Meet the family of Duncan Ross & Marjory McDonald

Yesterday's discovery of the burial location of my latest 3rd great grandparents Duncan Ross (1776-1824 and Marjory McDonald (1781-1844) came quite indirectly, and through the discovery of a previously unknown son to them, who is a 2nd great uncle to me.

While doing some Google research, I came across mention of them in a 1998 book called Scots in the West Indies, where they are listed as the parents of one Thomas William Ross b 1814, who settled in St Vincent.

The place name Rydnach mentioned below is one of at least five spelling variations for the place name Ryduack, which was a long ago township where Nethy Bridge is today in Inverness-shire. I'm going with Ryduack on a go forward basis, as that is how it appears on at least two Scottish government websites, and have updated all my records to reflect that spelling, hoping it too will open some new doors in my research.

from Scots in the West Indies

Like the marriage of Duncan and Marjory and the baptism of my 2nd great grandfather Alex, there is no Old Parish Record of Thomas' baptism, but nonetheless, he's one of the family. After all, his name is recorded on his parents' grave marker. Thomas was the eldest child who lived to adulthood. His siblings were:

• Alex (abt 1816-abt 1855)
• Donald (1818-aft 1855)
• Mary (1820-1856)
• Annie (1822-1885)

Marjory, Alex and Mary all appear in the 1841 Scotland census living at Ryduack. Neither Mary nor Annie married and worked as general servants or farm labourers according to census records. I've not found Mary or Annie in the 1851 census, but Mary was at Ryduack when she died from fever on 29 May 1856. Her statutory death registry says her death was reported by "Alex Cameron, relative". I've not come across any Cameron ancestor cousins so far. This is another new name to add to my research. 

When the 1881 census was done, Annie was living with her sister in law, my 2nd great grandmother Isabella, (Alex' widow), at Seafield Place in Nethy Bridge, and died there from chronic bronchitis on 20 Sep 1885. Her death was reported by Isabella. 

I wrote about the children of Alex Ross, who include my great grandmother Annie Ross (1849-1922) in 2016 here.

As noted on the National Archives of Scotland website, Old Parish Records are far from complete. Locating Donald will be a challenge. I'm not sure when Thomas settled in St Vincent, or how long he stayed there, but have added "look for genealogy sources in St Vincent and the Grenadines" to my "to-do" list. More new mysteries to be solved. Hopefully, if they left any, one of their descendants will have had their DNA tested, and I'll find them that way.  

The never ending story continues....

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Found: The graves of Duncan Ross and Marjory McDonald

Duncan Ross and Marjory McDonald are another of my maternal third great grandparents. Randomly searching on Google (yet again, a genealogist's best friend), I've found a record of their deaths on Billion Graves, with the incredible added bonus of a photograph of their grave marker. The inscription reads:

Erected in memory of Duncan Ross late farmer of Ryduack who died there the 24th Sept 1824 aged 48 years and Marjory McDonald his spouse who died 7th Feb 1844 aged 63 years. 

This stone was placed by their two sons Donald Ross and Thomas William Ross.

Now, the last line above leads me to believe that this marker was erected after the death of their brother, my 2nd great grandfather, Alex Ross, who died about 1855, whose exact death date remains unknown.

There are two more lines below the last line above, but I can fully decipher these,

The grave is in the ancient kirkyard of Kincardine Church, which still stands today, in Abernethy and Kincardine, which today is in the county of  Inverness, Scotland, but until about 1870 in the county of Moray.

The dates and ages provided on the marker give me information to further narrow my search for their births, which hopefully will lead to confirmation of their parents.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Surnames A-Z: E and F

A 2017 Facebook meme had people listing their their mother's maiden name, father's surname, maternal and paternal grandparents' surnames, and sometimes even a few more generations back. By any norms, a bit too much information in this cyber age. 

Just think how many security questions ask for your mother's maiden name. And let's not even get into having that information on your Facebook wall, especially if you have your settings set to public (instead of friends only). You don't do that, do you? 

In a series of posts, I'm listing my direct ancestors' surnames, starting with "A" and going through to "Y" -- I have no direct or indirect "Z" ancestors. So far. 

We may share a surname, but this doesn't necessarily mean we're related, but if you think we are, please contact me using the email link on the right side of this post.

My "E" surnames:

• Eddy
• Edminson
• Elkins
• English

My "F" surnames:

• (de) Ferrers
• (de) Fiennes
• Finch
• Fish
• Fisher
• Fitz Robert
• FitzAlan
• Fitzgerald
• Fitzjohn
• Fitzwilliam
• Folger
• Ford
• Fosten

The never ending story continues.....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Found: the Family of Donald Smith and Margaret Davidson

Having spent several hours on Scotland's People over the last couple of days, I've partially smashed yet another brickwall, a feeling that will never get old, and have found more cousins.

I wrote about my 2nd great grandmother Isabella Smith Ross McLeod here. But I lacked solid proof that Donald Smith and Margaret Davidson were Isabella's parents. A DNA cousin had found their names on another family tree, and they were listed as her parents on baptismal record transcript.but it was time to get that essential primary source document. Luckily, Isabella's statutory death registration found yesterday on Scotland's People confirmed that Donald Smith and Margaret Davidson were definitely her parents. I learned that Donald had been a mason, and given that Isabella had lived a good long life of at least 91 years, they were of course both deceased when she died in 1915. I still can't find a marriage record for Donald and Margaret.

The confirmation of Donald and Margaret sent me on several collateral searches. First, let's list their children, as I've found them:

• Anne, born abt 1810 in Kingussie, Inverness. She married Angus Falconer abt 1833. They had at least seven children before Anne died after 1851 in Edinburgh.
• Grace, born abt 1814 in Kingussie, Inverness. She married John Dow on 23 Jun 1838 in Banffshire. They had eight children in Knockando, Moray, where Grace died 8 Nov 1891.
• Then came my 2nd great grandmother, Isabella on 7 Sep 1817. 
• Peter, born 12 Jul 1821 in Abernethy and Kincardine. He married Jane Allan on 26 Oct 1846 in Urquhart, Moray. They had eight children before Peter died on 13 May 1863 in Edinburgh.
• Donald, born 23 Nov 1823 in Abernethy and Kincardine, seems to have died young. I still can't find anything more about him. 

The births of Donald and Margaret's children range over 13 years. There must have been other pregnancies between these live births. Their children gave them at least 28 grandchildren. I'm still adding all of those new cousins and their descendants to my family tree.

As I pored through records, documents and family trees, I found Margaret and my 2nd great grandmother in the 1841 census in Inverness, where I also found in that household a future son-in-law (John Dow) of Margaret's. I found that Margaret lived with her daughter Anne Smith Falconer and her family in Edinburgh when the 1851 census was done. Following Anne's death sometime after that census, Margaret seems to have moved to her son Peter Smith's Edinburgh home, as the 1861 census has Margaret living with him and his family. 

I found a note on another family tree that Margaret died in 1863 in her son Peter's home. A statutory death record on Scotland's People confirms that Margaret died on 1 Mar 1863, aged 85, from old age. The death was reported by Peter, who died two months later. But the best part? The record provides Margaret's parents' names: Donald Davidson and Ann Green, my newest 4th great grandparents. 

I'm thinking that Donald died before 1841. Scotland only began a centralized, statutory collection of BMDs in 1855. Before that, there are only old parochial registers (OPRs) to rely on. Sadly, these are far from complete, with many not standing the test of time. I've not found a record of Margaret and Donald's marriage. And then there is the name "Smith". Don't get me started.

I'm so impatient for new DNA matches to come to light, what with all the new names I've added to my family tree this week. This is one of those times when I have to remind myself to manage my expectations.

The never ending story continues.....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Crowded living quarters in working class northern England

Google Streetview is a beautiful thing.

I knew from statutory birth and death records and newspapers that my mother was born at and my great grandfather, Robert Alexander Young, died at 45A High Greens in Berwick upon Tweed in 1919 and 1915 respectively. I wondered if it was still there now.

The image on the right is on Google Streetview, time-stamped June 2016, and the Friends of Berwick and District Museum and Archives has confirmed to me that it still stands today.

45A was the upper flat, accessed by the paned dark brown door on the right in the photo. I'm told that as of 2010, the flat consisted of two bedrooms, kitchen, bath and living room. It's not clear if this has been enlarged since 1919.

I wrote about my great grandfather Robert Alexander Young here in 2016. My great grandparents and family are last recorded in the 1911 census as living at 53 Low Greens. I imagine that the flat there was a similar size. Look at the number of people living there then -- all ten of them. Five children still at school, three young adults/teenagers, and my great grandparents.

1911 Census, 53 Low Greens, Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland, England

The only one missing in the above census is my grandmother Dorothy, who had emigrated to Canada in 1908.

I'm not sure when the family moved from Low Greens to High Greens, but by the time of my great grandfather's death on 22 Feb 1915, except for my great aunt, Margaret Knox Young, who married in November 1914, they were at 45A. I'm sure the flat then would have been one large living/cooking/eating space, butI hope there were the two bedrooms. And don't forget that there would not have been indoor plumbing at that time.

My grandmother Dorothy returned to Berwick from Canada in August 1915 while my grandfather was in France with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, living with her parents at 45A. She stayed there until August 1919, when she sailed to Montreal with my mother, who was then just three months old. My great uncle Henry married in 1918, but do the math -- 45A was still a crowded household in 1919.

I cannot begin to fathom how crowded living conditions were in working class England at that time. My grandmother laboured and gave birth in a very full house, with I imagine very little privacy.

I'm beginning to think that my grandmother left for Canada alone at 19 simply to have more living space. I think that's what I would have done. No, really.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Surnames A-Z: D

A 2017 Facebook meme had people listing their their mother's maiden name, father's surname, maternal and paternal grandparents' surnames, and sometimes even a few more generations back. By any norms, a bit too much information in this cyber age. 

Just think how many security questions ask for your mother's maiden name. And let's not even get into having that information on your Facebook wall, especially if you have your settings set to public (instead of friends only). You don't do that, do you? 

In a series of posts, I'm listing my direct ancestors' surnames, starting with "A" and going through to "Y" -- I have no direct or indirect "Z" ancestors. So far. 

We may share a surname, but this doesn't necessarily mean we're related, but if you think we are, please contact me using the email link on the right side of this blog.

My "D" surnames:

• Daggett
• Davidson
• Davis
• Day
• Dewey
• Diamond
• Doane
• Dodds
• Doggett
• Donovan
• Dougherty
• Dumble
• Durant

The never ending story continues.....

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Found: maternal 3rd great grandparents in the Scottish Highlands

Updated with death registration images 21 Aug 2019

A few months ago, I had a bit of a brickwall smash with my great grandfather Frank Gillanders Matheson, when I discovered that Gillanders was Frank's middle name. Today, I revisited his parents' names on Scotland's People. And what great finds I made!

I had my maternal 2nd great grandparents' names, Donald Matheson and Margaret McKenzie, thanks to finds my mother had made many years ago, but have been on the hunt for more information. I knew, thanks to Frank's 1866 first marriage to Isabella McKenzie (no doubt a cousin), that both his parents were deceased at the time of that marriage. But I had no other information. Because all of Donald and Margaret's children were born and baptized in Urray, Ross and Cromarty, I've made assumptions that they too were born there. That may not necessarily be the case.

Starting first with Margaret McKenzie, after discarding adding a county in my search parameters I quickly found her March 1865 death registration, with the added bonus of her age and father's name (John McKenzie). My grandfather John Matheson was named after his great grandfather, John McKenzie, who was a labourer. Margaret's mother's name is also listed, but the first name (also Margaret) is crossed out, so that must be confirmed. Oh, and Margaret's mother's maiden name was also McKenzie. Margaret died at East Grange, Kinloss in Elgin. A new place name to add to my research arsenal. Kinloss is very near Forres, where I have some ancestral roots on my Ross side.

My 3rd great grandmother was just 67 years old when she died, yet her cause of death is listed as "infirmities of old age". Today, 67 is hardly considered old age, but their lives were so very much harder then, compared to ours in the 21st century.

Margaret McKenzie Matheson 1865 death registration

Next, I looked for the death registration of Margaret's husband, Donald. Her death registration helpfully noted that Donald was already deceased in 1865, narrowing my search window, and confirmed that he was a farm grieve, which is listed in Frank's marriage and death registrations.

Bingo! I found Donald, a farm grieve in 1859, having died at Erbusaig, Lochalsh, in Ross-shire--more new place names to add to my research arsenal. Donald's death registration tells me that his parents were Dugald Matheson, whose occupation was mason, and Isabella Gillanders. I knew that the Gillanders name would open doors. Unfortunately, Donald's cause of death is blank on the registration form.

Donald Matheson death registration 1865

The person who reported Donald's death is identified as his sister in law, Mary MacKay. I haven't yet started to research who her husband was -- that will be a much more difficult task, I think. Was she married to a brother of Donald? Or was she married to a brother of his wife, Margaret McKenzie?

Genealogy discoveries like these do make my heart sing.

Will these new finds help to have more DNA matches? That would be fantastic.

My search for information about Dugald and Isabella and John and his wife will be harder now, as it is hard to find Scottish records from the 1700s. I'll keep looking though. My glass is still half full.

As always, the never ending story continues.....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

The final years of Rose Caroline Dougherty (1839-1915)

It can't be said often enough. The wealth of information in digitized old newspapers is at times overwhelming and always absorbing. Thanks to the amazing effort of the BaNQ to digitize the thousands of newspapers in its collection, I and many other genealogists have been spending an inordinate amount of time sleuthing for information about our Quebec ancestors.

Yesterday's efforts produced several Sherbrooke Daily Record items about my great grandmother Rose Caroline Dougherty (1839-1915) and her final years. Until now, the only newspaper reference I had was a two-line item in the Waterloo Advertiser (near Sherbrooke) in March 1915 noting her passing.

Sherbrooke today is a drive of under 90 minutes from Montreal, in the heart of the Eastern Townships. Rosie and Joe made their home here following their marriage, and if not living in Sherbrooke proper, they were very near throughout their marriage. I imagine that trains ran between Sherbrooke and Montreal.

Rose's husband, my great grandfather, John James Dougherty, died in his 60th year, in 1893 in Sherbrooke, when my grandfather Joe was just 13 years old. I've not yet found a detailed obit of my great grandfather's passing (the Sherbrooke Daily Record only began publishing in 1897), but I hope to one day find some record of his life. In any case, he left Rose enough money so that my grandfather's education was financed. The story goes that Joe spent some of his high school years at a Massachusetts school. This is bolstered by the 1901 census, when Rose was listed as living alone in Sherbrooke. He later attended McGill University, studying electrical engineering in the Faculty of Science. Quebec university tuition today remains the lowest in all of Canada. I don't know what it was in the early 1900s, but expect that it was no small achievement that Rose was able to send her son to McGill.

Esplanade Ave, Montreal

Rose is living with my grandparents in Montreal at the time of the 1911 census in a flat on the top floor of a triplex on Esplanade. Yes, there's someone named William listed as my grandfather's brother, but my grandfather was an only child. The mystery of who this William is--likely a distant cousin--remains unresolved. By 1913, Rose's health is failing. If anything, walking up two long flights of stairs (one indoor, one outdoor) to get into the flat would certainly have been a challenge for anyone in their 70s, as she then was.

1911 Canada Census

I found the first reference to Rose in the Sherbrooke Daily Record on  9 Oct 1913.

Sherbrooke Daily Record 9 Oct 1913

Soon after Christmas that same year, Rosie's health took a turn for the worse.

Sherbrooke Daily Record 29 Dec 1913

But Rosie rallied, and ten days later, this:

Sherbrooke Daily Record 7 Jan 1914

After that, I find nothing about Rose and her life in Sherbrooke, until the first report of her death:

Sherbrooke Daily Record 8 Mar 1915

This was followed two days later by a wonderful obituary that contains details of Rosie's life, and of her funeral.

Sherbrooke Daily Record 10 Mar 1915, 1 of 3

Sherbrooke Daily Record 10 Mar 1915, 2 of 3

Sherbrooke Daily Record 10 Mar 1915, 3 of 3

The details in this report are truly gifts. Aside from the varying spelling of Dougherty (which my family uses) and Doherty (used by Judge Marcus and his family), we get a sense of the very kind woman that was Rosie. We get confirmation that my grandfather was a cousin of Judge Marcus. We learn that Rosie was a nurse in her later years (she was a teacher before her 1876 marriage). 

Rosie's burial is recorded in the register of St Patrick's Parish in Sherbrooke: 

St Patrick's Parish Register, Sherbrooke, Quebec, 1915

The funeral soloist mentioned in the newspaper report, Margaret Doherty, is the granddaughter of James J. Doherty and Margaret Anderson, who were the sponsors at my grandfather's 3 Dec 1879 baptism. I'm still trying to proof a family relationship between my Doughertys and this Doherty family. 

According to her obituary, Rosie had suffered a stroke and related paralysis. What we don't know is whether this stroke had been suffered before she returned to Sherbrooke in 1913, which it is already known she was in failing health, or did this happen afterwards in Sherbrooke? 

Nineteenth century and early 20th century obituaries were full of details. I love them. 

The never ending story continues....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

When Dungiven came to be in Derry

A bit of a history clarification with this post. A back and forth debate among DNA cousins has been definitively resolved. I grew up (and it seems so too did many Dougherty cousins of many branches) being told that our forebears came from Donegal. In fact, some grave markers in Canada and the U.S. even note ancestors were born in Donegal.

It's been long established that my 3rd great grandparents, James Dougherty and Isabella McLaughlin, were almost certainly born in Inishowen, which has always been in Donegal. But my their son, Marcus (2nd great grandfather) and some of his siblings and many of their children were born in Banagher, Learmont and Dungiven. All of these places are today located in Derry (or Londonderry), Northern Ireland.

A 4th cousin again raised this issue in December, as did another 4th cousin a few days ago. That 4th cousin did some more research, and sent me this comment, after looking at sites that included this and this:

"Following the defeat of the Irish earls and the confiscation of their lands in 1609, English colonization was undertaken by livery companies of the City of London and the Honourable Irish Society (founded 1610). A charter of 1613, granted by James I of England, VI of Scotland, established the county of Londonderry, which comprised the old county, O’Neill lands of Loughinsholin, and small parts of Donegal and Antrim."

I'm very glad to have this resolved at last and have updated all references in my genealogy database to say Dungiven is in Derry, not Donegal. Yes, I'm saying Derry, rather than Londonderry.

The never ending story continues....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Stephen Hopkins and All Saints Church, Upper Clatford, Hampshire

Happy new year to all!

I first wrote about Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644), my 10th great grandfather (and my direct Mayflower ancestor), soon after I began this blog, here. Today, another genealogy blogger, Heather Wilkinson Rojo, has written a post on her blog, Nutfield Genealogy, in her series of Tombstone Tuesdays posts about the churchyard in Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, Stephen's birthplace. But Heather's post includes photos, and so I decided to post a link to her excellent post here. While you're looking at these photos, be sure to click on the link to Heather's earlier post that gives more information about Stephen.

Here's my line of descent from Stephen Hopkins to my great grandmother, Charlotte Butler:

Stephen Hopkins m Mary Kent

Giles Hopkins m Katherine Weldon

Deborah Hopkins m Josiah Cooke

Deborah Cooke m Moses Godfrey

David Godfrey m Priscilla Baker

Jonathan Godfrey m Lucy Calkin 

Samuel Godfrey m Olive Webster

Margaret White Godfrey m John Waddell Fisher

Mary Olive Fisher m Samuel Butler

Charlotte Butler m Elias Nelson

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved