My great great grandmother Janet Main.....

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:18 am

Hi all,

I am in a little bit of a pickle over my Janet Main. According to the censuses after her marriage to John Easton (in Glasgow), she was born in Portmahomack, Ross and Cromarty. She certainly seems to have lived there with her birth family from 1851-1871, (father Alexander, mother Janet, sister May, Mary or Margery) but her birthplace is listed as Ardersier, Inverness. There IS a family matching hers in Ardersier Inverness in the 1841 census, while there is no corresponding family in Ross & Cromarty in the same census. And the opposite is true for the 1851.

How can I be sure that the Main family in the 1841 Ardersier census and the Ross and Cromarty later censuses are the same one? Do you think it is likely that Janet did not know she was born in Ardersier, having lived in Portmahomack most of her life? Or will I never be able to make a sure match here? If I can get past this, I think I will have smashed a big brick wall...it all hinges on this!

Nina

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:29 am

Hi Nina
I know it is the '41 we are dealing with, ....but is thre any note of an occupation for father Alexander & if so, does it tally with the later Portmahomack '51 census?

Do you think it is likely that Janet did not know she was born in Ardersier, having lived in Portmahomack most of her life?

I'd have thought that was a reasonable possibility.

best wishes
lesley

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:48 am

Hi Lesley,

I have a lot of detail that I think belongs to my family:

Starting from the censuses where I KNOW it is her:

1901: In Glasgow with husband John Easton. Born Ross-shire, Tarbet. Aged 48

1891: In Glasgow with husband John Easton. She says she was born in Ross-shire, Portmahomack and she speaks Gaelic and English. Age 36

1881: In Glasgow with husband John Easton. Born Portmahomald, Ross and Cromarty (probably spelling error) Aged 28.

And here are the entries where I think she is with her family:

1871: In Tarbat, Ross and Cromarty. Aged 23. With mother, widow, aged 54 and sister May aged 29. Birthplace Ardersier, Inverness.

1861: In Tarbat, Portmahomack. Birthplace Ardersier, Inverness. Aged 14…seems a little old, but then she probably took a few years off her age in later censuses like a lot of women did. She is with parents Alexander Main, 50, a fisherman, born Moray, Duffus, and mother Janet, 48, Petty, Inverness, and sister May, 22, born Ardersier, Inverness.

1851: In Tarbat, Portmahomack. With family, including a sister Isabella, born Tarbat aged 1. Again says birthplace is Ardersier, Inverness. Aged 4.

1841: In Ardersier Inverness. Parents Alexander, 30, fisher, mother Janet, 25, sister Margery (probaly this is May, according to IGI) aged 4 and Ann aged 2 months. Janet is not born yet.

I have a death registration for Alexander Main signed by daughter May which states he was a fisherman. No wife's name is mentioned.

I have May's and Janet's marriage registrations, Mother Janet's death registration, and all say he is a fisherman.

BUT I have read many times that the Mains were mostly fishermen anyway, so how do I know I have the right one? I look at the information I have there, and I think, yes, it HAS to be them....but still there is that bit of doubt....sigh!!!

Nina

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:14 am

Any other opinions please?

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:28 am

Hi Nina

that looks like quite a convincing paper trail to me.
Have you done an OPR family search on Scotlandspeople?

Even if the children were born in up to five different parishes it's possible to pick them out holding down the shift key to select only the parishes you want.
- Key in the surname
- No fore name
- both genders
- father's fore name
- Mothers fore and M.S. surname(sometimes it hasn't been recorded though)
- put in a span of years wide enough to cover possible youngest/oldest.

Cost 1 credit and more accurate and acceptable than an IGI submission that's for sure.

I just used my last credit otherwise I would have tried it for you

Russell

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:03 am

Hi Russell,

I have tried the OPR. 11 Main children born to an Alexander and Janet between 1835 and 1854 in all of Scotland. Only two look likely:

11/01/1846 MAIN JANET ALEXANDER MAIN/JANET MAIN F ARDERSIER 091/00 0002 (probably my gg granny)

12/03/1836 MAIN MARGARET ALEXANDER MAIN/JANET MAIN U NAIRN 123/00 0004 (just possible, but no reference to Nairn, so who knows.

The rest have unlikely surnames for the mother. She seems to have been a Main, even though one daughter gives her maiden name as Wallace on her marriage registration. Now from what I have read, there were so many Mains about the place that they took on other surnames to help identify themselves. They either made it up, or used an old family surname to add to Main (such as Mainwaring) or just used the other family surname as their own. However I do not know where the name Wallace comes from. Anyway, from what I can find on Janet senior, her maiden name is almost sure to be Main (children's death registrations that the PARENTS filed; it always says Janet Main, maiden name Main) and on her own death registration, signed by a (german; ie first) cousin - who I am yet to tie in), he says the maiden name is Main.

So it is confusing, but I am hopeful that I do have the same family. Lots and lots of things fit!

Nina

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:11 am

Hi Nina

I think you have as much paper evidence as you are going to get.
Perhaps a lucky MI find in a graveyard or a Kirk Session Minute if any survive will be the nearest to corroboration now.

I thought you would have done the OPR search but others reading this might not have thought of it ! Words like 'grannies' and 'sucking eggs' came into mind.

Some of our branches have a pencilled question mark as a reminder that although they look good they have not been confirmed - yet

Well it's 2.00am here so time for bed!

Russell

mallog · Post by **mallog** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:52 am

Have to admit it was news to me

I knew how to do parent search on IGI but didn't twig you could do that on SP. Ta for that.

Mallog

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:46 am

Hi All

holding down the shift key to select only the parishes you want

Just incase anyone want to try this, its the Control key that does the business in this case!! Shift will only allow you to select more that one parish if they are contiguous (next door to each other in the list) but Contol lets you select ANY five parishes in the list.

I'd be tempted to track down the original OPR entries on Microfilm to see if there are any clues in there.

Best wishes
Lesley

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:01 am

Thanks for additional replies, and the great suggestions.

Yes Lesley, it would be wonderful to find a birth for one of the Main children in Portmahomack (Tarbat) and the Parish record say something like "Born to Alexander Main and Janet Main, previously from Ardersier, Inverness and five years in this parish"

Sigh, a pipe dream.

Well I will order them in to the local LDS and see what turns up. I know I am likely to become quite confused, as there seems to have been a lot of intermarriage between the Mains, Davidsons, McKenzies and other Mains, so I will need my wits about me!

Russell, I have also sent away today for a MI booklet for Ardersier cemetery. Well, I put a request in to the appropriate people to find out HOW to order it from here, hehe.

For now I will keep them in the tree with a question mark next to the Ardersier entries.

Nina