SUTHERLAND family name

[DebsE]

Hi all,

I would love to hear from anyone who may be researching the SUTHERLAND family name in Clakmannanshire or anyone else who may be able to help me with any suggestions on how to proceed with my search. This is my first foray into Scottish genealogy and I'm still learning the ropes.

The only real information I have about my Sutherland line in Scotland comes from the IGI record for the birth of my 3x great grandfather, Alexander. The information reads:

Alexander William SUTHERLAND 
Christened on 30 Dec 1800 in Alloa, Clackmannon, Scotland.
Parents: Arthur Alexander (or Alexander Arthur) Sutherland and Janet Bailie.

This is as far back as my information goes. According to some early NZ military files, Alex enlisted in the military as a blacksmith at Glasgow on 22 September 1817 aged 18 years. He served in Egypt, Majorca, Gibralter and Malta for 24 years before marrying an Irish lass and emigrating to New Zealand. Other than this, I know nothing of his life or his parents back in Scotland.

I'd love to find out more about my Scottish heritage. If anyone has any information or suggestions I'd love to hear from you.

Kind regards,

Debra
New Zealand

[Kate NZ]

Hi Debra have you tried scotlandspeople pay to view site it is very good have you traced any children he may have had in NZ if you know the area he livedin in NZ you canwrite to the local library and they usually for a small price can give you information.If i think of anything else i will let you know Good Luck with your search Harriet NZ

[DebsE]

Hi Harriet,

Thank you for the suggestion to try ScotlandsPeople. I had looked at the site when it first began and thought to myself "I really must revisit that when I have time", but of course, it got lost in amongst all my hundreds of genealogy bookmarks and I forgot about it   I'll revisit it today - thank you.

As for the New Zealand end, I think I've gathered virtually everything I can find on his life here in NZ, except for copies of many of the bdm certificates - they're a little out of my price range right now. It's the pre-NZ life that I'm most interested in, so hopefully ScotlandsPeople can help me with that.

Thanks again for your help,

Debra