Macrae

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:16 pm

It seems the above may not be who we (we?? I...

) thought she was. Seems that given parents were John McCrae and Jane Sinclair.

Hmm.

I still think Charles & Euphemia are worth following up though.

StewL · Post by **StewL** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:44 am

HI Lesley
You just beat me to the information, this Jane's father was a cooper.

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 2:38 am

Just curious about the childrens names to Jessie and Charles...also....is this where you're picking up your suspicion on the name Euphemia.....or elsewhere?

Best wishes
Jean

NeilG · Post by **NeilG** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:11 am

Everyone - thanks so much for looking into this and for the suggestions - this is very much appreciated.

Jessie and Charles had 6 children: Charles Hector Turner Graham (the Turner bit comes from the Graham side of the family - his grandmother's maiden name, but the Hector bit may be a clue - born Brighton, 1904); George Graham (b. Gloucestershire, 1906); Ruby Graham (b. Somerset, 1908); Donald Graham (b. Somerset 1909); Violet Graham (b. Somerset, 1910); and Albumin Graham (don't know where or when born). I may have got the spelling wrong for this last name - it's not a name I have ever heard before and my mum tells me he was always just known as "Bim" (he was her uncle).

I can't remember where the Euphemia thought came from, I'm afraid. I think I found a record on ancestry.co.uk once that showed a family called Charles & Euphemia with a daughter called something that could have been a variat of Jessie, so it's a tenuous link at best and I can't find it again now (it was in the early days of my family history research experience and I didn't save it - I know better nowadays!).

NeilG · Post by **NeilG** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:21 am

OK - I have found the record in the 1891 Scotland Census that interested me. It's Charles Macrae with his wife Euphemia and daughters Jessie (right age) and Euphemia. Trouble is, Charles is a Carter which is definitely not a master mariner. I only have an ancestry.co.uk subscription and you can't see actual images for Scottish censuses on there. They've transribed the younger Euphemia being Monar, but as being a daughter to Charles, so I imagine that's a transcription error for Macrae.

I like the thought that Jessie may have confused her father and grandfather when it comes to occupation. I think I remember my mum telling me she was always keen to better herself having started life as a servant. I think she romantised her birth at sea to get a bit more glamour (this is just speculation, by the way), so I wouldn't be surprised if she adjusted her father's occupation. "Master mariner" really means captain of a ship, I think, so the tugboat thing is a possible link.

Post by **AndrewP** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:19 am

Hi Neil,

If you follow up daughter Euphemia's birth, you will find her in 1880 in Greenock, where the father's occupation is tugboat seaman.

By the time of the 1881 census, he was an unemployed carter in Greenock (surname spelled McCREA).

In their 1876 marriage certificate, he was listed as a railway parcel deliverer.

I have found no sign of a birth certificate Jessie (or Janet) under various spellings of Macrae or MacKay (mother's maiden surname, as she may have been born before their marriage). The 1881 census gives Jessie's birthplace as Cambuslang, Lanarkshire. The 1891 census tells us she was born in Greenock.

Any of the above birth and marriage certificates, and the census enumeration pages can be viewed at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk on a pay per view basis.

All the best,

AndrewP

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:17 pm

If you follow up daughter Euphemia's birth, you will find her in 1880 in Greenock, where the father's occupation is tugboat seaman.

Thanks Andrew!
That is looking pretty good to me.

I'm sure this must be the correct Jessie. There are just too many coincidences.
I wonder where on earth her birth is though - its got to be somewhere....
Even if, for some crazy reason, she was born on the tugboat, she'd have been registered, surely?!

Best wishes
Lesley

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:25 pm

Neil
I've emailed you the Charles McCrae and a Euphemia McKay 1876 Greenock Marriage whci I found yesterday so you can see it in detail.

Best wishes
Lesley

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:34 pm

It surelyl looks like a fit to me too....Euphemia was a widow in 1901....

Name: Euphemia McRae
Age: 55
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1846
Relationship: Head
Gender: Female
Where born: Islay, Argyllshire
Registration Number: 535
Registration district: Tarbert
Civil parish: South Knapdale
County: Argyll
Address: Bannockburn 3rd Floor
Occupation: None Living On Own Means
Household Members:
Euphemia McRae 55
Alasdair M J Sinclair 2

Her death is found indexed here:
1918 MACCRAE EUPHEMIA MCKAY F 73 NORTH KNAPDALE /ARGYLL 530/00 0002

Interesting note is that her grandson refers to Charles as a "Crofter"...surely a jack of all trades that man!

Best wishes
Jean

NeilG · Post by **NeilG** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:07 pm

Thanks ever so much for all of this. Lesley - thanks for the image - that's brilliant and a real help. It certainly all fits like this, doesn't it? On ancestry.co.uk, I've looked at the Scotland census data and the only one that makes sense (i.e. father called Charles and daughter called Jessie who is the right age) is this one.

Thanks for all the help. I'm really impressed with everyone's enthusiasm and generosity on this site!

Neil