John & George Johnston Ireland to Scotland.....

smoore · Post by **smoore** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:59 pm

I'm looking for John and George Johnston, two brothers from Lough Eske area of Donegal, Ireland who left for Scotland in the early 1900's. John was born in 1878 and George in 1886. Their father was called William, they had one brother who went to the USA and one who stayed in Donegal called Robert, my grandfather. Hoping to find some descendants of this family and tie up some loose ends.
Sylvia, Canada

Post by **joette** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:40 am

Hi Sylvia & Welcome to Talking Scot.Would they have been in Scotland for the 1901 Census do you think?
If you go to sources section above http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ will let you Register & for a small fee have a look for any possible Marriages/Deaths & Births of possible children & the 1901 Census if you think they may have been here.
As you have parents names this should be on any possible certificates & thus you will be able to identify them with some certainty!
Do you have any idea of where in Scotland they may have settled?
Pity the 1911 census won't be readable for another five years!
Anyway we are a pretty friendly/helpful lot so just ask away.

smoore · Post by **smoore** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:11 pm

Thanks so much for your welcome and prompt reply. I realise with the Johnston name it's like looking for a needle in a haystack but I'm always hopeful that something will turn up. I've searched the 1901 and 1911 census in Ireland, John was already gone in 1901 but George was still there, by 1911 both were gone from Lough Eske. I've assumed that they went to Glasgow, many Donegal people went there for work but I can't be sure. I tried Scotlandspeople many years ago but just too many Johnstons!
Thanks again, Sylvia

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:25 pm

Hi Sylvia

You're so right there are so many Johnstons

Do you have any idea of what John's occupation would have been?? Any idea of mother's name? You might be able to pick up John in 1901 census or at least narrow down to a pool of possibles....but the only way to confirm this choice would be to find a marriage for him with both parents names or even a death and also find his brother George as a witness or informant or vice versa for each other. I assume they were unmarried when leaving Ireland?? I can't see any other approaches...unless you know of family or friends they might have gone to live with??

Best wishes
Jean

smoore · Post by **smoore** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:47 pm

Hi Jean,
Thanks for your reply. John & George Johnston lived on a small farm, their mother was called Mary Scott. I'm assuming they were unmarried as I have never found any marriage records for them in Donegal. I don't know of any friends or relatives they could have stayed with.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Sylvia

Post by **Liz Turner** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:04 pm

Hi Sylvia

If you're searching in Scotland, don't limit it to just Glasgow unless you know for certain that's where they went. My own paternal grandparents came to Howwood (Renfrewshire) in the 1910s to work in the bleachfields, from Ballyclare, NI.

Good luck with your search - I don't envy you - looking for Johnston(e) will be quite tricky. Folks on this site will do their best to help/guide you as you find out more bits of information.

Liz

PS - Is the info on the LDS site about William Johnston and Mary Scott (Drumnacarry, Lough Eske, Donegal) and their 8 children your family? It's all submitted records and not extracted.

smoore · Post by **smoore** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:53 pm

Hi Liz,

I tried ScotlandsPeople but the search had hundreds of hits, I need to know more about them before I can go further with that. I'm not even sure if they went to Glasgow but it would have been a place to start.

Quite a coincidence, we lived in Ballyclare before we emigrated to Canada.

The entries in the LDS of William Johnston and Mary Scott are my family.

Sylvia

Post by **Liz Turner** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:01 pm

Hi again Sylvia

Yeah I was just looking at your lot on IGI - and trying to find one that wasn't a submission!! You've been busy ...

Have you tried posting on US sites looking for the boy that went to USA? I found two of mine that way. I tracked them down via a website but got stuck at that point because the site is now defunct!

Let us know how you get on and if you get any more information, it's worth posting here because someone will try to help you.

Liz

PS I'll have a look at SP when I've got some live credits - I've got 21 sitting expired right now!!

smoore · Post by **smoore** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:16 pm

Hi Liz,

I tracked down the other brother in the USA, a real stroke of good luck. Cousins of my father found me on the internet and put me in touch with a lady in Philadelphia (she was originally from Drumnacarry, Donegal) who knew Alexander, unfortunately, he never married and of course, he is now dead. The same person told me that John & George went to Scotland. She also, sent me a photograph of the three brothers, I think, it was taken when Alexander came home to visit.

Thanks for the offer of help, much appreciated.
Sylvia

Post by **Liz Turner** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:18 pm

Sylvia

Any extra information on his death certificate?? Do you have a copy of it?

Liz

PS - I gave in and did quick search in the deaths on SP for George Johnston all Scotland, born 1886 - came up with 11 possibles. When you widen to 1886 +/- 2 you get 55. If you've not looked at them, it might be worth 3 credits to try and narrow them down.

Liz