Dougan cholera deaths in 1832 Glasgow

ArchiveCookie · Post by **ArchiveCookie** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:35 am

My gr-gr-grandfather Thomas Dougan was raised by his future wife's older brother after the death of his parents in the cholera epidemic in Glasgow in 1832 - I have him living there in the 1841 census, age 13. My gr-grandmother's journal says he was born in 1825 on Sohoe Street in Glasgow. She says his grandparents took him into their home to raise him - I have no idea how he ended up with the Samuel Wellwoods in 1841, except that Samuel's wife at that time was Elizabeth Gibson, and Thomas' grandparents were supposed to be Gibsons.

Thomas' father's name should be Thomas Dougan and his mother's should be Margaret Gibson - both were supposed to have been born somewhere in Ireland. Can anyone please help me locate his parents' deaths in Glasgow in or about 1832?

MANY thanks in advance -

Edit - there is some confusion in the family over Thomas Dougan's last name. All records I have, including his children's, list his name as Thomas Dougan, however. Also, on his daughter Ann's birth record in 1857 - his 5th child - it states under his name that he was illegitimate - the only record to so state. So, there is speculation that he was born Gibson for his mother's name and then later assumed Dougan for his father...

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:03 am

Hi Archive Cookie

gr-grandmother's journal says he was born in 1825 on Sohoe Street in Glasgow

You are so lucky to have a document such as the journal!
I don't know Glasgow very well, so my have this wrong, but it appears there was a SOHO street:

Glasgow (644-2) in the 1881
Enumeration District 6
Soho Street

Enumeration District 7
Gallowgate St
Gallowgate Grocers Shop
Soho Street

Enumeration District 8
Gallowgate St
Soho St

There is a photo in the Virtual Mitchell:
http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualm ... 0Ijt9&pg=1

Can anyone please help me locate his parents' deaths in Glasgow in or about 1832?

That is quite a difficult one. With it being in the city, and probably several burial grounds to chose from, the only way I can think of going about it would be to check all the MI books for the area, check the OPRs to see if deaths are indcluded for the parish(es) you are interested in,
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/h ... r-cov.html
then check any burial records the Mitchell Library have for that area too - a few days in the Mitchell Library might turn up something but it could be quite time consuming.

Someone else may have some better flashes of inspiriation!
Best wishes
Lesley

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:55 am

p.s. Just noticed you are in Quebec - not sure if you know that you can order OPR films from your local LDS centre for a small fee.

ArchiveCookie · Post by **ArchiveCookie** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:33 am

Leslie,

Thank you for all your help! I especially appreciate the information on Soho Street, as I've been unable to confirm its existence previously, living WAY over on this side of the pond!

I've been buying up MI books like crazy, but have been able to find very little in Glasgow. I just sent for the Calton burial index yesterday, but it takes a while... I have the Glasgow Cathedral New Burial Ground, and have seen reference to a Glasgow Cathedral Burial Ground - are they the same info or two different sent of MI's??

I read on another thread here that all MI's for Glasgow are to be published this summer - is there a list of exactly what that encompasses? And do you know if it's been done yet or is still in the works? A WHOLE LOT of my ancestors should be showing up in there...

ArchiveCookie · Post by **ArchiveCookie** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:58 am

Another interesting note in the journal states that funeral directors during the cholera epidemic in Glasgow in 1832 "were unable to meet the demands for caskets, the deaths being so numerous, and trenches had to be dug for burials." So, until this year, I hadn't really looked all that hard for graves, thinking there might not have been that many from then.

Anyone know how true this might be? Were a lot of the poor buried in unmarked mass graves??

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:31 pm

Hi Archive Cookie

I have the Glasgow Cathedral New Burial Ground, and have seen reference to a Glasgow Cathedral Burial Ground - are they the same info or two different sent of MI's??

I saw you had a separate post on this subject. I don't know the answer, but maybe someone does.

I note GWSFHS have some burial CDs but I'm sure you will have seen these publications before and they may not be the districts you are looking for:
http://www.gwsfhs.org.uk/content/publications.aspx

Index to Burials in Govan 1817-1855
Index to Burials in Gorbals & Barony
(Barony December, 1805 to August, 1835; Gorbals June, 1807 to December, 1854)
Index to Burials in Calton
(Includes burials from January, 1792 to December, 1854 )

and the Scottish Genealogy Society also have many publications:
http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/acatalog/ ... re_MI.html

I read on another thread here that all MI's for Glasgow are to be published this summer - is there a list of exactly what that encompasses?

I don't have any up to date info on that one - again, maybe someone else might know about it.

Anyone know how true this might be? Were a lot of the poor buried in unmarked mass graves??

I do know that almost every cemetery had an area of "common ground" set aside for burials for those who could not afford a more expensive burial - there is a huge area up the top of the hill in Glasgow Necropolis for example. The Necropolis is just next door to Glasgow Cathedral so may be known as one of the Glasgow Cathedral burial grounds you mentioned - perhaps the new one?

These "common ground" areas have no visible grave markers, though names may be recorded in burial lists, and even location might be given. e.g. one of my lot in Edinburgh was buried in Rosebank Cemetery, section K, space 318 - common ground, so I know the area in which he was buried from the burial info only. In some cases persons were buried in a family plot, but no marker was ever erected, so these will also not show up in MI books.
I'm sure the circumstances during a cholera epidemic would cause a problem with burials, so it may well be that record keeping may not be so accurate.

Best wishes
Lesley

Best wishes
Lesley

ArchiveCookie · Post by **ArchiveCookie** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:50 pm

So far, I've bought 26 MI books from The Scottish Genealogical Society, and 4 more are on the way from yesterday's order. With the exchange rate, I might as well just take out a separate credit card just for them! Good thing I'm a patient person...

One of these days, if the information is there, I'll find it, with help...