Author Topic: Kirk family Durrisdeer  (Read 4452 times)

Offline Cauther Lassie

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Re: Kirk family Durrisdeer
« Reply #9 on: Sunday 26 May 13 10:51 BST (UK) »
Morning David,

Sadly I can't find any definite candidates for James and Elizabeth's parents, going by naming conventions of the time, James father would also be James, Elizabeth's father would be John, and her mother Margaret, there's no other daughter born that I can find, so no clue as to James mother's name.   

I can't find any Memorial Inscriptions for the family in Durisdeer, I bought the Durisdeer MI book at the Scottish Family History fair a couple of weeks ago hoping to find traces of the family that have been hiding, and there's nothing in it on the Kirk's only one MI which doesn't relate to this branch of the family.   The OPR's don't show them either, no deaths in Durisdeer so the only thing I could follow before compulsary registration in 1855 was the 1841 and 1851 census returns.

My family and the Kirks in West Calder have been friends for all of my life and before, Michael and Wullie were in the male voice choir with my Dad, Bella, Michael's wife looked after my Gt Grannie Gillespie, and writes and performs her poems and songs, two books published and I have both, I was at school with the boys (though we're all in our 60's now).

The only hope I have is that there are Burial Registers for the area, which would tell us where the family are buried as there are no headstones in the Churchyard.    I transcribed West Calder Burial Records and they were a great help as a great number of burials don't have headstones.  The later family all belonged to the Free Kirk of Scotland and I wonder if the earlier generations were Dissenters too, some of those records are hard to find.   Will keep chipping away.

cheers .... Meg
Graham, Dundas, Tweedie, Somerville, Robb, Watson, Gillespie, Main, Stenhouse, Gilmour, Sneddon, McPheat, all Cauther Families.

Offline up2you2

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Re: Kirk family Durrisdeer
« Reply #10 on: Sunday 26 May 13 11:45 BST (UK) »
Dear Meg,

              Thank you for your update.
Yes for sure it gets tough trying to work any further back than the 1700's.

My childhood friend from 55 years ago who's been doing all of the main research, semi professional at it I would say, has just sent me an email to say that over the last few days she has photographed all the Kirk graves and headstones in Durisdeer Mill, Durisdeer, Tynron and Penpont.
Next week she is going to try and link all the photographs to relatives.

Regards, David.