These Catholic records are wonderful!

[trish58]

Finally found some of my Rae family, 3 came up as Rae, 2 came up as Roe, the odd thing is there are none for the years 1840-1850, are these records complete ? I know there are at least 4 between those years.

Trish-

[Ina]

Hi Mary,

I've tried all the combinations of wildcards to use on my Bonnars too and came up empty handed.

After 1900 I know my Bonnars moved to the St. Lawrence parish. I'm patiently waiting for St. Lawrence's to come online as one of my Bonnar females married a Nicol and they named their son Saint Francis Nicol. I'm curious to see if that is the name on the christening record too.

However, I've been very lucky with my Moran side of the family, found many of them at St. Mary's.

Ina

[Anne H]

Hi Trish,

Finally found some of my Rae family, 3 came up as Rae, 2 came up as Roe

Sounds like we were having the same type of problem.

If only I could find my Roe's from the Coatbridge area I would be very happy. I was able to find two of mine only because I looked for others in the same parish who would have been baptised around the same time.

Regards,
Anne H

[Andy]

Hi Ina,

Please remind me of your various Bonnars. There are 133 listed in Greenock and Port Glasgow I used Bon*r.

I also came across a couple of Bonars as sponsors on a number of pages, I'll have to look through dozens of pages but I'm sure a few were familiar.

Another tentative tip:

Lots of the early Parish Priests at St. Mary's were from Banff. Banff remained largely Catholic even after the Reformation. Anyway, using previous data and information on my own lot and the Rathlin settlers in Greenock, I've found that the Banffshire Priests used the female sponsors Maiden Name EVEN when they were married, unless the husband and wife were sponsors when they would be listed as Mr & Mrs Husband's full name.

I found this out by accident when Esther Horan is listed as a Sponsor in 1841 (days away from the Census). There are no Esther Horan/Horn/Horne or varients in the Census but I knew that Esther Horan had married Angus Black before 1830. Indeed they were neighbours of the Parents in Dalrymple Street.

Then I checked my many transcripts and downloads for, firstly, unusual Rathlin Given Names, Esther, Matilda, Martha, Susan, then as many of the female sponsors for a great many "Rathlin" babies baptised in St Mary's. Turns out all I've checked that were recorded by John Davidson, William Gordon and Alexander Tailor used the maiden name. When the Ryan and Keenan Priests arrive it seems to stop.

[Ina]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the offer. I have friends here from Greenock at the moment so don't have a chance to look any names out. I'll get in touch with you after they leave on Saturday.

Hope all is well with you and the family.

Ina

[lynne smith]

Hi Carol

It could be that the child converted to Catholic. In my parish there is a lot of that, Baptist to Catholic and Catholic to Baptist - strange.

Lynne

[speleobat2]

HI Lynne,

That's something to keep in mind. In my case, it was a baby which was baptized though.


Carol

[lynne smith]

Hi Grendlsmother !! I chuckled till the tears ran down !! I am usually very frugal (well lets face it - cheap) but when it comes to research, that is the exception. I decided that if I could not find anything on ancestor James Smith b.1774, I would look into the maternal side, and have been having the greatest time, but now that I am all happy again, I found myself without thinking about it back into my James Smith problem, this is not a brick wall, it is the Wall of China. My hubby keeps telling me not to worry about finding anything, he really is not inerested, but when I do find something, he is all over it. It is so easy to think oh James Smith must fit here, or there, but truth is if one is wrong, your really searching someone else's history. , and I continue to lecture myself constantly about that. But it is fun, isn't it. James Smith b. 1774 in Tarland & Migvie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and his wife was Jean Gauld b. 1773 and their childen were John, Margaret, Jean, An Elizabeth and Helen. My father in law was Alfred John Smith, b. 1898, and his mother Elizabeth "Isabella" Smith who married John Barclay Smith (the one who was killed by Joseph Hume). If anyone out there can put some light to James Smith b. 1774, I would be grateful.

Lynne Smith