Burgess----Can anyone read this signature???

[msc]

Hi List,
  I am hoping someone can help me with this signature.
William Burgess died 1856 and his brother ? Burgess was the informant.
Thank you for any help.
Regards
Mary.

[Jones the Search]

Hello Mary,
Do you know the parish that William was christened in?
Try looking on http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/default.asp

If you know his parents names , do a parent search and any other children will be shown.This in turn may reveal the name of William's brother.
Or if you find the record of Williams christening, there will be a number.delete the name William, leave in Burgess and the number and press search again. This will bring up all the Burgess's in the parish .

Hope this helps   Patrica

[msc]

Hello Patrica,
   Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately I have searched all the lines you mention and found nothing, this is one of these families that didn't seem to register the births of their children.  I have also tried Scotlands People but to no avail. I do know who William married, his parents names I got from his death certificate they were John Burgess and Catherine Whitock.
Anyway thanks again.
Mary.

[PrueM]

Hi Mary,
There are three Burgess children listed on the IGI, christened in Midlothian.  Parents John Burgess and Catharine Whittit (with lots of variations in the spellings!).  Margaret 1798, in Liberton; Alexander 1794, in Colinton; and Elisabeth 1795, also in Colinton.
I know your William is not listed, but these could be clues as to parish records which are worth checking.  There won't be a birth registration as such, as this is before civil registration began.
Cheers
Prue

[sillgen]

Could the first name end with "ore"?   The r and e look similar to the ones in Burgess.   One or two letters before it possibly??  Can't think of a name that would fit though!
Andrea

[msc]

Hi Mary,
There are three Burgess children listed on the IGI, christened in Midlothian. Parents John Burgess and Catharine Whittit (with lots of variations in the spellings!). Margaret 1798, in Liberton; Alexander 1794, in Colinton; and Elisabeth 1795, also in Colinton.
I know your William is not listed, but these could be clues as to parish records which are worth checking. There won't be a birth registration as such, as this is before civil registration began.
Cheers
Prue

Hi Prue,
  Thank you for your reply. I did see that marriage on the IGI and wondered if that could be the same John and Catherine, I will try on Scotlands People and see if I can find any info.
Regards
Mary.   

[msc]

Could the first name end with "ore"? The r and e look similar to the ones in Burgess. One or two letters before it possibly?? Can't think of a name that would fit though!
Andrea

Hello Andrea,
   Thanks for trying, when I look at it it could be 're' can't think of a name either.
Mary.

[JAP]

Hello Mary,

This is certainly a hard one!  Do you have any more details of William?  Age?  Occupation, name of wife if married, etc etc.

I wondered whether the name could be More?  That was a forename used for both males and females according to the IGI.  Perhaps its origin is from variant spellings of a surname - Muir, More, Moor, Moore (I have a place name in Fife which is variously spelled as Muircockhall or Moorcockhall).

Can't find a More BURGES/S on FreeCEN but there are a couple of males (father and son) with 'More' as their forename (they are in Midlothian, surname is given as Cocburn and they appear in the IGI).  Unfortunately, however, there are no deaths on ScotlandsPeople for a More/Moor/Moore BURGES*.  There are a couple for a Muir BURGESS but they are in the mid-1900s.

Trying to think laterally, I am also wondering whether what looks like an 'e' at the end of the forename might actually be a curly start to the 'B' of the surname.  Not that this would help!  It's a pity one can't clearly see the top of the join between what looks like an 'o' and what looks like an 'r'.   Could the up stroke of the supposed 'o' not really be joined to make an 'o' but be the start of the 'r' (as in the rather unusual 'r' in the surname).  Again not any help.  Assuming both of these ideas, one might (using plenty of imagination) make it into Axer - but I've never seen that as an abbreviation of Alexander!

Final suggestion - submit a Contact Form to SP and say you are having great difficulty reading the forename of the witness.  I would expect them to pass the query on to GROS - someone there might have an idea or, at least, you might be sent a clearer paper copy.

Good luck,

JAP

[Elaine48]

Just my 2 cents worth but considering it was 1856 and many people then still didn't know how to read or write I think it is a misspelling of Archibald.

Elaine