Missing brothers...would love help

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Anne H
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Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by Anne H » Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:22 am

You often find that there is usually some truth in stories handed down but as you are aware can become a bit distorted through the years – that may well be the case here.

The two articles are:
Dundee Evening Telegraph – 7 March 1927 entitled ‘Sheriff’s Advice to Mother – Serious Case of child Neglect in Dundee’
Dundee Courier – 8 March 1927 entitled ‘Children Must Come First – Sheriff’s Advice to Dundee Mother’. (This gives a little more information).

I’ll also send you a pm in a little bit.

Regards,
Anne H

AndrewP
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Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by AndrewP » Wed Mar 29, 2017 6:27 pm

Hi Sunnydaze,

I was in the SP Centre today and had a look for this family group.
  • John Clark and Alexina Stewart were married in Sinclairtown, Dysart (within the Burgh of Kirkcaldy).
  • No sign of the sons being born in Dysart or Kirkcaldy; or in Dundee
  • Alexina Stewart or Clark, born 27-Jul-1920 at Maternity Hospital, Dundee to (no father named) and mother Alexina Stewart or Clark, wife of John Clark
  • Margaret Walker Smith Stewart or Clark, born 01-Nov-1922 at Maternity Hospital, Dundee to (no father named) and mother Alexina Stewart or Clark, wife of John Clark
  • Jeanie Cosgrove Stewart or Clark, born 23-Jun-1926 at 9 Lyon Street, Dundee to (no father named) and mother Alexina Stewart or Clark, wife of John Clark
So, John Clark was not declared as being the father of any of the three girls. He is not marked as deceased on the girls' birth certificates, so the most likely possibility is that the couple had parted company, but not divorced. Unless you have any information that has come down through the family, you will probably never know who the father/fathers of the three girls was/were. None of the middle names given to the girls are either of their grandmothers' maiden surnames (always a possibility) - as Anne pointed out in an earlier post, they could hint towards the fathers' surnames - but I doubt you will ever prove that. One unfortunate outcome of this information is that you may never know who your 'real' great-grandfather was on that line, if it was not John Clark.

Without having any better idea of where else (possibly in Fife or Dundee area?) to look, and what the boys' names were, there were far to many to check through to find them. If I was a betting man, I wouldn't be putting my money on the father and sons being in the family group in the 1921 census, given that he was not declared as the father of the girls of 1920, 1922 and 1926.

I have more information about Jeanie and her family, but as they are probably still around, I won't put that information on the forum. I will put it in a PM and send that your way.

Some food for thought for you,

AndrewP

Moray_Lass
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Location: Moray

Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by Moray_Lass » Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:06 pm

I'll give you a tiny kernel of hope.

We had no idea who my parental GxGrandfather was, except for the possibility that my Grandfather's (born 1903) middle name was his father's surname and where his mother was working when he was born. Last Black Friday Ancestry had a DNA sale and I got my Dad's DNA tested, 5 Jan 2017 (2 days after getting the results) solved the family mystery. \:D/ Came as a bit of a surprise to my Dad's new second cousins. :wink:

So it is something to keep on the back burner if the 1921 census doesn't pan out.
Maggie

Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer

WilmaM
Posts: 1870
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Location: Falkirk area

Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by WilmaM » Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:57 pm

I thought Alexina was an unusual name - until I put a death search :shock: dozens of pages in Angus alone.

Did try to cross match the Stewart & Clark surnames for the mother's death - but no joy, and John Clark is far too common to be of any use.

This is a mystery - but there's often a kernel of truth in family lore.

Any hope of poorhouse, orphanage records being out there - or are we talking too recent for such things?
Wilma

Sunnydaze
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:02 pm

Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by Sunnydaze » Fri Mar 31, 2017 12:53 pm

Moray_Lass wrote:
Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:06 pm
I'll give you a tiny kernel of hope.

We had no idea who my parental GxGrandfather was, except for the possibility that my Grandfather's (born 1903) middle name was his father's surname and where his mother was working when he was born. Last Black Friday Ancestry had a DNA sale and I got my Dad's DNA tested, 5 Jan 2017 (2 days after getting the results) solved the family mystery. \:D/ Came as a bit of a surprise to my Dad's new second cousins. :wink:

So it is something to keep on the back burner if the 1921 census doesn't pan out.
I thought the dna testing only told you about different ethnicities a person would have. Can it actually give you specific information?

Sunnydaze
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:02 pm

Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by Sunnydaze » Fri Mar 31, 2017 12:55 pm

WilmaM wrote:
Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:57 pm
I thought Alexina was an unusual name - until I put a death search :shock: dozens of pages in Angus alone.

Did try to cross match the Stewart & Clark surnames for the mother's death - but no joy, and John Clark is far too common to be of any use.

This is a mystery - but there's often a kernel of truth in family lore.

Any hope of poorhouse, orphanage records being out there - or are we talking too recent for such things?
I have her death certificate
She died december 1962 in kirkcaldy. Still lists her as married to John Clark.

Moray_Lass
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Moray

Re: Missing brothers...would love help

Post by Moray_Lass » Sat Apr 01, 2017 9:50 am

DNA tells you the ethnicities, but it also links you up with people in their database by relationship. Most results we got back were 4-5 cousins, and I haven't been able to find the common ancestry with the ones I contacted. But then we got a hit for a second cousin, which was exactly what I needed :D I had put off doing it for years because I didn't think I'd get results, but I did a free online Genealogy course last year run by Strathclyde Uni through FutureLearn.com that made me look at it again.
Maggie

Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer

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