A DOUGLASS! A DOUGLASS! But Where and Who?.....

[larryd]

I have tracked my DOUGLASS line back to John DOUGLASS and his wife Margaret and their first child, Elizabeth, (b Barr by Girvan 23 Oct 1840) to the 1841 census of Barr, Ayrshire. There is a Mrs. LAURY (age 60) living with them. The census indicates that all were born in Ayrshire. I also have an IGI and OPR marriage between John DOUGLASS and a Margaret LOWRIE in Colmonell, Ayrshire in 23 Nov 1839 which I "think" may be the right couple, but no proof as the OPR entry was a classic of a wee bit of information.

Two additional children, John DOUGLASS (b Barr, 05 Feb 1842) and Janet McMichael DOUGLASS (b Girvan, 08 Oct 1845) were born before the family emigrated to Canada in the late 1840s. BUT the IGI for Elizabeth gives the mother's name as LAWRIE, Janet's mother is a LOGAN, and John's mother is a LAMMIE. Thus far, I have not been able to find an OPR for birth/christening for the children. Is it posssible that the last name would be interpreted/recorded incorrectly this many times?

Although I have lots of John DOUGLASS and Margaret LOWRIE/LAWRIE/LAURY, etc., possibilities I have not as yet come up with "for sure" candidates as birth year indicators in subsequent Canadian census give me a span of appx. twenty years for John and about fifteen years for Margaret.

I would greatly appreciate any ideas, suggestions, directions, information, hints, and or help af any kind. Thanks for reading this far! Larry Douglas

[JustJean]

Hello Larry

Welcome to TalkingScot!

I wish I had a whole bunch of answers for you but alas I do not. You may already have this but the best I can offer is Janet's BC that appears on the BIVRI cd which states a birth date of 20 Sep and a christening date of 5 Oct.

DOUGLAS, Janet Mcmichael Christening
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 20 Sep 1845
Christening Date: 5 Oct 1845 Recorded in: Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland
Father: John DOUGLAS
Mother: Margaret LOGAN
Source: FHL Film 1041380 Dates: 1819 - 1855

and to also point out that the IGI lists Johns DOB as 8 Feb and not 5 Feb.

JOHN DOUGLAS
Male


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Event(s):
Birth: 08 FEB 1842

Christening: 13 FEB 1842 Barr By Girvan, Ayr, Scotland

Death:
Burial:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parents:
Father: JOHN DOUGLAS Family
Mother: MARGARET LAMMIE

As for the highly flexible surname...... ......it does seem as though this is a bit of an extreme case but it does happen. I can't see any immediate means of proving who the parents of John and Margaret were unless you happen to know of any siblings to them? Mrs. Laury probably passed away before 1855 so that wouldn't help a bit. I wonder if you have any idea where the surname McMichael might fit in the picture?

Sorry for not having better answers......

Best wishes
Jean

ps......I see you're in NH......I'm just over the border in ME.....howdy

[larryd]

'Morning Jean,

Thanks for your post re my DOUGLASS quest. First, what is the BIVRI cd? And thanks for Janet's DOB; only had the IGI c date. As for her McMichael middle name, I have no connections for it at all thus far. John's DOB is 08 Feb vice 05 - a finger problem at this end.

Unfortunately, I have no sibling info for either John or Margaret. I did chase the LAURY name (assuming that the Mrs. LAURY living with the DOUGLASS family in the 1841 census might have been Margaret's mother), but to no avail. I also have an IGI for a Margaret LOWRIE with parents James LOWRIE and Mary MARTIN, but again have not been able to gain any hard evidence as to a connection with DOUGLASS line. All together, I have a very ellusive lot on my hands. Thanks again for your help! Larry

[JustJean]

Hi again Larry

BIVRI is British Isles Vital Record Index. Maybe you've heard of it before? A cd set readily available for purchase from the good folk in Salt Lake City. It contains a random assortment of Birth and Marriage info for England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Some counties are well represented such as Ayrshire with 222,864 births and 13,614 Marriages ....and then again some are hardly mentioned at all such as poor Kinross with only 12 births and 0 marriages The time period ranges from 1530 to 1906 so you can see that it is hardly a complete collection. I bought it on the off chance of finding more family leads in Scotland and Northern Ireland but none of mine are listed! Soooo.....here I am looking for the missing for others instead

Glad that I could hand over the DOB for Janet if nothing else. It's too bad the family didn't stay in Scotland just a little bit longer...like after 1855....and have a few more children there. At this point it's lots of guesswork.

I have to assume that you've found John and Margaret's deaths in Canada and no parents are named?

Best wishes
Jean

[larryd]

Jean,

Thanks for the BIVRI cd info. I wasn't aware of that one. As for the DOUGLASS family in Canada, they initially settled in QUE as it appears that two additional children (Margaret and Isabella) were born in Bristol, QUE. The family then moved across the Ottawa to Horton Twp where I found them in the 1861 census. After three more kids (William, Mary, and Donal) they settled in the Griffith/Matawatchan area of Renfrew County.

Thus far, I have not been able to find John or Margaret's death info. They are together in the 1871 and 1881 census, but in 1891, Margaret is a widow living with son William. Probably time for me to re visit the Ontario vital records info for a more thorough search.

Regards, Larry