Gay family from Bonhill

[LesleyB]

Hi Daisy

if Walter GAY's brother was John who married Jean Peacock, and the name GAY continued into the current generation, then surely John's name would have been GAY as well?

As I mentioned above,

The surname for my line dithers regularly between Gay and Guy; the same will likely be true of Glen and Glenn....there are no absolutes when it comes to surnames and OPRs!

If you look at the original OPR entries for the Guy/Gay family, you will see that it is sometimes spelt one way and sometimes the other even for children born to the same couple. This is common with surnames in OPR records - it depends what the session clerk thought he heard or the way he preferred to spell a surname. One branch of the Guys I know of ended up as Gay, the other as Guy but they are the SAME family. It is only in relatively recent times that we have come to think that a forename or surname must be spelt a particular way, and only that way. If you are searching for Guys/Gays or any other family surname in Scotland you need to be open-minded about spelling.

best wishes
Lesley

[Muriel]

Hi Daisy

I think you have to remember that back in the 1700s or whenever spellings were a very variable quantity. Many people were illiterate & those who could write recorded what they heard, so Gay & Guy would be the same name & even, at times, the same person. "My" Walter (1832-1873) was always Gay BUT his death certificate shows him as Guy, so even as late as that there could be changes.

If Walter Gay b. 1760 was related it seems likely that he was Walter (1805-1885)'s grandfather. It looks as if Walter & Catherine may have followed the Scottish naming pattern for their children (i.e first son after paternal grandfather, first daughter after materanl grandmother etc.) If so that would make Walter's parents Walter & Janet while Catherine's parents would be Peter & Christian. (There is btw a very tempting Katharine, daughter of Peter McFarlan & Christian McFarlan, baptised 13 Aug 1776 in Aberfoyle, but the OPR recorded says they were from Drymen Parish). It may well be impossible to verify any relationships - on the other side of my family we can trace most people (very unusual surname) back to 3 men all born in the same small village in the 1740s. It's very tempting to assume that they were brothers but we can't prove it & I actually think it's more likely that they may have been cousins, or 2 brothers & 1 cousin. I think it's likely to be the same with the Gays.

You'll find Isabella & Flora Gay on the Castle Garden site (http://www.castlegarden.org). Look for Flora because Isabella is described as "Mrs"! They arrrived in New York on the ship Australia on 17 Jun 1874. She was baptised Isabella (named after her mother) & was born on 2 July 1834 in Glasgow Barony Parish but the spelling bug strikes again. In the 1841 census the family are in Clyde Street, Glasgow & she Isabella, in 1851 she's working in Hawick & is Isobella.She's back to Isabella on her marriage record & the 1861 & 1871 censuses. She married Levi Danforth in about 1878 & in the 1880 census she is Isabelle & Flora is shown as Flora G. Danforth. In 1900 she's Isabela Danforth (no Flora with them) & in 1910 she's back to Isabelle.

I'm off to follow up SarahNDs info about Anna Isabella!

Muriel

[Muriel]

Snap Lesley, you posted while I was still writing!

Muriel

[daisyd]

Thank you! I needed that timely reminder about alternative spellings. I tend to be a bit pedantic when it comes to spelling, but an open mind is definitely required when researching ancestors. It has taken some getting used to, for instance, in the case of Maud/Matilda, two names which are often interchangeable, for reasons I've never been able to figure out!

What a helpful bunch of people you all are! It's much appreciated. Thank you.