william duncan born in scotland

[ibizapeter]

Hi, my g.g.grandfather william duncan was born in scotland around 1804. he was a ships carpenter and lived, worked, married and died in the isle of man. his son william henry and family moved to liverpool and i can trace details about them. however i am unable to trace any details about william as i don't know any other details about him prior to when he went to the isle of man.he died in 1854 when he was killed aboard a schooner'the beagle' in douglas harbour where he was working.can anyone help with any details about his birth, parentage etc. thanx.

[Ruskie]

Welcome to rootschat ibizapeter.

Do you know when William went to the Isle of Man?

Do you have him in the 1841 and 1851 censuses? In particular what does it say is his place of birth in 1851?

[ibizapeter]

Hi I don't know when William went to the isle of man but he married anne cottier in 1830 and they are recorded on the censuses for 1841 and 1851 when William is shown as born in Scotland. neither their marriage record nor any other info I have obtained give any further details of William's previous whereabouts. thanx for your response.

[Ruskie]

That's a shame. I was hoping for a place name on the 1851 census.

Presumably you have checked Scotland's People? I entered a rough date range of 1798 to 1807, and there are 133 matches over 6 pages of results. If he was born "about 1804" and this was accurate, of course the date range and results would be substantially reduced. Searching 1802-1806 gives 71 matches over three pages, so reasonable to pay credits to view three pages. Of course the problem is knowing which, if any, is your William.

Without some clue as to his origins from his marriage or death I can't think how you will progress with this. Have you checked for local newspaper reports of his accident which may say where he was from? I would imagine this would have been a newsworthy event in Douglas.

Do you know if he followed the Scottish naming pattern for his children? 

I hope others have some better suggestions for you.

[loobylooayr]

Hiya,

Unfortunately you've not got much to go on 
However there are not that many Duncans on Isle of Man circa 1851 Census - and one of them is another Scots male - a George Duncan aged 60 - so approx. year of birth 1891. Correction approx. year of birth 1791. Could be a longshot? But I wonder if he is related to your William??

Looby

[Ruskie]

Great idea to search sideways Looby. 

(you mean George was born c 1791  )

[loobylooayr]

Great idea to search sideways Looby. 

(you mean George was born c 1791  )

Ooops yes ! I'll amend that to save confusion.
Thanks Ruskie 

[Ruskie]

 

Sadly, even entering a George Duncan approximate birth 1791 here:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Ageorge%20%2Bsurname%3Aduncan%20%2Bbirth_year%3A1789-1793~&collection_id=1771030

There are many results from all over Scotland ... I suppose you could try to cross check the George and William Duncans to see if you can find a match? Maybe see if they are brothers and parents match? Though the men could be cousins or something else .... 

[loobylooayr]

Mmm - found 4 children to William Duncan and Ann Cottier :
John Robert Duncan born 1831   
Anne Cecilia Duncan  born 1834
George Alexander Duncan born 1837
William Henry Duncan born 1840

Certainly there is a George. But that could easily be a coincidence.

Looby 

Added - like young Ann's middle name.