Can't locate this place.

[billymac]

Back again.
I have been tracing my wife's ancestry back and have come to the end of the line unless I can identify the parents of her great great grandfather. He was a "ticket of leaver" convicted in Glasgow of house breaking (with others) in 1837. He was transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) for 7 years and finally became a land owner in Armidale, NSW, Australia.
His name was Gavin Dickson, shoemaker, convicted at 18, born in Douglas with his relatives in a place that eludes me. It looks like "Lancrick" to me but I don't get any results with a search using that name. There are trees on Ancestry that suggest his parents were Robert Dickson and Jean Glennie but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. That particular "Gavin Glenny Dickson", born in Peniculk in 1914, moved to England and died there in 1899.
A couple of questions. Does the name "Lancrick" mean anything to anybody and how does one go about looking at possible court records.
A copy of the word is here.
https://ibb.co/TBZDXQDh

Thanks for any help,
Bill

[eilthireach]

From the online index to the catalogue of the National Records of Scotland (https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrs ... earch.aspx) select Search and in the Search for field enter Gavin Dickson and Search type = Phrase. This brings up the Precognition (a term in Scots law - see Dictionaries of the Scots Language: https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/precognition) and the Trial papers. Click on the references to go into the entry for each item. If I am remembering correctly there used to be a link which allowed you to request copies of records from the Historical Search Rooms, but that is not there. If you go to Scottish Indexes (https://www.scottishindexes.com/default.aspx) and enter Gavin Dickson, you will find both of these items in their index and you can ask them to supply copies. (They will go to the Historical Search Rooms and order up these files and copy them for you. They will quote a price. Emma Maxwell there is an expert in historical legal papers and you can rely on her knowledge and expertise.

Reference Title Date
AD14/37 Crown Office precognitions, 1837 1837
Country code GB
Repository code 234
Repository National Records of Scotland
Reference AD14/37/332
Title Precognition against Gavin Dickson, William McCallum for the crime of theft by housebreaking at Duncan and McKinlay, Glasgow
Dates 1837
Access status Open
Location On site
Level File
Finding aids 19th Century Solemn Database
Related record JC26/1837/436
Accused Gavin Dickson, shoemaker, Address: Havanna Street, Glasgow
William McCallum, cotton spinner, Address: Bridgeton, Glasgow


Reference Title Date
JC26 High Court of Justiciary processes 1550-2008
JC26/1837 High Court of Justiciary processes 1837
Country code GB
Repository code 234
Repository National Records of Scotland
Reference JC26/1837/436
Title Trial papers relating to William McCallum, Gavin Dickson for the crime of theft by housebreaking at Duncan and McKinlay, Glasgow. Tried at High Court, Glasgow
Dates 30 Sep 1837
Access status Open
Location On site
Level File
Finding aids 19th Century Solemn Database
Related record AD14/37/332
Accused William McCallum, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 7 years. Note: Pannel cannot write.
Gavin Dickson, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 7 years. Note: Pannel cannot write.

(I had a quick look at the digitised copy of the 1837 edition of Pigot and Co's National Commercial Directory of the Whole of Scotland and the Isle of Man, looking at the Glasgow pages (pp.533-626) , but could not see a listing of a "Duncan and McKinlay". It may be listed in the section covering specific business and trades, however!).

Pannel (or modern, Panel an accused person in a criminal action from the time of his appearance in court)

Havanna Street in Glasgow is now Havannah Street.


Where are you getting that he was born in Douglas?

[billymac]

Thanks for the detailed reply --- that information is really helpful.
I got the Douglas birth location from information in the attached UK Prison Records Commission document. It mentions Douglas as his birth place and possible family in 'Lancrick". (I can't find any mention of such a place in Scotland).

https://ibb.co/QFs5pzp6

In the end it was probably the best thing that could have happened to him.Convicted in 1837, transported in 1838, he was granted a ticket of leave in 1844. He left Tasmania for NSW and settled in Armidale, later owning substantial land holding . He had six surviving children, numerous grandchildren and died there in 1900. Unfortunately his children must not have known his parents names for they are blank on his death registration. I was hoping that given he was so young his parents names may have been mentioned in the trial papers.

[eilthireach]

It looks to me like someone's attempt at spelling a place they have never heard of and have to interpret what someone is saying. It sounds as if it is supposed to be Lanark. Douglas is a Parish which takes its name from village of Douglas in Lanarkshire (and Lanarkshire takes its name from the town (burgh) of Lanark, which lies 23 miles SE of Glasgow.

Unfortunately, the only Gavin Dickson shown as born in Douglas in the Old Parish Registers was born in 1766 to John Dickson and Marion Muir, and that's clearly far, far too early for the fellow you are looking for! Your Gavin may well have been born in the Parish of Douglas but was never baptised and therefore never appeared in any parish register of birth and baptisms. It was, of course, not compulsory to have your child baptised, and so quite often you will not find any birth record or baptismal record for a child.