Lachlan(x2) Bell

[IainBell]

Hello all,
New here, first post!
Lochgair, Glassary, Argyll...
Lachlan Bell (a) born c. 1840 d.1917 My Great-Grandfather, wife May Fraser.
Lachlan Bell (b) born c. 1876 d.1954 My Grandfather, wife Isabella McRae.
I have a picture of the gravestone, so this is solid info. Set in stone...(sorry!)
I have found the above 2 Lachlan Bells, tracked them through all the census years they appear, both in Scotland and (once, 1911, in Ireland).
Cannot for the life of me find a birth entry for either of them!
Census info. gives Lachlan (a) father as Archibald Bell born c.1800 and Mary McTavish born ?,  this I believe to be correct from following the family through the census years.
Can't find a marriage for them, though!
Can anyone help nail down these two? I'm going round in circles here...
Thanks,
Iain

[ev]

Hi , welcome to RC 

Although Lachlan's(b. 1876) birthplace is given as Minard Argyll on the 1881 Census I note that his younger brother John D Bell birthplace is given as Roseneath Dunbarton.

SP have a birth for a Lachlin Bell , 1876 , Roseneath or Rosneath , Dunbarton.


ev

[ColC]

Records on Scotlands People
Statutory Reg below

BELL   LACHLIN   1876   Roseneath
Rosneath is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland

Colin

[Forfarian]

1881 Census, 3 Glassary, Argyll. Lachlan Bell, 38, born Lochgair; wife May, born Garve; Mary J J, 8; William A, 6; Lachlan, 4; John D, 2. Mary, William and Lachlan born Minard.

From the IGI at FamilySearch, Mary Jessie Jones Bell was born 17 November 1872 at Glassary and William Archibald Bell on 11 September 1874. Unfortunately the IGI stops at 1874.

Scotland's People index has both births, Mary registered in Kilmichael Glassary and William in Cumlodden. It also has Lachlin Bell, born in Roseneath, Dunbartonshire, in 1876, and John David Bell, born in Lochgilphead in 1878.

So I think the reason you can't find Lachlan b 1876 may be that he was registered as Lachlin?

Now, from the 1881 census Lachlan senior said he was 38, which would mean he was born in 1842/1843. He says he was born in Glassary. However he was obviously a bit muddled about which of his children was born where, so maybe his recollection of where and when he himself was born wasn't quite accurate.

Have you got a copy of the marriage certificate of Lachlan Bell and May Fraser? If so, you need to take a look at that to confirm the names of his parents. They were married in Glasgow in 1872.

The index at Scotland's People doesn't list a Lachlan (any spelling) to Archibald Bell and Mary McTavish. It does list Flora Ann, born to parents Archibald Bell and Mary McTavish, in Glassary in 1820, and in the same parish Jannet, parents Archibald Bell and Nanny McTavish, in 1828.

You obviously have the 1841 census at Knock Lochgair, Glassary, showing Archd Bell, 40; Mary, 40; Alexander, 15; John, 12; Jannet, 10; Hugh, 8; Peggy, 6; Duncan, 4; and Lachlan, 2. Apart from  Jannet, none of these children are in the baptism index at Scotland's People, so the likelihood is that the records of their baptisms have not survived.

Similarly there may in fact be no surviving records of the marriage of Archibald Bell and Mary McTavish.

[Forfarian]

Rosneath is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland

It is indeed.

But it is also a parish in the historical county of Dunbarton. 'Argyll and Bute' is a local authority that only came into existence in 1975, and which therefore is irrelevant when researching anything before 1975.

[ColC]

ARCHIBALD BELL & MARY (NANNY) MCTAVISH

Some childrens records at Glassary, Argyll for the above 1820 – 1828 but none later

Colin

[ColC]

But it is also a parish in the historical county of Dunbarton. 'Argyll and Bute' is a local authority that only came into existence in 1975, and which therefore is irrelevant when researching anything before 1975.

However it did appear as the record place on SP in 1876.

Colin

[Forfarian]

But it is also a parish in the historical county of Dunbarton. 'Argyll and Bute' is a local authority that only came into existence in 1975, and which therefore is irrelevant when researching anything before 1975.

However it did appear as the record place on SP in 1876.

Yes, Rosneath or Roseneath appears as the district of registration, but 'Argyll and Bute' does not occur in 1876 because 'Argyll and Bute' didn't exist as an administrative entity until 99 years later.

[IainBell]

Hey, you guys are GOOOOD!

EV/ColC, spot on! Sure enough, for 6 credits, Lachlin in Ros(e)neath 1876 turns out to be the Lachlan I've been hunting...confirmed by his father Lachlan being a joiner, we all were...
ColC, you wrote:
"ARCHIBALD BELL & MARY (NANNY) MCTAVISH
Some childrens records at Glassary, Argyll for the above 1820 – 1828 but none later"
Where do I find them? Still learning...

Forfarian: "wife May, born Garve". May was born Fraser, says so on the tombstone, so I'll go with that. Where did you see 'Garve'?
"Lachlan (any spelling) to Archibald Bell and Mary McTavish." I know, frustrating! No marriage record makes finding his parents a bit...difficult!

I have pretty much all the other names you mention, and a few besides.
A niece Elizabeth, or Lizzie, Livingstone, another niece Flora Bell,  grandson Hugh McIntyre...I need to do a bit more work to find out who they are and where they fit!

Parents of Lachlan senior are confirmed, Archibald Bell, master joiner, and Mary McTavish. Mary seems to have morphed into Nanny at some point.
I have all the relevant census pages, including the LDS of 1881, very useful...
Unless there was another Archibald Bell in Lochgair, spawning joiners, I think I have the right line! He seems to have been a bit mobile, chasing work probably, so I'll widen the search for Lachlan senior...I may have to look at England and/or Ireland...again!
Many thanks for all the pointers, I'll away and have more fun!
Iain