Tracing the Riddell's from Australia.....

[drmcghee]

Hello,

I am obviously missing home-Scotland; I thought I would do my family some service and take what records we have and trace back some. Unfortunately after much fun at the scottish registrar site I became unstuck. Clearly being 17000km away makes the problem resolution difficult. Most places suggest going to libraries which I clearly cannot get to.

I hear from other online forums, namely around Lanark, that this is the best forum site and that you guys can help point me in the right direction.
So here we go...

John Riddell (Cement Miner) was widowed by 1881 Aged 55. He was my grandfather's grandfather. He lived with his children (Henrietta, Robert, Francis and Thomas) in East Kilbride as marked in the 1881 census though his wife Martha (nee Muir) had died by this time. Martha and John married on the 7th August 1852. I have a copy in my posession but it does not state much more than that they were there 3 days in East Kilbride parish.

Basically I am trying to work out who were John's parents. I can't explicitly find his birth certificate or death certificate. I am guessing that his parents were (23 Apr 1826) JOHN RIDDELL/MARGARET WIGHTMAN.

IN any case by looking through Lanarkshire discussion boards I have found that there were many other census information. Some of which arfe on CD I think.

Could one of you smart people please help me? Any tips or suggestions as I am very new at this, would be welcome!

Thanks,
Kind regards,

David

[WilmaM]

Hi Welcome to TS - of course we're the best around

Have you tried looking for your man on the 1891 & 1901 census ?[ on the Scotland's People site] that could help narrow down his year of death to ten years or his children's marriage certificates would tell you if he was alive at that point in history.

Now I'll leave it to the experts - k

[AnnetteR]

Hi David

Firstly - welcome to Talking Scot. Your are correct about the parents of John - they were John Riddle and Margaret Riddle ms Wightman. The clue is in the spelling. If you log into the scotlandspeople web site you will find the death certificate of your John. If you search in the district for John RIDDLE (not Riddell) of East Kilbride using the starting year of 1881 (as we know by the census he was still alive then) only one appears for the year 1888 and it is yours. Just as a point of interest the informant on the death certificate was Oswald Dykes Riddle - son - so that's another child to add to your list. I didn't look for his birth but it may well be there. A parent search on the IGI for John Riddell and Martha Muir shows 8 children in total but Oswald is not listed there. I also noticed that Henrietta was born in the year 1855 so if you haven't looked at her certificate before it may be well worth spending 6 credits on as these 1855 certificates have a wealth of information.

Good luck with you search

Annette R

[drmcghee]

I'm really impressed. It didn't dawn on me to look for Riddle!

I will go back to the site and check with scotlandspeople.

Oswald Dykes Riddell is the name given to my Grandfather (it was the original Oswalds brother Thomas who named (i think) his 2nd son Oswald Dykes Riddell in 1904). I will do some research into the original Oswald.

Thank you so much Annette, my family will be really pleased!

[drmcghee]

Annette,

Thank you so much for your quick reply; made my day. One thing I meant to post on the forum was; what is IGI?

I think from quick research its some International Genealogical Index. Though specifically I think its microfiche… though one search did get me to the
http://www.familysearch.org/ Site from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know these things can take some time, so your advice on any online IGI search would be great.

Thanks,

_David

[StewL]

David

IGI is indeed part of the LDS, if you go to the site you found, and click search, then click International Genealogical Index, then Bob's your uncle and you can enter the details of the people you want to search for.
Be aware though, that some of the entries are submitted, and may not be accurate, but if it says extracted entry then that is genuine and can be trusted. IGI is often used by all of us as an aid in finding our long losts.

Good hunting, and dont forget the valium

If you need any further assistance in using IGI, post on the forum and there are plenty of helpful people who will give you assistance.

[AndrewP]

Hi David,

The IGI is a good search index and for Scotland has the following records indexed:
pre-1855 - from the OPRs (Old Parochial [Parish] Records) - Christenings (and/or births) and Marriages (or at least proclamations of intent to marry).
1855 to 1874/75 - from the statutory records - births and marriages
These records are verifiable by seeing copies of the original records (on microfilm in some libraries and LDS Family History Centres, at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk for the 1855+ records [and at some later date the pre 1855 records] and if you can get to Edinburgh, at New Register House).
The IGI extraction program stopped at 1875, so there are no newer entries from the statutory records to be found there. The IGI program did not include entries from the death registers.

In addition to that, there are submissions - information given from people having researched their family trees. This information can be good, and I believe is given with good intent, but normally cannot be verified. It may be from family bibles, or family papers or the like, but in some cases, it can be information passed down the family by word of mouth, or estimates made from other records, such as censuses or calculated from death certificates. By all means take note of submitted entries on the IGI, but remember you may never know if this information is good. There are LDS submissions for post 1875 dates and also some deaths listed.

At www.familysearch.org each search result page tells you if the result was extracted from the records, or was a submitted entry.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[drmcghee]

I have found out heaps more.

Im back to Johns Parents who I believe to be Robert Riddell (1755-?) and Isobel Watt who married in 1786.

When I am next on the ScotlandsPeople site I will see if I can back further. I am trying to establish whether the Riddell name does trace back to Roxburgh and the so called Riddell "clan". It would also clear up some held perceptions from the family.

On the way its proving to be a very interesting and fulfilling journey.

Your help as always is very much appreciated.

Regards,

_David

[sjdagutis]

I'm very late to this 2005 thread. Robert, or Oswald Dykes, Riddell is my 1st cousin, 3 times removed. His mother, Martha Muir, was my great great grandfather's older sister.

The birth registration for Robert is dated 5 Apr 1859. There is a notation on the record, "name altered to Oswald Dykes 15 May 1859."

Here's what I have for him:

5 Apr 1859 Born at Kirkton, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, to John Riddell, cement miner, and Martha (Muir) Riddell
15 May 1859 Name altered to Oswald Dykes Riddell
7 Apr 1861 Lived at Main Street, East Kilbride, with his parents and siblings; listed Oswald D Riddell, 2
2 Apr 1871 Lived at Main Street, East Kilbride, with his parents and siblings; listed as Robert Riddell, 9
3 Apr 1881 Lived at Main Street, East Kilbride, with his widowed father and siblings; listed as Robert, 20, quarryman
26 Jan 1883 Married Annie Cowie at Charles Street, Airdrie, New Monkland; listed as Oswald D Riddell, 23, railway quarryman
19 Dec 1884 Married Catherine McCormick at 9 Hope Street, Hamilton; listed as Robert Riddell, 22, bachelor, mason's laborer
Abt 1884 Daughter, Agnes Riddel,l born at Cambuslang (she is only mentioned in the 1891 census; no other records found
21 Jul 1886 Son, John Riddell, born at 52 Union Street, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, mason's laborer, listed as father
6 Feb 1888 Daughter, Catherine Riddell, born at Glenlee Cottages, Blantyre; Robert Riddell, mason's laborer, lised as father
18 Jul 1889 Son, Hamilton McCormick Riddell, born at 10 John Street, Greenfield, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, steam craneman, listed as father
5 Apr 1891 Lived at 67 Glasgow Road, Hamilton with wife and children; listed as Robert Riddell, 30, quarry engine keeper
31 Oct 1891 Son, Robert Riddell, born at 19 Lamb Street, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, quarry engine keeper, listed as father
10 Aug 1894 Son, Francis Riddell, born at 24 Lamb Street, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, steam craneman, listed as father
9 May 1897 Son, Malcolm Riddell, born at Enfield Cottage, Burnbank, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, mason's laborer, listed as father
31 Mar 1901 Lived at 5 Craig Row, Auchentibber, Blantyre, with wife and children; listed as Robert Riddell, 39, steam craneman
16 Jul 1909 Daughter, Catherine Riddell, married Thomas Richmond, Robert Riddell, quarry laborer, listed as father
1911 Lived at Kirkland Rows, Burnbank, Hamilton with children (wife not listed); listed as Robert Riddell, 49, crane driver
31 Dec 1911 Son, Hamilton Riddell, married Lizzie Rooney; Robert Riddell, coal miner, listed as father
3 Jan 1913 Son, John Riddell, married Agnes Richmond; Robert Riddell, free stone quarryman, listed as father
9 Jul 1915 Wife, Catherine (McCormick) Riddell died at Royal Infirmary, Glasgow; Robert Riddell, steam craneman, listed as husband
14 Nov 1915 Son, Francis Riddell, drowned at Hartfield Quarry, Blantyre; Robert Riddell, confectioner, listed as father
31 Dec 1917 Son, Robert Riddell, married Jeanie Crichton at Burnbank, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, master grocer, listed as father
28 May 1920 Son, Malcolm Riddell, married Isabella Lindsay at Burnbank, Hamilton; Robert Riddell, free stone quarryman, listed as father
11 Feb 1935 Oswald Dykes Riddell, 75, died at 14 Bellsdyke Road, Airdrie, New Monkland; listed as retired restauranteur and widower of Annie Cowie; deather registered by Ann Smith, sister-in-law

There are a couple of mysteries:
1) I can find no record of first wife, Annie (Cowie) Riddell's death; perhaps they divorced?
2) I can find no record of daughter Agnes Riddell's birth. I do not know if she is a child by Annie or Catherine. She only appeared on the 1891 census.
3) What's up with the change in occupations? How did he get in the food business and how did he become a master grocer?

[StewL]

sjdagutis

We don't like to think our threads are old, just a bit weary and having a wee rest
If contributors to the thread still have the same email address they will be notified of any new posts.
Hopefully your new lot of information will assist those searching for this family