help deciphering name please...

[maclennan25]

hi there.

can anyone make out the first name of james and isabella mcleman's "adopted daughter" from this 1901 census extract please?

?? fraser mcleman.

also what are the chances that she was the daughter of isabella before she married?

isabella cameron married james mcleman in 1892. she was listed as a widow...
and if so, why would it say "adopted daughter" instead of "step daughter". or is this so that she can have the same surname instead of having the surname cameron?

any opinions greatly appreciated.

on 2nd thoughts - (i must be stupid  ) she can't have been Isabella's daughter before their marriage, as they married in 1892 and the girl is showing as age 6 in the 1901 census! so, does anyone have any ideas on where she came from?

[trish251]

It looks to me like Sela. She may have been adopted -
You would have to check what the laws were in
Scotland at that time. She may also have perhaps been
a grandchild that they "adopted".

Trish

[daviesa]

Hi

looks like SELA to me aswell   

Alison.

[GordonD]

Looked at first to be Sela but never came across the name before so don't know if that's right.

There is an Isabella McLeman born in 1895 in Avoch, Ross and Cromarty but no Fraser middle name. The forename could possibly be Bela and be a shortened pet form of Isabella??

Was James married before the marriage to Isabella. One thought was that if he had an unmarried daughter maybe she had a child who was then brought up by her grandfather hence the same name?? Another thought was that the Fraser middle name may give a clue as a surname at birth. Only Fraser birth in Avoch around the correct time (if taking the birthplace to be accurate) was a Janet Fraser in 1894. Can't see how Janet could morph into the forename on the census.  Don't think there was formal,legal adoption in those days so most likely to be an informal arrangement with people that the couple knew.

Gordon

PS Didn't have enough credits on SP to look up the actual images of the births I've mentioned so not seen parents on there that could confirm/rule out what said above.

[maclennan25]

i have had a look for "sela" on scotlandspeople...

i cant find a birth for her with either fraser or m(a)cleman as a surname. i did however find a marriage for her - so Sela is the first name. it lists her parents as being james macleman and isabella cameron as per the 1901 census.

james was a bachelor when he married isabella, so that rules out it being his daughter from a previous marriage. there is one other thing that i think i will try and investigate though - on james and isabella's marriage, it states that James was a "minister's man" - does anyone have any ideas as to what this might be? maybe the adoption was something to do with the church? the confusing thing about that though is that he is never described as that anywhere else... 

[avm228]

I agree that the name is Sela.  Sela (sometimes spelt Selah) is a real name, of Biblical origin - hardly used in the UK nowadays but reasonably well-known in the US.

Anna

[throckenholt]

looks like Sela Fraser -  definitely the same "s" as scholar and scavenger further across.

[GordonD]

Found this about a minister's man on a website:
http://ling.man.ac.uk/More/PhilSoc/Phil%20Soc%20website/OED%20minister,%20n.htm (right down at the bottom of the page)
minister's man Sc. (now rare), a man employed by a parish minister, often holding various offices connected with the church and parish.

Not very enlightening as to what he actually did for the minister but probably general admin of the church.

Gordon

[avm228]

minister's man Sc. (now rare), a man employed by a parish minister, often holding various offices connected with the church and parish.

Some of my lot in Scotland did jobs like this on a part-time or voluntary basis, alongside the "day job", as it were - if that were the case with James it might explain why his occupation was described differently in various documents.

Anna