High Up Relations.....

[Tracey]

I forgot (just remembered) that Elizabeth Gaskell had died by the time my gt grandfathers sister worked for the family but the letters mention a Lady Blake and her whit that she must have inherited from her father ? - mind boggles But have also remembered my gt grandfathers other sister worked for a family that owned Norris Castle (nasty purpose built Castle now a ruin, suprise ! ) on the Isle of Wight that Queen Victoria's parents used to hire for their "holidays" (?) at the time she worked there i think it was owned by Scottish born John Ewing. Capt in ???Army - living in posh Brunswick Square, Hove (Brighton in other words now)

Now you've got me going over old stuff ...............and its time for my bed

[rdem]

I have a grey area around 1610 in the Barclay of Mathers line, if I can find some proof of that connection, it would naturally take me back to Scottish nobility and possibly royalty....that an a dollar will get you a cup of coffee!!!!!

I also know for a fact that I am third cousin to Ronnie Corbett but don't mention it to him, ............he doesn't know!!!<wink>

[joette]

My Granny's cousin was a nursemaid at Glamis Castle ancestral home of the Bowes-Lyons & helped look after a certain Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon when she was a very young child about 1905.
Well fast forward to 1990 when I was employed as a Nanny to a family of Bowes-Lyons.Yes they were related & during my time there I took care of on a few occasions some Great-Grandchildren of that very same Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon then the Queen Mother.My employer was a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Anne& I found myself curtsying to her on her visits-much to my employers relief & my disbelief!
My Great-Grandfather William Ross made Stage-Props for that famous magician Houdini.He would never reveal the tricks secrets.There are also some of his ship models-he was a shipwright on the Clyde-in the Science Musuem in London.
There is a tale that we are related to Robert Burns but so far have not been able to prove the connection.
However our blood is humble & I am glad to say I have so far found no
"bad yins".I think they were all just honest folk trying to take care of their families.

[rye470]

I also have a cousin who was also employed by a certain Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, but by this time she was the "Queen Mum". My cousin was a maid at Clarence house in the 70's, where she met her husband, the Queen Mum's chauffer.

Her Mum, my aunt, was the housekeeper for a London financier, John Scott, at Eredine House on Loch Awe. We used to go on our hols when I was little and I used to love looking through the visitors book. Though there were lots of the" Well to Do" noted, the only one I can remember was Lady Fermoy, Princess Di's grandmother.

I also have a Gt Aunt who married into the Carnegie family, but I just can't connect the twigs to the branch. So, if anyone out there can connect the following I would be very, very grateful. Especially as my daughter is doing an end of term paper on Andrew.

From a search of the OPR's on Scotlands People.

b. 13/09/1835 Carnegie Andrew

parents: Andrew Carnegie/Margaret Baxter.

b. 25/11/1835 Carnegie Andrew

parents: William Carnegie/Margaret Morrison.



So, can anyone connect my twigs?


Here's hoping,


Christine.

[DavidWW]

My Granny's cousin was a nursemaid at Glamis Castle ancestral home of the Bowes-Lyons & helped look after a certain Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon when she was a very young child about 1905.
Well fast forward to 1990 when I was employed as a Nanny to a family of Bowes-Lyons.Yes they were related & during my time there I took care of on a few occasions some Great-Grandchildren of that very same Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon then the Queen Mother.My employer was a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Anne& I found myself curtsying to her on her visits-much to my employers relief & my disbelief!
My Great-Grandfather William Ross made Stage-Props for that famous magician Houdini.He would never reveal the tricks secrets.There are also some of his ship models-he was a shipwright on the Clyde-in the Science Musuem in London.
There is a tale that we are related to Robert Burns but so far have not been able to prove the connection.
However our blood is humble & I am glad to say I have so far found no
"bad yins".I think they were all just honest folk trying to take care of their families.

Hi Joette

Same question !

Have you emailed Rhona at BBC

BTW As regards any connection to Rabbie, that can only have been via his many illegitimate children, or going back to his parent's or grandparent's siblings, .... there's at least one website out there which has a massive database relating to such relations of Burns.
dww

David

[MaryB]

Lieut Col Angus John Beaton - mentioned in who's who.

Lady Flora Forbes Mitchell - lady in waiting to Bonnie Prince Charlies Mother, before her marriage

Mackintosh - who were all Provosts/Ballies in Inverness

not forgetting Cosgrove and Pearce who were guests of HRH in the 1881 and 1891 census (HM Prisons)

[Liz Turner]

Unfortunately, not connected to anyone famous but it's nice to hear of those who are - it makes you realise how small the world is. The closest I can get is:-

My gt gt grandmother's niece had a leg operated on by Joseph Lister (antiseptics) back in the 1880s!! The child had come back from China with her family, where her father was a medical missionary. He began life as an illegitimate child in Fife and went on to study at Edinburgh University - so he did very well for himself. His first wife had died while the family were in China and he married his wife's sister, which at the time was against the law in England I believe. They married abroad and I have copies of some correspondence which indicates the difficulties he had convincing the church authorities in England that he hadn't broken the law - since he was Scottish!

I think it's wee things about life and social history that make geneaology so interesting.

Liz

[AndrewP]

... His first wife had died while the family were in China and he married his wife's sister, which at the time was against the law in England I believe. They married abroad and I have copies of some correspondence which indicates the difficulties he had convincing the church authorities in England that he hadn't broken the law - since he was Scottish!

I think it's wee things about life and social history that make geneaology so interesting.

Hi Liz,

My understanding is similar to what you have stated there. Two pieces of UK legislation formalised the situation.

Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act 1907
Deceased Brother’s Widow’s Marriage Act 1921
(jointly known as Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Acts, 1907 and 1921)

I believe that these marriages were already legal in Scotland, but were not previously legal in England, Wales and Ireland. So for Scotland, they formalised the already accepted marriages of these relationships; and for England, Wales and Ireland these marriages were newly legalised.

Can anyone confirm or correct my interpretation of these laws?

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[Tracey]

I think it's wee things about life and social history that make geneaology so interesting.

Liz

Me to. I have in excess of 300 letters now dating from 1880,s. Most of which thankfully my Uncle had rescued from my grandfathers house. 90% of them concern my gt gt grandmother - my gt grandfather and his two sisters. All i can say is that they are heartbreaking but do tell a lot about social situations (many of which havnt changed) also stories about Ladysmith, the theatre production of Charlies Aunt, The Flying Dutchmen a King of Spain visiting London............. naming lots of people and events happening in Portgordon, Portknockie, Buckie whos relatives i have tried to find to pass this info on.These are all written by my Scottish side.
This to me is far more important than any claim to fame and i think i am extremely lucky to have held something so precious.

I wasnt so gracious when i was scanning them all onto my pc though !

[setait]

My understanding is similar to what you have stated there. Two pieces of UK legislation formalised the situation.

Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act 1907
Deceased Brother’s Widow’s Marriage Act 1921
(jointly known as Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Acts, 1907 and 1921)

I believe that these marriages were already legal in Scotland, but were not previously legal in England, Wales and Ireland. So for Scotland, they formalised the already accepted marriages of these relationships; and for England, Wales and Ireland these marriages were newly legalised.

Can anyone confirm or correct my interpretation of these laws?

The history section of the GRO(S) website at http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/abotgros/histgros.html has a downloadable leaflet which, among other acts, lists these two and says that the legislation allows for such marriages but does not apply in cases of divorce where the previous spouse is still living.

In addition "Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland" edited by J T Cox DD (1934 edition) says:

A man may marry his deceased wife's sister (P.1907), or his deceased brother's widow (P. 1921), ... The provisions of these enactments "are limited to the specified relations of deceased [in italics] spouses, and do not extend to relations of divorced [in italics] spouses during the lifetime of the divorced spouses" (Registrar-General's circular). It may be assumed that the Church will take no disciplinary action against persons contracting, or ministers officiating at, marriages above enumerated. - page 54

I'm not a lawyer, but these seem to make clear that such marriages were not previously legal in Scotland. I don't know what the situation was about marriages that took place abroad though.

Can someone else expand or clarify further?

Sheena