The Mystery of Matthew/Martha Kerr (Slamannan)

[Lucy_Anywhere]

Hello! My great great grandparents, John Kerr and Martha McCann Young were born in Ireland but lived (and died) in Slamannan. I'm descended from the lot that moved down to Lancashire at some point in the 1930s but I'd love to know if anyone out there has any connections to this family. Looks like it was quite an extended clan!

[CaroleW]

Hi

If you are looking for living descendants - have you checked the Surname Interests Board in case anybody else is researching them?

Scroll to bottom of page & link is under TOOLS

[Lucy_Anywhere]

Ah, thank you. I'm a newbie to Rootschat

[Lucy_Anywhere]

Hello guys!

My great great grandparents, John Kerr and Martha McCann Young, were born in Ireland but lived in Slamannan for most of their life. I'm having trouble tracking down one of their younger children. I have a birth certificate for Matthew Kerr, born in 1908 in Slamannan to John and Martha but he is not listed on the 1911 Census. However, there is a daughter, Martha, who would have been born around the same time. I have no record of Matthew Kerr dying, or anything for him beyond his birth. I have much more for Martha, including the 1911 Census and her marriage to James Kelly where she records John and Martha as her parents. However, I don't have a birth record for her.

Could this be a mistake on the birth record? It seems like quite a big one! There is a note of a clerical error on the birth certificate but it refers to Column 2 (the date and place of birth, not the name or gender).

My current thinking is that maybe Martha is an adopted daughter rather than a natural one. But that doesn't explain what happened to poor Matthew.

Bit of an odd one, and I'd be grateful for any insight or advice! It's not a direct relative, but a mystery that's been bugging me for a while.

[CaroleW]

The 1911 census records the number of children born - number died - number alive.  What does it say on the entry for John & Martha?

In 1901 they had:

Robert 6 b b East Calder Midlothian
Thomas 5.  Ditto
Mark 4 b Slamannan
Charles 1. Ditto

[ColC]

I note all the records you mention, given such a large family it would seem unlikely that Martha was adopted. unless the child belongs to another family member,
On the 1911 census there are two Robert Kerr's that appear in the same household as John & Martha, one is 14 the other 16, it looks like one is their son the other a Robert Kerr age 38.
They are in separate households in 1901. Martha was noted as age 3.

I do not see a birth registration for a Martha born 1907-1909 in Scotland. Could she have been born in Ireland I wonder?
 
It would seem possible, although unlikely, that there may have been two transcription errors, the name and the gender but the only way to be sure is to see the registration record.

Colin

[Milliepede]

There's a Matthew Kerr age 4 on a passenger list in 1910 - Scotland to Quebec.

[CaroleW]

The passenger list shows Mrs R Kerr & children as follows

Agnes 14
Adam 11
Willie 10
Joseph 9
Rebecca 6
Matthew 4
Elizabeth 9mths

[Lucy_Anywhere]

Thanks for your thoughts, folks!

Carole - thanks for the tip! I've just checked and the 1911 Census reports 9 children with 6 still living. The 3 deceased children are accounted for with John, Mary Jane, and Margaret. The deaths of these children were all recorded, so it seems strange that they would just not report the death of Matthew.

Colin - I agree, I think if Martha was adopted, she must have been the daughter of a relative. There was quite a clan of Kerrs and Youngs who moved across from Ireland (and back again several times) so it's very possible that she was born in Ireland. Although that still doesn't solve the mystery of poor Matthew! I've attached the birth record of Matthew if you'd like to have a look. I can't make out the scrawl in the margin - maybe you'll have a better idea of what it says.