The Leitch Family

[Pandabean]

Ever since coming back from the lecture about Irish Genealogy on Saturday I have been trying to trace one of my Irish families but I am having no luck in finding any of the others of this family.

However I made the discovery that one of William's sons listed in 1901 is not his son as he is listed as visitor in 1891 and I have the sneaking suspicion that he is Margaret's son.

Basically what I am trying to look for is Margaret's death and only three possibilites came up after 1901 (she is listed in the census as house keeper for William) but they were all married. Margaret was stated as unmarried/single and aged 38/48 in the 1891/1901 census. I wanting or hoping to prove that William and Margaret are brother and sister.

This Leitch family seemed to have come over from Ireland around 1885 early 1886 from County Monaghan, Ireland. I know this from the birth of their daughter Sarah (my great gran) where the certificate has the date and place of marriage.

The parents of Sarah were William Robert Leitch (?1857-1905) and Sarah Jane Pollock (?1864 - 1899) and they lived in Bothwell/Bellshill. They had 4 kids if Robert is included. William (?1887), Sarah (1886) and George (1889). George married in 1921 to a Janet Hamilton and Robert was the witness so I know they both survived WW1. i cannot find anything on Robert or deaths of William and George.

Anyone have any ideas on how else I can prove Margaret and William are related?

[SarahND]

Hi Andy,
My head is spinning from trying to follow your post but I think I have finally got it straight. You don't mention Robert until nearly the end, but he is, in fact, the "son" in question, who may be a nephew?

So, if you'll allow me to recap:
William Robert Leitch and Sarah Jane Pollock were born and married in Ireland
They had 3 children, born in Scotland

Sarah 1886
William abt 1887
George 1889

Robert is another child, listed as a "visitor" on the 1891 census. He was born in Ireland (you didn't say this, but I got it from the 1891). His birth place is probably what is preventing you finding his birth record and thus his parents' names. Do you have the birth certs for the other children?

Sarah died in 1899
Margaret was living with the family before Sarah died. She was a visitor in 1891 and a housekeeper in 1901. (I gather this from what you said, but I haven't seen the 1901 census) Was Robert listed as "son" in 1901?

You have looked for and not found:
Death of Margaret
Death of William Jr
Death of George
Marriage and Death of Robert

But you have found the death of William Sr. in 1905? It would have been nice if Margaret had signed his death certificate and stated her relationship! Who were his parents? And who signed the cert?

I tried to find them in 1891 so I could see what you were referring to.
If I have found the right family, Margaret and Robert are both listed as visitors, which strengthens the probability that he is her son. Also, he is the same age as William in this census (they are both 6... is there another reason why you said William was born in 1887 rather than 1885-- or did the Ancestry index give me the wrong number?) I'll paste what I got from the census index down below so that other people reading this forum can follow the story too.

Douglas Park, Bothwell, Lanarkshire
William Leetch, 32, head, born Ireland, Coal Miner
Sarah Leetch, 26, wife, born Ireland
William Leetch, 6, son, born Bothwell
Sarah Leetch, 4, daur, born Bothwell
Gorge Leetch, 2, son, born Bothwell
Marget Leetch, 38, visitor, born Ireland
Robart Leetch, 6, visitor, born Ireland
Patrick Camble, 21, boarder, born Ireland, Coal Miner

Aside:
I thought I had found a possible Robert in the U.S., but his age doesn't fit
1930
1517 Cavalry Avenue, Detroit city, Ward 16, Wayne County, Michigan
Leitch, Robert, head, 38, married at age 26, born in Northern Ireland, came to U.S. in 1927, Machine Repairer in an auto factory
---- Isabella, wife, 45, married at age 33, born in Scotland, came to U.S. in 1927

He married Isabella Fraser (born Aberdeen) in Toronto in 1918. Again, his age is too far off. He claimed to be 26 at his marriage, so that makes him born about 1892. He would have no reason to make himself look younger, since he is already quite a bit younger than Isabella... so I think this one is out

Okay, so I didn't get you very far... in fact I got you nowhere, but I think I understand your post now! Maybe someone else will come along with a brilliant idea. I can only think of a few ways to prove the relationship between William and Margaret-- the same, I'm sure as the ones you are thinking of, e.g.:

1) Find both their death certificates and see if they have the same parents
2) Find one of their death certificates and see if the other one signed as witness, giving the relationship
3) Find the death certificate of any of the children who died before Margaret and hope she signed it.
4) Crucially, find Robert's marriage or death and see who his parents are. Which of the several deaths for a Robert Leitch of about the right age have you checked? There are several tempting ones, but I suppose you have already looked at them all.

Sorry not to be of more help, but perhaps by bringing this back to the top of the list, someone might see it who missed it before

All the best,
Sarah

[Pandabean]

Sarah,

Thank you very much for the help. I am sorry if I didnt make much sense to start with.

I also apologise that I wont be able to answer properly for about a week as I am going off on a fieldtrip this morning with the Uni until the 30th.


I have a birth, marriage and death of Sarah Leitch who is my Great Gran. She married in 1912 to William McDonald and she died in 1953. I also have the death certificate of Robert (Snr) who died in 1905.

What I have looked for also is:
Death of Margaret (not found)
Death of George (found a marriage but not a death, Robert is a witness to marriage)
Marriage and Death of Robert (havent looked in detail)

George married Janet Hamilton in 1921 in Bothwell.

I had a look for Robert's death (b.1885 +-2) and didn't find any good matches in Lanarkshire:

2 1922 LEITCH ROBERT M 39 CATHCART GLASGOW
3 1939 LEITCH ROBERT M 52 TRADESTON GLASGOW CITY/LANARK
4 1951 LEITCH ROBERT M 66 MARYHILL GLASGOW CITY/LANARK


Parents of William Leitch:
William Leitch and Isabella Wright


Sorry I have to go now, I will be back in about a week and I will post more details from my records.