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  1. #1
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    Default Helen FINDLAY nee GRAY (b Dunfermline 1841)

    What happened to Helen FINDLAY nee Gray after 1874?

    Helen GRAY d/o Robert GRAY & Jean (otherwise Jane) PYE married William Anderson FINDLAY 1 Jan 1866 Dunfermline. They had 5 children, the last in 1874. William A Findlay's life & career is well-tracked (by others): despite being the son of a ploughman, he became a teacher of drawing & mathematics & travelled widely, including outside Scotland. Their first 4 children were born in Helen's parents' village of Crossford, Dunfermline, and the informants on at least 2 were members of Helen's family. Helen is last recorded, with William and children, in the 1871 census in Hamilton, Lanark.

    In January 1877 William married Mary Magor, as a bachelor, in Flintshire, Wales. He continued his career in England thereafter.

    Several people have looked for Helen and for the children, in the 1881 census and not found them. On-line resources have been searched for her death. Four of the children re-appear in the 1890s, in various locations. No one known to me who is interested in this line is able to visit Dunfermline.

    I'd be grateful for pointers/help.
    Thanks in anticipation
    Delphine

  2. #2

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    Helen Gray or Findlay successfully sued for divorce from Wm. Anderson Findlay, teacher of mathematics, on 7th Dec 1876 - as reported in the Dundee Courier, 8 December 1876..

    https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.c...earch/advanced

    Put "anderson findlay" in "The phrase" and restrict publication date to 8 Dec 1876 to view snippet from article.
    "dyfal donc a dyr y garreg"

  3. #3

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    I think the case may also have been reported in "The Scotsman, 9 Dec 1876" - free to search on line but pay/subscribe to view
    "dyfal donc a dyr y garreg"

  4. #4
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    Thank you so much for these replies - divorce never occurred to me at this early date. We live and learn!
    Regards
    Delphine

  5. #5

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    Apparently he left with another woman.... we can't give you the full entries because our TOC regarding subscription sites.
    When you say that you've searched online, does that include Scotlands People? The marriage cert should have been amended. This would also be the place to look for her death cert -search under both maiden and married surnames.

    PS they're still down for upgrading, should be up today.

  6. #6
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    Some libraries have free access to British Library Newspapers, and can even be viewed on line at home, if you have a library card. This is true of Lancashire Libraries. The Dundee Courier is one of the included newspapers.

  7. #7

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    I think that I've found them in the 1881 under the name Watson. Helen (b. Dunfermline) seems to have remarried Alexander Watson, a teacher, and they're living in Partick, Lanark. Ancestry shows 8 children, the first 7 are shown as "step children", only the 1 year old is shown as Watson's son. The first 4 were born Dunfermline, the next 2 in Hamilton, 1 in Edinburgh and the son in Glasgow.
    If the first 7 are all "steps", that sounds as though she might have had another relationship in between....
    Time to go to Scotlands People and look for marriages... Start with the Watson marriage, the cert should show her most recent surname and her maiden name. In '91 Alexander W is in a large boarding house in Glasgow.

  8. #8
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    Thank you to everyone who has responded, I - and my fellow-seeker - do have access to the British Newspaper Archive and to Find My Past.

    Thanks especially for the WATSON connection. Since I am not a direct descendant (W A Findlay was my mother's great-uncle) I may leave searching Scotland's People to my colleague who is more directly connected.

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