Dhu surname

[Mionaonthehill]

Hello. I have recently started to research my family tree. My second paternal grandfather was born in Scotland and called Jock Dhu. I am wondering where this name came from or could it have been a mistranslation/misspelling because when I search for this surname to find his birth and family details I can’t find much.

[ev]

Hi , welcome to RC 

Can you provide any further details for you grandfather ?
Birth year , marriage , death.
I doubt Jock would have been his birth name , probably John 


ev

[Flattybasher9]

There is a Blantyre birth for an a Elizabeth Dhu, 31st December 1809, to a Walter and Margaret, Church of Scotland.

There are also two deaths for "Dhu"'s 1860 and 1889.

Also, 1864, birth of John French Dhu, West Linton.

Malky

[Mionaonthehill]

Thanks for the replies! Yes his birth name was John Dhu and he popped up in Tasmania when he married an orphan girl from Ireland called Bridget Corbett in Hobart in 1855. His age on the marriage certificate was 30. His death certificate in Sydney in 1900 gives Dundee Scotland as his place of birth. I found a record on the 1851 Scotland census for a John Dhu age 30 born about 1821 in Alyth, Forfar listed as a servant I think. However I don’t know how or why he got to Tasmania. I thought he may have been a convict but have been unable to find any convict records in his name. That is where I started to think other names may have been used for him such as Doe or Day.

[Elwyn Soutter]

Dhu is the gaelic word for “black.”  Because many people shared the same surnames it was (and still is) common for people to have nicknames to distinguish them from others of the same name.  So that could mean black or dark Jock.  Jock can be a nickname for anyone from Scotland and it can also be a diminutive for John. (In England they sometimes use Jack as a diminutive for John. Same difference).

[Skoosh]

I think this name is Dow which can be pronounced Dhu. I knew one such named Wullie!. 

Skoosh.

[Forfarian]

I found a record on the 1851 Scotland census for a John Dhu age 30 born about 1821 in Alyth, Forfar listed as a servant I think.

He is listed in the transcription at FindMyPast at Corle*, Alyth, as a servant in the household of William Fraser. Aged 30, born in Alyth, Perthshire, occupation shepherd. If his age is accurate he was born in 1820/1821.

*I think Corle is a mistranscription of Corb, which is a pretty remote farm in the Forest of Alyth - see https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NO1656

Fullarton's Gazetteer says that most of the parish of Alyth is in Perthshire, and a small part in Angus (County of Forfar/Forfarshire). However John Thomson's atlas (1832) https://maps.nls.uk/view/74400161 - you may need to zoom in - shows Corb in Perthshire. The census header page says, "So much of the parish of Alyth, as is between the Craig road, and that part of the parish which is in Forfarshire, and is bounded on the north by Glenisla and on the south by Bendochy". The New Statistical Account of Alyth (1845) says, "The district of Blacklunans belongs to the County of Forfar". So whoever made the transcription that you found him in must have misinterpreted the header. 
 

[Mionaonthehill]

Thank you everyone. Well it does seem he came from a very remote place and there is the possibility other variations of his name like Dow could have been used. Doe was indeed used on his marriage certificate.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to how a servant from such a place would have got to Tasmania? We know in 1851 he was in Scotland and we know in 1855 he married in Hobart so would being a convict be the only way he might have come or could he have been eligible for an assisted passage? Any thoughts/information would be appreciated.

[[Ray]]

RossDhu
Dhu Castle. 

AND now exists Dhu Distillery. [Single Malt @ £60k per bottle (1 left) ]

Some Doo's in London C120 years ago.I made the mistake of thinking Doo meant DittoThereby allocating my grandfathers surname to one of his cousins.

Ray