A few questions

rita · Post by **rita** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:45 pm

Hi Everyone
One of my GtGts' born in Scotland 1873 he died 1940 and from his headstone it stated he was a minister of JOOTS' Church Katanning W. Australia and Ladybank Fife.
From a Fife Website I found his obituary and photo stating that he had been minister of the Kerr Memorial Church from 1930 to 1935 when ill health had forced him to retire it also says that much of his ministry had been carried out in Western Australia but at the outbreak of the last war he came home and enlisted in the 1st King Edward Horse and was severely wounded.
I know he married in Katanning 1920 and came home with his wife who was a nurse who worked in Edinburgh until the end of WW2, and she returned to Perth W.A. and died age 94.
A couple of questions are where would I find out where he trained as a minister?
Where would I find when and who he travelled with to Australia? I have him in the 1881 census and 1891, his parents were both dead by 1893.
Anyone heard of the Regiment he was in?
Regards
Rita.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:41 pm

Hi Rita
If he was Church of Scotland you should find him in the Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, available at any good or decent sized library in Scotland e.g. Mitchell Library, NAS. That should give a brief biography including where he trained.
Also see:
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10328

Best wishes
Lesley

rita · Post by **rita** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:46 pm

Hi Lesley
I think he was a Presbyterian minister.
Would the Mitchell Library have records for them as well?
Thanks
Rita.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:16 am

Hi Rita
Presbyterian is a broad term that covers quite a lot of different flavours of Scottish churches and some churches from other countries too! e.g. Germany, Holland. It really applies to any reformed Protestant Church which is based on Calvanist doctrines. e.g. The Free Church, United Free, Baptists, some Methodists, Church of Scotland and many more "flavours" of church are all Presbyterian, so that still leaves us quite few different branches of Scots Churches to choose from!

This page suggests that although the church in Ladybank may originally have been perhaps not CoS, it appears to now be the Parish Church which suggests it is perhaps now CoS.
http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/building_ ... id=M035190

If he is not CoS, so not to be found in the Fasti, I expect he may turn up in one of the other reference books listed in the link in my last post.

Best wishes
Lesley

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:19 am

Hi Rita
Having spoken with someone from Ladybank, I'm informed that the church was always CoS in living memory, it was never the parish church as Ladybank comes under Collessie Parish and Collessie is the parish church and, sadly, the building was knocked down and three bungalows now stand on the ground.

Best wishes
Lesley

rita · Post by **rita** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:21 am

Hello Lesley
Thanks very much for your help.
I did as you suggested and looked through the Fasti but no joy there.
My John Law Smith was born in Stewarton Ayrshire, I have him in the 1891 census as a 17 year old apprentice shoe maker, can't find him there on the 1901 although some of his siblings are, so don't think he went to Australia with family.
A Genes contact who was related to Johns' Australian wife said that they thought he was a preb minister in Katanning, although they had never heard of the JOOTS church which was mentioned on his gravestone in Stewarton, although his wife Kathleen was born in Australia her Grandparents came from Dunbar East Lothian. the descendants of Kathleen have most of the history of her family and said as far as they were aware Kathleen and John didn't have a family together.
I haven't been doing much research on John so far as just recently connected him with my other Smiths.
Thanks again.
Rita.

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:14 pm

Hello Rita,

Just a few odds and ends.

You’ll find his 1921 marriage on this site
http://www.openwindows.com/marriage/search.htm

You’ll find Kathleen’s burial here
http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/NameSearch/search.php

I think your Joots’ Church is a warped version of Scots’ Church.
http://register.heritage.wa.gov.au/PDF_ ... %20(I).PDF

Youll find info about the King Edward’s Horse on the bottom third of this page
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-ass ... onials.htm

On this Military Horse Forum there’s a link to a photo of presumably a 1st King Edward's Horse soldier.
http://www.militaryhorse.org/forum/view ... ed0d9d4b7f

A google will bring up information about other interesting people who served in John Law Smith’s Regiment.

Hope this helps,
Alan

Post by **SarahND** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:22 pm

Currie wrote: I think your Joots’ Church is a warped version of Scots’ Church.

Of course

I think you've got it Alan. Same number of letters and only two off, with easy confusion c>o and capital S>J That has to be the answer!

Regards,
Sarah

rita · Post by **rita** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:06 am

Thanks for the links Allan your a grand googler.
Well when I took the photo of the gravestone I thought, strange name for a church, the Scots church sounds better and I'm sure that's the one, mind, it still looks like JOOTS, so the next time I'm in Stewarton I will give the stone a wee clean, (The Australian Genes connection must think I'm nuts) I don't know who the Lair owner is as it has been staked and has a safety notice from the council on it.
So the KEH were troops consisting of Colonials based in Britain, and British subjects living abroad who came home to join up, I thought it might be something like that.
Well I'm starting to unravel some of these Smiths' too many of them with John, James and Robert, at least most of them have middle names which help.
Thanks again
Rita.