Looking for Nawken Ancestors & Living Relatives

[Maryjanna Todd-Drummond]

I recently bought my kit that is still being processed, but I already know that I have Nawken Traveller and a little Romani ancestry, possibly Mincéir Traveller too. I grew up on stories about my Nawken ancestors from the Todd & Drummond "breeds" of the Scottish Lowlands/Border. We also had McMillans, McGregors, Dochertys, & Andersons marry into the family along the way, but we are mostly Todd-Drummonds. Our possible Mincéir family name is Marks from my great great grandfather, Patrick Marks of Waterford, Ireland, who married my great great grandmother, Margaret Todd in Camlachie, Scotland.

My family was supposedly able to travel to Canada after a relative came into some money due to a lawsuit from a train accident & offered to help some of the family immigrate to escape the anti-Traveller hate in the UK. At some point in the late 80's, early 90's, my great grandmother tried to reconnect with her family in Scotland, but was told there was "too much bad blood", the reason why has been lost in the family lore.

I would really love to be able to reconnect with other members of my Nawken family, in the states, Canada, or Scotland. I know the chances are slim, but I would really love to be able to confirm whether or not my g. g. grandfather was Mincéir. There is a lot of mystery in my branch of the family surrounding him & his disappearance in the late 1920's after they immigrated.

If there is anyone with Traveller heritage around the Scottish Lowlands, Scottish-English Border, Northern England, or around Waterford, Ireland please feel free to reach out. I have an Ancestry.com tree if anyone else is on Ancestry & would like to see if we have any connections.

Some of the surnames & locations of families I've been able to find are:
Anderson - England & Scotland   
Anderson\Todd - Northumberland, England   
Crawford? - Northumberland, England   
Docherty - Ireland   
Docherty\Todd - Berwickshire, Scotland   
Drummond - Scotland   
Drummond\Todd - Northumberland, England   
Marks - Waterford, Ireland   
McDonald\MacDonald   Scotland   
Mcmillan\Doherty - Dumfriesshire, Scotland   
McMillan\MacMillan - Scotland   
Todd - Scotland   
Todd\Drummond - Northumberland, England   
Watson - Scotland   
Watson\Drummond - Perthshire, Scotland

[audrey69]

Hello Maryjanna,

I am searching for Marks' in Waterford including some called Patrick. Do you have any further details on your Patrick Marks who married Margaret Todd please?

[Maryjanna Todd-Drummond]

Hello Maryjanna,

I am searching for Marks' in Waterford including some called Patrick. Do you have any further details on your Patrick Marks who married Margaret Todd please?

Hey Audrey,

Unfortunately, I have very little information on him, he's quite the mystery relative. I have tracked down a couple of documents related to him after my family immigrated, but between the 1928 document of his move to Buffalo, NY and Margaret Todd's remarriage in 1929 to Robert Watson, he isn't mentioned and we have no idea what happened to him after 1928. I know that Patrick Marks and Margaret Todd sailed from Scotland on the Metagama to Canada, that their infant son died shortly after their arrival but their other children survived immigration, one 1928 document showing Margaret Todd traveling to Canada lists a Toronto address for Patrick Marks, and that they moved a few times before Patrick Marks disappears. In his move to Buffalo, it says his contact is his brother-in-law, William Todd, who married a Nina Manning in 1939, but Patrick Marks isn't mentioned as a witness or anything in that document. The documents are too large to attached to this post, but if you're interested in them, I am happy to pass them along another way. I don't currently have too much more than that. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

[audrey69]

Hi Maryjanna,
Yes, I'd be most interested in the documents if you don't mind sharing them. I can be contacted on audreym@writeme.com

Thanks so much.

By the way, are you dna results in and if yes, are they on Ancestry or another site?