Early records

[Kathy]

I have Robert Craig & spouse Agnes Gray (both c 1770)

Their children
William b 1793 Abbey, Renfrewshire. d 1863 Kirkintilloch Dunbertonshire
John b 1795 Abbey, Renfrewshire
Thomas 1797 Abbey, Renfrewshire
David 1800 Abbey, Renfrewshire

On each of the birth entries, and Williams death entry, the parents are listed as Robert Craig & Agnes Gray. William’s is the only death entry I can find.

The only marriage entry I can find is for Robert Craig & Ann Gray 1792 Abbey, Renfrewshire.

Do you think Ann & Agnes is the same person? The date/place looks correct.

How do you advance your research when the entries in the 1700’s is sparse?

Or is this the limit I can expect to achieve with this branch?

Kathy

[Russell]

Hi Kathy

Since you have not been able to find any Death entries for John, Thomas and David it is probable that they died before the introduction of Statutory Registration. The best way to find out about their deaths would have to be through Memorial Inscriptions, provided, of course, that you have some idea of where they ended up.
We have used the OPR Abbey entries a lot for my wife's family and they seem fairly comprehensive so I would have only a brief hesitation before accepting the Robert Craig/Ann Gray entry as the most likely candidates.
Keep in mind that some Ministers kept notes on scraps of paper or small notebooks and only wrote up their Register entries periodically so omissions and errors were bound to creep in from time to time. Some of these notes have survived so it is possible to see originals such as the St Cuthberts Blotter entries in Edinburgh.
If you bear in mind that Abbey took in several townships and villages around the burgh of Paisley it is possible that Robert and Agnes/Ann were not from these places originally having possibly moved there from further afield. We have relatives in Johnstone who came originally from Ayrshire, Kircudbrightshire and Ireland so its worth searching for the family names and noting naming patterns which may give some clues
If the OPR records are good in an area it is sometimes possible to trace a family back to the early 1600's as we have done in Fife.
Takes time, and loads of patience as well as umpteen pages in your notebooks but it can pay off.

Don't close the book on this line yet

Russell

[Kathy]

Hi Russell

Thanks for the reply,

Researching in the 1700’s is new ground for me, and I feel I am floundering, the OPR entries don’t give a lot of information for cross reference, and I’m not too confident

Where would I find “Memorial Inscriptions”?

Kathy

[Russell]

Hi Kathy

As you gradually spread the net across different parishes hopefully you will find that some parishes kept more detailed records than others so you may be in luck.

It is possible to find siblings using the OPR search on scotlandspeople provided you know the parents.
If you enter the surname only in a search; make a shrewd guess about the span of the childbearing part of the marriage so you can key in possible dates to cover; then enter the parents names and use an 'all districts, all parishes' search before you narrow it down.
For the very early entries you may need to enter only the father's name which makes identifying them a bit more difficult but what you are looking for is naming patterns.
Remember too that spelling was unimportant then so consider how you will use wildcards before you even start a search.

When you do find them though it gives you a real buzz.

Have a look at this list
viewtopic.php?t=4555
to see if any of the possible graveyards relating to your own ancestors are listed as having been recorded, then plague your local library to see if they have copies of the booklets.
Quite a few people on TalkingScot have copies of their own so a post on here might result in a free look-up for you. They're an obliging lot

Russell