Morrison family, Aberdeenshire and Perthshire

Kathykins · Post by **Kathykins** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:50 pm

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and I thought I'd jump right in and see if anyone out there can help me.

I'm trying to trace George Morrison, whose son William was my great great grandfather. William was born around 1835, according to his death and marriage certificates, in Aberdeenshire. His marriage certificate and 1901 census give his place of birth as Huntly, but all the other census records give his place of birth as Forgue.

William's mother was Jessie Taylor, and according to his marriage certificate, his parents were married (quite unusual in my tree unfortunately!) and alive when he married in 1861. William married Jessie Grant in Tomintoul, Banffshire. They moved to Alyth, then to Cargill, where William died in 1908 and Jessie in 1914.

I suspect George may have been born around 1800, but I can't find any record of a George married to a Jessie on any census for Aberdeen. I don't know if they had any other children, but I'm hoping someone on here might have come across them!

William's children were

Alexander b 1863 Alyth
Jessie b 1865 Alyth
William b 1866 Alyth (my great grandfather)
James b 1872 Alyth
Isabella b 1874 Alyth
Margaret b 1875 Coupar Angus
Catherine b 1877 Coupar Angus
Henry b 1880 Coupar Angus
Charles b 1883 Coupar Angus
John b 1885 Coupar Angus
Annie b 1887 Coupar Angus

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Kathy x

Gallery url added by Marilyn

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:15 pm

Hi Kathy
And welcome to Talking Scot

What appears to be your William appears as an extract on IGI :
(extract means it is transcribed from an existing OPR, or similar record)

WILLIAM MORISON
Male
Event(s):
Birth: 20 AUG 1834
Christening: 22 AUG 1834 Forgue, Aberdeen, Scotland

Parents:
Father: GEORGE MORISON
Mother: JANET TAYLOR

Note that his mother is Janet here. Janets can turn up later as Jane, Jean, Jessie, Jess, Jennat, Jannat...and more besides!! Not sure if you've checked the census for a George & Janet.

If you think they were both still alive when William married, have you looked for their deaths? That should give you an indication of their parents' names. What was George's occupation given as at the time of William's marriage?

Seems odd that of William's children there is no George....

Best wishes
Lesley

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:20 pm

Hi Kathy

Welcome to TalkingScot.
To add to Lesley's info. I checked in the Old Parish Records (OPR) and turned up the birth of a George Morison in Forgue in 1805.
It might be worth downloading that Record from Scotlandspeople. Note the spelling of his surname with only 1 'r' just as Lesley found.
Did you use wildcards on your searches ?

Remember too that some of the rural parishes were quite spread out and could have several villages within their boundaries.

Russell

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:26 pm

Could this be his parents in 1841 Courtesy of FREECEN

Piece: SCT1841/194 Place: Forgue -Aberdeenshire Enumeration District: 8
Civil Parish: Forgue Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 8 Page: 7
Address: Mid Ashalloch

Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
MORISON George M 25 Farmer Aberdeenshire
MORISON Janet F 20 Aberdeenshire
MORISON Janet F 4 Aberdeenshire
MORISON George M 1 Aberdeenshire
ADAM Allan M 12 Ag Labourer Aberdeenshire

and next door -

Piece: SCT1841/194 Place: Forgue -Aberdeenshire Enumeration District: 8
Civil Parish: Forgue Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 8 Page: 7
Address: Mid Ashalloch

Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
MORISON Isobel F 55 Widow Aberdeenshire
MORISON Alexander M 18 Aberdeenshire
MORISON William M 5 Aberdeenshire Grand Child
MORISON Isobel F 4 Aberdeenshire Grand Child

Worth investigating I think.

Regards,
Annette M

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:51 pm

Mm

Looks like this may be Janet Simpson.

JANET MORISON Female

Birth: 06 JAN 1837

Christening: 08 MAY 1837 Forgue, Aberdeen, Scotland

Parents:
Father: GEORGE MORISON Family
Mother: JANET SIMPSON

They didn't marry till 1838.

GEORGE MORISON
Male

Marriages:
Spouse: JANET SIMPSON
Marriage: 12 JUL 1838 Forgue, Aberdeen, Scotland

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:14 pm

In 1851 this family (including granny next door) are still living in the same place with a few more children but no William.

So I think this could be him working along the road.

Piece: SCT1851/194 Place: Forgue -Aberdeenshire Enumeration District: 4
Civil Parish: Forgue Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 162 Page: 13 Schedule: 51
Address: Auchaber

Surname First name(s) Rel Status Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
WILSON Lillias Head U F 57 Landed Proprietor 250ac Aberdeenshire - Forgue Employs 3 In and 7 Out Labourers
DAVIDSON Ann Sister W F 51 Landed Proprietor 250ac Aberdeenshire - Forgue Employs 3 In and 7 Out Labourers
HUNTER Margaret Visitr M F 47 Aberdeenshire - Aberdeen
GALASHAN Jane Servnt U F 23 House Maid Aberdeenshire - Rayne
NEISH Isabella Servnt U F 32 Cook Aberdeenshire - Forgue
MIDDLETON Hellen Servnt U F 16 Gen Serv Aberdeenshire - Auchterless
GORDON James Servnt U M 35 Game Keeper Aberdeenshire - Forgue
REITH James Servnt W M 36 Ag Lab Aberdeenshire - Meldrum
CLARK James Servnt U M 23 Ag Lab Morayshire - Bellie(Originally: Aberdeenshire - Bellie)
SIMPSON James Servnt U M 17 Ag Lab Aberdeenshire - Huntly
MORRISON William Servnt U M 16 Ag Lab Aberdeenshire - Forgue

Regards,
Annette M

Kathykins · Post by **Kathykins** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:35 am

Wow

I never expected a response like that!

The OPR record is great - thank you Lesley. At least it confirms that I'm not barking mad, and Janet Taylor did exist! I often thought it was odd that there was no George as well, but this particular branch of the family are not renowned for their great father-son relationships!

I looked at the census record Nelmit found, and managed to trace the family right up until the 1881 census. When I checked for the death of George Morrison between 1881 and 1891 I got a result for the correct address (in Ythan Wells by this point) - but his widow is Janet Simpson, not Taylor.

In fact, I can't find a single death certificate for a George Morrison from 1861 onwards where Janet Taylor is mentioned!

I occasionally feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall with this branch....

Kathykins · Post by **Kathykins** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:45 am

On the other hand, having just looked again at the census records, there are no other William and George Morrisons that seem to be connected...

Is it possible that George remarried a Janet Simpson after being married to Janet Taylor? Perhaps when the family moved to Ythan Wells? Or is that way too big a leap of faith?

Now that my noisy neighbours have shut up I think I'll try and get some sleep....

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:19 am

Hi Kathy
Going from what Annette found it looks possible that Janet Taylor perhaps did not live long after the birth of William - I'm not seeing any other children for that couple on IGI, but that in itself is not conclusive.... and Annette found a marriage for Janet Simpson & George in 1838, so that would fit with this theory. Might be worth looking for a death in OPRs (not online yet...films can be ordered from LDS centres if you are not able to visit centres in Scotland - see http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4510 and ) or checking MIs (monumental inscriptions) for the area just incase there is something to confirm Janet Taylor's death.

The census records that Annette found suggest that is Janet Simpson from 1841 and the death you have found confirms that you have the same couple in Ythan Wells as Annette found in Forgue in 1841.

Might be worth downloading the birth of William and the later marriage of George in 1838 from SP to see if there are any other clues to be gleaned - e.g. on the chance a precise location is given or a trade is given for George which would tie him in to the one you know of.

Best wishes
Lesley

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:00 am

Kathykins wrote:On the other hand, having just looked again at the census records, there are no other William and George Morrisons that seem to be connected...

Is it possible that George remarried a Janet Simpson after being married to Janet Taylor? Perhaps when the family moved to Ythan Wells? Or is that way too big a leap of faith?

Now that my noisy neighbours have shut up I think I'll try and get some sleep....

Hope you got some sleep.

My first thoughts were that Janet Simpson was George's second wife especially as they didn't marry till 1838. The only thing that puts me off is that William's mother was named as Taylor on his marriage but not listed as deceased.

It does seem strange that if he is the one living next to George that he didn't work on his father's farm in 1851.

It's the mysterious Isobel age 4 in 1841 and 14 in 1851 that's bugging me. I was hoping she was William's sister but can find no trace of her birth to anyone under the name Isobel Morison in Forgue.

I've just had a thought as to why (if Janet Simpson was George's second wife) they didn't marry till 1838. If Janet Taylor died then George may have had to have a 'mourning period' before he married again. Then again there doesn't seem to be any record of them having married at all.

Is William recorded as illegitimate on his birth record?

Kind regards,
Annette M