Vanishing Family

[Leiper48]

 In the 1871 census William Leiper (b c1846) was farming at Balcarry Farm, Old Luce, Wigtownshire and living with his widowed mother Helen(50), younger brothers Andrew(24), Robert(14) and John(7) and sisters Janet(22) , Jane(20) and Helen(17).
 By 1881 just William and his mother and sister Janet were there.
 By 1891 I can find no trace of any of them - except Janet who was married to Robert Mann and living in Gorbals, Glasgow. Their uncle, Robert Leiper, was now farming at Airyhemming, Old Luce, but none of his brother's children appear in 1891 with him.
 Can anyone help me find the missing Leipers or suggest where I might look?

  John

[KirstyG]

William Leiper died in 1884. His will is on SP.
He is listed as Farmer, Balcarry, parish of Old Luce, so I am fairly sure it is the right man.

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

I would suggest you search for deaths on SP, if you find where they died you might be able to fill in the blanks about where they went.

Hope this helps

Kirsty

[Leiper48]

Thanks Kirsty,

  I can't believe I didn't look in Scotland's people. I checked  in all my usual sources and thought I'd checked there but clearly hadn't. Duhhhhh!  . Its strange how SP does have stuff that none of the free sites or ancestry.com have.
 I'm visiting my daughter in Australia at the moment so although I'm getting Email I'm not really doing a lot of ancestry research! I have just checked SP and certainly William's death is shown as being there.  Maybe when we get a wet day I'll look them all up on SP. (I need to buy some more credits first!)I wonder what happened to the rest of them!

Many thanks

John

[Leiper48]

So far so good! I have found the deaths of William and next brother Andrew in 1884 and 1871 respectively, surprisingly young and of the same unreadable ailment on Scotland's People. I still can't find any trace of the rest of the family, I wonder if perhaps they emigrated, if so to where? Any suggestions?
John

[Leiper48]

It seems the unreadable ailment was Consumption, TB. Thanks to various threads in rootschat for giving me clues. (Phthisis Pulmonatis)

Following my post I have also been advised that some or all of the missing Leipers may have gone to South Africa between 1871 and 1881, any suggestions how I can follow this up?

 
John

[KirstyG]

I did come across this mention of the surname from 1880:
http://www.genealogyworld.net/willowfountain/willowfountain.html

You could try ships passenger lists. Unfortunately the British departures lists do not seem to have survived from before 1890.

Kirsty

[KirstyG]

May have found something.

http://beta.ancestry24.com/

A search for "Leiper" brings up a number of headstone transcriptions from Commercial Road Cemetery Pietermaritzburg including a Helen b. around 1853, also Robert , John, Jeanie...

The whole transcriptions might help identify if they are the people you are looking for.


Kirsty

[Leiper48]

Thanks Kirsty, those two bits of information are great.

I too have failed to find any record of them going to South Africa, although now I know I'm looking for South Africa, I find that in 1912 Robert appears to have made a trip to Britain and Helen in 1913.  Robert's visit ties up with anecdotal family evidence. They both also returned on 5 July 1921 on the SS Wiltshire to Tilbury heading for their sister's address in Glasgow.
 The family names for the graveyard you quote also tie up, the birth dates were Jane(?Jean) b 1851, Helen b1853, Robert b1856 and John b 1860. Their mother Helen b1821 may also have emigrated with them. Can you tell me how to get more details of their burials or the gravestone transcriptions. Also how I can look for marriage details and possible children.

Many thanks
John

[KirstyG]

Hi John

I'm afraid I don't really know much about South African BMDs. That website was recommended as a good starting point when I googled!

Other good sites:
http://genealogyworld.net/

http://www.eggsa.org/

If in doubt read all the good advice on the South Africa Board!
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,291.0.html

I'm sure you will find help from experts there.

Kirsty