A bit of a weird one

[elsiegee1]

Hi all,

My grandfather John (Jack) Gillan (sometimes Brown Gillan) was born in Yoker, Renfrewshire, Scotland in 1898. According to my family, he was in prison in Mexico in the 1920s then deported back to UK. I have a feeling this may be true as his brother Hugh moved to Mexico, married a Mexican girl and had something to do with a gold mine over there. Judging by his reputation as the 'black sheep' it certainly rings true that he would have followed his brother and got into trouble.

I'm just not sure where to even start finding out why he went to prison? How would have have got to Mexico back then? How can I find out about Mexican marriages (that may be a start?)?

He later was in prison in Devon for not paying maintenance for his children (he had 10 altogether) and I am struggling to find anything about this either, being stuck in Coventry. I am guesstimating that this would have been between 1935-50, but 15 years is a big search.

Would be grateful for any help on either of these issues....

Thanks

Elsie

[jorose]

http://www.findmypast.com/passengerListPersonSearchStart.action
 - you can try and find Hugh and John/Jack leaving the UK here. Might be easiest to find Hugh first and then see if a John travelled with him.

[elsiegee1]

Hi again,

I have just found a passenger list on findmypast.com for a ship called the Pretorian. I had a sudden thought that maybe they didn't go direct to Mexico. There is a listing for a Hugh Gillan (their father) and a Hugh Gillan Jnr and a John Gillan all on the same ship in 1907, but they go to Quebec instead. I suppose they could've worked their way down ?

Also although it is obviously father and two sons, the ages seem way out. I know Hugh the elder couldn't read/write, but his own age is listed as 54 when it should be 50, Hugh Jnr is 18 when he should be 29, and John is 16 when he should be only about 8.

can we have a vote on whether it may be the correct record or not?

[jorose]

Do you have the exact date for when the Pretorian left/arrived?

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/passenger/index-e.html
 - there were several sailings, but you should be able to find them on the lists going into Canada, and check if the ages are right.

Ancestry seems to have LOTS of records for a Hugh Gillan crossing into the US from Mexico, multiple times, possibly with other family (no John/Jack though) I can't access these, however. Maybe someone else can.

[elsiegee1]

Well the one I've found left Glasgow on 1st June 1907.

Would there have been any reason to lie about their ages to get on board?

[elsiegee1]

Thanks for that, I've just found it again but looks like a different list of the same thing- the images look different. I can see on the image from the second link (page 11) that the Gillans were in 3rd class and have a stamp over them - 'British Bonus Allowed' - what does this mean?

[jorose]

British Bonus was money given to the steamship company for booking the 'right' sort of immigrants on passages to Canada. I don't know of any reason why they might change their ages so dramatically. They appear to have been headed to Hamilton (in Ontario).  Also, the man just below them was supposed to be British Bonus but then went to the US, so the bonus for him was deducted.

www.ellisisland.org has a possible Hugh Gillan, an engineer, previously residing in Mexico, who came into NY in 1909. It says that is his first visit to the US - so did he go straight to Mexico?

[elsiegee1]

Well the one you've found is definitely Hugh the younger, as he married Sadie Nolan in Mexico. Thanks !

So, that means he either went straight to Mexico, or it was easier to say he did. That's one hell of a red herring though...

[elsiegee1]

Does that say 'David Curie' above Hugh? I've never heard that name, though it looks like they were travelling together.

And could someone tell me what 'non immigrant alien' means please?