No OPR Marriage on SP - IS on IGI Family Search - Grrr!

Helen Donnelly · Post by **Helen Donnelly** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:56 pm

Somebody help before SP swallows another one of my sinking US dollars!
Donald Coutts m Mey Robertson 15 Aug 1819 Glenmuick, Aberdeen, Scotland. Batch No: M112014 Source Call: 0993189 P/O Call 6902706
"Extracted marriage record for locality listed in record. Source codes listed chonologically by marriage date." Well okay then, logically I should be able to pay my $$$ and download the handwritten record - just for sentimental reasons since these folks are my GG Grandparents. WRONG.
I went through all the usual variations everybody tries on SP to pinpoint the correct record. I even tried the entire county of Aberdeen. Zippo.
All of my Scots ancestors were Presbyterian. One would think that there should be a record at SP. My G Grandparents James Brebner and Jane Coutts were married by a C of S Minister in the same parish in 1856, and immediately emigrated to Ontario, Canada. Because of them, I am thousands of miles away cannot check the record in person - darn!
Helen from Michigan

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:23 pm

Hi Helen
Welcome to TalkingScot

Have you tried using wildcards in your search criteria incase the names have been spelt differently or to cover the possibility of a transcription error either on IGI or at SP? Both "Coutts" and "Mey" seem ripe for errors!

Best wishes
Lesley

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:24 pm

Hi Helen

Please make out a contact form and tell the folks at SP what the problem is. I can't seem to find any OPR marriages in the SP index for this parish earlier than 1820 yet the IGI sure has a ton of them. If it's in the index they'll find it and if it's not well they'll get it added to their to do list!! To find the contact form link on the SP webpage just look underneath the scenic image of the castle...click on the words "contact us".

Hope to hear good news from this.....you may even get some credit refund for your troubles....can't hurt to ask.......

Best wishes
Jean

Helen Donnelly · Post by **Helen Donnelly** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:54 pm

Hi Lesley, Hi Jean!
Oh yes the wildcards came out big time and the soundex too.
Coutts has half a dozen variations and Mey has been identified as Martha, Marjorie, Moy (loved that one) in lots of records. I even used the wildcards on Robertson, a desperate measure indeed - and there went the credits. I shall write SP and hope I don't get another "canned response" to a SP search problem as I have in the past.
Helen from Michigan

Post by **AndrewP** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:41 pm

Hi Helen,

The marriage is there in the index on SP, but there is a problem.

1 15/08/1819 ROBERTSON MEY DONALD COUTTS/ F / 201/ 0010 0216 No Image ORDER

The index is not linking the parish number (201) to the parish name (Glenmuick) or county name (Aberdeenshire). On that basis, it is failing to link to the image.

I got the index reference above by searching for the marriage of MEY ROBERTSON in 1819.
Do not select any county or parish name - that will cause it to fail.

Given the reference above, ScotlandsPeople should be able to manually find the image on their system and send you a copy by e-mail. In the long-term, they have a correction to make to their index to resolve this one. Submit a contact form and ask for this.

All the best,

AndrewP

Bervonian · Post by **Bervonian** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:47 pm

Hi Helen,

Forgive me if you already know this but the index of OPR marriages on ScotlandsPeople shows a marriage which corresponds exactly i.e. Donald Coutts and Mey Robertson 15 Aug 1819. Strangely, despite trying every county in Scotland I could find no match. Perhaps SP could explain this ?

Bervonian · Post by **Bervonian** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:50 pm

Sorry Helen. David P. just pipped me to the post

Helen Donnelly · Post by **Helen Donnelly** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:56 pm

Thank Andrew and Bernovian!
Had to print your posts as my brain pans have flattened out over the afternoon. I will start fresh in the morning with SP, once my husband gives me my weekly allowance (just kidding). In the interim, I did contact SP about this problem and will order the extract because it is worth it.
I never would have found the record on my own.
Gratefully from across the pond,
Helen from Michigan

Bervonian · Post by **Bervonian** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:02 pm

An afterthought. I expect that as Just Jean and David P. say, SP will resolve this but if all else fails contact the Aberdeen & NE Scotland Family History Society (www.anesfhs.org.uk). They hold a microfilm of the Glenmuick OPR.

Helen Donnelly · Post by **Helen Donnelly** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:09 pm

Back at you, Bernovian...
You aren't the first one to recommend ANESFHS.
The $88.00 US might well be worth a subscription, especially since I have several grave inscriptions to find.
Thanks,
Helen from Michigan