Research Tips pre 1855

Gloswegian · Post by **Gloswegian** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:00 am

Good Morning to one and all

I'm getting to the stage where most of my branches are either in or around the pre Statutory Records dates of 1855 and all I now have to go on is the Old Parish Records.

The question is, without all the info supplied by marrage and birth records on the Statutory Records on fathers and mothers names and ages etc, how do you go about going any further back in time? Especially with a very common name like Robertson?

Any tips or hints would be very welcome.
I have searched around the other threads in this forum, but some of the old stuff is still missing after what appears to have been a bit of a crash.

Regards

Gordon

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:23 am

One way to jump the 1855 gap is to use census information, you've 2 censuses before Sat. registration came in the 1841 and 1851.

I have been fortunate in finding an old grandfather living with the family in 1841 and he was in his 80's so I could leap back to 1760-odd.

Death records after 1855 are a good help too, as they should

point you back to parents born 100 years before.

Some OPR records are very informative others less so, but in many cases the bits can be slowly pieced together using different methods. Usigng the IGI on familysearch is a good way of gathering possible information.
You can do a parent search by just entering the 2 parents names and reigon, that will bring up a list of siblings, if the births were recorded by the local parish church.

An 1855 record of any variety can yield a LOT more information than any subsequent year.

Happy Hunting!

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:26 pm

Two other hints....

Don't forget the naming pattern! While not all families adhered to this method of assigning names to the weans I think there are just as many that did as did not. Especially helpful is when they included middle names as it often points directly to an earlier generation.

I've also had luck in the past with information gathered from a will. The rich and famous were not the only ones to use them.

With a name like Robertson though you may throw your hands in the air and just surrender

.....I've got one of those lines. I'm sure you're well acquainted by now with the habit of finding it as Robinson and Robson just as easily as Robertson. In other words...always search with a wildcard!

Best wishes
Jean

crayspond · Post by **crayspond** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:37 pm

I have usually been very lucky with the naming pattern but this time i am stumped.
I have William Ferguson Rankin (only way of finding out anything about him as previously mentioned by WilmaM was by his death cert) died 1892 in Cambuslang. (He was born in Glasgow c. 1811 on LDS). He married Mary Adam or Adams in 1837 in Calton Glasgow. No other info on parish record.

Now the middle name Ferguson runs throughout our family and on the cert it states his father George Rankin and mother Agnes Rankin m.s Ferguson. Great, however i cannot find any sign of them anywhere - married or otherwise.
I had great help with the 1851 and 1861 census from TS and their children are named
Lynn male (anyone know what this might be short for?) born 1837
John (who is probably after Mary's father as this was his name) born 1840
John again - maybe previous John died ? born 1844
Ann - no idea maybe short for Agnes? born born 1845
Marion - short for Mary maybe born 1848
Mary - after her mother born 1850

Not trying to hijack the thread -only showing how the naming pattern doesn't work always. No George or Agnes which is slowing me down loads!

Good luck in the search Gordon - remember some people crop up where you least expect it when searching on SP. William above was living with his daughter in Cambuslang when he died!

Regards
Ailsa

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:47 pm

Ailsa you've brought up yet another pitfall to always be wary of and another great clue to connecting to earlier generations!!

You mention the births of children from the IGI and have listed some. Your mention of LYNN really caught my eye as there is no extracted record for a child named Lynn to William and Mary. This record is a submittal. You must be cautious of IGI submitted data and always try and back it up with baptismal data..or even family bible data if you're so lucky to have some!

So while Lynn is a submittal there is a child named:

JEAN RANKEN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 22 NOV 1837 Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland

While Lynn's info is recorded as:

Lynn Rankin
Male
Event(s):
Birth: 20 NOV 1837 Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland

So perhaps Lynn and Jean were twins? Nearly have the same DOB. But if so why was Jean recorded by the session clerk and Lynn not? Possible there are two couples same name having children at the same time or possible that Lynn has been mis-read and it really is Jean. I've voting for the latter.

Search on the OPR of SP and here is the record for daughter Jean

22/11/1837 RANKEN JEAN WILLIAM FERGUSON/RANKEN MARY ADAM FR5096 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0350 0131

A view of the record leaves no doubt that this is the correct parents. William's middle name is used as well as his occupation as bricklayer. Jean was a lawful daughter to them. And the other clue for connecting to earlier generations?? Names of Witnesses on OPR baptisms!!! In this case you get George Ranken and Matthew Adam. They might be grandparents or they might be uncles but I'll lay money on the fact they are kin.

Best wishes
Jean

Moray_Lass · Post by **Moray_Lass** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:42 pm

Another thing people have suggested here and I found useful - witnesses on baptism records pre-1855. I managed to crack a brick wall when I took a chance on a Death Certificate because it looked like three of her daughters were on the baptism records of some of my 3xG Grandmother's children... Luckily for me it was a 1855 DC (more info) and I found my 3xG Grandmother listed as a child of the mother of the other three.

So they are worth watching

crayspond · Post by **crayspond** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:54 pm

Hi Jean,
Your posting prompted me to look again on LDS and after doing the parent search i came up with 15 children all to William Ferguson Rankin and Mary Adams!!
Roughly here it is
Lyn 20/11/1837
Jean 22/11/1837
Ann 4/1/1840
John 4/7/1840
Jean 10/1/1842
John 9/3/1844
Ann 4/1/1845
Mary 10/7/1846
Marion 4/9/1848
Mary 1/10/1850
Janet 1/10/1850
Mary 16/11/1852
William 17/10/1855
William14/10/1857
Agnes 5/2/1860

At least i have found a Willam and Agnes but no George - maybe they didn't like the name.
I would imagine when birthdays are close together in months this would mean a miscarriage maybe?
Anyway i will have to digest all of this and try and make some sense of it. Thanks for the help.

Ailsa

Post by **Ina** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:10 pm

Hi Ailsa,

Just make sure that all of those names are actual extracts and not just someone else's submittal. If they are actual extracts there will be a "C" in front of the batch number. Submittals have to be verified.

Happy searching.

Ina

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:41 pm

Ailsa....another proof of how many weans did they have? View the 1855 birth of William found indexed on SP like so:

1855 RANKIN WILLIAM FERGUSO M HIGH CHURCH GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/02 1321

The information gathered for this record includes the following: This William was their 8th child. They have 4 boys and 1 girl living and 2 girls deceased when the 1855 William was born.

Now it's up to you to try and find the correct baptisms!!

Best wishes
Jean

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:46 pm

Good grief

I just had closer look at the list of births and there ain't no 4 boys not even close!!!!!

I can't imagine what the session clerk was thinking when he recorded those details. It appears he got it backwards...maybe should be 4 girls living and 1 boy living and 2 girls dec'd. Actually the tally seems to be short by one!! I think perhaps they simply had lost count of the babies by then!!!

The record of Mary b and bap in 1846 however, clearly records her as their 5th child which fits perfectly.

Here's what you'll get from SP OPR indexes

22/11/1837 RANKEN JEAN WILLIAM FERGUSON/RANKEN MARY ADAM FR5096 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0350 0131
04/01/1840 RANKIN ANN WILLIAM RANKIN/MARY ADAM FR5301 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0350 0535
10/01/1842 RANKEN JEAN ADAM WILLIAM RANKEN/MARY ADAM FR5493 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0360 0323
09/03/1844 RANKINE JOHN WILLIAM RANKINE/MARY ADAM FR5681 M Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0370 0123
02/08/1846 RANKIN MARY WILLIAM RANKIN/MARY ADAM FR3376 CHILD 5 F Barony GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 622/ 0130 0030
04/09/1848 RANKINE MARION WILLIAM RANKINE/MARY ADAM FR6046 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0380 0266
01/10/1850 RANKIN JANET WILLIAM RANKIN/MARY ADAM FR6190 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0380 0552
16/11/1852 RANKIN MARY WILLIAM RANKIN/MARY ADAM FR6383 F Glasgow GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/001 0390 0330

Then to that list add the two Williams and the Agnes and I think you'll have it.

Best wishes
Jean