St Fergus. Banff

[Seghill Lass]

Looking for information from the above Church.  My Ancestor was married at this Church on 17th Aug 1837 John Mennie to Margaret Mortimer.  I am trying to find approx ages for both,also if their parents were listed.  Their first child was baptised on 11th December at the same Church.  Mary Slicer Mennie.

Any information would be appreciated, really stuck with my scottish ancestors.

Thanks Pat Barnes in Australia

[MonicaL]

HI Pat

Sadly, Old Parish Register entries rarely give any extra information about the bride and groom, other than names. Very occasionally, you might get an extra bit of info (name of father/ parish they were from/ occupation of groom etc) but mostly it's a basic single line entry. It's a lucky dip unfortunately, you won't know what's on the extract until you order it and see.

But there are lots of other avenues for you to follow up.

These are the children showing for John and Margaret Mortimer on IGI:

1. JANET ALLARDYCE MENNIE  Birth: 28 AUG 1849/ Christening: 11 SEP 1849 Peterhead, Aberdeen, Scotland
3. ROBERT MENNIE Birth: 07 SEP 1847/ Christening: 13 FEB 1848 Peterhead, Aberdeen, Scotland
5. JAMES MENNIE Christening: 19 FEB 1839 Saint Fergus, Banff, Scotland
6. MARY SLICER MENNIE Christening: 11 DEC 1837 Saint Fergus, Banff, Scotland

As you can see, there are at least two surnames being used as middle names for their children that could help establishing links.

You also have the census route. There is one birth showing in 1849 in Peterhead, might be a good place to start finding the family in the 1851 Census which is better at stating birth places and ages than the 1841 Census.

Also, I don't know if John and Margaret died in Scotland or moved abroad. If they died in Scotland, you should be able to find their death certs on Scotlands People, the official pay to view BMDs and Census site. Their death certs. would tell you the names of their parents, including mothers' maiden names.

[MonicaL]

One possiblity on Scotlands People for Margaret's death (women are easier to search because you can search with both married/maiden names):

1897   MENNIE   MARGARET/ MORTIMER age 81 in PETERHEAD/ABERDEEN     GROS ref: 232/01 0046

Regards.

Monica

[MonicaL]

Hi Pat

Not looking good for getting death info (and confirming parents/ birth place) for John Mennie. Possibility he died before 1855 and the start of official registration in Scotland.

I haven't yet been able to find the family in 1841 but I think this is the family on the 1851 Census in Peterhead, Aberdeen. I haven't looked at the image to see whether Margaret is showing as a widow. The family I believe have been indexed as MANIE. The following entries all have the same GROS Ref. 232/00 005/00 029 which indicates they are all on the same page, probablility it's one household but you would have to view to verify:

Margaret, 35
James, 10
John, 8
Robert, 3

Also in the 1861 Census with GROS Ref: 232/00 005/00 023 in Peterhead, Aberdeen:

Margaret, 45
John, 17
Robert, 13

In the 1881 Census also in Peterhead, there is a Margaret Mennie, living alone, widow, age 65, a shopkeeper born in New Deer, Aberdeen. This entry fits well with the death details I posted earlier in 1897.

Regards.

Monica

[MonicaL]

This looks like the birth details on IGI for the son John that shows in the censuses. Birth details show just father's name:

JOHN MENNIE  Birth: 20 JUN 1843/ Christening: 20 JUL 1843 Peterhead, Aberdeen, Scotland. Parents: Father: JOHN MENNIE

[MonicaL]

This is the closest I can see in the 1841 Census in Fetterangus, Old Deer, Aberdeenshire:

John, 20, tailor, b. Aberdeenshire (Originally Banffshire )   
Mary (I know should be Margaret, maybe transcription?), 20, b. Outside Census County
Mary, 3, b.  Aberdeenshire (Originally Banffshire )   
James, 1, b. Outside Census County

Remember on the 1841 Census, ages for everyone over 15 were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5, i.e. John and Mary above would be aged 20-24. Children under 15 were supposed to show their actual age.

Perhaps if you have some of John and Margaret's children's marriage/death certs, some of the info above will connect.............or not!

Regards.

Monica

[Seghill Lass]

Thank you Monica, thanks for all that information, it will certainly help me, I really appreciate all the e-mails that you sent.  Now I can start looking at a few other things.

Thanks again.  Pat Barnes in Sunny Queensland.