Family of Donald McLeod and Martha Hossack (married 1845) Cromarty

[Sildeag]

Wivenhoe, I only have the three boys.  I only mentioned Stornoway because someone attached, without explanation, the three boys to a Donald McLeod from Stornoway in FamilySearch.org.  Unfortunately, the birth location for Donald snr is unclear. 

I did look-up the Donald McLeod christened in 1823 in Cromarty but since he was a baker and moved to Rosskeen with his parents, is not likely a seaman and certainly is not the father of the three boys.

I am still unable to find anything further.  Thanks for looking.  I have written asking for the cause of death for Martha McLeod (nee Hossack), the place of death was Cromarty.

[Forfarian]

I only mentioned Stornoway because someone attached, without explanation, the three boys to a Donald McLeod from Stornoway

Where did they attach this?

Wivenhoe posted here a transcription of the 1851 census of what appears to be the family of Donald McLeod and Martha Hossack, and the baptisms of three children of Donald McLeod and Martha Hossack, not from FamilySearch but from Scotland's People and not in Stornoway but in Cromarty.

The transcription of the same census on FindMyPast gives Donald's birthplace as Sturway. That sort of matches the Anc* transcription which says ....way, and it is reasonable to infer that it is Stornoway. It also gives Martha's age as 25, not 5 months.

The index to the 1851 census at Scotland's People also gives Martha's age as 25.

If you have not already viewed the original census, you must do so now to resolve these discrepancies. It is available to view at modest cost at Scotland's People www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

[Sildeag]

Forfarian, thank you for that.  I am prepared to accept that Stornoway is the place of birth.  I already had the Ancestry transcription.  Unfortunately, lewismacleods.org site is down.

One difference I have noted between PDF downloads from Findmypast and Ancestry is the Findmypast have searchable text transcriptions and the Ancestry ones seem to be images and can only be browsed.

[Forfarian]

The main difference is that the Ancestry transcriptions are more notorious for errors than FindMyPast or FreeCEN - the last being the most reliable, but unfortunately coverage is still very incomplete.

There is no substitute for looking at the original - that way, at least any errors in transcription will be your own!