Paisley by any other name....?

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:43 pm

Hi all,

Just this morning I found out my great uncle John Fraser Taylor's parents names. I was such an optimist that I thought I might be able to go to SP and finally find his family. His parents were William Taylor and Helen Fraser. After searching for a while I found a family on the 1891 census living in Edinburgh:

William Taylor coal merchant 40
Helen wife 37
John F twin 10
William twin 10
Margaret daughter 6

Helen and the three children were all listed as born in Paisley, Renfrewshire. I knew that John's birthdate was Aug. 24, 1882 from his WWI reg. card so I did birth searches for John Taylor and William Taylor, then did two for Margaret--1884 and 1885.

Would you believe I can't find a birth record for any of the kids in Paisley, Renfrewshire?

I bought the two or three records from Paisley and they weren't the right ones. I can't even match up the twins in any of the other cities or in the different districts of Glasgow though my head is spinning right now and I may have missed one there.

Before I throw any more money at this is there any chance that Paisley was known by a different name in 1891?

Carol

Post by **AndrewP** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:10 pm

Hi Carol,

In the 1891 census the Paisley districts were:

559/3 Johnston & Elderslie (previously part of Paisley Abbey parish / registration district)
573 Paisley

All the best,

AndrewP

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:18 pm

Thanks Andrew,

No luck there. I'm going to wait on receiving a copy of the obituary before I spend any more money. Maybe it will mention a brother or sister back in Scotland! [-o<

Carol

Post by **SarahND** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:44 am

Hi Carol,
Sad story

In a desperate attempt to be helpful, I looked in 1881 and saw they were living in Paisley Abbey parish. The twins were 10 mos old, so they must have been born in 1880

Checking t*l*r on SP, two Johns and two Williams appear in Paisley in 1880
Two Johns and one William appear in Johnstone
Two Johns and one William in Elderslie

From what Andrew said, one would assume they should be some of the Johnstone or Elderslie lot, since they were in Paisley Abbey.

Assume these are the ones you checked and none are correct?

Well, I tried...

Regards,
Sarah

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:00 am

Thanks for trying Sarah!

This one is a real doozy! When I searched for Helen Taylor in the 1891 Census on SP I got 21 results and it's amazing how many of them were married to someone named William!

The same is true of the children. I bought all the obvious possiblilties, but each one had a glitch! Then I found the 1881 Census which has them born in 1880 which calls into question the birthdate on my great uncle's WWI registration card--Aug. 24, 1882. I know it is the correct reg. card because his wife's name and home address match other family records.

So either the twins aren't the correct Taylors or that date is incorrect. I'm pretty sure that 1882 is the date on his gravestone, but those aren't always correct either!

Back to the drawing board! I'm still hoping that there will be a clue in the package of copies of the death notices and obits that are coming from Detroit!

Carol

Post by **SarahND** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:40 am

Hi Carol,
So you don't even know whether or not he had a twin brother? All that is sure is the date of birth and the parents names...

k The draft registration birthdate is usually correct, unless it is a too-young recruit trying to look older, which wouldn't be the case. So maybe that is the wrong family after all

I hope the obituary clarifies things!

Regards,
Sarah

Post by **SarahND** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:41 am

Hi Carol,
Well, for some reason this one grabbed me tonight

After going back and forth and bumping into lots of dead ends...I think John must be the one born in Fetteresso, Kincardineshire in 1882
Father: William Taylor
Mother: Helen Fraser
(at least his siblings born in time to be on the IGI have those parents!)

I started out by finding the WWI card you mentioned, then with that info finding him in 1920 & 1930, reassured that I had found the right one by the presence of the Clerihew sister-in-law in the household!

Then looked for his passenger list and found him coming for the second time in 1913, his relative in the country "from whence he came" being his father, W. Taylor in Portlethan (between Fetteresso and Aberdeen). On the passenger list, John says he was born in Aberdeen. So... Since we just had another case where a Kincardine birth was called "Aberdeen", I thought it worthwhile to look at this family in 1891:

Ness Farm, Nigg, Kincardineshire
William Taylor, 51, Head, born Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, Farm Servant
Helen Taylor, 47, Wife, born Arbuthnott, Kincardineshire
George Taylor, 23, Son, born Nigg, Kincardineshire, Farmservant
Arthur Taylor, 17, Son, born Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, Apprentice Joiner
Agnes Taylor, 11, Daughter, born Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, scholar
John Taylor, 8, Son, born Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, Scholar
Alexander Taylor, 6, Son, born Fetteresso, Kincardineshire
Elizabeth Taylor, 4, Daughter, born Fetteresso, Kincardineshire

As I mentioned, George and Arthur are in the IGI (extracted) with the parents William Taylor and Helen Fraser

I am hoping it's the correct one... [-o<

Now, to bed!

Sarah

Post by **AndrewP** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:48 am

Hi Carol,

If it's any help, there is a possible looking marriage for the parents in Edinburgh (Canongate) in 1876, when they were age 17 (William, cellarman) and 19 (Helen, bookfolder). The ages don't agree well with the census, but that may be nothing new

. Worth considering?

All the best,

AndrewP

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:24 pm

Sarah, you've done it again!!!

There were two John Taylor's in Kincardineshire--one in Fetteresso and one in Cookney. The one in Fetteresso had Robert and Ann Taylor for parents so just on a chance I checked the one in Cookney and there he was John Taylor, born Aug. 24, 1882 to William Taylor and Helen Fraser!

I would never have checked Kincardineshire. I would have been out wandering in the woods on this one for a long time! Have to be out of the house this morning, but I'll be busy with this one later today.

Thanks a million!

Carol

Post by **SarahND** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 3:50 pm

Whew! Glad I didn't lead you too far astray!
Looks like wee John born in Fetteresso didn't survive-- at least I don't see him in any census.

Cookney, is it? Even closer to Portlethen and to Aberdeen... but why did the family give Fetteresso in the census

Hmmm, it's not that far as the crow flies, is it?!

Looking back, I see that in 1881 the family is indeed in Cookney district, Parish of Fetteresso, so I suppose that the general area where they were born was Fetteresso.

Glad it worked out in the end and that it was the correct family, even if the birth wasn't the exact one I thought it was

Now you can run with it

Sarah