surname variations on Hailstones?.....

lcrago · Post by **lcrago** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:54 pm

Hello,

I am new to this site, and it appears so, too, is the Hailstones surname.

I have been unsuccessfully hunting for eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century (bef 1820) OPR marriage records for Hailstones. I have searched under many variations of the Hailstones surname, i.e. Hailston(s), Hilston(s), Halston(s), Hailston(s), Hailstane(s), and Haldane with almost no luck. Wildcard searches are overwhelmed by Halketts. Any suggestions of surname variations for Hailstones would be greatly appreciated.

Among the many "missing" Hailstones marriage records I seek, I am particularly interested in the marriage of William Hailstones and Christian Baxter. (Their children were all born in Bathgate, between 1794 and 1822. William Hailstones is on the 1841 census living on Engine Street, Bathgate, b. 1772 in West Lothian, living with daughter Elisabeth.)

Thanks for any help on variations of Hailstones surname,

Laura

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:24 pm

Hi Laura

Welcome to TalkingScot.

Have a look at http://www.namethesaurus.com/Thesaurus/Search.aspx and use the search, and you will find that ....

NameX generates 80 possible spelling variants
SOUNDEX generates all of 1,401 variants
and Metaphone 29 variants

Many of the Namex and Metaphone variants can be covered by a much lower number of spelling variants when you learn how to use wildcards

David

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:04 pm

Hi Laura

Basing this guess solely on the birthplaces of the children....odds are a marriage in Bathgate around 1792-3 isn't going to be found. The Bathgate (662) Marriage OPR's have no entries at all from Nov 1688- Dec 1691, Sep 1787-Oct 1783 and only 8 listed between Dec 1785- Mar 1811. From Mar 1811 there in only a record of proclamation fees and down to 1818 inclusive the names of the bride are not inserted into the entries. Soooooo unless William and Christian are one of the 8 marriages....or they wed in another parish.....

Best wishes
Jean

lcrago · Post by **lcrago** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:53 am

Hi Jean,

Thanks so much for you quick reply and for resolving a huge problem I've encountered in my research on the Hailstones. (I haven't found a marriage record for the late eighteenth century for almost any of them). So much for my efforts to link the eldest Hailstones in the 1841 census together.

I nonetheless am impressed with the rapidity of your reply and the depth of your knowledge.

Could you direct me to the place in which "holes" in archival genealogical holdings are detailed on Scotland's People?

(I've encountered different challenges, but roadblocks nonetheless,locating other family members, i.e. Becks claiming on census records to have been born in Airdrie yet finding no birth records there for them, death records in which parentage claims don't match up with birth records, etc., etc). Although these challenges are normal in the course of historical research, it helps to have a concrete idea of the record base before drawing conclusions based on existing records.

Thanks again.

Best wishes,
Laura

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:08 am

Hi Laura

Oh gosh don't be overly impressed with me!!

I just turned to my trusty reference guide...."Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland" compiled by V. Ben Bloxham. It's copyrighted by the good folks at Brigham Young University. Picked up my gently used copy from a second hand book shop for a very agreeable cost

I'm relying completely on Mr. Bloxham's written word here as I've not examined the original OPRS's in any depth. Sorry to say that ScotlandsPeople website doesn't presently contain the same level of data analysis. It is their intention to somewhat soon release the digital images of the OPR's though...perhaps rolled out in batches.....as we all await with baited breath.....

Best wishes
Jean

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:23 am

Off-topic in terms of the thread subject of HAILSTONES, but on-topic in another way....

I believe that the Scottish Association of FHSs plan to re-publish "Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland" originally compiled by V. Ben Bloxham.

David

Post by **AndrewP** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:31 am

DavidWW wrote:Off-topic in terms of the thread subject of HAILSTONES, but on-topic in another way....

I believe that the Scottish Association of FHSs plan to re-publish "Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland" originally compiled by V. Ben Bloxham.

David

If the FHS's have gone through all of the OPR microfilms for their areas to seek out the gaps in them, I take my hat off to them. That will have been no 5 minute task.

All the best,

AndrewP

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:41 am

I don't think that it's so much the current FHSs who had much to do with the situation in terms of the original survey, although I suspect that they did much to assist the Bloxham publication.

The original edition of Bloxham was published in 1970, and is itself based on "Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers" published by Murray and Gibb of Edinburgh in 1872, for the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages.

The copies of the latter at New Register House are full of hand-written annotations, and I would assume that Bloxham included these.

An aspect of the situation unclear to me is whether the planned, new SAFHS edition will include any new info since 1970.

David