William Rodger - b. 1798 Bothwell, Lanarkshire

[darylrodger]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone out there can help me with a brick wall.
I'm trying to find my hubby's 2 x great grandfather William Rodger, who was born circa 1798 in Bothwell
to William Rodger (a farmer) & Mary Rodger neè Rodger (according to his death cert in 1880). I'd like to find his birth or any of his siblings. I've tried looking on family search, & SP without success.

Can anyone help me find him or any info regarding siblings, or his parents ?

Thanks,

Daryl

[AlanRodger1]

hello Daryl,

I don't know if I can be of any help, but I too have been searching for my g.g. grandfather William Rodger, born Bothwell around 1810 and had a little success. I have been trying to find his parents and siblings but have come up with blanks, apart from his sister, Margaret who married Robert Knox. It seems to me that there were a number of people with the surname Rodger living in and around Bothwell at that time, perhaps many were related. My gg grandfather died in 1875 in Calton, occupation Engine Keeper with parents John Rodger and Margaret Steel. I have been plugging away at this area (Bothwell) for some time and have not had a lot of success. It is possible that your spouse's great grandfather, like mine, worked in the Coal/Steel industry at some time before moving into Glasgow.

Have you tried the Poor Law Archive at the Mitchell Library? I have had a few lucky breaks with my family tree from there - around 10 of my ancestors and their siblings have made applications for assistance in the last 140 years, and I broke through many brick walls from extra information gathered that way

My tree is on genes reunited and will be happy to share it with you, even if it just from being able to eliminate some possibilities from your quest,

with best wishes, Alan Rodger

[darylrodger]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for your offer to look at your tree on Genes Reunited, it might prove helpful in looking at other Rodger's who came from
Bothwell.

My hubby Allan's 2 x great grandfather William Rodger worked in the Calderbank Iron Works in 1841, as a carter. He was married to Janet Johnston
in Apr 1831, and they had ;

Jane Miller Rodger b. 1832 d.1880
John Rodger b. 1844 d. 1876
William Rodger b. 184 ?
James Rodger b. 184 ? d. 1909

Janet died between 1844 & 1851.

According to William's death cert. he died on 29 Sept 1880 at 344 Crown St, Gorbals, Glasgow. I think he came to Glasgow between 1861/71, as I've found him in 220 Thistle St, with his daughter Jane, & sons William & James in the 1871 census, although nothing comes up for 1861. I must admit I haven't looked at the poor law records for any of the Rodger's. I'll go and check it out this week, thanks for the heads up. I have the Rodger tree on Ancestry if you want to have a look.

Regards,

Daryl Rodger

[AlanRodger1]

hello Daryl

Reading your first post on Sunday spurred me on to look further and it looks as if there was some local migration from the Bothwell area into the city: for instance my gg grandfather moved to the Calton around 1860 to 1870 and some of his sister's children found their way to the Gorbals, in keeping with your spouse's gg grandfather's movements

My gg grandfather William Rodger married Marion Gillies pre-1855, lived in Bothwell and moved with their son, John to Glasgow. Marion died in 1866 and William re-married, going on to have my g grandfather William Rodger. When I typed search details into ScotandsPeople website and also into the search computer in the Archive at the Mitchell, the results were sometimes way off the spelling and dates I believed to be true. Your relatives are probably there, but perhaps listed wrongly - most common error I have found is a mix up in the death certificates - sons and daughters notifying the deaths of their parents regularly mix up the maiden names of their grandmothers - either completely wrong or simply switched. Another common error is the variety of spellings of Rodger recorded on official documents

please let me know how you get on at the Mitchell -

best wishes Alan Rodger (living in Arbroath)

[darylrodger]

Hi Alan,

Just to let you know I haven't been able to go to the Mitchell this week as I've been laid low with a nasty wee virus.
Hopefully, I'll be more up to it next week and I'll have a look at the poor law records etc.

Having major problems finding out what happened to my hubby's 3 x great grandfather's children, especially one ! Aaarrgghhhhh.
Definitely, a dodgy lot. . .

Regards,

Daryl