Another brick wall!.....

[Caroline]

I wonder if anyway can help with my brick wall?

The problem is that I can not find any trace of my great great grandmother, MARJORY ROBERTSON, or her family after 1871.

In 1871 she was livivg in Ballingry and the entry is as follows:

MARJORY RITCHIE,HEAD,39,BALLINGRY
GEORGE RTCHIE,SON,10,AUCHTERDERRAN
WILLIAM RITCHIE,SON,9, "
ELSPETH RITCHIE,DAUGH,5, "
JANET RITCHIE,DAUGH,2, "

She was married to her second husband THOMAS RITCHIE at the time but I can't find him in the census.

After this date the whole family seems to vanish - I've checked marriages,deaths and looked at later census but no luck!

Luckily for me my great gran ,also called Marjory Robertson, never lived with her mother so she didn't disappear along with the rest of the family.

Can anyone help shine some light on this mystery - it's been annoying me for years!

Caroline

[Tracey]

Hello Caroline

I take it these are thier children found on IGI ?

1. MARY RITCHIE - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 30 APR 1867 Auchterderran, Fife, Scotland

2. ELSPETH COLVILLE RITCHIE - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 11 NOV 1865 Auchterderran, Fife, Scotland

3. MARJORY RITCHIE - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 20 AUG 1864 Auchterderran, Fife, Scotland

4. JANET ROBERTSON RITCHIE - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 07 FEB 1869 Balingry, , Fife, Scotland

Have you tried looking at the census for them under the childrens names ? Thats how i found some of mine. When i did my original search i put name .... b ... and nothing came up then when i entered childrens details i got a result and on that result was the exact same info i had put for parents ?- dont know why that happens Where was Marjory b 1864 in 1871 ?

[nelmit]

Hello Tracey and Caroline,

I assume this is her living with her aunt (according to the 1881 census)
I also think this is her maternal grandmother Elspeth.

I'm sure you will be aware of these Caroline but what puzzles me why is she called Robertson (her mother's maiden name) when she was born Ritchie ( her father's name)?

Is Catherine Ritchie her half sister?

Enumeration District: 2, Page: 4, Schedule: 19, Address: Ballingry Cottar House

ROBERTSON Elspeth - Head - W - 63y - Lessee of ground feus - Born St Andrews, Fife
BOGIE David - Grand Son - U - 15y - Draper apprentice - Born Ballingry, Fife
RITCHIE Catherine - Visitor - 13y - Scholar - Born Auchterderran, Fife

Enumeration District: 2, Page: 4, Schedule: 21, Address: Ballingry Cottar House

INGLIS Helen - Head - W - 74y - Agricultural labourer - Born Portmoak, Kinross
INGLIS Peter M - Grand Son - 8y - Scholar - Born Ballingry, Fife
ROBERTSON Marjory - Foster child - 6y - Scholar - Born Auchterderran, Fife

Sorry I can't be of any help otherwise.

Annette M

[Caroline]

Hi Tracey,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Yes these are the birth dates of the children. Sadly MARY RITCHIE died when she was 15 months old.

MARJORY(b.1864) was living with her gran HELEN INGLIS in Ballingry at the time of the 1871 census. Helen was the mother of MARJORY RITCHIES first husdand DAVID INGLIS who died in 1862. MARJORY was conceived before her mother married THOMAS RITCHIE (1864) and he wasn't put down as the father on her birth cert.

Marjory(Jnr.) continued to live with her gran until she died in 1881,then Marjory moved to Dunfermline.

I have tried looking up the children on the census but no luck there either I'm afraid!

Caroline

[Tracey]

Hello Caroline
I wonder why Thomas wasnt put as the father of Marjory as as they married (20 APR 1864) before she was born ? . Some of mine were born and registered with the mothers name then found later with the fathers name after the parents had married
Sorry i cant help you as census discs are on my christmas wish list, i just hope someone reads it !
Im sure someone here will help you further

Good luck

[Caroline]

Hi again Tracey,

The problem was that I don't think that THOMAS RITCHIE was the father of Marjory Jnr. and so he rejected the child. I forgot to mention in my previous message that on the 1871 census Marjory was down as the foster chikd of her gran HELEN INGLIS so it looks as though she was bringing her up.

Incidentally Marjory Snr. had another illegitimate child DAVID BOGIE(B.1856) and he was living with her mother at the time of the census.

I get the impression that she was a bit of an embarrassment to the family as she was about to have another illegitinate child after David so she was quickly married off to her cousin DAVID INGLIS when she was 6 months pregnant. The family must have thought their worries were over but sadly DAVID INGLIS died in 1862 and Marjory becamr pregnant again 2 years later.

Caroline

[Caroline]

Hi Annette,

I'm sorry that I seemed to have overlooked your post - I was too busy replying to Tracey!

I assume this is her living with her aunt (according to the 1881 census)
I also think this is her maternal grandmother Elspeth

.

Yes this is Marjory Jnr., but its actually her great aunt who was also her grandmother - the 1881 census got it slightly wrong by calling her niece. And yes Elspeth is her maternal grandmother.

I'm sure you will be aware of these Caroline but what puzzles me why is she called Robertson (her mother's maiden name) when she was born Ritchie ( her father's name)?

Yes I'm got these entries, but thanks for putting them on. The extra details might enable others trace the elusive Marjory Snr. (b.1832)!
As I explained to Tracey Marjorie Jnr. wasn't Thomas Ritchies child so she didn't take his name.

Is Catherine Ritchie her half sister?

Catherine was the daughter from Thomas Ritchies first marriage.

It's all a bit complicated isn't it!

Thanks for taking the trouble to look these up though Annette

Caroline

[Thrall]

Tracey noted previously " Have you tried looking at the census for them under the children's names ? That's how i found some of mine. When i did my original search i put name .... b ... and nothing came up then when i entered children's details i got a result and on that result was the exact same info i had put for parents ?- don't know why that happens"

I´ve had the same problem with "unfindable" families on SP and can confirm that searching using known children's names does sometimes work, though its a "Catch 22" syndrome as one often finds first evidence of "new" children in a census!

Good hunting.

Thrall

[Caroline]

Hi Thrall,

Afraid I've tried that and still no success!

Caroline