Help with Missing Birth Certificate.....

Leesy · Post by **Leesy** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:36 am

Hi,

I'm a newbie so hopeI give enough info.

One of my ancestors is Mary Bowers, who married David Bolton in 1834 in Dirleton. In the 1851 census she is listed as being 35 yrs old so her birth year was circa 1816. Also on the census is her father, James Bowers, aged 66. I managed to find a marriage certificate for James Bowers and Mary Wilton in 1812 so assumed they were Mary's parents. I confirmed this when I found Mary's death certificate dated 7.7.1891 which gave James and Mary as her parents. James later remarried in 1847 to Mary Sharp and had a son in 1848 called James Edward. My problem is I can find no record of Mary Bowers birth and have tried searching for any children born to James Bowers and Mary Wilton and have been unable to find anything. As far as I can see James only had one child, his son, and yet he is named as Mary's father and is on the 1851 census as "father in law" to David Bolton, head of the family and Mary's husband.

I don't really know what to try next. Could Mary have been adopted? If so, how would I go about finding this out. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:47 am

Hi Leesey
..and a warm welcome to Talking Scot.
A quick look on the IGI gives the marriage you spoke of:

JAMES BOWERS
Marriage: 10 FEB 1812 Saint Cuthberts, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
wife: MARY WILTON
Marriage: 10 FEB 1812 Saint Cuthberts, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
Father: JOSEPH WILTON

and Mary Bower's marriage:

MARY BOWERS
Father: JAMES BOWERS
Marriages:
Spouse: DAVID BOLTON
Marriage: 09 OCT 1834 Canongate, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, both extracts

In the 1851 census entry which you have seen where does it state Mary Bowers was born? Have you seen her in any other census - is her place of birth the same? It may be that the parish she was born in has no birth records for that period. Where was her father born? What is his occupation? Is his occuaption the same on the census and on Mary's death entry? Lots of questions...

Best wishes
Lesley

Leesy · Post by **Leesy** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:05 am

Wow

Thanks for all that LesleyB. This may sound silly but what is IGI? I have only just started all this and have only used Scotland People so far. I think I still have a lot of stuff to learn but that is all part of the fun. A couple of things you mentioned. Mary was born in Haddington, Edinburgh according to the census. Her father is down as a retired painter, and this was consistent with her death certificate. I will go and try and follow up the information you have suggested and hopefully I will find more info on her. I had a similar problem with someone else and I eventually found him but Mary is proving more elusive...

Thanks again, and will keep you posted.

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:17 am

Quick answer

The IGI can be found on :

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... _form=true

part of the [ free] http://www.familysearch.org site.

Another free site is :

http://freecen.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

a free site with a lot of census information on it [ increasing all the time thanks to the hard working transcribers - thanks folks

]

Use these resources along with Scotlands People.

Leesy · Post by **Leesy** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:28 am

Thanks again folks. Have just a very quick peek at the IGI website and the Family Search link and have saved to favourites so I will be able to sit down properly later on and have a good look.

Appreciate your help and the warm welcome.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:14 pm

Hi Leesy
The only Mary Bolton I could find who died in Midlothian in 1891 (died Leith North, aged 76) - her other name seems to be given as Bowman, which is a bit puzzling. I don't have enough credits to look at the record itself - is that what is says on the actual death entry, or is this a transcription error?

Also, I'm just having one of those days...can't seem to find her in the 1881 census, yet, if she didn't die till 1891 she just has to be somewhere....
However, these look like they might be some of yours:

Dwelling: 5 London Row
Census Place: North Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Source: FHL Film 0224016 GRO Ref Volume 692-1 EnumDist 12 Page 3

James Bowers BOLTON M 38 M Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Head
Occ: Ship Chandler
Jane BOLTON M 40 F England
Rel: Wife
Richard Lee BOLTON 13 M Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Son
Occ: Scholar
Mary Bowers BOLTON 11 F Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Daur
Occ: Scholar
James Bowers BOLTON 10 M Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Son
Occ: Scholar
Sarah Oliver BOLTON 7 F Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Daur
Occ: Scholar
Margt. James BOLTON 5 F Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rel: Daur
Occ: Scholar
Sarah STOKES W 65 F England
Rel: Mother In Law
Mary Morris WALKER U 17 F Dunbarton, Scotland
Rel: Serv
Occ: Domestic Servant

Best wishes
Lesley

Leesy · Post by **Leesy** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:28 am

Hi LesleyB,

Thanks for that. I know what you measn about Mary Bowers. I have her marriage certificate, her death certificate (which I will check again re: Bowman) and her census details. The James Bolton and family you found is actually Mary Bowers son and his family. It is baffling though. I have also found information on Mary's father, James, his parents and siblings. I am beginning to wonder if there is a chance of a spelling error somewhere as I have found with my MacAulay family members. So many different spellings of the same name. Anyway, thanks again for looking and I will continue to search for her.

I have to find her because this is putting a stop to all my other trails