Parish Register BMD Help - Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Strichen, Aberdeen

[jonwicken]

Dear All,

I wonder if anyone can please help me with some Aberdeenshire digging.

My ancestors Thomas Shand (born Cruden 1821) and Elizabeth Brown (born Peterhead abt 1818-1821) married in July 1844 in Peterhead.

They had several children in the 1840s in Peterhead before moving to Aberdeen around 1850 and then to the London area around 1852. But I have not found any of their children's Scottish baptisms.

Their children I know about who were born in Peterhead were:

- Isabella born 1840 (born before marriage to Elizabeth and curiously listed with the surname Allan on the 1841 census)

-Eliza Shand born abt 1845

-Janet Jessie Shand born abt 1847

-Jane Shand born abt 1849

Their daughter born in Aberdeen was:

Ann Reed Shand (born 1851)

The mother Elizabeth Brown Shand born Peterhead abt 1818-1821 was the daughter of Alexander and Isabella Brown and I know the following from the census:

- Alexander Brown was a shipwright born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire abt 1787

- Isabella [unknown] was born in 1782-1785 in Strichen, Aberdeenshire.

- They were in Peterhead on the 1841 and 1851 census

- As well as Elizabeth they had two other children in sons Alexander b. abt 1823 and John b. abt 1826

I cannot find Alexander and Isabella's marriage to give Isabella's maiden name, although given her granddaughter Ann born in 1851 had the middle name Reed I wonder if this could be it.

The IGI has three entries for a birth of an Alexander Shand in Fraserburgh. Two appear to be the same entry with the same baptism date of 7 June but have differing years of 1787 and 1788. Then another is for Alexander George Brown, son of Alexander Shand in 1787.

I would assume that as the 1863 UK death certificate of his widow Isabella Brown lists him just as Alexander Brown that he is the 7 June Alexander, but I have no idea which year is correct on the IGI – 1787 or 1788.

Alexander Brown died between 1851 and 1861 but I have not found a death. I suspect he died in the early 1850s before his daughter Elizabeth and her Shand family headed south to London, as his widow Isabella is in London with them on the 1861 census. But without a death for Alexander I am not certain.

If anyone could perhaps help my find out any more about this family I would be very grateful.

Kind regards,
Jon

[cookies4]

Have you checked the 1855 death entry at SP for an Alexander Brown age 70 at Peterhead?

Regards,
Nel

[flst]

There are 3 Alexander Brown deaths mentioned in this website.It gives the names of their parents in the index & includes the one mentioned by Nel.
Regards,
flst





http://users.bigpond.net.au/phdgen/deathbr.html

[jonwicken]

Thank you very much for this information and those websit addresses.

It has been a few years since I looked at this Scottish part of my family and I had no idea that you can now view the Scottish registers online. So I downloaded that 1855 death and unfortunately it is not my Alexander Brown. This one was a labourer and the son of Alexander Brown and Margaret Cantly. His wife was Barbara Cruikshank.

I know that my Shand ancestors left Peterhead for Aberdeen between 1848/9 and 1851 and that they were in the London area by February 1854 when they had a son. As Alexander Brown is not in those registers I guess he probably died before 1855 but I don't know much about burial places in Peterhead. I think when I am back in the UK I will need to pay a visit.

A few years ago at the Society of Genealogists I looked at the microfilms of the parish registers for Peterhead for the 1840s Shand children. They weren't there so they were not baptised at the established church.

However I knew there were more churches in Peterhead and have just found https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Peterhead%2C_Aberdeenshire%2C_Scotland which lists the others. It could take digging to try and find them as it seems that the nature of the records for the other places is not known.

I have now found Alexander and Isabella's Ship Carpenter son Alexander Brown who was born between 1821 and 1823 in the 1861 and 1871 census. He is still in Peterhead but I can't find him after this date or his death. If I could then I would know his mother's maiden from the death certificate. So the search goes on...

Thanks again for your help.

[andycand]

Hi

The Alexander BROWN christened Fraserburgh 7th June 1788 is an extracted entry from the OPR whereas the other 2 (1787) entries are both submitted by members of the LDS and should be treated with caution. You should be able to download the image of the extracted entry from Scotlandspeople in order to confirm the date and to see if there is any additional information.
Andy

[jonwicken]

Hi thanks for this.

I have now found the death certificate of Alexander and Isabella's son Alexander in Peterhead in 1907 when he was 87.

The certificate shows his mother's surname was Reid, as I had suspected from her granddaughter's midle name being Reed.

So now I need to find the marriage of an Alexander Shand and Isabella Reid/Reed before 1820 in the Fraserburgh/Strichen/Peterhead area.

There doesn't appear to be any entry on Scotlands people so I wonder where else I should look? Can anyone suggest anything?

Thank you.

[babaskaran]

Could they have been married in Strichen? If so, I could have a look when I next go to the library. The library has specific opening times so I cannot promise this will be soon, but I will try. Send me the details by PM and I will get back to you with the information.
Kindest Regards
babaskaran

[jonwicken]

Thank you for this kind offer. I have sent you a message.

Jon