Looking for the RUSSELL family of Lanarkshire area

[Biddydi]

I am looking for my ancestors who were born in "Jack's Land", Newarthill, District of Holytown, County of Lanark in the 1800's.
Jane Craig Russell, my aunt, was born in 1895 to Jane Scott Jack (born abt 1893) and Robert Russell (born abt 1875. Jane Scott Jack and Robert Russell were married on September 2, 1892.
Besides my aunt, they had a son, Jas who was a coalminer and was 18 years old in 1901, Elizabeth, who was 7 and Robert who was 3.
My mother was Jemima Russell who was born on June 16, 1915 in the above area and emmigrated to Canada with my Aunt Jane (Jeannie) and possibly a sister, Elizabeth on the Laurentic which landed in Quebec on May 30, 1931.
Can anyone help?

[MonicaL]

Hi Biddydi

Are you looking to find the families of Robert Russell and Jane Scott Jack, their siblings and info on their parents? If so, what were the names of their parents from their 1892 marriage cert? This will help people when trying to do searches for you 

Monica

[MonicaL]

Birth years for Robert and Jane a bit earlier than you show, from 1901 - everyone showing as born in Newarthill, Lanarkshire:

Robt Russell 45, coal miner
Jane Russell 44
Jas Russell 18
Eliza Russell 7
Jane Russell 5
Robt Russell 3

Address: Jacks Land, Holytown

Confused about ages and relationships here Biddydi!

If Jane born 1895 was your aunt, and your mother Jemima was born in 1915, ages of parents above (Robert and Jane) don't fit 

Monica

[Biddydi]

Hello Monica:

I do not have a copy of the Marriage Certificate of Jane Scott Jack and Robert Russell. Their marriage date was taken from my Aunt's Extract Entry of Birth dated the 2nd of November, 1895.
An estimate was given for their birthdates in my original enquiry.

There is some dark area where my mother is concerned. We were raised to think my mother was  the sister of Jane Craig Russell but I cannot find any mention of her.  I do know that they came over on the Laurentic together though with an Elizabeth Russell, a sister.

Dianne

[sancti]

Could Jemimas mother be Jane or Elizabeth?

[sancti]

Jemima's birth certificate would need to be ordered to confirm her parents, unless someone looked it up during a visit to the Genealogy Centre

1915 RUSSELL JEMIMA F HOLYTOWN /LANARK

Robert and Jane were both 36 yrs old when they married on 2 September 1892 in Newarthill. Robert was a widower and Jane a spinster

[MonicaL]

Hi Dianne

Sancti has included some useful references for you to be able to follow up on. It does look likely that you may have some digging to do as you expected (which I am relieved about rather than this coming to you out of the blue....).

Not sure if you have carried out research in Scotland before and need some guidance for that. This is a useful guide here on RootsChat for you to have a look at: www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,24468.0.html - Where to start with Scottish Research?

There is only one source for BMDs in Scotland and this is the pay to view site www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk which although pay to view, the costs are reasonable. You can view images of certificates on line up to certain years (due to data protection) and after these cut offs, you have to order official extracts of certificates. For birth, the current cut off is 1910 (100 year rule). The cost of ordering a certificate directly through Scotlands People is £10GB. This fee is about to increase in a matter of days, on 1 April, to £12GB.

In your position, I would make ordering your mother's birth certificate my first start point and then start working back from there. There can be many twists and turns on research, and it is easy to make assumptions which can be wrong.

The marriage of Robert Russell and Jane Scott Jack can be viewed on line for £1.20GB (a minimal rise on this cost is also due on 1 April). Scottish certs in general are some of the best in terms of info and will give you all the info you need to be able to work back on their lines. There is a lot of resources generally available for research in Scotland for this earlier period which makes it easier.

For example, this looks a likely birth entry for Jane Scott Jack from IGI on www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp&clear_form=true

Jane SCOTT JACK born 26 Sept. 1856 in Bothwell, Lanark
Parents: James JACK and Jane CRAIG

A further likely entry for Robert Russell:

Robert RUSSELL born 28 Nov. 1855 in Bothwell, Lanark
Parents James RUSSELL and Elizabeth COWAN

The families for both show in the ealier censuses in Newarthill and are easy enough to find on the censuses. Would be good to confirm though first Robert and Jane's parents' names from their marriage cert to let you work back with confidence on their lines. Their families, from what I can see, look to be very much based in Newarthill as their parents also show as being born there on the censuses. This will be very much where the families' history lies together with a strong coal mining tradition. A lot of mining history in that part of Lanarkshire. There are a number of historical sites for mining in this area which will let you learn more about their lives and working/living conditions for later!

The Scottish 1911 census is due to be released on 5 April this year, which will help you further with the family.

Monica 

[MonicaL]

Dianne, just been trying to find the shipping manifest that you mentioned (the arrival in Quebec of the Laurentic on 30 May 1931) to see whether there was anything to be gleaned from it.....and there is  Took a while to find as your mother was transcribed on the index as Jemina Mussell 

There is a little bit of scoring through for corrections to the manifest, following an investigation it would appear, but in essence you have:

Jeanie Russell, 35 and her daughter Jemima, 15, both from Newarthill travelling to Jeanie's sister Mrs Elizabeth Irvine (also written as Mrs J Irvine, perhaps the name of Elizabeth's husband?) who was living in Toronto, Ontario. Contact in the UK is Jeanie's brother, Robert, back in Holytown.

Monica

[sancti]

Monica you have the correct parents and Elizabeth Cowan Russell was deceased at the time of Roberts marriage, his father, James, was a coalminer

Jane's parents were still alive