My brickwall

claire dalton · Post by **claire dalton** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:29 pm

I seem to have hit a very large brick wall in my family tree.....My nans parents where Hugh Mcnaughton and Margaret Blaney i had come to the conclusion that they never married after finding what i thought was Margarets death record (thanks Andrewp). But after getting hold of my nans birth certificate it states her parents where married on the 15th april 1900 in Dunfermline.....I have searched sp and cannot find this marrige any ideas anyone has i would be very greatfull

Thanks Claire

Post by **AndrewP** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:52 pm

Hi Claire,

I have a couple of ideas to offer.

(1) They may have had an irregular marriage that was never declared and registered. That was perfectly legal.

(2) The date and/or place on the birth certificate may have been wrong. Have you tried searching on ScotlandsPeople for the names without any dates or places?

All the best,

AndrewP

claire dalton · Post by **claire dalton** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:00 pm

Thanks for the ideas i have tryed sp with no dates or places and even diffrent spelling of names to no luck. How would i go about finding a irregular marriage

Post by **AndrewP** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:38 pm

Hi Claire,

My feeling is that they were never married. If you go back to Margaret's death certificate it says: Margaret Blaney known as McNaughton, single.

If an irregular marriage existed and it was never declared to be registered, then there will be no record of it for you to find.

Is that "husband" Hugh who signed as the informant on that death certificate (the signature looks like it may say Hugh, but the surname is unclear). The informant has declared himself as "friend". Maybe this was Hugh McNaughton, a very close friend indeed.

All the best,

AndrewP