Conquer family.....

[elainem]

Hi. I am researching this line of my family and wonder if anyone else is researching them.

My Conquers were in Barony Glasgow on 1851 and Newbattle Midlothian on 1841 and were mostly born Haddinton area.

I have found the marriage of Robert Conquer (b.abt 1813) to Jane/Jean Douglas in 1833 in Ormiston and have found their children but I can't find any parents.

There doesn't appear to be many Conquers in Scotland when I have searched so I don't expect many replies (if any).

Regards
Elaine

[joette]

No Conquers in my lines -so far anyway but a Warm Welcome to TalkinScot.
I presume you have looked http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk for any Conquers? You can do a free name search on there which should give you a breakdown of them as to BMD,Census,OPR&Will&Testaments.
How do they tie in to your Douglas line?

[elainem]

Hi Joette

Thanks for the reply. I've got most of my info from 'Scotlands People' but have now hit a brick wall. Robert Conquer married Jean/Jane Douglas in 1833 in Ormiston and 1851 census suggests she was born about 1815 in Gladsmuir. That is the only info I have found on her.

Regards
Elaine

[joette]

Have you tried IGI,Freecen,Lothian Family History Society?I have found them all really useful in tracking down my Lothian&Borders lines.
You think that with an unusual name you would be able to track them down.Especially with the ability to search for her death under Douglas/Conquer.
I found the only death for a James(?) Limerick in Scotland & it wasn't mine.

[JustJean]

Hi elainem

You're not done searching yet It looks like your Robert was widowed by 1855 so that is the bad news.....no sure way of obtaining parent names for Jane then . Good news is that he remarried in 1855 to Elizabeth Forbes. Robert's death can be found in 1876 but sadly it was at the Barnhill Poorhouse. Good thing is that they seem to have got the parents names right for him. Those names tie back in to his 1855 marriage and also allows us to find this list of births to them from the BIVRI disks....

CONQUER, Mary Christening
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 19 Mar 1808
Christening Date: 2 Apr 1808 Recorded in: Garvald, East Lothian, Scotland
Father: Charles CONQUER
Mother: Margaret ALLAN
Source: FHL Film 1067798 Dates: 1694 – 1855

CONQUOR, Robert Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 16 Mar 1812
Christening Date: 5 Apr 1812 Recorded in: Morham, East Lothian, Scotland
Father: Charles CONQUOR
Mother: Margaret ALLAN
Source: FHL Film 1067850 Dates: 1764 – 1854

CONQUOR, Elisabeth Christening
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 29 Dec 1814
Christening Date: 8 Jan 1815 Recorded in: Morham, East Lothian, Scotland
Father: Charles CONQUOR
Mother: Margaret ALLAN
Source: FHL Film 1067850 Dates: 1764 - 1854

In order to connect this Robert to the family you have found on the 1851 census in Barony I found a marriage of the son Robert (age 9 in 1851) to a Mary Smith in 1876. On this he states his mother is deceased and his father is a miller which matches the occupation of the Robert Conquer in the 1855 marriage. LIkewise there is a marriage of daughter Mary Conquer in 1874 confirming the same occupation for her father.

Hope this helps!

Best wishes
Jean

[elainem]

Gosh Jean! I am amazed! So much info for me to look into.

No wonder I couldn't find Robert with Jane on 1861 census and another marriage for him! How and where did you manage to find the info? I would never have found his parents!

I can't find the birth of Robert and Jean's son - John Douglas Conquer abt 1836/37 anywhere apart from through census info. Could you give me some ideas on how to find this. I know he married and died in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire.

Many thanks for your help Jean

Regards
Elaine

[JustJean]

Hello Elaine

Now you're asking the really tough questions I'm afraid I've got no tricks for finding a birth in the OPR's if it doesn't readily appear in the IGI or on the index at Scotland's People website. The problem being that not all the Old Parish Registers survive. The birth or christening may well have been recorded at the time just as the births of the children that you can find but the record of it may simply not exist today. Finding him on an early census and being able to calculate approximately when he was born is better than some folks get! Remember that the earlier the census the more accurate his age will be and therefore more likely that a guessed at birthyear will be exact or only off by 1 or 2 years.

As for Jane....I probably shouldn't even say this as there is absolutely no way I've found that it can be proven.....but.....because Robert and Jane are found in 1851 with a daughter in their household having the christian name of Barbara I simply can't resist. Barbara is just unusual enough to stand out in a crowd of ordinary Janes and Margarets!!! You also have to consider that in this era is was particularly common to use a naming pattern for your offspring that would include the names of your parents etc etc etc. (I know there are links on TalkingScot that explain this in far more detail if you're curious to do a little searching) In other words I'm betting that Barbara is a name that occurs in an earlier generation...maybe even is the name of Jane's mother. k Going on a wild goose chase and looking for a Jane born to a Barbara and unknown Douglas in Gladsmuir doesn't get us anywhere but looking for a couple with wife as Barbara having Douglas babies in and around Gladsmuir turns up an interesting possibility!

JOHN DOUGLAS and BARBARA MORRISON

If it were my family tree I'd probably spend the effort to try and track down this family and the 4 births that do appear on the SP indexes to them and see if there is any clue whatsoever that they may have had a daughter named Jane. I can't imagine what this clue might consist of and it's really very very likely no clue exists at all so I don't want to encourage you too much! Alright alright...so it's truly a guess on my part but sometimes that's all we're left with!

Doubting this is much help but happy to have tried anyway!

Best wishes
Jean