still the RODGER Family !

[mistylincs]

I have found a WILLIAM RODGER who is a Blacksmith and therefore may be the Father of my WILLIAM who married HARRIET TIDMARSH. WILLIAM senior was born in 1815 in Pittenween Fife and married MARGARET ? who was born in Leuchars in 1816. Can anyone find the maiden name of MARGARET. I am hoping to tie this into my family but apart from the christian names following down the generations I have very little to go on. The son WILLIAM was born in 1844 according to the Census in Fife which does match my criteria but I am having a hard time tracing him to 1866 when he married HARRIET TIDMARSH in Little Compton Gloucs,
Hope someone can help.

[Mary Young]

1851 Dundee
WILLIAM RODGER blacksmith born "Petterman" Fife.
wife MARGARET born Leuchars
John 9, William 7, Thomas 4, and James 1, all born Dundee.
Several births (excluding William) are in I.G.I.
parents WILLIAM ROGER and MARGARET ANSTRUTHER.
Hope this helps!

[mistylincs]

Hi Mary,
Thank for your reply, Anstruther now that is a name to work with. I do hope I am barking up the right tree but this is the only WILLIAM RODGER who was a Blacksmith that I could find. I now need to trace WILLIAM the son I don't know whether you can help me further on this. I have looked at various Census but have drawn a blank. Showing my ignorance here but what does I G I stand for and is it open to all ?
Thanks again
Mistylincs

[Mary Young]

IGI is the International Genealogical Index free to view at familysearch.org. includes index to the Old Parish Registers (OPR) of the Established Church of Scotland.
In 1861, William Rodger sr. blacksmith was in lodgings in Perth; I can't see any trace of his wife, William jr or the other Rodger children.

[JustJean]

Not sure if this helps but it looks like the parents and their youngest son from the IGI...David....are together on the 1871 census in Perth. A look at David's 1855 birth shows at that time that they had 4 sons living and 3 sons 1 daughter dec'd. I'm not seeing the family on the 1861 census yet either.

1871 Scotland Census
Registration district: Perth Burgh
Civil Parish: Perth Burgh
Town: Perth
County: Perthshire
Street Address: 45 Kinnoull Causeway

Household consists of:
David Rodger, age 15, son, b. Clackmannanshire, Alloa
Margaret Rodger, age 55m wife, b. Forfarshire, Leuchars
William Rodger, age 56, head, b. Forfarshire, Pittenweem, occ: Ship Blacksmith

Best wishes
Jean

[JustJean]

I take that back.....this looks like Margaret and kids in 1861...

1861 Scotland Census
Registration district: Dundee First District
Civil Parish: Dundee
County: Angus
Street Address: Gellatly Street No 23

Household consists of:
David Roger age 5, son
Jas Roger age 11, son
John Roger age 19, son
Margt Roger age 42,head b. Leuchars, Fifeshire, occ: Engineer's wife

No William so that is a good sign....now just to prove that he didn't die and is the same one married in England!!

Best wishes
Jean

[Mary Young]

Good work! Those contracted forenames really complicate the search, don't they?
Tragically high rate of child deaths in the family.
I wonder if Margaret and her children were in the local fever hospital or workhouse in 1861, and either wrongly enumerated or missed altogether.

[mistylincs]

Thankyou all so much for your replies. It is getting really frustrating now cos WILLIAM (junior) isn't the invisible man he has to be somewhere between being born and getting married in 1866. What did they have to do back then to be a Teacher did they just have to have a good education which I suppose was rare before the National Schools came into force. WILLIAM was headmaster at Harmston School near Lincoln.

[mistylincs]

Am sorry to be a pest but I have found the date of the marriage of MARGARET ANSTRUTHER and WILLIAM RODGER in Scotland 1st June 1838 how do I get a copy of their marriage certificate, are they the same as ours in Endland.?

[JustJean]

Scottish statutory registration didn't begin until 1855 so if you found a marriage reference to 1838 then it must have been in the Old Parish Registers which were Church of Scotland. Digital images of these are available online from ScotlandsPeople website (pay per veiw) but what it will contain can be extremely variable. It's furthermore doubtful that it will contain anything that will positively link those parents with your William.

You mentioned that William married in 1866 in England. Am I correct in assuming this marriage states his fathers name as William and that he was a blacksmith??? Is there any evidence of a naming pattern fin William and Harriet's children or even a middle name that could be a pointer to earlier generations???

I'm not sure about the teacher qualification issue.....I had a grgr aunt who was a teacher in Scotland and then in the US around 1890-1910 but I don't believe she had any formal training other than probably passing a certification test of some sort.

Best wishes
Jean

[mistylincs]

Hi Jean,
Thanks for your reply. I have had a bit of a break through which I don't think is coincidental. I have found MARGARET ANSTRUTHERs parents who are JOHN ANSTRUTHER and MARGARET SMITH. This is the interesting bit because my family were BLANDs and my Mum always said that upto when she and my Dad married the BLAND males came down as SMITH BLANDS. Now MARGARET SMITH would have been my WILIAMs Grandma and he and Harriet (Nee TIDMARSH) had a daughter MARGARET and their other daughter HELENA married RICHARD SMITH BLAND. I may not have found WILLIAM in person but I now think I may at least have his parents brothers and sisters. Thank you so much for all your help
Homexxbird

[IanJewel]

William Rodger's son David Davidson Rodger became minister at what is now Knox Presbyterian church in Lower Hutt N.Z. in 1883. He moved to a new parish in North Canterbury in 1888. During his time in Lower Hutt his father William died at the age of 73 and was buried in the Blackbridge Cemetery alongside the church. This was in 1886. There is no mention of his wife Margaret, who may have died before the family left Scotland.

There is more information on the cemetery website, which you can reach by entering "Blackbridge Cemetery Lower Hutt" into Google.