1911 census help

[crayspond]

Hi,
I am researching my Gt grandmother’s brothers and sisters and at the moment I’m concentrating on her brother James McFarlane. He was born in Belfast in 1878 but resettled in Clydebank.
My last sighting of him is on the 1901 census occ engineer (machinist)age 22 unmarried address 25 Kilbowie gardens Clydebank Old Kilpatrick. He is living there with his widowed mother Jane 56 and sister Lizzie unmarried 27.
He marries Isabella Milligan 3/4/1903 Old Kilpatrick his address is 25 Livingstone St Clydebank hers is 89 Kilbowie Rd Clydebank He is 25 Engine Fitter she is 27 Sewing machine inspector.
I was hoping to find out if they have any children but there are so many possibilities plus he is witness on his mother’s death cert in 1904 and has his address as 72 Porterfield Road Renfrew.
I would have like to have found him on the 1911 census to see if they had children but can’t pin him down without using a lot of credits.
My next break is Isabella’s death cert – I got her using Milligan and she died in 1948 widow of James McFarlane Marine engineer. Address is No 1 Milehead Kincraig Alvie in Inverness. The witness is John MacBain brother in law.
Any help would be appreciated especially with the 1911 census. His father was also called James and her father was William Milligan.
I’m trying to make it as less complicated as I can. It could be that he died before 1911 but it doesn’t explain why she would be in Inverness.
Thanks for reading,

Ailsa

[Elwyn 1]

Ailsa,

Can’t identify the family in the 1911 census. However you may get information about children from wills. There’s a record of a will on the Scotlandspeople site for a James MacFarlane, Marine Engineer, granted at Paisley Sheriff Court 2.11.1918. His address was Sunnyside, Pollokshaws, Glasgow.

There’s a possible matching death on Scotlandspeople in 1918 in the Service Returns, aged 37.

Likewise you could try and search to see if Isabella left a will, and again see who the beneficiaries were.

Elwyn

[crayspond]

Hi Elwyn,
Hope you are well - you've helped me out lots in the past - especially with pesky Irish records!
I have looked at wills for James McFarlane - if I could pin down at least Isabella McFarlane in the 1911 census it would show whether she is widowed and then narrow down looking for James.
On another note - I've used the Irish genealogy site and been very successful. A feather in their cap I think!

Ailsa

[AndrewP]

Hi Ailsa,

Assuming this is the 37 year old in the Service Returns that Elwyn found, here he is on the CWGC site.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casu ... ne,-james/

Unfortunately this one is son of John and Mary Macfarlane of Glasgow, while you are looking for the son of James and Jane Macfarlane.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Elwyn 1]

Ailsa,

Oh well. Sorry it’s not the right man. The only other thing I noticed about your James b 1878 is he seems to have had at least 3 more siblings: Margaret 10.3.1875, Dugald 22.4.1876 and Ellen 23.11.1880, all born in Belfast. Dugald died in Bangor on 18.7.1898 (death from drowning). Don’t know if you are aware of them. Lizzie (Elizabeth) was born 13.7.1873 in Bangor.

Elwyn

[crayspond]

Thanks Andrew - that was my next step. I really hope he didn't die in WW1. I've already had 3 brothers of another part of my family killed in WW1. Also James McFarlane 's nephew was killed in WW2.
If his address hadn't been Renfrew on his mother's death cert and wife's death in Inverness - I probably would have found him in the Clydebank area as most of the family remained there.
Thanks for helping,
Ailsa

[crayspond]

Hi Elwyn,
Yes I am aware if them - I'm steadily working my way through them and the Irish site has been a godsend - Ellen is my gt grandmother - there is a post on TS about her brother Dugald drowning in Bangor. The James I'm looking for was with him - I'm sure that's where my gt gt grandparents are from but I think I'll need to visit to find out more.

Ailsa

[AndrewP]

Thanks Andrew - that was my next step. I really hope he didn't die in WW1.

Hi Ailsa,

There is no sign of him on the CWGC website. The nearest one was the one given above. So it is unlikely that he died in WW1.

From the information you give above, he was last seen in 1903 in Clydebank (his marriage) in the records that you have found, and was shown as deceased on his wife's death certificate in 1948 in Alvie (Inverness-shire); and he was born in 1878 in Belfast. These are the main clues that you have to work on.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Elwyn 1]

Hi Elwyn,
Yes I am aware if them - I'm steadily working my way through them and the Irish site has been a godsend - Ellen is my gt grandmother - there is a post on TS about her brother Dugald drowning in Bangor. The James I'm looking for was with him - I'm sure that's where my gt gt grandparents are from but I think I'll need to visit to find out more.

Ailsa

Judging by the 1891 census, James McFarlane was born in Partick (Glasgow), and his wife Jane was born in Ireland. I see he was a boiler maker. Shipyards like Harland & Wolff (which had premises in Glasgow, Liverpool & Belfast) often used to move their key tradesmen about from one yard to another to deal with urgent work. It wasn’t uncommon to find shipyard workers born in Scotland living in Belfast or Liverpool and vice versa. Perhaps that’s how James & Jane met.

[crayspond]

Elwyn;
He was born in Partick - I was lucky to find the family as they belonged to an associate church - the births are not on Scotland's people.
In 1856 the father Dugald McFarlane took his own life by drowning in the river Clyde due to a dispute at work.
The mother remarried (I think) a John Stokes or Stoker and they moved to Belfast. James McFarlane met and married Jane Murphy. Around 1881 they moved back to Glasgow then settled in Clydebank.

Ailsa