Occupation -- Baron/Barow/Bakow? Officer

[GeoffTurner]

The Margaret born at Scone in 1865 is the connection to my cousin's family. I relied on Familysearch to find JD christened at Scone on 11 Jul 1735, and JD marrying CB at Scone on 8 Dec 1764. Familysearch does not have a JD burial at Scone on 3 Sep 1780 that I can find. It has David son of JD and CB born 20 Aug 1780 and christened 22 Aug 1780, but no other information. But I suppose that at least proves JD was alive when David was conceived. Where did you find the JD burial on 3 Sep 1780? The Ancestry trees (there are only 3) seem to all cite each other as the source of the JD burial at Scone on 13 Sep 1795.
Thanks for your informative reply. Geoff

[Forfarian]

Do not "rely" on any online 'source' unless it has an image of an original record. Use such 'sources' only as pointers to find original records.

I found the 1780 burial record in the index at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, which is the principal repository of original Scottish records before 1855, and of most later ones. FamilySearch only has indexes and transcriptions.

However the further back you go, the more gaps there are in the records, especially the death/burial records, and SP does not hold any post-1855 burial records.

Margaret Donaldson or Galletly's death certificate seems to give her age as 82 years. That would make her year of birth 1772/1773, not 1765.

It wasn't unusual for a child to be given the same name as an older sibling who had died, especially if it was a name that was important in the family, for example the name of a grandparent.

[GeoffTurner]

We have images of the records for JD christening 1735, Margaret christening 1765 (father JD), Margaret-John Gellatly marriage 1791 and Margaret death 1855. Margaret's death lists children including Elisabeth, which fits with what my cousin knows of the family. We are relying on the Familysearch transcriptions for the JD-CB marriage in 1764, bearing in mind that the 1855 death certificate says Margaret's parents were JD and CB. And the Familysearch transcription for the christening of Margaret's brother David in 1780 also says his parents were JD and CB. I thought a discrepancy of a few years in age might be understandable in a death record of an elderly woman, and the eldest child, Helen, aged 62, would have been born about 1793 -- two years after JD and CB were married.

I'll pass on your thoughts to my cousin. Thanks again.   Geoff

[Forfarian]

We are relying on the Familysearch transcriptions

Don't. There can be information in the originals that is not included in transcriptions.

And the second Margaret D baptism, in 1773, fits much better with her age at death.

[GeoffTurner]

My cousin is very thankful for your advice (as am I). We got some material from Scotlandspeople and now know that the 1773 christening is the right one. It not only fits the death age, as you pointed out, but also nominates that she is the daughter of "James Donaldson Baron Officer", which matches his description on her death record.
The 1780 James Donaldson "death" record at Scone turned out to be some sort of accounting record which mentions him. We also thought we might have had the death of John Gellatly's father James Gellatly at Scone in 1785 but it was also a book of accounts. The same thing happened with a 1776 "death record" for John Blyth (b 1701) at Kettle. I'm not sure why these are listed as death/burial records. 
We now have the christening of Margaret's mother Christian (Christane) Blyth(e) at Newburgh, Fife, in 1840, and the marriage of her parents John Blyth and Margaret Anderson there in 1821. Apparently Christian was the last of nine children, which explains why she was born 19 years after the marriage. And lots of other interesting things.
We hunted without success for the deaths of James Donaldson and Christian Blyth(e) (Donaldson) in Perth and Fife in the period from 1779 (when David was conceived) to 1855 (when they are listed as deceased on Margaret's death record) -- casting our net as widely as we thought reasonable. Interestingly, we also did not find a death at Scone for James Donaldson in 1795, as was indicated in those Ancestry trees.   
We have had a lot of success really, and have used 66 credits on our little spree, with 24 still up our sleeve. I am sure we will find plenty of constructive ways to use them!
Again, thanks for all your help.
Geoff (and Lisbeth).

[Forfarian]

My cousin is very thankful for your advice (as am I). We got some material from Scotlandspeople and now know that the 1773 christening is the right one. It not only fits the death age, as you pointed out, but also nominates that she is the daughter of "James Donaldson Baron Officer", which matches his description on her death record.

Excellent.

The 1780 James Donaldson "death" record at Scone turned out to be some sort of accounting record which mentions him. We also thought we might have had the death of John Gellatly's father James Gellatly at Scone in 1785 but it was also a book of accounts. The same thing happened with a 1776 "death record" for John Blyth (b 1701) at Kettle. I'm not sure why these are listed as death/burial records.

That is very common. Every parish had one or more mortcloths, which were large cloths that were draped over a coffin during the funeral service. There was a fee for the hire of a mortcloth, and the records in the kirk session accounts for the hire of the mortcloth are often the only surviving record of a death before 1855. The fees went into the fund for relief of the poor of the parish.

We now have the christening of Margaret's mother Christian (Christane) Blyth(e) at Newburgh, Fife, in 1840, and the marriage of her parents John Blyth and Margaret Anderson there in 1821.

That should read 1740 and 1721. But you need some additional evidence to prove for certain that she is the right Christian Blyth. It could be that there was another one whose baptism record has not survived. It's never safe to assume that the only candidate is the right person, because so many records are missing.

We hunted without success for the deaths of James Donaldson and Christian Blyth(e) (Donaldson) in Perth and Fife in the period from 1779 (when David was conceived) to 1855 (when they are listed as deceased on Margaret's death record) -- casting our net as widely as we thought reasonable.

It may well be that there is no record to find, unless there is a gravestone. Gravestone inscriptions are not held on Scotland's People.

Interestingly, we also did not find a death at Scone for James Donaldson in 1795, as was indicated in those Ancestry trees.

That doesn't surprise me. But that piece of information must originally have come from somewhere - surely it wasn't plucked out of thin air?

[GeoffTurner]

Very helpful again. So we now have
In 1785 at Scone the parish got 2 shillings for James Gellatly's mortcloth.
On 25 Oct 1776 at Kettle the parish got money for a mortcloth for John Blyth from his widow.
On 3 Sep 1780 at Scone the parish got 3/6 from James Donaldson's wife for the use of the "best mortcloth".
So we have pencilled those in as burial dates for those three people.
Also, I have contacted a woman on Ancestry (who it turns out is my cousin's fourth cousin) to ask how she came up with the 1795 burial at Scone for James Donaldson. In the meantime we are going with the 1780 date. It seems only fitting that a baron officer would warrant the "best mortcloth", if I understand how this worked.
We feel that under your tutelage we have made great strides forward!
Thanks again, Geoff.

[Forfarian]

Many parishes had more than one mortcloth. The 'best' mortcloth might have been of more expensive material, or perhaps more elaborately embroidered, or maybe just newer, and the fee for hiring it was higher.