Children of William Smith and Elizabeth Martin

MJayne · Post by **MJayne** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:41 pm

Hi guys. Need your help again! William Smith and Elisabeth/Elizabeth Martin married on 26/03/1836. From the 1841 and 1851 censuses, I can see at least 6 kids - George, William, Christiana/Christina, Marion, Elizabeth and William. However, I can't find any birth records for the kids. The censuses state they were all born in Lesmahagow. It also looks as though George and the first William died young and that Elizabeth (the mother) was dead by 1852 as William (the father) gets remarried. I can't understand why I am not finding the birth certs on SP. I have tried every variation I can think of. Anyone got any bright ideas?

Many thanks!

Jayne

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:58 pm

Hi Jayne
It is likely that if they were not Church of Scotland, that they will not show up on any OPRs - might the family have been, for example, Baptists, Episcopalian, Catholic or anything else that was not Church of Scotland? Any post 1855 marriages for members of the family may help establish if that is the case.

Otherwise, it may be that the OPRs for that area were perhaps not very well kept, or even maybe do not exist. Have you checked what is available for the area?
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/h ... r-cov.html

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **Liz Turner** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:34 pm

Hi there

Did a quick Google search for "lesmahagow" and "episcopal" - about 700+ pages came up; it might be worthwhile investigating for some general background information. While seraching for my own families in Fife, not episcopal, I found that someone had transcribed some of the Episcopal registers, so if you think your family might not have been COS, that's an avenue to pursue.

http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/epi ... hurch.html

http://www.lesmahagow.com/history/annals/annals.htm

Have you tried Lanarkshire Family History Society?

http://www.lanarkshirefhs.org.uk/index.php - is their web link.

Liz