Isabella Reid Birthplace somewhere in Fife

[MonicaL]

Do you have anything to compare the first letter with, William?

I am seeing second letter as an 'e'

Third letter maybe 'n' 'm' or 'u'?

Second last letter is certainly a 't' and compares well with other 't's on the page.

Last letter possibly a 'y'. Any other examples on the page?

Monica

[Millmoor]

Hi Monica

I did wonder if the first letter was a 'c'. The writer does that letter elsewhere on the page like the capital C in stone cutter. There is nothing quite the same as that first letter on the page! ( If the original had not been so poor I would have forked out on the next sheet for greater comparison!).

William

[Isabel H]

Could it be Ceres?

[MonicaL]

I did wonder if the first letter was a 'c'. The writer does that letter elsewhere on the page like the capital C in stone cutter.

See what you mean. The 'e' I was seeing is the curly end of the 'C'. So, we have potentially Cuxtx?

How about Cults? www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/FIF/Cults

See also www.scotlandsfamily.com/parish-map-fife.htm A couple of parishes away from Markinch and Wemyss.

Monica

[Millmoor]

Thanks, Monica. I would secretly like it to be the suggestion made by Isabel ,  namely Ceres! This is because a number of Watson's from the  Fife coalfield converted to Mormonism in the mid 1800's . My greatest number of DNA matches link to those who made the journey to Utah many of them linking to 2 Watson brothers, Thomas and James born in Ceres in 1816 and 1820 who made that trek.  I also have lots of matches through Catherine Watson who went to Utah and I think was a younger sister of my Isabella. Its a fascinating story to research but frustratingly there is an absence of enough OPR's to flesh out the precise connection.

William

[MonicaL]

Frustrating!

Were you hoping it was the Isabel showing as born in Ceres in 1818? But her father is showing as Thomas, if I am looking at the same one.

How have you been able to connect Catherine as a younger sister to Isabella?

Monica

[GR2]

It could well start with C - compare the capital C in Stone Cutter on the previous line.

It has a t towards the end as there is the long thin crossing of a t like you have in Bathgate above.

Presuming it is the name of a parish, could it be Cuits? Is Cuits a local pronunciation of the parish of Cults?

[Millmoor]

 Monica, it was actually a connection which for many years I took with a pinch of salt. As I said earlier Isabella's parents are George Watson and Catherine Taylor from her death cert. There are loads of Ancestry trees  generated in America with Catherine marrying James Kippen in Utah in 1858 and which have her parents as George Watson and Catherine Taylor . There are shipping records and wagon train records describing the journey to Utah. My DNA results came back with lots of matches to Catherine Watson / Kippen and while, as with a lot of our research not totally proven, it convinced me that it was worth investigating!

William

[Millmoor]

Thank you for your reply, GR 2. Cults is an interesting suggestion. The possible OPR marriage of George Watson and Catherine Watson is in Dairsie/ Leuchars and Cults is adjacent to Ceres.

William