about Murdo McLeod & Catherine McLean married 1899 Inver

[DavidWW]

George

Unfortunately, in the period 1856 to 1860, the marital status only is shown, not the spouse's name.

Davie

[AndrewP]

Hi George,

Here is my interpretation of the death certificate.

From the Death Record, 1856 in the Parish of Stornoway.
1) Malcolm MacLeod, Cottar, Married
2) 1856, May, Nineteenth, 6 PM, Newmarket hill
3) Sex: M
4) Age: 60 years
5) Parents: Norman MacLeod, Crofter, Ann MacLeod, MS MacAulay
6) Cause of Death: Consumption, 10 years, no medical attendant
7) buried at Sandwick, not certified
8) Qualification of informant: Neil MacLeod, his x mark Brother, not present

Cottar: a peasant occupying a cottage for which he has to give labour.
Consumption: an earlier name for pulmonary tuberculosis
(both from Chambers English Dictionary)

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[george]

Hi David and Andrew,

Thanks David for clear my comprehension about the DRs. I supposed that always the wife´s name was declared.

and thanks a lot Andrew for your effort in my post. Really, your interpretation is a great and useful help =D> . And you open my eyes to burial sites now. Thanks a lot again.

Well, I recognize that my Malcom McLeod is weak. So, I´ll looking for the death record for your wife and if is there a coincidence,

Best regards, George

[AndrewP]

Hi George,

The cemetery at Sandwick can be seen (abbreviated to Cemy.) on the 1928 Ordnance Survey map at http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/ea ... _list.html sheet 14 - Stornoway. Sandwick is to the east of Stornoway on the road towards the Eye peninsula.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[george]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks you very much for the map link. I appreciate it a lot.

George

[DavidWW]

Hi David and Andrew,

Thanks David for clear my comprehension about the DRs. I supposed that always the wife´s name was declared.

and thanks a lot Andrew for your effort in my post. Really, your interpretation is a great and useful help =D> . And you open my eyes to burial sites now. Thanks a lot again.

Well, I recognize that my Malcom McLeod is weak. So, I´ll looking for the death record for your wife and if is there a coincidence,

Best regards, George

Hi George

As long as the informant had the information then, with one exception, the name of the spouse is shown on the death register entry (but beware informant's who dont have info on all the deceased's spouses).

The exception relates to the period 1856-60 when the marital status only of the deceased is shown, but not the name of the spouse - as you have discovered ! If the widow is the informant, or the occupation is unusual this can sometimes give a good indication that the record is the one sought, if there is doubt, e.g. a very commonly occuring surname. Obviously if the names of the parents match info from other sources that is a massive clue, but that info isn't always available.

Just to round off the subject, in the female death index for 1856-58 there is generally only an entry for a married female under the name registered (I've seen exceptions), which could be the maiden name if a widow had reverted to it, - not that unusual. In other words, both surnames will be in the death register entry via the parents' names, but it is most often the case that only the name in the LH column will appear in the index.

David

[george]

Hi everybody

I was thinking about the David post, when in the Death Record said married nor willow means that the wife still alive or that "married" mean "was married".

Regards, George