Family link or just big coincidence?

[MonicaL]

The 1851 transcript from http://freecen.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl which is more reliable in respect of transcription shows John Davidson as a 'former carpenter'. His two older sons seem to have followed him into the business as they also show as carpenters.

Monica

[MonicaL]

The point you raise regarding surname variants which are always profilic and confusing! Rainy has many variants. If you look at IGI, the spelling of Margaret, wife of John Davidson, comes up in a variety of ways, such as Rennie.

Whilst we are on the subject of variants...... I was doing a search on the 1841 census under Wilk* in Cruden to see what came up and there were no Wilkies showing. The surname that did come up was WILKEN. Got me thinking....

Further searches bring up this pairing (not perfect) but closer to what you are looking for perhaps...need to do more searches really:

Margaret Wilken married a John Dickie on 19 July 1835 in Cruden. Can only see one child so far on IGI, Alexander Dickie b. 6 Aug. 1839/Chr. 25 Sept. 1839 in Cruden. Margaret may have died by 1851, a John Dickie shows in Cruden with children Isabella and Alexander. His sister Isabella shows in the houshold also. This John is a farmer.

But Dickie is not Davidson is it, so again, we may be trying to twist things to try and make sense of it all.

Monica

[t1m]

Hi purplekat,

Yes I read somewhere that there was a minister in Cruden Bay at some time who didn't record everything, and that prior to 1855 only one third (iirc) of births were being recorded.  But what has frustrated me is the lack of so many records:
    Alexander isn't on the census for 1841/1851
    I can't find any record of a John Davidson marrying a Margaret Wilkie who could be Alexander's parents
    I can't find a record of a Margaret Wilkie's death between Alexander's birth (1839ish) and his marriage in 1869 (where she is described as deceased)
    I can't find a record of a John Davidson who is a widower of a Margaret Wilkie (he apparently died after 1869).  I think I've purchased and checked every John Davidson who died after 1869 who could be Alexander's father (at least those who died in Aberdeenshire, I can't afford to go further afield yet!)

There's all these records which don't appear to exist, and there's a family in the same small village, whose last recorded child is born 1 or 2 years before Alexander, who share the same family names and yet has missing in John's children the name Alexander, but where Alexander is given the third son's name in William's children.

I realise I'm hoping too much now, and a good slap of reality is probably necessary!

I thought about MIs before.  Yes I do live in Scotland, but I don't drive and I'm not a very good traveller.  Alexander died in Dundee, so I think I know approximately where he'll be buried.  Having found this family, I now have more reason to find his stone.  (I live not too far away in Blairgowrie, but I'm really REALLY not a good traveller!).

I don't think "born of fornication" was found on a certificate, as I don't think one has been found.  I know I've been more thorough than others searching this line, as I've been discovering people others had never heard of.  However, "born of fornication" could just as well be my mother's cousin being silly (!), so I've asked my mother to find out.

[t1m]

Hi Monica,

I'm quite comfortable with a cartwright being described as a farm labourer.  Maybe that's with a modern head on though.  Would a cartwright work mainly on a farm?  Or is that too much like assuming a modern mechanic works on a farm today?

It could be my inexperience, but the Dickie/Wilken thought you put forward seems much less likely to me.  I can't help but think that with all those names, and the location and the dates, there must be some kind of link.  For Alexander to have been illegitimate, or to have been given away ("I'm 50 now Margaret, I can't cope or afford any more children") would explain it so well.  But that could be my inexperience in genealogy -- no properly developed gut feeling.

Unfortunately, even if this link were true, there may be no documentation anywhere to prove it.

What do you think of the witness signature "George ?"?  Is it Baine?

[MonicaL]

Not sure on the surname for witness. Certainly looks to start with a B. Could also be Barrie as I am not seeing a dot above a possible i for Baine. You can contact SP at any time when a section of an image is not clear and they will enhance the image and send you an email of it which in many cases makes things much clearer.

Monica

[purplekat]

Hi t1m

It's frustrating when you can't find any records for an area.  I have the same problem in that my grandfather's family came from a small village but there are no OPR's for the area on the Scotland's people website, it's even more frustrating if the record your looking for is after 1855.  

Sorry to hear you can't travel I was thinking  that it might be worth checking if Edinburgh Central Library or the Mitchell in Glasgow have any MI's for the Cruden area.

I wish you all the best in your research and if I can think of anything which may be helpful I'll let you know  

[t1m]

I researched this possible link yesterday, and have come to the conclusion that they may be distant cousins, but they aren't father and son.  The names of the sons of John's first son, William, are identical to my gg-gf Alexander's sons, and John's sons.  John's father, James, was a farmer, so I could believe John being described as farm labourer and not a cartwright.  But John died in 1864, and on Alexander's marriage certificate in 1869 he described his mother as deceased and his father as a farm labourer.  So there's may be a family link, but not the one I need.

If Alexander named his sons in the same pattern as John and William, then I am looking for a John, son of James, son of William.

I realised too that I was thinking Cruden the village, when I should have been thinking Cruden the parish.  But that got me thinking about something else.  On Alexander's earlier census entries, he is described as being born in Peterhead.  In later years he is described as being born in Cruden.  Which makes me wonder if was born near the boundary of Cruden and Peterhead, or if he was born while the family were in transit (either between Cruden and Peterhead, or over a longer distance).

I'm starting to think now that the best approach would be to find records of any Margaret Wilkies who could be Alexander's mother, and try to find a connection.  And given Alexander's first appearance is in Roxburghshire, I need to look further afield than in Aberdeenshire.  But I'm becoming less and less hopeful of finding anything.

[purplekat]

Hi t1m

I think it's a good idea to widen your research and come at it from a different angle, don't give up yet it's a great feeling when you have a breakthrough.

My family followed the naming tradition as well, (they never considered how difficult they were making things for us family historians!), my great grandfather had five brother, all named after their father and uncles, then they proceeded to do the same resulting in my grandfather's generation having four Robert's, three John's, three Alexander's, four Lucy's, (after their mother), etc. so as you say the family you have ruled out could well be related to yours.

You may have seen this already but I've added  a link to a recent topic on 'born in fornication', which is interesting and funny.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,522648.0.html

Good Luck in your research 

[flst]

How about using the "ask a librarian" service. You don't have to be a library member. If you look in the Aberdeenshire resources post you'll see a link to the Aberdeenshire library.
Alexander Strath Maxwell was an author of many books,which were transcripts of church records, including one of "The Baptisms of St.James the Lesser Episcopal Chapel, Cruden"
It covers the period of 1807 - 1870. You may find some mention of your ancestors.
Hope this helps,
flst