Please help with search

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:59 am

Hello Dugie,

The London Gazette has entries for him (search the whole database with his name a phrase) but possibly no more than in the obit.
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/Advanc ... ype=London

The National Library of Scotland has one of his medical notebooks.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/ ... ?ID=P48676

The India Office has a death record for him but I’ve no idea exactly what that is.
http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/Advancediscovery.aspx

There’s an article in the “Scotsman” 9th march 1896. Probably an obit and possibly the same as the one Lesley found. Search for the name as a phrase. Access can be relatively expensive for one item.
http://archive.scotsman.com/search.cfm

He wrote a book on his experiences in the Zulu and Transvaal Wars 1879 and 1881.
http://www.google.com.au/books?id=duJwG ... r+brown%22

His "Surgical notes on the Zulu War" appeared in the "Lancet" Vol. 2 (July 1879).
http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/discussion ... 35&forid=1

If you search in these two google books for BLAIR you’ll find references to his work.

Western medicine and public health in colonial Bombay
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=oFt ... C&pg=PA173

Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Qza ... IC&pg=PA85

“19th Century British Library Newspapers” available down this road viewtopic.php?t=11449&start=0 may be worth a very good search. Unfortunately what should be a very easily found name doesn’t appear to be very useful for the OCR process. These turned up with various combinations of Surgeon, Colonel, Dugald, Blair and Brown etc.

The Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh), Tuesday, February 5, 1867
“Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh.—Double Qualification.—The following gentlemen passed their first professional examinations during the present sittings of the examiners: —Dugald Blair Brown, Glasgow; Robert Gray, Dundee; etc…………”

Glasgow Herald (Glasgow), Friday, May 26, 1893
He’s on a list of Dinner Guests in Scotland.

Glasgow Herald (Glasgow), Tuesday, February 11, 1896
Obit, but appears to be identical to the one Lesley found.

The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, February 15, 1896
A very basic death notice with very little info.

The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Wednesday, March 4, 1896
“An accident, which occurred at Meean Meer, Punjaub, India, on January 27th, resulted in the death of Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Blair Brown. A native threw a cracker, which frightened Dr. Brown’s pony, and he was thrown, receiving such injuries that he died the same evening.”

Hope there’s something new there.
Alan

Dugie4 · Post by **Dugie4** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:28 pm

Many thanks to all who have replied to my request for help: Paula, Lesley, Frances and Alan. You have all given me information that I didn't know before, and lines of enquiry to follow. Interesting stuff!!!

Dugie4 · Post by **Dugie4** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 4:58 pm

Further to the above, I can't find anything about what happened to Dugald Blair Brown's parents, John Stewart Brown and Alexandrina Blair Brown. I would like to find their death certificates and if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be grateful.

I have the marriage details: John Stewart Brown, merchant, Liverpool, (son of Bryce Brown, shipmaster, Liverpool) married Alexandrina Blair (daughter of James Blair, merchent, Greenock) on 18 December 1845, in Greenock.

Their son, Dugald Blair Brown, was born on 4 March 1847 in the parish of Gorbals.

I can't find any mention in the 1851 or 1861 censuses, but in the 1871 census Alexandrina Blair Brown was living with Dugald Blair Brown at 8 Pitt Terrace, Stirling. Presumably John Stewart Brown had died by then, or maybe he'd left home.

I'd like to find out what happened to John Stewart Brown and why the family isn't in the 1851 or 1861 censuses. Can anyone help?

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:53 pm

I did a parent search on the IGI using the names you mentioned:

3 children came up:

1. LIVINGSTONE_ BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 12 JAN 1849 Middle Or New Parish, Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland

2. DUGALD BLAIR BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 08 APR 1847 Gorbals, Lanark, Scotland

3. WILLIAM DOBSON BLAIR BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: 28 FEB 1851 East Parish, Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland

I don't know if you have these names or not? but the birth of the youngest would put the family in Greenock for the 1851 census.

The 1871 census entry you have found should indicate if the lady was a widow or not, to narrow down John's death.

I also found this rather intriguing entry :

ALEXANDRINA_ BLAIR Male
Christening: 07 JUN 1818 West Or Old Parish, Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland
Father: JAMES BLAIR Family
Mother: LIVINGSTON_ DOBSON
Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record .

Rather unusual names so must, I think, be some connection ...

Dugie4 · Post by **Dugie4** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:12 pm

Thank you for that reply Wilma.

You are of course right - the 1871 census shows Alexandrina Blair Brown as a widow so John Stewart Brown must have died before then.

The information that you found on Alexandrina is indeed intriguing.
Her father was James Blair - but her age on the 1871 census (if I am reading it right) is given as 42 and not 53 as it would be if she was born in 1818.

But Livingston Dobson was the name of one of Alexandrina's daughters!

Another puzzle!

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:16 pm

What really struck me was the ALEXANDRINA born in 1818 is down as a MALE !

Certainly I'd bear the family's middle names in mind as they seem to link back.

momat · Post by **momat** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:45 am

Here are her Parents

LIVINGSTON DOBSON BLAIR Pedigree
Female

Event(s):
Birth:
16 FEB 1862 Middle Or New Parish, Greenock, Renfrew, Scotland
Christening:
Death:
Burial:

Parents:
Father: WILLIAM BLAIR Family
Mother: SARAH CAMERON

Dugie4 · Post by **Dugie4** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:47 pm

Momat, what you have found is that Livingston Dobson Blair has different parents from Dugald Blair Brown.

Is it possible, I wonder, that the IGE contains mistakes?

Where does the IGE's data come from?

Is it entered by researchers?

It's not a primary source, is it?

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:28 pm

The IGI contains a mixture of records, some are the 'official' Parish records made at the time of the event, you'll find the words Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the birth or christening date at the foot of the information. and will have a batch number for furter entries at that time and place.

Other records will have 'Record submitted by a member of the LDS Church.' or similar these need to be treated with much more caution and the information verified from other sources.

The Livingstone that Momat has found is possibly a cousin? of the family you are interested in.

I hope we haven't confused you

Dugie4 · Post by **Dugie4** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:17 pm

Wilma,

What made me suspicious was the record that says that Alexandrina Blair was male. That looks to me like a mistake. I know I'm looking from a 21st century perspective on a birth 190 years ago, but even then it must have been very unusual to call a boy Alexandrina!

What I'm looking for is clues as to where I might find primary records of the family after the birth of Dugald Blair Brown on 4th March 1847 (he was christened in Gorbals Church of Scotland) and the 1871 census when he and his mother were in Stirling.

I can't find them either in Greenock or in Gorbals in the 1851 or the 1861 censuses. Neither can I find the father John Stewart Brown's death certificate.

Now I'm going to see if I can find the birth / christening records of the two children that the IGE says were his siblings, Livingstone Brown and William Dobson Blair Brown.