Todd Buchle - whit?.....

[pinkshoes]

Thanks Andrew - I don't think these are mine - I was just about to post that I'd found them in the 1861 census in Slamannan, thanks to your clues. Mary Ann was born in 1857 which suggests (though by no means proves ) that Hugh and Bridget/Elizabeth (and now Betsy in 1861) were married before that. No date of marriage on Mary Ann's b.c. Only other clue I have is Bridget's death cert in 1871 - father Brian, no mother.

I have a few people who originated in Ireland, and were all miners so I guess I should do some research to find out if there was an influx at a particular time to fill a need, or through something going on at home. I got fed up with Mary Ann and the rubbish she spouted (born in Dumries, born in Lanark anywhere from 1857 to 1864, mother Mary Ann, Bridget bla bla depending on what you read) so she was on the back burner till last night - hauled out and dusted down a few times but never getting anywhere.

The 1861 census was a doddle - there were only 6 g*r*chers in Scotland and they were all mine! Not been able to find the deaths of Catherine or Margaret yet, but compared to yesterday, I now have a shedload of info on them.

Thanks again for all your help.

Pinkshoes

[AndrewP]

Hi Pinkshoes,

I will tell you my method of finding the Gor(r)achers.

(1) Go to Hugh Wallis's website at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com ... /index.htm
--> Scotland --> Fife --> Saline
Births 1855-1875 are found to be in batch C114551.

(2) Go to the IGI website at:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... _form=true
Insert only the following items:
- Father's first name: Hugh
- Region: British Isles
- Batch Number: C114551
Then [search]
That returns only four results. Only one resembles Gallocher in any way.
There is Mary Ann Gorracher (with 2 Rs according to the IGI) of 1857.
(The remaining three appear to be the same family with three different spellings of the surname.)

Given that result is an extract from the records, then it is time to go shopping on ScotlandsPeople. As for the spelling of the surname being different between the online IGI and SP. All I can guess is that at least one of them was mis-transcibed into its index. As you will now have the certificate you will know which was indexed correctly. I won't criticise either index - "to err is human".

That method worked well in this case as Saline is a small, rural parish and Hugh is not in the top ten first names in Scotland. Try it for James in a city parish and it may work, but not nearly as easily as this case.

The same method worked for the Slamannan birth, returning 24 results, again with one "Gorracher", but the mother's first name had changed.

Next was a "parent search" using Hugh Gorracher and Bridget Docherty. No new results. So I tried changing the father's surname to Gallagher as speculation. Then came three results - the two in New Monkland and one in Donegal. You have already discounted the Donegal one. Were the New Monklands two from your people, or are they a misleading pair?

So, there is no magic in it. It is a matter of finding the ways of manipulating the online IGI. If you have a batch number, you can do searches with the minimum of other criteria. The one item that the online IGI insists on is having the "Region" box completed - otherwise it returns an error.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

m

[pinkshoes]

OOOOH I'm so excited But first of all :

Andrew - thank you for explaining the process. I am familiar with Hugh Wallis's website which I found on Tom Paterson's webpage - which incidentally anyone searching in the Falkirk and surrounding districts will find extremely useful. What I didn't know though was that you could then search by a father's Christian name only - so long as you've got the batch number I presume. It's a splendid resource all together.

Yes the two in New Monkland are mine right enough. Two of the children died young - Elizabeth in 1867, the year she was born, and Margaret in 1863, the year after she was born. The three birth certs after 1860 give conflicting info re parents marriage - first one I got said they were married in 1842 in Ireland - information supplied by Bridget Gerraty, neighour - thanks Bridget 2nd one - information supplied by James, brother (I presume of new baby) says they were married on 25 May 1843 - no place given - thanks James! But = 3rd time lucky Margaret's certificate announces they were married in County Leitrim, Ireland - informant Hugh himself. HOORAY.

Andrew I can't thank you enough for leading me to this information. I really believed "Ireland" was as far as I'd get. I may get no further than the county, but I'm so delighted with that. At least I can now find out what their homeland was like, and maybe why they had to leave. I could weep, I'm so happy - if that makes sense

At the first convention of Talking Scot I'll be at the top of the queue to buy you your beveridge of choice

Cheers
A very happy Pinkshoes

[AndrewP]

What I didn't know though was that you could then search by a father's Christian name only - so long as you've got the batch number I presume.

Hi Pinkshoes,

With the batch number, you can search on any single piece of information in the subject's first name, subject's surname, father's first name, father's surname, mother's first name or mother's surname; or any combination of these.

At the first run at it, choose the one which is likely to give the fewest results - such as an unusual surname. That method by producing the fewest results makes finding the right one the shortest process.

Another method is to choose the name with which the spelling is least likely to vary, or is likely to have the least amount of variations, so long as it is not such a commonly used name in the area that there is going to be an over-long list of results.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[pinkshoes]

Thanks again Andrew - more useful info. I've tried to find James abt 1854 Balingry, Hugh 1856 Saline and John 1859 Todsbught under all variations I can think of, plus each of them in any of these areas and neighbouring. No success as yet, but I'm still delighted to have got this far, so not tying myself in knots over it!

I'm now going to find out what I can about how Hugh & Bridget might have lived in County Leitrim and the famine (presumably) which sent them to Scotland.

Thanks for all your help.

Best wishes
Pinkshoes