help with a needle in heystack

[dwalin]

hi i have quite a hard request i think.
my husbands sister has asked me to help trace her great grandfathers birth and family in scotland.
problem is she has no dates at all or areas.

this is the info i have
joseph nixon born scotland left scotland to arive in dominica (not the republic)
he arives in dominica and is a wealthy man he meets and has children with a black woman .
he dies early and leave his oldest son clifford his estate and money.
however this is lost when clifford himself dies young again no dates except
i do know cliffords daughter was born around 1941 in dominica
so im working on joseph haveing left the uk in perhaps 1891 to 1901 ish.
my question really is where to start do any of you know any sites that might help me.
would joseph of had to of gone through new york then to dominica,
i doubt there would of been lots if joseph nixons traveling to dominica from scotland at that time but then again i could be very wrong
i know its a needle in a hay stack type thing but its cought my interest and i want to help them.
so any ideas gratefully recieved thank you.or if any of you have joseph nixons going of to dominica  

[apanderson]

Hi,

Have you tried contacting of the following:?

Dominica (Online Resources for Dominican Family History Research)

Public Library, Victoria Street, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, Chief Librarian: Mrs. Magdalene Robin, (767) 448-2401, Ext. 341, email: library@tod.dm

National Documentation Centre, Government Headquarters, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, Chief Librarian: Mrs. Magdalene Robin, (767) 448-2401, Ext 3409, Fax: (767) 448-7928, email: library@tod.dm

General Registrar, Bay Front, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, (767) 448-2401 Ext 127 / Ext 110, Fax: (767) 448-7400, Birth, marriage and death records are available from April 1861 to the present.

Also, have a look at this post on Ancestry's Message Boards: http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/localities.caribbean.dominica.general/367.1/mb.ashx

Anne.

[dwalin]

thank you so much

[Chris Penrose]

For more historical background, have a look also at the Genweb project @ http://www.britishislesgenweb.org/dominica/

I can see from the timings involved, that men of means could have been invited or persuaded to move to Dominica to take advantage of cheap, or even free, land and labour, and abundant natural resources.

The mention of voting rights for those with land, in what had become a British colony (at that time), makes me think that records might exist in the UK at either the British Library and/or the Foreign Office or relevant embassies.

Somewhere there are dusty volumes containing references to the what why and when concerning Joseph NIXON and his life, but without some specific family details about Joseph NIXON and his parents, this could be difficult.

I note from the original post that no reference is made to why this lookup is needed, and any prior research by the originator - this would help to provide direction and to avoid duplication.

I will carry on with some reading of the old newspapers available online from the British Library and The Times - an endless source of entertainment. I got in to these by going to my library website, going to online resources, and entering my library card number when reaching the relevant resource.

A word of caution, dwalin, it should be them making the running in solving this problem and making this call for help - don't make it your life's work to find the answers. I have a lot more time than you do, but even I have limits - I think.

[dwalin]

  hi chris thank you so much for replying and all you have done .
i have found his date of death in calabishie dominica

17 march 1927

i also have his wifes and childrens names (married over there)
(i took you advice and emailed dominica)
i have sent and asked for his death cert and just waiting on them getting back to me.
then i will have his age at least and i hope his place of birth ?
although im not certian it will contain this.
its interesting to do smething different and whilst ive done this ive been digging at my own and have now got hooked again.
thank you chris

[sancti]

What were his children's names?

[MonicaL]

You may have seen this already, www.lennoxhonychurch.com/article.cfm?id=376

Good background on the area of Calibishie. There is an email contact point there. Might not do any harm to make enquires about the particular Nixon family you and your friend are interested in. There is a reference to the Nixon surname in the general text but not clear why it is one of the old surnames of the region.

Monica 

[Chris Penrose]

Thanks, dwalin

Good to know that some potentially difficult brickwalls can be knocked down.

A note to Monica is that slaves would have only their first name or even just a number, with the highest number being least important. If they became free they would usually take on the name of their patron - Joseph Nixon.

Always here

Chris

[MonicaL]

Thanks for the additional info, Chris 

Monica