Thank you also for information on Women remarrying with maiden name.
Question:
when the women die are they buried with Maiden or married name?
Can be either.
Sometimes it lists 'xxx yyy or zzz'; 'xxx' is the given name, 'yyy' the maiden name and 'zzz' the husband's surname.
'Widow zzz' is generally the widow of a Mr zzz.
'xxx yyy' is probably the maiden name in older records, but not always.
After 1855 the death certificate gives both or all surnames, assuming that the informant knew, of course.
Sorry if I posted the information incorrect about not born in county, I was just stating how it was written on the document rather than parish.
You didn't.
The original 1841 census just shows 'Y' for born in the same county, 'N' for born in the same country but not the same county, and then 'I' for born in Ireland, 'E' for born in England, maybe 'W' for born in Wales though I don't think I've ever seen that, 'S' for Scotland if they are in the census outwith Scotland, and 'F' for 'Foreign'.
It's only when they are transcribed that things like 'born in County' or 'not born in county' are substituted for 'Y' and 'N'.
I still cannot find a baptism record for Alexander or Mary Ann
That's not unusual. It is quite possible that their baptism records, if they ever existed, have not survived.
A bonus was on Williams Death Record it lists his Parents as:
George Lewis b.Ireland and Jannette ? b.Scotland
So this ties in with a George "Lewars" married Janet Little 2.1.1814 Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire.
Yes, that looks quite possible.
William Lewis b. 1830 Maxwelltown ,Troqueer (I didn't find this on S.P)
Where did you find it? It could be that someone has simply subtracted his age from a census and put it into a web site somewhere as his birth year.
can't find a death for a Janet/Jane Lewis.
Death records before 1855 are very hit-and-miss. There are several main sources
- burial records. Some parishes just didn't keep any record, however.
- mortcloth fees. Every parish had one or more mortcloths, which were large cloths used to cover the coffin during the funeral. The relatives paid a fee for the hire of the mortcloth, and the kirk accounts often record the name of the person whose funeral it was.
- gravestone inscriptions.
- newspaper announcements or reports. Usually only well-off or well-known people.
- sasines, which are the records of transfer of ownership of land, so obviously only people who owned land.
- testaments and deeds, again usually only people with an estate to pass on after their death.
I may also have this all wrong and could be 2 different families.
You're wise to bear this in mind but I think you are on the right lines.
So I still can't be certain this is the correct family, not until I can find Alexander and Mary Ann.
Pity none of them stayed and died in Scotland - their death certificates would have named their parents.
There's a death of John Lewis, aged 70, in Kelton in 1886, mother's maiden surname Little. Might be worth a look at that certificate.
