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  1. #1
    liz_bern
    Guest

    Cool Henry Macdonald - Scotland

    I have searched everywhere to find a birth date for my gg grandfather. He was born in Govan, Glasgow, Lanarkshire in about 1828 to Henry and I think Ann (nee Mackay). He joined the Scots Greys on 12 May 1846. He was married in Atherstone, Warwickshire, England and emigrated to New Zealand in 1874 where he died in 1886. I have just about everything I want except the ellusive birth date and confirmation of his mothers name. Hope someone can help please.

    Cheers Liz

  2. #2
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    North London
    Posts
    5,147

    Default

    Welcome to the forums!

    Quote Originally Posted by liz_bern View Post
    I have searched everywhere to find a birth date for my gg grandfather. He was born in Govan, Glasgow, Lanarkshire in about 1828 to Henry and I think Ann (nee Mackay).
    Have you tried the Old Parish Registers at ScotlandsPeople?

    scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ (put www. in front)

    It's a paysite, so you would have to buy a few credits. Having his father's name should help you to narrow down the results for a very common surname.

  3. #3
    liz_bern
    Guest

    Cool

    Hi again, yes I have tried Scotlands People with no success unfortunately, so now dont know what to do.

  4. #4
    Logie
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Liz!

    Hope you don't mind me asking, but how do you know his Father's name (and potentially his Mother's)? Have you got his marriage cert to confirm this? If so, have you got occupations? Any further information would be really helpful in trying to track down his parents and birth.

    Logie

  5. #5
    Hugh Thompson
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Liz, the only one that I could find around the Govan district is this one at Hugh Wallis' IGI website.
    Good luck.
    Hugh.

    Extracted birth or christening record,
    Henry Macdonald.
    Birth: 04 JUL 1821
    Christening: 22 JUL 1821
    Gorbals, Lanark, Scotland
    Parents,
    Henry Mcdonald and Agnes Anderson.
    Only about two and a half miles from Govan.

    And their marriage, also extracted,
    Henry Mcdonald and Agnes Anderson.
    Marriage:
    28 OCT 1820 Gorbals, Lanark, Scotland

  6. #6
    liz_bern
    Guest

    Cool

    Hi again, I have Henrys death certificate that says his father was Henry and his mother Ann Mackay. His marriage certificate says his father Henry is a Clerk. Unfortunately he was married in England so it doesnt give as much info as a Scottish marriage cert would give. Henry went into the Scots Greys at the age of 18 years 1 month on 12 May 1846. In the 1841 census I have found a Henery Macdonald 10, dyer, listed with an Anne Macdonald 20, Grace Macdonald also 20, Janet Macdonald 15, and Mary Macdonald also 10. If born in 1827/8 he would have been about 13/14 yrs old at the time of the census. If this is him you would wonder where the parents were.

    His death certificate has him as 58 when he died in 1886 which would make his birth date 1828, but his marriage certificate has him as 31 when he married in January 1859. If you take him as 18 yrs 1 mth in May 1846 his birth date comes out again as 1828, but if 31 in January 1859 he would then turn 32 in the April and then he would have been born in 1827 so still cant really pin down which year is the correct year. Hope this all makes good sense.

    His death certificate also has him being born in Stirlingshire, but his army records show he was born at Govan, Lanarkshire. The NZ death cert was deciphered from old handwriting so would suggest that they may have got this wrong.

    Hope all this helps.

    Liz:

  7. #7
    Logie
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Liz!

    Unfortunately I have nothing positive to contribute at this time. I have spent some time looking for Henry Jnrs birth and Henry Snrs marriage without any success.

    However, my thoughts about Henry Jnrs place of birth and DoB are this:
    The age of 18years and 1 month when joining the Army was so specific I would suspect it to be correct ie 1828. Of course, he could have given the wrong dob and place of birth to the Army but why would he - he was of age. So, I would again, suspect that Govan Lanarkshire to be his correct place of birth. Hugh's info in #5 looks pretty good except for Mother's name. Of course, forenames are variable but surnames less so. However, I have got an instance where the maiden name of the mother was completely different to the the one I know to be correct on one of my death certs! I am not saying that this is the case but it is possible.

    Assuming that Ann Mackay is the correct Mother's name you have got no further yet!

    Re 1841 census: my first thought was that Ann bc 1821 may have been incorrectly transcribed. Perhaps you should look at the original on S's People to check this? It is possible that this is the Mother, particularly as Grace was also born in 1821. As you are probably aware, in the 1841 census ages were rounded up/down to the nearest 5 years so, for instance, someone who was 13 may have been recorded as 10 or 15 and someone aged 17 may have been recorded as 15 or 20!! How inconsiderate for us family history researchers!!

    Logie
    Last edited by Logie; 07-01-2011 at 1:00 AM. Reason: Extra info

  8. #8
    liz_bern
    Guest

    Cool

    Hi Logie, thanks for all that you have tried to find. I have copy of the original 1841 census page for Anne and the 20 could be taken for a 26 except for the fact that they rounded up or down. If she was 26 and Henry was 12/13 (depending on the month census taken), she would still be too young to have had him.

    Unfortunately Hughs info has him born in 1821 which is too early. The Agnes as mother could work as my mother was Agnes but called Nan so maybe Ann could be another form of Agnes. Clutching at straws a bit now.

    When they left England for NZ they called up to Lanark again I think as on the shipping lists for them it said that their last county was Lanark. Henry and his wife Jane married at Atherstone, Warwick and lived their till he left the army then not long after that they shifted to Chorlton till they came over here. They had eight children with only 4 surviving to come to NZ then in Nz had another 5 children with only 3 surviving of those. It is all so interesting but I wish I could go a bit further back with the relatives.

    Once again thanks for all your help.

    Cheers Liz

  9. #9
    Logie
    Guest

    Default

    Good morning Liz!

    Nan was a short form for either Ann or Agnes but Ann was not a short form of Agnes. It could have been that Ann was a middle name I suppose. However, I suspect you should work on the fact that Ann was her name!

    I have looked on Scotland's People births and on the free lists found:

    Old Parish
    Surname: MacDonald (exact name only)
    Forename: left this empty - putting Henry in found nothing - however he may have called himself other than his birth name
    Parent1: MacDonald (putting Henry in found nothing)
    Parent 2: Ann Mackay

    ALL RECORDS
    ALL PARISHES

    This found 1 match

    When I put in Govan, Lanark or Stirling no matches were found - so again speculative!!

    I know that you have already done searches on S' People so apoligies if I am telling you stuff you already know!


    Logie

  10. #10
    Logie
    Guest

    Default Marriages Mackay/MacDonald

    Hello again!

    Apologies, again, Liz if you have already done these searches on S' People.

    |Marriage

    Mackay (surname set as variant)
    Ann
    Spouse MacDonald (no forename)
    Dates 1815-1817

    All records
    No parish set

    2 matches found

    Sorry I have not been able to be more helpful!

    Logie

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