Week 42 (October 15-21) – Proud: Which
ancestor did something that made you proud? Which ancestor are you proud of
finding?
This week I’m going with which Ancestor I am proud of
finding, as I have already blogged about my Great Grandfather Nicholas Dobson
who was made an Honorary Freeman of the City of Newcastle Upon Tyne and of whom I am very proud.
When you are dealing with my family tree, you are
dealing with names that are very common – my Scottish line has Martin, Dempsey,
Kennedy, Hunter, and Wright just to name a few of the surnames.
One of my most proud moments was when I found the
marriage of Robert Hunter. Robert is my Great Grandmother, Rosanna Hunter’s,
brother
But let’s start at the beginning - Working up my tree
Me
My Dad, John Martin
His father, James Martin,
His mother, Rosanna Hunter - whose brother, Robert, is the feature of this story
Her parents, Alexander Hunter and Rosana McLuckie (my favourite female ancestor)
In 1861, the family consisted of just Robert and his parents - an older sister, Margaret Ure Hunter, had died just before her 1st birthday in December 1859.
By 1871, the family had expanded and Robert now had 2 younger brothers - Duncan and John. A 3rd brother, James, had died at 6 months old in 1870.
By 1881, the family had expanded once again - adding sisters Agnes and Rosanna and brother Alexander into the mix.
The family had also moved from Stirling to Glasgow between the 1871 and 1881 censuses.
You'll notice in this census that there is also another person in the family - Mary, a daughter-in-law aged 22 from Dundee in Forfarshire
Do you know how many Robert Hunters there were who got married between 1877 and 1881 just in Glasgow? Countless! As I didn't know when the family had moved to Glasgow, Robert also could have married in Stirlingshire. That's what I was dealing with when I set out to find this marriage.
As Robert was only 20 in the 1881 census I made the incorrect assumption that the marriage was recent.
I had to keep expanding my search range to earlier and earlier periods of time.
I don't know how many months of searching it was before I stumbled upon the marriage - in September 1878 when Robert was still 17! (though the marriage record lists him as 20)
And finding that record was one of the proudest moments I'd had in my family research to date (in July 2008) - you should have heard me cheering from my lounge chair.
By 1871, the family had expanded and Robert now had 2 younger brothers - Duncan and John. A 3rd brother, James, had died at 6 months old in 1870.
By 1881, the family had expanded once again - adding sisters Agnes and Rosanna and brother Alexander into the mix.
The family had also moved from Stirling to Glasgow between the 1871 and 1881 censuses.
You'll notice in this census that there is also another person in the family - Mary, a daughter-in-law aged 22 from Dundee in Forfarshire
Do you know how many Robert Hunters there were who got married between 1877 and 1881 just in Glasgow? Countless! As I didn't know when the family had moved to Glasgow, Robert also could have married in Stirlingshire. That's what I was dealing with when I set out to find this marriage.
As Robert was only 20 in the 1881 census I made the incorrect assumption that the marriage was recent.
I had to keep expanding my search range to earlier and earlier periods of time.
I don't know how many months of searching it was before I stumbled upon the marriage - in September 1878 when Robert was still 17! (though the marriage record lists him as 20)
And finding that record was one of the proudest moments I'd had in my family research to date (in July 2008) - you should have heard me cheering from my lounge chair.
I admire your ability to read the handwriting. I, on the other hand, would have enjoyed reading your citations for the records you found :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Geolover - all these records are from the Scotland's People site. I have cropped them so you only see my family's record and not the whole page.
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