Hello! I am new to Rootschat, so please forgive me if this post is a little long... looking for any help I can get with family project. I have hit a dead end while tracing back the ancestors of my second great grandfather, William Bradford Menzies, b. 1865. I get as far back as William Menzies, my 6th great grandfather, who married Elizabeth Midcalf. I know that he was the Solicitor of Customs in Edinburgh, and that he died in 1793. I have seen a few public member trees on ancestry sites that have his birth year as 1717, but that is not correct- that is probably closer to the year that his father was born. Some records are Midlothian, some are Dull, Perth, so thought I'd start on the Midlothian forum as William Menzies marriage record appears to be there. Here is what I know about his family:
-Married Elizabeth Midcalf in1762.
-He had about 10 children, including John Menzies, b. 1763, who succeeded William as the Solicitor of Customs. He married Barbara Laird.
-His son Captain William Menzies,my 5th great grandfather, was b. 1778, and spent time in the West Indies. He married Harriet Callendar.
In researching this, I found book entitled "A History of the Family of Holland of Mobberley and Knutsford," in which there are family letters containing information about the William Menzies that I am looking for. Someone from the Holland Family married a Robert Menzies, and their son had received information about his father's side of the family. From this, I have a lot of names, but no dates, and nothing about William's date of birth, mother, or grandparents.
Here is a summary of the story from the book- I am hoping that someone can please help me solve this mystery!! The story is told to the son of the Menzies/Holland woman who has written the letter found in the book, which is dated 1811:
-Your great grandfather lived in Scotland, and married a daughter of the Laird of Drumcharry. He had 3 sons- Robert (your grandfather), Alexander, and John.
1)Robert married a Stewart, Laird of Garth's daughter, and had 4 sons, Robert, Alexander, John and Archibald.
2)Alexander married another Stewart, and had son John, born in 1730 or 1735, who moved to Liverpool, and married Anne Merry. They had 6 children, including Catherine Menzies b. 1771, who married Samuel Holland.
**3)John Menzies is the father of William Menzies, who became the Solicitor of Customs in Edinburgh. Willaim marries Elizabeth Midcalf in 1762, and has sons John and William, and about 8 others.
John is the one that I am interested in- I need to know who he is, who he married, and when exactly William was born, if I'm to continue tracing back this line. So, I need to figure out who is the Mystery Menzies,the one who was the father to John, Alexander and Robert. Who was the woman he married- the daughter of the Laird of Drumcharry?
Regarding John's brothers Robert and Alexander:
-I found some records indicating that the brother Robert born around 1705-1709, and married Isobel or Isabella Stewart- records match up with the 4 sons, including John born 1736.
-I also found records to show that the brother Alexander was born early 1700s and married a Margaret Stewart- they had a son John, born 1735 who moved to Liverpool and married Anne Merry, so those records appear to match up w/ the story.
Also from the story, another Menzies also married a sister of Isabella Stewart (the one who married Robert, brother to John and Alexander), and had yet another son Robert Menzies, who lived in Farkyer! Lots of Johns, Roberts and Alexanders to keep track of!
There is a section in the appendix of the book called the Genealogy William Menzies, which is referring to the son of Captain William Menzies and Harriet Callender. His grandfather is William Menzies my 6th great grandfather, and he is referred to as "one of the Bolfracks Family in the Highlandsow extinct." So I'm guessing that his father John, and mystery grandfather was a Menzies of the Bolfracks line.
I have searched records, and can't seem to find anything that matches up for William the solicitor's father John, or his mother, birthdate, etc. I've read a lot on the Stewarts of Garth and the Lairds of Drumcharry, but can't find a daughter who married a Menzies in during the right time period, or who had sons John, Robert & Alexander that match the ones I know of.
Can anyone please shed some light on this mystery? As I said, I found some member trees who show a William Menzies who died in 1793, but they list his birth year as 1717, which is not accurate. I checked Scotlandspeople.org and there are no William Menzies born that year w/ a father John who match up. Also, that year would be way too early for his birhtdate- they sons of his father's brothers were closer to 1730 or later.
Trying to find out more about the Bolfracks line, but there's not much to go on. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you for your time in reading this post!!
-Lauren Menzies
