William STRACHAN, Laurencekirk, 1818 parents?

[GordonFindlay]

Another hitch - with my G-G-GFather.

I have William STRACHAN, born Laurencekirk, Kincardine, 1818/9 according to the 1851,61,71 and 81 census.

He married Mary PATERSON, 18 Jun 1842 in Bervie, and at that time was living in Arbuthnott (for banns purposes anyway), according to an OPR.

He died 6 Aug 1899, Bervie. His death registration from Scotland's People has "[No information]" for parents details.

But who were his parents? Neither FindMyPast nor Scotland's People OPRs locate anything in Laurencekirk, or nearby.

Any and all pointers most gratefully received.

Slainte
Gordon

[goldie61]

What were the names of his children?
Scottish naming patterns were very often adhered to.
The first son was usually named after the paternal grandfather; the first daughter after the maternal grandmother etc.
Have you seen the entry of William's marriage to Mary Peterson in 1842 at Bervie?
Does it give any further information?
I see familysearch has that marriage, (film no 993310), and also a repeat one at Arbuthnott (film 993387).
You can view the OPRs of both places on familysearch at one of the LDS libraries. They may (or may not!) give some extra information.

familysearch also has a John Strachan bap 28th March 1825 at Laurencekirk. Father Alexander, mother Ann Jack.
This is the only Strachan baptism at Laurencekirk that comes up between 1810 and 1825.

familysearch also has several Strachen children baptised at Arbuthnott - just down the road, in the timeframe you're looking at. Mostly with father James. Unfortunately no William.

Possibilities: His age is incorrect on the Censuses; He wasn't baptised at Laurencekirk. but somewhere else: He was not baptised at all.

Good luck! 

[GordonFindlay]

Thanks for looking.

Your questions:

 - the children, year of baptism, parish of baptism are:

   Mary 1843 Arbuthnott
   James 1845 Arbuthnott
   John Lindsay 1847 Kinneff
   Jane 1849 Kinneff
   William 1851 Kinneff
   Elisabeth 1854 Kinneff

 - I have the  OPR images for all  - none say anything other parents William Strachan, Mary Paterson, location and date.

 - I have the OPR image for the William Strachan/Mary Paterson marriage at Bervie, banns also read at Arbuthnott. No other details of course.

 - His death registration has no details of parents; age consistent with  birth 1818.

 - His daughter Jane's death certificate gives both the parents names.

This family is very easily traced around Kincardine through the censuses, and the census is remarkably consistent about his age and birthplace.

Maybe he was mistaken about his birthplace - census was self-reporting of course. But a search for William Strachan b. 1817-1819 on Scotland's People OPR gives 9, none in Kincardine; some close by (Forfar, Aberdeenshire) but nothing convincing at all.

Maybe the records were  lost, although digging around FindMyPast and SP finds lots of Laurencekirk records for the relevant times.


Ah well, if it was easy anyone could do it!

Slainte
Gordon

[Wendy2305]

On the marriage banns it should state which one lived in the parish the 2 records mean one of them lived in Arburthnott and one lived in Bervie so banns were called in both parishes Of course it doesn't mean they were born there but possibly take a look at the births in Arburthnott to the father James with William calling his first son James

[GordonFindlay]

Thanks - but nothing found. None in the whole county of Kincardine, 1817-1819.

In fact, pushing that idea, the only possibles in the whole of Scotland (searching for William Strachan, Father James, 1817-1819, fuzzy matching) are a Strachen family in Fyvie and a Strachan family in Insch. Too far away. Both sets of dates are later than supported by the censuses too.

[Wendy2305]

sorry didn't make myself clear what I meant was to check the births for father James 1 to check if his wife was Jane the name of the 2nd daughter and 2 to see if there was a gap in births about 1818 I did check myself and his wife was Jane Thomson they had a daughter christened 26 Aug 1818 and a son christened 29 Sep 1815 so a gap of 3 years so possibly room for another child to be born as also possible William might have been a few years older than thought Just thought there maybe a way to connect the dots by looking at possible siblings and there spouses to see if any names feature in both families For example who was John Lindsay named after or did any of the other Strachan children of James and Jane name their children William

Have checked further James and Jane married in 1810 in Fordun and a James had a child William born 1813 Arbuthnott earlier than you are looking for but possibly worth checking out further