Robert Johnstone 1895 Dunfermline

[Chrissie b]

A real puzzel for me is my father he was Scottish and born in dunfermline in 1895. He was a pensioner when i was born and was a widower. We have followed a family line which ends abruptly. dad was in first world war but was a man of few words his name was Robert Johnstone, i'm named after his mum christina. his dad was also robert .

Thanks for the help.
Chrissie b

[christanel]

Hi Chrissie
I have separated your information about your father from your original post so we don't have two searches for different people on the same forum as it can get very confusing. This post is in the brickwalls forum and has the title Robert Johnstone 1895 Dumfermline

You say your dad was in WW1. There is a service record for a Robert Johnstone from Dumfermline on Findmypast but as yet I can't see any information on it to say it is your father unless you know he was missing part of his big toe?
Over 60% of WW1 service records were destroyed by bombing/fire in WW11 so very lucky if we find the ones we are looking for and there are quite a few Robert Johnstone's in the 1901 Scotland census.
Christina

[Lesley Robertson]

Why don’t you check and see how many birth certificates were issued to for that name, place and year? You can do an initial search for free on Scotland People, but you will have to buy the certificate to see the details. Have a look at the how-to posts at the top of the General Scottish Forum.
His b.cert will tell you when & where his parents married, their marriage certificate will give you their parents.

[christanel]

There is only one Robert Johnstone birth 1895 Dunfermline Fife on ScotlandsPeople. Ref 424/ 446
Christina

[Chrissie b]

I was blown away by the information in the post about my dads big toe he did indead loose the top and when i was small allways said a mouse bit it off but reality was a mule stood on it .
I have my dads rather batterd birth certificate too delicate to take out the envalope now , if i did my searches ok he had a good size family i have his grandparents , Andrew watson and isabel ______ i just need to know what happened to them all , why he never mentioned his family and he was a widower when he married again he may have had children from that marriage, i am a person with very few relatives , a half brother , estranged i have 2 children lotts of granchildren but its the past that haunts me .
Sorry prattled on again .
Chrissie b

[Lesley Robertson]

Don’t worry, Chrissie, this is possibly the one place where everyone understands.
Tracking Scottish family is easy until 1855, before that it gets harder. Have a look through the stickies in the General Scottish forum, they will explain all the possibilities. I am at work right now, will come back to this this afternoon.

PS can you let us know your mother’s name and their wedding date and place? I assume that she is no longer with us?

[Lesley Robertson]

I headed for the census.
In 1901 (Anc doesn't have the scottish 1911), Robert and 4 siblings are living with their grandfather, Andrew Watson in Dunfirmline. In 1891, Robert & Christina are living with their first 4 children in Dunfirm. Robert was b. abt (never trust ages in the census completely) 1855 in Kincardine. He's a coal miner. Cristina, also abt 1855 in Dunfirm.

There's a marriage for Robert Johnston & Christina Watson, 9 Oct 1874, Dunfirm.

Remember that name spelling was a fuzzy business in Scotland pre WW1.

It looks like something happened to RJ/CW between 1891 and 1901. When you note that their youngest child was 2 at the time of the 1901, you can narrow the dates for CW, at least.
There's deaths for 2 RJs in that time range, only 1 in Fife in 1896. I can't find a death for Chris* Watson-Johnston* in that time period.

This has all been built from transcriptions and indexes. You really need to get the BMD certificates (more info) and census returns (also more info). Work it all out on paper.

PS The collection of sticky "how to" threads are HERE

[Chrissie b]

Thanks again for this info here is my mothers details
Phyllis fenwick ( maden) later on the wedding certificate it was phyllis may meek as she was married before and had 1 child robert .
Date of birth 26.3 1916 tynemouth district married robert johnstone 25th .3 1965 .
I have noticed that on the cert he has not put his fathers name or occupation even though my mam has put her fathers , im wondering if there had been some falling out im hoping to find the other siblings and follow them to present day if possable .i will have to get all my scriblings out .
Thanks again.
Chrissie b

[Lesley Robertson]

Get all of your data sorted out (I find that there's still nothing so satisfying as a big piece of paper), get the ceertificates you need, and then we can move on.
The lack of a father's name on a certificate often indicates a birth outside marriage, but there's one listed for him - maybe he couldn't remember. He was very young when his father died.

That soldier that Chris found gave his wife's name as Mary Ann (Foster), so she must be number 1.

[Lesley Robertson]

I see that FreeBMD has a death for a Mary A Johnston in 1930 in Tynemouth, age 62. You would have to see that certificate to know if this was her.There's also a Mary AB Johnston in 1951, Tynemouth, aged 71.

PS I see that you are planning to search forward in time as well. Do remember that we don't allow the details of (potentially) living people to be posted on the forum.