Desperate for help please

[Dennie]

Sorry there is a lot to read, but this is a mess!

I have managed to trace my father's side of the family (Angus) back to 1789, but I have 3 missing years of my grandfather! I cannot find his mother after his birth and there seems to be no birth certificate for him, anywhere.

He was born at The Edinburgh Maternity & Simpson Memorial Hospital, I have an excerpt from their records which states " Male child born 4th Jan 1868. Name of mother Ann Angus age 23, her father James Angus, her mother Mary Moffatt. Name of father (as entered) William Reid, Engineer, Musselburgh". I am told the hospital did not open until 1879, but they did confirm the record as shown in their archives. I have tried to trace William Reid, but again, no luck, possibly just a name?

As far as the family know grandfather was illegitimate. I have checked as many records as I can find, but no child under the name of James Angus ( the name he kept) or James Reid shows up. I found him at the age of 3 (1871 census) living with William & Mary Peterson and his family at 48, Buccleuch Street as a boarder. He stayed with this family until he joined the army (not much luck their either!). I have letters from the daughters of the Petersons to grandfather refering to him as brother and telling him of the death of "mother" Mary Peterson. He also named on army forms Matty Peterson ( a daughter) as his next of kin and gave her address. On another army form William ( no surname) living at 8 Ponton Street, Edinburgh, as his father. I think the family association is purely because he lived with them, possibly from a baby and he certainly maintained contact.

The family I have traced so far is as follows:

William Angus m. Jean Pringle 29/05/1789 Selkirk

Children;
James Angus b. 1806 m. Mary Moffat 30/01/1806 ( James d. 13/01/1863, Mary d. 1/11/1896 Dingwall)

Their children:
William b. 10/10/1837 m. Isabella McKenzie 22/120/1847
John b. 8/09/1839 Lochbroom
Ann b. 27/06/1842 Lochbroom (grandfathers mother) child James Angus b.4/01/1868 d. London 15/04/1957
Mary b. 8/03/1846 Contin
Margaret b. 18/06/1850 Contin
Isabella b. 16/07/1852 Contin
Effie b. 20/05/1854 Contin
James b. 10/07/1856 Contin
Robina b. 21/05/1858
David b. 31/05/1863 m. Mary Ann Mckay 10/06/1874

In the 1950's when grandfather lived in London 2 men came to the family house, having traced him, wanting him to sign "family papers". He refused on the basis his family didn't want him as child and he wouldn't do anything for them now! If anybody can help in any way I would be very grateful as I have hit a brickwall and would love to solve this mystery!!

[emanday]

Hi Dennie,

I've sent you a PM.

[joette]

Is it possible his Mother died after he was born & he was sent to Board with the Petersons.?hey must have been good parents as he maintained contact with them even after leaving & their children seemed to accept him as a brother-maybe it was an informal adoption or like modern-day fostering.
If as the family story goes is true his natural parents/family must have kept tabs on him if they could trace his whereabouts many years later.
Life was very hard then & I'm sorry he felt like he had been abandoned.
I had a relative give birth in the same hospital around the same time-she was married but all the other birth entries on the page rom the hospital were illegitimate.Being nosey I followed up on the Mothers & one had died shortly thereafter due to TB & complications of Child-Birth so I am suppossing only sick Mothers to be or those with complications would have been accepted there?? Birth at home was the norm then.

[Dennie]

Thank you for your reply. I am not sure about the hospital, but they do state that both mother and child were well and healthy on leaving, so she must have survied. I do know she worked for a family as housekeeper near Ullapool, but cannot find the family only that the house was in somewhere called Luibrech, maybe they organised it all for her.

I imagine the Petersons were a good family and probably not poor. The father William was a shoemaker and one of his daughters married Alexander Ross who was a jewler. Grandfather must have received an education somewhere as he spoke and wrote both English and Gaelic but perhaps that was normal in the 1870's? Grandfather did tried to hide himself, he originally joined the army under the name of Pearson but reverted to Angus, I think somebody, somehow found he had made a false statement and informed the army, he got into problems for it! I understand from my father it was done so the family couldn't find him, but don't know if that's the Angus side or his father's side!

[emanday]

In the 1950's when grandfather lived in London 2 men came to the family house, having traced him, wanting him to sign "family papers". He refused on the basis his family didn't want him as child and he wouldn't do anything for them now!

From his apparent comment, it seems that it did relate to his "natural" family.

I can't help thinking that finding out more about this event might help to answer a whole lot of your questions. That would probably entail finding a will, presumably in Scotland, but I see that as being a bit of a "needle in a haystack" unless any of those papers still exist within the family (the family you know of that is).

Maybe someone else knows of a way of finding out about "Heir Hunters" in that era, or of a way of finding his name mentioned in a will from the period.

[Dennie]

Unfortunately anything that came from that meeting died with my Grandmother and Aunt, who spoke with the men. Grandfather threw them both out and I very much doubt if he would have even accepted any paperwork, he was a very proud Scot!

I have just found where his mother worked as a housekeeper, in case anybody has any knowledge of the place/family as they might still hold records of staff - ever hopeful! It was the Strathvaich Lodge in Luibraich, Ross and Cromarty owned by the Williams family. As the men in the family were shepherds and one died on the estate I'd imagine the whole family were employed by them. I understand it was a hunting lodge, so perhaps the family also had a house in Edinburgh, hence Ann was there and maybe got "into trouble" with somebody she met. I think a needle in haystack is exactly what this is!

[emanday]

It appears the lodge was up for sale at some time recently (might still be!) according to this. It is the full estate agent brochure of the lodge and is quite impressive.

http://img.findaproperty.com/bowltschar ... 443009.pdf

I also found this wee snippet about one of the residents - "The first car in Strathvaich was seen in 1904. Mr JC Williams who was a stalking tenant for many years on the estate took ownership of the estate in 1886. His first car and indeed the first car to visit the glen was a Rolls Royce."

It seems the Williams family didn't originally own the land or lodge, but were tenants of the owner of the full Straithvaich Estate. That said, they would still have been pretty well off to have finally bought the whole kit and kaboodle!

[LesleyB]

Hi Dennie

and there seems to be no birth certificate for him, anywhere.
...I have checked as many records as I can find, but no child under the name of James Angus ( the name he kept) or James Reid shows up.

I take it you have already checked the 1868 birth on SP in Canongate, of a James Angus? (the search is also returning a James Reid born Canongate in 1868...the same child? I've no credits left to check to see if the numbers are the same, so referring to the same record) Is this not him? ...just seems a bit of a coincidence with the surnames.

Best wishes
Lesley

[SarahND]

Hi Lesley,

They are also in the IGI. This is James Angus:

JAMES RAMAGE ANGUS
Birth: 23 APR 1868 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
Father: William Angus
Mother: Jessie Ramage

There are two James Reids that year, but none correspond to James Angus. Nor do they have the correct mother.

Interestingly, if you check that batch (C116852) for anyone with mother Ann Angus, quite a few results come up! I wonder if any of them are the same woman?

Regards,
Sarah

[LesleyB]

Hi Sarah

I'm a bit puzzled how the one in Edinburgh Parish can be the same one as in Canongate...unless IGI just counts the whole of Edinburgh as "Edinburgh Parish" completely disregarding the parishes within it.

Best wishes
Lesley