Murray, Robert born in Roxburgh 1828-38 son of Alex and Elspeth Murray

[murrhemp]

Hello,
I am seeking help to trace Robert Murray, my wife's great grandfather.  Canadian Census records indicate that he arrived there as an immigrant in the year 1856.  His marriage record indicates that he was the son of Alex and Elspeth Murray and born in 1837 in Scotland.  Different Canadian census records over the decades indicate that he was born either 1830, 1832, 1833 or 1835 in Scotland.  His tomb indicates that he was born in 1830 in Roxburgh.  His eldest son was named John Alexander Murray, which may reflect his father's name.  He had another son named Robert Ball Murray and I wonder if that middle name may be associated with his mother somehow.  His eldest daughter was named for his wife's mother, but his second daughter was Janet (Jennie) Murray, which may come from his side of the family.  I have been unable to find him or his parents in the Roxburgh census of 1841 or 1851 looking for a Robert born in the range 1828 to 1838.  Perhaps he was an orphan, or perhaps they moved shortly after his birth.  In any event, I am at a complete standstill and would be very grateful for any help.  Thank you.

[Milliepede]

There's this one in 1841 born Roxburghshire 1828

Robert Murray 13 M S which I believe is Man Servant?

There are 7 people with surname Douglas, 2 are surgeons, 1 a child and the rest Independent. 

Plus 4 other male and female servants including an Isabella Murray 20.

[Milliepede]

Have you records that show his occupation please?

[murrhemp]

Thank you very much for your replies and interest.  In the 1861 Canadian Census listing that I think is him, Robert Murray is a labourer.  In 1870, he is a woodworker and in 1871 a planer.  From 1879 onwards, he is a farmer.

I saw a few young Robert Murrays in the Scottish 1851 census not living with parents of the same surname and so wondered if he could be one of those and either both parents died or father died and mother remarried.  It also seems possible that the family moved before 1851 to another part of Scotland or even elsewhere.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any immigration record as it was not really centralized or mandatory in terms of record keeping in Canada for immigration before 1865.  What I thought might help would be if one could find a record of marriage of Alex(ander) Murray and Elspeth or a burial/death record for one where the other was named, or a census record for them as a couple even if Robert doesn't show up there for some reason. 

But obviously what would be the best evidence would be a record of birth/baptism for Robert in the correct date range with parents with the right names.  I always try to remain optimistic!  I have one photo of him likely taken shortly before his death in 1917.  Sadly he was blind in his old age.  I know very little more of him, unfortunately, but hope to fill in more details over time.  I have to think that if someone went to the effort to engrave on his tomb that he was born in Roxburgh, that detail at least should be reliable.  Thank you again for your help.

[murrhemp]

Here is the subject of my search.

[Forfarian]

Almost all surviving baptism and banns before 1854 in Scotland are available on the Scotland's People web site www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

A look in the indexes produces 20 baptisms of children between 1820 and 1850 with parents Alex* Murray and Els*, none of whom was named Robert. 17 of these are in Banffshire and the other three are in Aberdeenshire.

There are 6 marriages of an Alex* Murray to an Els* in the same period, 4 in Banffshire and 2 in Aberdeenshire.

So it looks as if not only the baptism of your Robert has not survived, but the baptisms of any siblings and his parents' banns. (If indeed they were married, which may not have been the case.)

You will need to compile a list from the index to the 1851 census at Scotland's People of all the Robert Murrays in the 1851 census of an age who may possibly be yours, and then go through them and eliminate any whose parents were not Alexander and Elspet, and any whose deaths were recorded in Scotland after 1855.

There are 165 Robert Murrays aged 10 to 25 in the 1851 census, of whom 15 were in the county of Roxburgh. Fortunately FreeCEN https://freecen1.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl has completed transcribing the 1851 census of Roxburghshire and the neighbouring counties of Selkirkshire, Peebles-shire and East Lothian, besides several other counties, so it should not be too difficult to eliminate those with different parents.

[Josephine]

Where in Canada did your Robert Murray settle?

[murrhemp]

Thank you for the detailed suggestion, Forfarian.  I will try to follow up on your helpful suggestions.  Robert Murray seems to have initially settled around Oshawa Ontario, where he married, and then later moved a bit west to the area of London, Ontario.

[Josephine]

Robert Murray is a common name. What you need is something that mentions either the town/city where he was born or that names one or more of his relatives.

Here's what I would do:

1) Contact the cemetery where Robert Murray was buried and ask for a copy or transcript of any information they might have on file for him.

2) Do the same for the funeral home that handled his funeral (if the cemetery or death record gives you that info) or write query emails to all the local funeral homes. If the funeral home doesn't exist anymore, find out if their records might be in an archive somewhere.

2) Contact the local library and the area's family history centre (if there is one) and ask them to do a look-up in the local newspaper for an obit. You could also ask them if there are any local history books (including anything about the local Presbyterian church, for example) on file that they could check for any mention of him. Librarians will usually do a quick look-up for free; they might charge a small fee for anything they think will take longer than 15 minutes.

(Edited to say: Contact one place at a time, to avoid duplication of effort and results. I'd start with the local library because they could also tell you which family history centre or archive you should contact next.)

When you're making your enquiries, provide them with as much detail as you can, and lay it out as plainly as you can. For example:

Robert Murray
Born about ____ in Roxburghshire, Scotland; parents probably named _______
Married so & so in this place on this date
Died on this date in this place
Buried on this date in this place
Found in the census (year & place & occupation)

This will help them narrow down their search and prevent them from wasting time.

These are all things that I've done in the past and that have sometimes provided me with good information. There's no guarantee, but what if the cemetery or funeral home records have Robert's mother's maiden name? What if there is an obit and it names a surviving sibling or the town/city where Robert was born or raised? What if his life story is told in a local family history or church history book?

Good luck in your search; I hope you're able to solve your mystery!

Regards,
Josephine