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[417144]

Good day. Please bear with me if I mispost until I learn the etiquette of the site. I am starting a search for Fothergills and Ashtons, last known to live around the Hartlepool area and McDougalls and Raes from the Lanarkshire area of Scotland. Any and all advice is welcome even if you may think it is too obvious, please send it anyway.

I now live in Texas, have grandchildren and want to leave them with as much of their family istory as I can.

[Jan1954]

Hello 417144 and welcome to Brit-Gen

A really good starting point to learning all about researching your family history is to read our Beginners Guide (click the link ). Then, take your time to have a good look round - getting yourself comfy with a cuppa also helps - and post your questions. If you are not sure of the etiquette, then have a read of the Terms of Service first.

Please do not worry about asking what you think might be a daft question as we all had to start somewhere and I can certainly say that I have asked some strange questions in my time...

Have fun and good luck with your research!

[Mutley]

Welcome to the forum.
When posting a question on the forum please be sure to give whatever dates you may have.
Also the names of spouses and children are very useful for us to take 'a-hunting'.

Enjoy yourself and don't worry too much about etiquette, we are a very friendly bunch and enjoy the chase, even if the ancestors are not are own.

[417144]

Here is all of the information that I have:
My Scottish grandmother was born March 25, 1893 in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire on March 25, 1893. I know she had a brother Jimmie Rae who lived in Hamilton, Lanarkshire until he dies in late 50s or early 60s. Both were involved with the Salvation Army.

My Scottish grandfather died in Lanarkshire in June 1929. He was James McDougall. He may have been born in Dumfries but my father could not find any record of him in Dumfries when he tried 20 years ago. His mother and sister lived in Caerleverock.

My English grandfather was Frank Fothergill, son of William Fothergill and Hannah Margerate Nicolson born 17 Sep 1896.

My English grandmother was Mary Elizabeth Ashton born in Hartlepool on May 9th, 1895 in Hartlepool. She was the daughter of Edward John Ashton and Eleanor Caroline Bowlb (Bowlt?) who were married in the Parish of Stranton, Co. Durham on Dec 24, 1892.

Do you have any suggestions as to where I go from here?

Thanks a million.

Gordon

[Nicolina]

welcome Gordon, you've come to the right place. I'll start off with your first bit of info.
Frank FOTHERGILL married Mary E. ASHTON in Hartlepool District Dec quarter (Oct-Dec) 1917 Vol 10a Page 280.

[Jan1954]

Hello Gordon,

Do you have certificates for your grandparents? If not, you need to obtain them. This is because information that is handed down verbally can sometimes be wrong.

Scottish certificates may be downloaded from Scotlands People (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/) for a small fee and the English ones from the General Register Office for £9.25.

Also, see if you can find them in the censuses at all. In England, these are available for free at the local libraries. I am not sure if this facility is available in the USA, but certainly worth checking out.

Don't forget to record where you have found information. You may find something here that will help you record your findings.

Any specific questions that you have, please have a rummage round the forum and post your questions in the most appropriate place. If you get stuck and do not know where to post your questions, just come back to this thread and ask.

[racing girl]

Hello Gordon and welcome too.
Familysearch.com has the 1881 census available for free. If you put in Caroline Boult, pick Any for the event, Durham for the location and start and end dates of 1881 it will bring her up quickly. You can click on her name and see the rest of her family. The only way to be 100% sure this is the right family though is to buy Caroline's marriage certificate as it will list her father's name and his occupation. If you're anywhere close to a decent library you can use their computers and their library edition of Ancestry for free, this gives you all the UK census from 1841 to 1901, plus other info too.

Best thing to do in the meantime though is to read the beginner guides Jan has already linked and then find the correct board and post specific questions or queries.

Durham and Northumberland are very well represented on Family Search, they have the Bishops Transcripts of the Parish Registers available to view, coverage and years do vary though, but they are incredibly useful.

Regards
Brenda

[racing girl]

Meant to say that the reference for Caroline's marriage is:

Hartlepool 10a 218 Dec Q 1892

Hartlepool is the district, 10a 218 is the reference to quote and Dec Q means the event was registered during Oct-Nov-Dec of 1892. The year is split up into quarters for registration purposes, Mar Q, June Q, Sept Q and Dec Q. It costs around $15 to get the certificate and it can be ordered online, see Jan's post #6 for the weblink. It can be expensive if you need a lot of them but sometimes it's the only way to get the info.

Her birth reference is Gateshead 10a 871 Mar Q 1874, this will list her mother's maiden name too.

Regards,
Brenda

[grisel]

My Scottish grandmother was born March 25, 1893 in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire on March 25, 1893. I know she had a brother Jimmie Rae who lived in Hamilton, Lanarkshire until he dies in late 50s or early 60s. Both were involved with the Salvation Army.

My Scottish grandfather died in Lanarkshire in June 1929. He was James McDougall. He may have been born in Dumfries but my father could not find any record of him in Dumfries when he tried 20 years ago. His mother and sister lived in Caerleverock.

Hello Gordon

Looking on the free index on Scotlandspeople for a female Rae born 1893 Rutherglen brought only one match - a Corbet Rae. Is this your grandmother? If so if you register and buy a few credits you can download her birth certificate which should give both parents' names.

As Corbet is such an unusual name I looked for a marriage with a James McDougall. There was one in 1919 in Holytown district Lanarkshire. Again you can download this and it should give both names of both father and mother of bride and groom if known.

If your grandparents died in Scotland and you know dates and places of death you can download death certs and again they should give names of parents. (Note that the information given on certs is different in England and Scotland)

You may also be able to pick up your grandparents on 1901 and 1911 censuses with their parents and siblings..

Hope this helps.

[417144]

Thanks to all of you for your valuable assistance. I appreciate your taking the time to help. I am now going to start at square a and request the official records of those of my family that I can verify and go from there.