have calculated that his birth would be mid 1860s. 1911 Sunderland census states place of birth as Greenock which his family always thought was the case. His english marriage cert shows father Thomas Cairns deceased a shoemaker. We do not know the mother's name.
I have had no success with birth searching on Scotlands People. He was Catholic but the registers for the 1860s do not seem to be on there. I have had some professional research done with no success.
So I began to wonder if
a) could he be born in Ireland and only young when brought to Scotland
b) could he have been orphaned, taken into care, could his name have been changed to Peter Cairns.
I saw a repeat of a program called Heir Hunters the other day where a name change had taken place when a child had been taken into the Thomas Coram Foundation Home in London in 1913.
To be honest family folklore about Peter is sketchy to say the least. He had 7 children, one of whom was my dad in law but no positive history of Peter exists. They all seemed to have different versions of his life as a child. They are all now deceased
Hope this helps and thanks in advance for anything you may find.
Kathy