Lookup Newspaper Entry. Aberdeen Journal 1877

[curiousgeorge1]

I have found reference to an article regarding a death.

One article I have seen an extract of appears on 14th March 1877 in the Aberdeen Journal.

She was born 19 September 1826, married Donald Main 15 October 1846 and died on the 6th March 1877.

The death was near Hopeman in Morayshire. I believe it appeared in more than one newspaper.

This is what I have so far,

"About midnight on Tuesday, the body of a fisherman named Elspet Jack or Main about fifty years of age, wife of Donald Main (Downie Pie) fisherman Hopeman was found in a ditch by the side......"

She died of exposure to the cold.

I wonder if anyone can see the complete entry. Even this short section gives me the new information about her husband's nickname.

I have her wedding entry in 1846, her death certificates, including the RCE, and have her on the 1871 census along with previous census entries. In 1861 she was living at 1 McPherson St, Hopeman

This query refers specifically to newspaper entries.

In addition I have not been able to trace her grave in the Hopeman, Burghead, Cummingston areas. I know about libindx but so far have not found her grave.

[Forfarian]

She's not mentioned in LIBINDX so if there was an item in any of the local papers it hasn't been indexed yet by the Moray Heritage Centre. I've seen items from about those dates in LIBINDX so it may be that the one in the AJ could be the only one.

As for a grave, your chances of finding it are not great.

All the readily legible headstones in Moray were recorded in a project in 1978/9, and the results are part of the LIBINDX database. It is just possible that a stone could have been missed, and if so, the Moray Burial Grounds Research Group will probably catch up with it eventually. See http://www.mbgrg.org/ but don't hold your breath.

I am not sure whether the Burghead burial ground was open for burials in 1877. If so, it seems the most likely place. If not, the Duffus parish burial records are defective - they don't really start until the 20th century, and even then they quite often don't list the name of the deceased.

[isobelw]

According to the Aberdeen Journal she had been in Elgin during the day with fish and before leaving for home in the evening 'had taken a pretty stiff dram'. In the darkness she had fallen into a ditch by the roadside which contained a little water. When she didn't return home her husband and friends went looking for her and found her in the ditch about 300 yards from the house occupied by Wm Harrywood, Tailor. When found her head was resting on the creel, the rope of which was round her neck. Life was quite extinct. Dr McKay, Elgin saw the body after which it was conveyed to Hopeman. Deceased left a large family. Glasgow Herald adds that it was a bitterly cold night and it was supposed she had died of exposure.
Isobel

[curiousgeorge1]

Thanks for the his information. More or less what I expected. I didn't think the relevant Glasgow Herald existed in the records. Could you let me know what date it appeared?

Forfarian, I have always been confused about the Duffus burials. I remember funerals from my childhood at the graveyards but I have always had difficulty finding the graves in the records