John Duncan.....

donna petrie · Post by **donna petrie** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 12:06 am

Hello: Seeking more information on John Duncan born c. 1802 in Partick, married Agnes McLaughlane, 1828. Children - Margaret( 1828), Elizabeth ( 1830), Christina (1834), John(1838), William (1840), Agnes (1844), James
( 1848), Edward (1849).

I think I found them on 1841, 1851, 1861 census but the ages are out. I don't let that stop me because I know from experience that sometimes the census data is totally "out there". One had a child Elisabeth listed as "son"! However it may be that there is a whole other John and Agness Duncan with the same named kids, and roughly the same ages and occupations.

Agness' parents are listed as William McLaughlane and Elizabeth Mitchell.
Can anyone help me go back? Thanks Donna PS- look for lots more postings as I keep adding my family.

Post by **Liz Turner** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:59 pm

Hello Donna

Have you managed to progress your family any further back? Thought if I answered the post and brought it back to the top, someone might see it and have some suggestions for you.

Liz

donna petrie · Post by **donna petrie** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:26 pm

Hi Liz: No, sorry to say I am sitting just where you found me. I do however have a thought that they might not be from Scotland. I checked the marriages on scotlandspeople for a William McLaughlane and Elizabeth Mitchell ( all sorts of spellings, and different first names) with no success, so either they were not in the established church or they were not from Scotland or they were not married. I notice that you have a few of my surname interests as well. Stevenson, Dickson, Lindsay.

Briefly I have Annie or Agnes Stevenson born circa 1794 married to James Wallace; he died before 1841. She is on the 1841 census, Stobcross Street, Verreville as a widow with her children John, Sarah, James, Agnes , Annie, Mary. I am from James
Dickson ( Lanark)- earliest one is William Dickson ( Dixon) and Elizabeth Scoular married 1787; I am from son William.
Lindsay( Fife)- Marion Lindsay listed as wife to Alexander Foot(e), parents of Ann(e), (ie), Foot 1826 married to John Henderson in 1850- Bo'ness. Any luck with these? Thank you for answering my post and giving it some new life. Donna

Post by **Liz Turner** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:34 am

Hi Donna

Well at least it's brought the post back to life!

My Lindsays are really on the periphery of my family. I'll have a hunt while I'm on holiday next week and see what I can find. They are definitely centred around Fife and the two names that spring to mind are Magdalen Lindsay and Low Lindsay - neither of them are that common!

All the best

Liz

Carol Duncan · Post by **Carol Duncan** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:29 am

Hi Donna,

I have a John and Agnes Duncan busily having kiddies at around the same time!!

Agnes's name was Erskine, and they had 12 children between 1846 and 1884.

But no Margarets or Christinas.

So it always pays to double check!

I have some McLeans with the same names causing me grief in my Australian research at the moment!

Cheers,

Carol Duncan
Australia

donna petrie · Post by **donna petrie** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:04 pm

Hi Carol: I know what you mean. That Scottish naming pattern can be troublesome at times. Can you imagine among all those kids naming their children after parents; all the Johns, and Agness? I know in our family there are so many Christines, Williams, that it gets confusing. My parents decided to break with tradition and so far we are the only Donna and Jacquie in either side of the family. Middle names are excepted of course. Donna

Carol Duncan · Post by **Carol Duncan** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:17 pm

Hi Donna P,

Yes, I feel like I know you well because your name always comes in when I search John and Agnes Duncan!

I have seven consecutive first-born sons all named John Duncan!! GAK!!!

My father is number 5, brother number 6, nephew number 7. At my brother's 50th birthday party, his son (#7) made a speech about how proud he was to be one of the Johns ... and wrapped it up by saying he would name his first son .....................

......................................

......................................

BARRY!!!

They actually refer to each other by number - I have told them for years that when I found number 1s father, that if he too was a John they'd have to change their numbers ... but the wonderful Jack here in TalkingScot found out that number 1's father was a Matthew!!

Phew!

AnneMT · Post by **AnneMT** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:03 pm

donna petrie wrote:Hi Carol: I know what you mean. That Scottish naming pattern can be troublesome at times. Can you imagine among all those kids naming their children after parents; all the Johns, and Agness? I know in our family there are so many Christines, Williams, that it gets confusing. My parents decided to break with tradition and so far we are the only Donna and Jacquie in either side of the family. Middle names are excepted of course. Donna

I am inclined to agree that the pattern of naming children after other family members. can be boring, as well as confusing. However, will our descendants be able to use their instincts to guess what a child's name is likely to be in the next couple of decades. For example, will they automatically guess that a first child is called after the place a couple had their first kiss, where another was conceived, not to mention the flavour of ice cream the mother was addicted to during pregnancy!!!

They will, I am sure, have their work cut out for them, just as much as as.

donna petrie · Post by **donna petrie** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:24 pm

HI: You make a good point. However I do think it will be easier to find someone named "Apple" than John Smith. Also, I think that future generations will probably have it easier due to the fact that everything is being recorded now, and so many people are in to this kind of thing we will be leaving really good records for them.

In Canada we have just completed a census and it asks to check if we wish the information to be made available to future generations; I said yes. So I think they will be more successful. I hope! Donna

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:14 pm

Hi Donna

...I think that future generations will probably have it easier due to the fact that everything is being recorded now, and so many people are in to this kind of thing we will be leaving really good records for them.

I've often wondered about this and I'm not so sure it will be any easier in the future. Think of the number of couples who have children who are not married. I can think of several people who have children from several realtionsships, but they have not married. Sure, you can look up the birth, but you may be struggling to get any further back - with a subsequent death entry for one of the parents many years later you may find the parents of that parent, but without a marriage entry it may be difficult to do the kind of cross-checking we are so used to doing. And if the couple who had the child have split up in the meantime, it may be difficult to find out who one half of that couple was at all if the name is not unique.

In addition many people change occupation quite a few times during their working life either due to choice or necessity - in many cases one occupation is not even in the same area or related to a subsequent one! Many people move around a great deal, not just within Scotland, but the whole world. As you noted, people have the choice as to whether their details will be available in 100years time, and here with electoral rolls, you can opt out of being included in databases (not sure if this applies to the "master copy" or just the ones that are currently made public & sold on to companies) ...and what about all the information which is digital and to a certain extent by its very nature, transient e.g. emails between relatives?

I have a funny feeling it is not going to get any easier, there will just be a slightly different set of challenges. They will probably look back at us and think we had it easy!!!

Best wishes
Lesley

TalkingScot.com

John Duncan.....

John Duncan.....

John Duncan

Naming pattern