linniestorm wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:05 pm
Hello! A contact of mine on one side of my family history recommended checking out Talking Scot as she said the forums were extremely informative. I've had a bit of a lurk round a couple of times, but have just been struck by a bit of a genealogy puzzler, and then it hit me, ask the experts! So here I am!
I've been having a bit of trouble making any sort of headway with my Campbell and Walker ancestors. Mostly due to a mistranscribed name, it was ages before I had any luck at all getting past my gg grandparents. Now due to more mixing up of names, I'm having a similar problem! I'll start from the beginning and try not to get too convoluted, hopefully, somebody might be able to point me in the right direction!
The ancestor in question is a Mary Ann Walker, my ggg-grandmother. The only info I had originally was from her marriage certificate, that her parents were John Walker and Margaret (can't make out the next marked name, it looks like Wyness or Vyness!) Geddes, and she married Alexander Campbell in Aberdeen 1869.
Then I discovered her death certificate, which I can tell you, confused the heck out of me! Here her parents are listed as George Walker and Annie Hare. It's definitely the right person as it lists Alexander as her late husband.
I've not been able to trace a birth to either set of parents and it was only today I've managed to tack onto her in the censuses. At least this gave me an area to search in, as she's listed her place of birth as various places in Banffshire on all census' 1871-1901. Prior to getting census info, I was more apt to accept John Walker and Margaret Geddes as her parents as she gave this information on her marriage certificate and thought this was more likely to be reliable than the death certificate with info from her daughter.
Now on the first census prior to her marriage 1861, she is listed as sort of between 2 households! Even though it looks at though she is listed as the 13 yr old niece of Mary Christie (Boarding House owner), faint writing by her name seems to link her to the household below, which is George and Janet Walker! It all seemed very curious, but then looking at the 1851 census, she is listed as the daughter of George and Janet Walker. So I tried this in a birth certificate search and only one came up in Banffshire, in 1847, not 1849 as the ages work out, a Mary Walker born to a George Walker and Janet Christie! Which could mean on the 1861 census that she was the Walker's daughter but was next door with her aunt when the census was taken. Maybe the writing was faint to link her to her parents next door.
Anyway, this has become convoluted, apologies, but I'm now very confused!!! Why for a start did she give completed the wrong parents on her marriage certificate, if George and Janet were her parents! Having had a look for why George and Annie are listed as her parents on her death certificate, I couldn't find a marriage between a George Walker and Annie Hare, althought there was one to an Annie Christie! I really don't know what to make of all this, does anyone have any thoughts?! Thanks in advance for them, this is about as clear as mud to me!
Lindsay