Birth details of my Great-Grandfather Alec W. Hill.....

Clyde Ashton · Post by **Clyde Ashton** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:00 am

I would like to try to find birth details of my Great-Grandfather Alec William Hill born Leith , Scotland, in 1864/65, to parents Henry Douglas Hill and Margaret Douglas. I have checked the entries of the Scottish Registry of Births deaths and Marriages, but there is no record of the event.
I haven't as yet found out any details for his death either.
The only information that i have was taken from his marriage certificate when he married Alice Hunter in 1893 in Melbourne, Australia. I am going on his age given on his marriage certificate of 28 years old, for the D.O.B. due to not having any other information to go on. I have not been able to find any information for his parents either in BDM records or census records.

Post by **joette** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:52 am

Hi Clyde & a Warm Welcome to TalkingScot.
You say you have been unable to find any BMD or Census details re your family.May I ask where you have had a look?
A quick search on Scotlands People reveals one entry for a Alexander Hill between 1860-1870 in Leith-no credits to check if it is yours but have you tried this site?
On the Certificate it should have date,place & time of Birth & usual residence if different.Names of parents including Mother's maiden name,occupation of Father & in this time period date/place of Marriage.
It will also reveal who registered the Birth which can occasionally uncover a Grandparent/sibling/Aunt/Uncle.
Hope this one is yours.By the way I omitted the middle name whilst searching as often this is an addition maybe at their christening etc.& is not on the original Birth Entry.

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:42 pm

Hello Clyde

This seems to be a bit of conjecture but is it possible his parents never married? Do you know if he had any siblings?

You are very correct in that there is no apparent birth registration in a reasonable range. THere is no birth registration under either Hill or Douglas. There is however a submission to the IGI that tells you nothing that you don't already know....

Alec William Douglas Hill - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: About 1860 Leith, Midlothian, Scotland

I took a chance and searched for possibles on the 1861 census and there are a couple of very likely looking parents....

1. Henry Hill age 21 stationed at Leith Fort unmarried and born England

and

2. Margaret Douglas age 21 living on her own in North Leith unmarried and occupation of tabacconist and receiver of letters for the post office.

No sign of a baby in 1861. No sign of a marriage anytime. No sign of any of them in 1871 in Leith.

Any idea when Alec may have emigrated to Australia? Perhaps his parents left Scotland and married in England and had more children there?

Afraid that is all I can suggest at the moment but will keep thinking...

Best wishes
Jean

Clyde Ashton · Post by **Clyde Ashton** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:56 am

Hello Jean & All The Talking Scots People,

Thanks for the warm welcome to the Forum, and for your suggestions about where to look for him.
I haven't used the Scotlands People website yet as the computer i am using work with the required software to produce the right graphics, but i will have the opportunity to check this website in a weeks time using another computer.
In answer to the question about whether Alec Hill had any siblings, i had no knowledge of any siblings. I have no knowledge of his whereabouts either before his marriage in Melbourne, Australia in 1892/93. No relatives are shown as witnesses on the respective marriage certificate. Incidentially the occupation given for him is butcher and the same for his father Henry Hill. If Henry his father is located at Leith Fort as stated in 1861, does this indicate a connection with the military. All of your hints and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Regards, Clyde

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:02 pm

Hello Clyde

I'm far from a military expert but yes I would say it's safe to assume that the Henry Hill I found on the 1861 census at Leith Fort was in the military. What regiment etc I'm afraid I couldn't tell you!

It's interesting that Alec's occupation was butcher and so was that of his father. I've had a very much stab in the dark look in England on the 1881 census to see if there were any HILL butchers about and where the greatest number of Henry Hill's were to be found. So far nothing conclusive and even remotely encouraging from that

It might be worthwhile to try and track the Margaret Douglas I found in 1861 backwards to see if her parents could be found and then it might be proven whether this Margaret ever married anyone else....once again....an extreme long shot!! If you have an opportunity for researching immigration records to Australia you might have just as much success finding Alec that way. Again this is an area I have no expertise in but there are tons of members on TalkingScot that do! Let's hope something can be puzzled out for you.....

Best wishes
Jean

Clyde Ashton · Post by **Clyde Ashton** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 6:10 am

Hello Joette,

Thanks for the warm welcolme. recently i had a look at the Scotlands People website, but i couldn't bring up any entries for an Alexander Hill born in Leith for the period 1860-1870. What did you search under, census, births or other records. Please advise.

Thanks, Clyde

Post by **joette** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:39 pm

Hi I searched under Births Edinburgh Leith 1860-1888.Using wildcard for H*ll got two & it's actually Hall(used a credit this time)Both Leith South.
One 1863 & the other 1877 I think but worth a look as the spellings are not always spot on especially if the person registering it was illiterate and/or had an accent which differed from the Registrar's.

Clyde Ashton · Post by **Clyde Ashton** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:14 am

Good to have your advise and suggestions.

I paid to search the Scotlands People indexes but i could not find the birth for Alec Hill using a total of sixty credits. The ones that i found, did not have the right parents. A while back where doing a search of the 1881 census, i found a number of Alec Hill's that were lodging with different families, even one that was married at the time. I consider these a possibility due to only having a copy of Alec Hill marriage with his age at 28 or 29, which may not have been correct at that time,

if he was much older than his intended wife. What do you think

Regards, Clyde