JOHN CRAIG, Banchory Devenick, Kincardine.....

marva · Post by **marva** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 5:11 pm

Iam looking for the birth of my gr gr grandfather, John Craig, probably in 1790's. He married Isobel Wood 1819, Banchory. He died 1841 (43) Portlethen. Isobel was born 1790, Banchory, died 1872 (84) District of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen. I have picture of their table marker that gives year of death and their ages. I do have documents of their marriage and both deaths and Isobel's birth. The children listed on the IGI are not all their, two have different mothers.

I do have births for John Craigs from SP for 1797-98, 4 all Banchory. By using the naming pattern and hoping no children are missing or deceased from the IGI list I come up with 19 Apr 1797, father: John, mother: Isabel Wood. Does this sound right or am I asuming too much? How else could I check for his birth.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Marva

Post by **Liz Turner** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:36 pm

Dear Marva

Sorry you've not had a reply before now - I hope you've had some success with your search. I came across your post as I did a search of this site for Banchory Devenick which is a place where some of my own ancestors hail from. I'm not looking for the names you mentioned - my own lot are Nicolson and Haliburton. If I repeat something that you've already discovered, my apologies!

I read your post and think you could be correct with your thoughts about the birth of Joh Craig being 19/4/1797. I had a look on the IGI myself using some of the info you gave. I wonder if you have done a parent search on there and then when you found one that you knew to be "yours", you can search using the batch number and putting in the surname "Craig" only? A search for Craig between 1790 and 1810 using batch number C112514 came up with 62 matches and between 1780 and 1820 there were 100.

There are a lot of Craig births registered in the area, registered to different parents, but you might well be able to work out siblings of your John from this because you have additional information. I probably haven't explained very well about searching using batch numbers, but if you look at the tips section on TS you'll find a great explanation - far better than mine.

I've used this method several times now and found siblings and related families in that way.

You can do a similar type of search using the marriage of John Craig and Isobel Wood - batch number is:- M112514 This shows up 46 marriages between 1778 and 1820 of people named Craig, in Banchory-Devenick, including these two:-

1. JOHN CRAIG - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 31 MAR 1792 Banchory Devenick, Kincardine, Scotland

2. JOHN CRAIG - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 15 MAR 1818 Banchory Devenick, Kincardine, Scotland

Again - apologies if you've already got this information.

Best of luck.

Liz

marva · Post by **marva** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:48 am

Dear Liz,

Thanks so much for your reply. It just goes to show you never give up on inquiries no matter how long it takes. I am leaning towards John Craig b 1797 only because father was John Craig and mother was Isobel Wood ( same name as John Craig's wife.)

It hasn't been easy as my brother, dad, gr grandfather gr gr and now possibly gr gr gr are all John Craigs. Not to mention them running in and out of my tree as my dad's mother was a Craig before she married.

I had been told about the IGI some time ago but could not seem to make it work using the batch numbers. I will definately give it a try, hoping for the best. I am about 50 miles from an IGI center, so I have not visited it at all.

I see you ae from Renfrewshire. My mom was from Renfrew. She was a McArthur. Surprising as it may seem I am doing much better on my dad's side than my mom's.

#2 John Craig marriage you mentioned is my John Craig (verified)

Again - thanks so much you have set my fingers on fire to dig again.

Marva

Post by **Liz Turner** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:55 pm

Hi Marva

Don't envy you with all the John Craigs and two Isabel Woods ... I was able to find several distinct families of "Craig" and if you were to try it out and write down your findings, it might give you a lead on other descendants.

It is very worthwhile if you take the time to read the stuff on this site about tips for searching. (I really should practice what I preach!!) Here's a link to something written by the brilliantly helpful David and Bob about batch numbers:-

http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4771

Until I read that I had no idea of their significance, or that I could use them to widen my search for siblings/cousins etc.

It takes a bit of working out at first, but it can be very enlightening. If you still find difficulty getting what you'd like to find, post a question about your problem, giving as much information as you can and what you want to find - I can almost guarantee someone will help you out. They will guide you as to how to get the information for yourself.

Banchory-Devenick is not too big an area, so you might get lucky!

Don't give up! I've been very lucky with most of my family searching because they all had slightly less common names - I've only just got my first "Smith" and have only two "Browns" - so I don't like to complain!!

All the best - Liz

PS - I pass Renfrew every day on my way to work! I expect it's changed quite a bit from when your mum lived there!

marva · Post by **marva** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:50 am

Hi Liz

Boy, that is powerful writing....Can hardly wait until I have a few hours undisturbed so I can get going in it. Probably this weekend. That should save mega bucks $$ playing around with SP. I should be able to find quite a few of my folk as they all seemed to stay in the same area and there was a lot of close marriages and lots of kids for these fisherfolk. As far as I can see in my Craig line my dad was the first to leave Scotland and I have not found another until my generation. And this I found about 3 years ago, a cousin went to Australia and 3 went to England. The one second cousin in England corresponds with me off and on.

Thanks again for your help.

Marva

Post by **Liz Turner** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:23 pm

Dear Marva

Enjoy your seraching when you get down to it!

Using the batch numbers I have been able to track down my mother's paternal line, about whom we knew nothing at all! My mum (and aunt) had no idea who their paternal uncles and great uncles were. .

My own paternal grandfather was lost at sea in WW2, serving in the Merchant Navy and his brother died without marrying so we knew nothing about their families. They also had a half brother who was shot down over Germany in 1944 (aged 22). I've been able to track the Rosses down in the Dundee/Forfar/Cupar area and get back to around 1800 - heading for deepest, darkest Ross-shire/Ross & Cromarty now where every other person seems to be called Ross!!

Have fun and let us know how you get on!

Liz

marva · Post by **marva** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 2:14 am

Dear Liz,

Thanks so much for the tips. I am having great fun finding lots of my folk. This is much easier to track down than spending $ at SP. I do go there for a certificate once I've found the exact dates. I thought I'd spend a few hours there and have it done. What a joke, I'm there every day finding more and more.

Again, Thanks and I wish you great findings in your lines.

Marva

Post by **Liz Turner** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:24 pm

Dear Marva

Glad it's working out for you and you're finding people.

There is a wee note of caution - there are errors/inconsistencies in the IGI and it is worthwhile to confirm things on SP once you've narrowed down your search parameters. Be wary of entries which are submissions as opposed to extracts. That's not to say they're wrong, but you don't know how much checking the person who submitted has done.

All the best!

Liz

PS - I'll keep an eye open for Craigs when I'm searching in Banchory Devenick!