Researching Crichton & Douglas/Lorimer

[erikaprower]

Hoping someone can provide assistance. I am attempting to research my grandparents lineage. My family tree on my father's side is a black hole and I have very little information, so this is a long shot. I live in the U.S., but my father is from England. My father's name is Thomas Douglas Crichton. I do not know if he is alive or deceased. I believe he was born in Scotland in or around 1940 and moved to England at a later date (he spent most of his adult years living in Chichester, England). His father (my grandfather) is also named Thomas Crichton, from Scotland (not sure if his middle name is Douglas as well, it may be). I unfortunately do not officially know his mother's (my grandmother's) maiden name. When married, she was Jessie L Crichton and then later remarried and was Jessie L Williams. Based on my research from Ancestry.com, there is a good chance she was born Jessie Lorimer Douglas on April 16, 1917 (passed away December 31, 2010). Based on letters from her that I have read, she had quite a bit of family in Dundee, Scotland. I am thinking that may be where she was born (and possibly where her first husband Thomas Crichton, Sr. lived). I've been able to find they married in 1939 in Dundee/St. Clement. She later moved to Great Yarmouth, England where she spent the rest of her life. She was remarried to Harold Williams. She died in Great Yarmouth on December 31, 2010.

Any information regarding Crichton or Lorimer/Douglas in or around around the Dundee area, would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Erika

[WilmaM]

There are only 4 births of a Thomas Douglas Crichton in Scotland.

2 in 1905: 685/4 809 St Giles and 685/1 664 St George [both Edinburgh area]
1 1933 and another 1940 both St Andrew Dundee

1 death :
aged 77 in 1983 [so one of the 1905 births] he dies in Morningside [ Edinburgh] his mother's maiden name was Simpson.

no Marriages of a Thomas Douglas Crichton in the country either.

That's not including all the Thomas Crichtons - with no middle name showing on the records index.

Sorry I'm going to have to stop there for the moment - time to head out.

[erikaprower]

Thanks so much for you help. I greatly appreciate it.

Yes, I believe one of the 1905 births was my grandfather and the 1940 birth was my father. The 1933 birth I'm guessing is probably a family member.

The marriage of Thomas Douglas Crichton (to Patricia Murphy) was actually in England, not Scotland. I was able to locate the entry from the England/Wales marriage index. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse ... h=40831672

[AndrewP]

There is a possibility that the two 1905 Edinburgh registrations are for the same person. The first registration in the district where the birth occurred, and the second, a transcription of the first certificate in the district where the parents lived. In that era, that was commonly done where the child was born somewhere other than the normal home of the parents. This could be a maternity hospital, or (as often was the case of the first-born to a couple) at the mother's mother's home.

Food for thought,

AndrewP

[WilmaM]

back again!

I had wondered about that possibility Andrew, else they were cousins both named after a grandfather.

have you looked at the 1939 marriage on ScotlandsPeople Erika?
that will give both parents' names age & addresses and maybe a sibling as a witness.

There's a birth in 1917 for Jessie Lorimer Douglas in Dundee too.
and I'd hazard a guess this is her parents marriage -

DOUGLAS JAMES S LORIMER JESSIE R 1916 282/4 165 St Andrew (Dundee

How helpful of them to use maiden names as middle names.

[erikaprower]

Thank you everyone, this is very helpful information! Being new to this, I'm kind of stumbling around trying to find records with little to go on, but I think this is a very good start. And yes... very helpful (though somewhat confusing) that they used maiden names as middle names. I was unclear if Lorimer was her middle name, but it seems they sometimes gave children their mothers maiden name as a middle name? This has been like looking for a needle in a haystack. I had to go through 2 shoe boxes of old letters written from my grandmother to my mother to gather the small pieces of information I even had (and the letters were signed "Neeta", so I always assumed that was my grandmothers name. Big surprise to now find out it's Jessie!)