BOYD'S

Looking for Scottish Ancestors

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willow
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:36 pm

BOYD'S

Post by willow » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:30 pm

HI,
I AM LOOKING FOR INFO ON BOYD'S FROM AYRSHIRE.
IN PARTICULAR SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED ON THE 7TH SEPTEMBER 1888.

I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THESE FAMILY MEMBERS ALL DIED ON THE SAME DAY AND WAS WONDERING IF ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT HAD HAPPENED IN HISTORY ON THIS DAY.

HELEN BOYD BORN 1881 DREGHORN DIED 7.9.1888
JANE WALLACE BORN 1852 DIED 1888
ELIZABETH STEWART BOYD BORN 1872 DREGHORN DIED 7.9.1888
ALEXANDER BOYD BORN 1878 DIED 1888

THIER FATHER WAS ALEXANDER BOYD AND WAS FIRSTLY MARRIED TO MATILDA SHARP AND THIER CHILDREN WERE THE ABOVE ELIZABETH AND ALEXANDER THEN HE MARRIED THE ABOVE JANE WALLACE AND THEIR CHILDREN WERE THE ABOVE HELEN BOYD.

I AM AT A LOSS WITH THIS AND IT SEEMS STRANGE THAT THEY ALL DIED ON THE SAME DAY, MY SOURCE MAYBE WRONG BUT IT WAS PRETTY CERTAIN THAT THE INFO WAS CORRECT.

THANKS

SARA

Russell
Posts: 2559
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:59 pm
Location: Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire

Post by Russell » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:54 pm

Hi Sara

I live in a small village with a long weaving tradition. Houses were single storied and had thatched/turfed roofs on timber branch joists. fire was an ever present threat as cottages could burn like tinder boxes. A whole family could be wiped out.
Lighting was by candle or lantern. Cooking was done over an open hearth.
No fire service to rush and extinguish the blaze.
Our village purchased a hand operated fire engine in the late 1700's which could be manned by any able bodied persons around ( It took half a dozen folk to operate it)
That's one theory why a whole family would perish on the same day.
Cholera was another killer of families although it would stretch coincidence a bit far for them all to succumb on the same day.

Perhaps there are some local newspaper records still in existence which might give you the answer.

Russell
Working on: Oman, Brock, Miller/Millar, in Caithness.
Roan/Rowan, Hastings, Sharp, Lapraik in Ayr & Kirkcudbrightshire.
Johnston, Reside, Lyle all over the place !
McGilvray(spelt 26 different ways)
Watson, Morton, Anderson, Tawse, in Kilrenny

Anne H
Global Moderator
Posts: 2127
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 5:12 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by Anne H » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:55 pm

Hi Sara,
MY SOURCE MAYBE WRONG
Am I correct in thinking that you are relying on your source for information without checking out any of the births? Nothing has jumped out doing a Google search (that I can see, anyway). If I were you, I would be getting the death certificates from SP to be certain.

Regards,
Anne H

SarahND
Site Admin
Posts: 5647
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:47 am
Location: France

Post by SarahND » Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:13 am

Hello Sara,
Where did you find the information about their deaths? If they are the family in Dreghorn, Ayr, the father a coalminer, then Jane, Helen and Alexander are still living together in Dreghorn in the 1891 census. Elizabeth is not with the family, but she was of an age to be out working elsewhere.

But perhaps this isn't the family you mean?

All the best,
Sarah

AndrewP
Site Admin
Posts: 6189
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:36 am
Location: Edinburgh

Post by AndrewP » Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:31 am

Hi Sara,

A search on ScotlandsPeople for BOYD deaths registered in Dreghorn in 1888 gives no results. Widening the search to cover 1883 to 1893 gives only 5 results, in 4 different years. Only one of the names co-incides with the names in your list. It looks like there is some more unraveling to be done to solve this mystery.

All the best,

AndrewP