George Barclay of Glasgow St Marys

[ardchronie]

Hello all

I'm looking into the Barclay family of Glasgow.  George Barclay was born about 1797 in Glasgow and is on the 1841 census with his wife Janet and his children George, Jean, Thomas and Archibald (my gg grandad).  They are living at 98 New Wynd.

The thing that is puzzling me is that I haven't yet managed to track down any birth reference for George to find out who his parents were.  I thought I could get round the problem by finding George's Scottish death certificate, but alas when I did the section where his parents' names should have been recorded was blank.

Does anyone have any ideas of why this should be?  The death was recorded by his wife in 1869.  Was it just the she never knew his parents - perhaps they had died before she married George - or does the blank space mean that George never knew who his parents were either?  Incidentally I haven't yet managed to find any record of their marriage yet either.

I'd be very interested to hear what anyone else thought or if someone could shed light on the matter for me.

Thanks

Tessa

[RJ_Paton]

As the information on the death register comes from the reporter you are reliant on their knowledge of the deceased person family. This is not always accurate and in your case possibly indicates that both were deceased prior to his wife knowing him.

As to birth references - the OPR's available online are currently only for the Official Church of Scotland and even these are patchy in some areas.

Your family may have been of another faith or even if they were Presbyterian they may have been members of one of the many dissenting churches. Many of these records are only available to view at the NAS in Edinburgh.

The other option regarding a marriage is that the marriage may have been what is referred to as "A Common Law Marriage" - Scots Law recognised and accepted a number of forms of marriage and these were often undocumented

[AMBLY]

Hi Tessa

There MAY be clues in the names of their children........
Do you have a complete list of children in order of birth, including any middle names?  And which (if any) are apparently named after Janet's parents?

Cheers
AMBLY

[ardchronie]

Thanks both Falkyrn and Ambly.

I have wondered if they were of a different faith but haven't done anything to follow it up yet.  We are down south, but it would all be a great excuse for a trip to Edinburgh!

As for George's children, I have (from various census returns)
     George b 1831
     Jean (sometimes referred to as Janet) b 1835
     Thomas b 1837
     Archibald Hamilton b 1841
     Isabella b 1847
     Euphemia b 1851

There are some gaps, so perhaps there were a few little mites who were born and died in between censuses.  Janet was a Davidson, so not sure where the middle name Hamilton comes from (unless perhaps that's a clue to George's parents) - Archibald seems to be the only one blessed with a middle name too.  Janet Davidson's parents, according to her death certificate, were Thomas Davidson (perhaps the reason for the second son's name?) and Janet Wilson.

Thanks very much again for the advice - it all helps to get me to look at it from another angle!
 

[leanora]

My great grandmother on my mothers side of the family was Isobella Barclay born in 1847

  Re: Cussie- looking for anyone with this surname
« Reply #11 on: Yesterday at 20:00:18 »   

~~~~~~~~
I wonder whether this could be Wilhemina and family in the 1891 census:

William Barclay 58, shoemaker b. St Fergus, Banffsh
Jessie Barclay 29 b. Gamrie, Banffsh
Williamina Barclay 7 b. Peterhead, Aberdeensh
Isabella Barclay 88, mother b. Lonmay, Aberdeensh

Address: Kinmundy Rd, Longside Aberdeen

Could fit with that 1940 death perhaps...

see more on this thread
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=459030.0


nots sure if theres any connection

[Robert_The_Bruce]

Hello

I found George Barclay and Janet Barclay living with their children in 1841 at 98 New Wynd. ALso in the house were Sarah McSHane (60) and James McSHane (30). Could they help in the search?

I find George (64) and Janet (51) in 1861 at 40 Elderslie Street, Glasgow living with Isabella (14) and your grandfather Archie (19).

I am struggling to find birth and death certificates for George. Did you get any further with your search?

I hope that it's not true of our roots but I found some of the Buchanans and Barclays are related to slavery. Some Buchanan children who were born of slavery were given to a Rev. George Barclay to care for. I think Buchanan must have been the father. He was a slave trader and must have had the children. No idea why Barclay took them? Are there African genes in your family? I am of the Buchanans and the Barclays and George is my GGG Grandfather.