Missing marriage

Geoff Rogers · Post by **Geoff Rogers** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:28 pm

Hello

I am looking for the marriage of William Ruddiman and May Donald between 1820 and 1830. I know they were not married when they baptised their first child Jean at Monquhitter in 1820 as the clergyman made the point of recording two unmarried people. In 1822 there are marriage entries at Turriff and Monquhitter for a William Ruddiman and Marjory Donald but the details are very basic. I am wondering if Marjory is really May as I can find no suitable baptisms and no census details for a Marjory Donald / Ruddiman anywhere. Is it reasonable to assume Marjory is May or were there other dissenters registers for this period. None of their other children who were born in Turriff are recorded either. Any pointers will be most appreciated.

Geoff

Post by **Anne H** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:16 pm

Hi Geoff,

According this this...
http://www.whatsinaname.net/php/search. ... me=Marjory
May is a pet name for Marjory.

Regards,
Anne H

momat · Post by **momat** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:17 pm

The IGI site http://www.familysearch.org
has these extracted entries
MARJORY DONALD Pedigree
Female Family

Event(s):
Birth:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:

Marriages:
Spouse: WILLIAM RUDDIMAN Family
Marriage:
10 AUG 1822 Turriff, Aberdeen, Scotland

MARJORY DONALD Pedigree
Female Family

Event(s):
Birth:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:

Marriages:
Spouse: WILLIAM RUDDIMAN Family
Marriage:
24 AUG 1822 Monquhitter, Aberdeen, Scotland

There is also an extracted entry of birth for 1789 that could be her.

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:31 am

If the baptism of first child Jean appears in the OPR records then it's a better bet that they were not part of a dissenter congregation. Not guaranteed mind you...but a leading indicator. I would feel pretty safe in calling Marjory and May the same individual if all other data/dates/times/places fit in a logical sequence.

Are there any kirk session minutes for their parish? If so you might find a further entry in that....some sort of rebuke for fooling around ouside the bonds of matrimony or some such

. I've never been lucky enough to find any such data but sometimes you do get lucky!

Best wishes
Jean

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:40 am

As an additional input....the condition of the original OPR records for Turriff (from V. Ben Bloxham's Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland) indicate that for births there are no entries Mar 1704-Oct 1707. There are irregular entries occasionally occuring after 1738. More frequently between 1785 and 1806. Mother's names not recorded until after 1790 and very often omitted until 1809.

While not definitive this does lead one to think there is a real irregularity to what might be found in Turriff OPR birth registrations. Perhaps they just managed to fall in one of those black holes!

Best wishes
Jean

Post by **emanday** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:43 am

Hi Geoff,

Is this them in the 1841 Scotland Census

Name: William Ruddiman
Age: 40
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1801
Gender: Male
Where born: Scotland

Civil Parish: Gamrie
County: Banffshire
Address: Docky Well St
Occupation: Flax Dresser
Parish Number: 155A
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
William Ruddiman 40
Mary Ruddiman 40
Jean Ruddiman 20
John Ruddiman 8
Margt Ruddiman 8
David Ruddiman 5
Mary Ruddiman 3
George Ruddiman 7 Mo
William Smith 1 2 Mo

Geoff Rogers · Post by **Geoff Rogers** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:55 am

Anne H wrote:Hi Geoff,

According this this...
http://www.whatsinaname.net/php/search. ... me=Marjory
May is a pet name for Marjory.

Regards,
Anne H

Thanks Anne

Geoff Rogers · Post by **Geoff Rogers** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:04 am

momat wrote:The IGI site http://www.familysearch.org
has these extracted entries
MARJORY DONALD Pedigree

Spouse: WILLIAM RUDDIMAN Marriage: 10 AUG 1822 Turriff, Aberdeen, Scotland

MARJORY DONALD Pedigree

Spouse: WILLIAM RUDDIMAN Marriage: 24 AUG 1822 Monquhitter, Aberdeen, Scotland

Yes I've seen them thanks, I even downloaded them from Scotlands People to see if there was any more information.

momat wrote: There is also an extracted entry of birth for 1789 that could be her.

No I can safely eliminate that entry as I know her father's name was John.

Thanks
Geoff

Geoff Rogers · Post by **Geoff Rogers** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:09 am

JustJean wrote:As an additional input....the condition of the original OPR records for Turriff (from V. Ben Bloxham's Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland) indicate that for births there are no entries Mar 1704-Oct 1707. There are irregular entries occasionally occuring after 1738. More frequently between 1785 and 1806.
Best wishes
Jean

That probably explains why I can't find them.

Thanks
Geoff

Geoff Rogers · Post by **Geoff Rogers** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:15 am

emanday wrote:Hi Geoff,

Is this them in the 1841 Scotland Census .....................

Mo

Yes I have all the census sheets for her and her family. It's just that I wondered if Marjory was really May. The marriage is the only occurrence of Marjory that I can find. For May I have her baptism, census and death entries.

Thanks
Geoff